by Sable Sylvan
“And you don’t make time for love,” said Tangie. “Or for fate.”
“For fate? What’s gotten into you, Tangie?” asked Crystal.
“You really have no clue what shifters are like, do you?” asked Tangie, finishing her drink just as the bartender brought her another. “Shifters mate for life, they call their true loves ‘fated mates’, and when guys meet their fated mates...sometimes, they do down-right dumb things. For all you know, you could be this Damien’s fated mate.”
“As if,” said Crystal, rolling her eyes.
“Go on a date with him,” insisted Tangie. “Let yourself have a little fun. What’s the worst that could happen, you fall in love?”
“Fine, fine,” said Crystal, opening her phone and programming in Damien’s number. She sent a text: Hey. This is Crystal. She showed the phone to Tangie. “How’s this?”
“It’s a start,” said Tangie with a wicked smile, sipping at her wine.
***
“...and so that’s what happened,” said Damien to his cousins, Cedar and Aspen Asher, as they sat in the Asher Mansion’s cigar lounge which was now used to house the younger Asher-Dixon Clan’s scotch collection. He sank back down into the overstuffed leather chair that, with age, had been well broken in. “One minute, I was trimming the hedges, working out my annoyance, because grand-auntie keeps pressuring me to find a date to the Golden Ball, like she does every year, and all of a sudden, who falls into my world? The woman I’m sure is my fated mate. Her name’s frikkin’ Crystal, how more obvious can it get?”
“You’re saying this girl had no clue who you were?” asked Cedar.
“No clue,” said Damien. “I thought she was paparazzi, but when she deleted that shirtless picture of me, I knew there was no way she was, unless she’s playing the long game.”
“Did she seem like the kind to play the long con?” asked Aspen.
“Absolutely not,” said Damien.
“How do you know?” asked Cedar.
“I looked into her eyes, and I just...I just knew,” said Damien.
“And what about your bear?” asked Cedar.
“My bear isn’t holding back, not at all,” said Damien. “I’ve never heard him roar so loudly, not in all my life.”
“So this girl thinks your name is...what was it again?” asked Cedar.
“Damien Michaels,” said Damien.
“Well, you’re not entirely lying,” said Aspen wickedly. “But you can’t keep this secret forever.”
“I know I can’t,” said Damien. “It’s just...I need to be absolutely sure I can trust her before I let her know who I am.”
“Be careful, the more you conceal, the deeper the hole you dig for yourself to crawl out of,” warned Cedar. “Honesty is the best policy. Maybe you should’ve just gotten her a replacement invitation, I’m sure Delaina had spares and was just talking a big game. You know how cat shifters can be.”
“I’ll tell her when it’s right,” promised Damien. His phone buzzed. Finally. It had taken her long enough to text him, the girl he was worried he’d never see again.
It was just a four-word text...but all fairy tales start with forewords and four words: once upon a time.
Chapter Two
It was Friday, nearly seven, and Crystal was still figuring out what she was going to wear. Crystal stood in front of her mirror, going over outfit combinations in her head. It was just a first date, but it was the first first date she’d been on in a while...in a long while. In at least a year...and six months, and three days, but it wasn’t like she was counting. She didn’t exactly have a lot of date clothes, mostly stuff that was practical or formal enough to wear to work, but nothing that was semi-formal without screaming business casual. Tangie had brought over two dresses. It was the perks of having a friend that matched her in size, but Tangie’s style was far more...eye-catching than Crystal was used to.
There was nothing wrong with the dresses: they were from good labels, fit her well, and looked stunning on and off the rack and hanger, but Crystal felt out of place and uncomfortable in the dress that was black with sequin beading, so she opted for the plain navy dress with a sweet heart bust-line and a white anchor design on the hem which she dressed up with a plain silver necklace with a sapphire-colored rhinestone charm pendant. She did her makeup, put on a pair of black flats and a plain black leather cross-body purse, and grabbed a grey comfy cardigan, because there was a bit of a nip in the air. Now, she just had to wait.
