The Princess and the Greek God

4 Mr. Sneakers

*UNEDITED

He looked into my eyes as if he was attempting to hypnotize me. I looked at my reflection in the glass window to check if I had something on my face, but there was none…at least I didn’t see anything.

“I haven’t seen you here before.” I had nothing to say to that. “I’m Roen, by the way.”

He reached out his right hand and I shook it briefly.

“Isla.”

“Nice to meet you, Isla.”

He finally noticed that for the second time, I looked at my watch. I really wanted to get out of this place immediately. I didn’t want to talk to this guy.

“You must be heading somewhere.”

“Yes, I need to go back to the animal shelter before it closes.”

“You work there?”

He was definitely trying to start a conversation and I’m still not interested, not one bit.

“Just a volunteer.” Was my short reply.

“You know what, I’m heading out too, I can take you there.”

“No, it’s okay. Walking two blocks won’t kill me. Thanks for the frap.” I smiled as I stood up. There was obviously a sense of defeat written all over his face.

“No problem. Visit here anytime, okay?”

I nodded and headed to the door. The moment I stepped outside I felt like a walkathon athlete, as my feet walked faster than I ever had in my whole life. I just had to get out of that place. For some reason, I didn’t like the way Roen approached us. There was an air of arrogance about him that ticked me off. That’s why I shot him down. I never allowed myself to have a conversation, which was what he wanted. And by the look on his face afterwards I guess it was safe to say that he wasn’t used to being almost ignored by women.

And his sense of style! Don’t even get me started with it! Sorry but I have more important things to think about, like Victor’s offer and Nadav…he’s got me all confused. Should I just ignore him when I get to the shelter? It’s most likely that he left already, but who knows? Should I just say a casual ‘hey’ or ‘hi’?

Fortunately, the animal shelter was still open when I got there, but only Victor was there.

“You’re here at last.” He said while he set down a small dog with black and tan markings. “So, have you made a decision?”  Funny, he doesn’t act gay at all…no one would really know…

“Yes. But I should let you know that this arrangement will only be until I find a new job.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes…” did I ask for too much?

“That’s just perfect, Isla.”

“You know, Tracey suggested that we put this down in black and white.”

“Hey, how is she? Is she married now?”

I forgot. We made a bet about that whole marriage thing with Tracey and Victor won, twice. He reads Tracey like an open book. They were actually close, but after the big reveal, Tracey hated Victor more than marriage itself.

“Nope. I still don’t know what it will take for her to tie the knot. She’s really lucky Louie loves her so much. Anyway, Victor…I’ll give you the hard copy of the terms and conditions of the agreement tomorrow.”