She’d texted Damien her address and he’d texted her to confirm they were still on for a date that afternoon. They hadn’t had any small talk through text, but Crystal liked that. It was a welcome change from guys who would text and text and then flake out or stand her up on dates and waste her time. Her apartment buzzer went off, surprising Crystal, as usually, guys would text her to come down. She hit the intercom buzzer. “Hey,” she said.
“Is this Crystal?” asked a voice. “This is Damien.”
“I’ll be right down,” said Crystal.
“Buzz me in,” said Damien.
Crystal pressed the buzzer. Damien had come off as old fashioned, but not the kind of old fashioned that needed to walk a girl down the stairs, which she could obviously handle herself. In a few minutes, she heard a knock at the door. She looked through the peephole: there was Damien, holding a vase with a paper bag over the top.
She opened the door. “Hey Damien,” said Crystal. “I hope you found the place okay. Sorry my apartment’s a bit of a mess.”
“It’s no big deal,” said Damien. “These are for you.”
Crystal cleared magazines off of an end table and took the vase from Damien. She put it down on the end table and removed the bag. Below the bag was a dozen roses, all different shades of red, from cherry red to wine crimson, with different petal styles, all long-stem. The vase seemed to reflect all the light in the room, bouncing small rainbows off its facets into the petals of the flowers. “Wow, you really didn’t have to bring that,” said Crystal, awestruck. “But thank you. The vase and the flowers are gorgeous.”
“A gorgeous woman deserves gorgeous flowers,” said Damien. “And I wasn’t sure if you’d have a big enough vase for all the flowers, so I had the florist include one for you.”
“Believe it or not, I’ve never had a guy buy me flowers before,” said Crystal as the pair walked out of her apartment and she locked the door.
“Well, then you’ve never met a real man,” said Damien.
“And what exactly does this real man have in store for tonight?” asked Crystal.
“I was thinking a real man’s sport, mini-golf, followed by dinner, unless you’re hungry now,” said Damien. “And drinks or dessert somewhere else.”
“That sounds like a lot of fun, actually,” said Crystal. “I haven’t gone mini-golfing since I was a kid, so I might not be any good.”
“I’m sure you’ll be great,” said Damien. “There’s a mini-golf course outside the city limits we can get to pretty quickly.” He unlocked the large black SUV in front of the apartment complex. The lights flashed.
“That’s your car?” asked Crystal.
“My car, your carriage, same difference,” said Damien, opening the door for Crystal. Crystal blushed as she entered the car. Damien was old fashioned enough to bring her flowers, walk her down the stairs, open the door for her, and take her for mini-golf. There had to be a catch.
“So, are you serious about this whole ‘three dates’ thing?” asked Crystal.
“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” asked Damien.
“Oh, it’s just...I don’t know, it seems kinda silly,” said Crystal. “If you wanted to ask me out, you could’ve just said, ‘Hi, my name’s Damien, let’s catch a movie’.”
“Ah, but then I’d only get one shot at impressing you,” teased Damien. “Besides, having leverage made it so that I would actually have a shot with you.”
Crystal burst out laughing. “Really? Me? The curvy girl who works as a jou
rnalist for a small newspaper, I’m the catch here?”
“What, you seriously think that a gardener like me has a chance with a beautiful girl like you?” asked Damien.
“Of course you would’ve,” said Crystal. “Besides, I’m sure being a gardener has its perks.”
“What sort of perks?” asked Damien.
“Well, I’m sure that you hear all kinds of gossip around the Asher Mansion,” said Crystal. “Juicy gossip.”
Damien’s neck hairs prickled. “I don’t really care for that stuff,” said Damien.
“Ah, but if you did, you could make a fortune selling the info to tabloids,” joked Crystal.
“Hey, you’re the journalist, isn’t that more your field of expertise?” asked Damien.
“Me? Heck no. You couldn’t pay me to do that. I’ve got this little thing called journalistic integrity, and the last thing I want in my literal or spiritual portfolio is a bunch of trashy articles written for rags that aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on,” said Crystal. “Tabloids. What a frikkin’ waste. Do we really need to read about celebrity secrets when we could be reading about things that actually matter? If the paparazzi put half the effort they put into fighting over photos of private citizens into covering important stories, the world would be a much different, much better place.”
A wave of relief went through Damien. “So what paper do you work for again?” asked Damien.
“Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that,” said Crystal. “I work for the Seattle Free Gazette.”
“The Seattle Free Gazette?” asked Damien. “Don’t think I have a subscription to that paper...”
“Nobody does,” said Crystal. “And that’s the problem...I love writing, but, there’s nothing interesting about writing for the SFG. They never publish anything interesting at all. I have ideas for articles, and my editor’s always shooting them down.”
“So what do you write about?” asked Damien.
“It’s kind of embarrassing...but I write a lot of articles about local businesses,” said Crystal. “Not like, exposes, but articles about new stores opening, fire sales, cats being rescued from trees by firefighters, that sort of thing.”
“Fluff pieces?” asked Damien.
“That’s exactly right,” said Crystal. She looked out the window: they were leaving the Seattle city limits. “This place is out of the city limits?”
“That’s right,” said Damien. “It’s actually at a carnival that just arrived in the area.”
Crystal frowned. She hadn’t heard of any carnival. “I guess I didn’t hear about that,” said Crystal. “But that sounds like a lot of fun. Think they’ll have food?”
“You really wanna spoil your appetite?” asked Damien.
“Hey, what’s the point of going to the fair if you can’t get a hot dog and a funnel cake?” asked Crystal.
“If you’d rather have that than go to a nice restaurant, I’m not about to stop you,” said Damien. “I’ll take you to the place I had in mind next time.”
“Ooh, somebody’s confident that there’ll even be a next time,” said Crystal. “You’re lucky I owe you these dates for that invite, Mr. Bear, so you better show me a good time, or else I’ll just call Delaina up myself and get another invite.”
“What, I haven’t impressed you yet?” asked Damien. “Well, give me until the end of the night and I’m sure I’ll have you begging for more...but after all, Crystal, you do owe me two more dates.”
“Fine, fine, we’ll go to the fancy place next time,” said Crystal. She looked out the window. There were glowing lights in the distance, and as the car approached the lights, they became clearer. There was indeed a large carnival in the middle of practically nowhere, with cars parked in a large lot, and a large Ferris wheel next to a few thrill rides, like the one that brings couples up into the air before dropping them down, hard, as well as some carnival games.
Damien saw Crystal’s face light up and his heart melted. “You psyched?” asked Damien.
“Absolutely,” said Crystal, not taking her eyes off of the many glowing attractions.
They parked and Damien opened the door for Crystal before taking her hand. Crystal looked down: she hadn’t expected Damien to touch her, but she also didn’t pull her hand away. She entwined her fingers in his as they walked to the gate. Damien had two tickets already ready, and gave them to the woman taking tickets. “Here you go, Damien,” said the woman.
“How did that woman know your name?” asked Crystal as they walked into the fair.
“Oh, we...worked together, once,” said Damien. “It’s a long story. Come on, do you wanna explore the fair? Have some real fun?”
“Sure, but...hey, you were the one that wanted to come here in the first place, for mini golf. Shouldn’t we do that first?” asked Crystal.
Damien was surprised. Crystal was impressing him more and more by the minute. No other woman he’d ever been on a date with had cared what he wanted to do...and here was Crystal, putting his desires before her own. “Yeah, let’s work up an appetite,” said Damien, walking with Crystal, through the center of the carnival, which was full of food vendors. “See anything delicious?”
“Where to begin,” asked Crystal, looking around. “Of course, cotton candy would really be a sweet treat that’s good to eat. Frozen lemonade...that’s delicious too. But I think what I really need is one of those sausages.”
Damien’s pants sausage twitched at the suggestion of hot meat entering Crystal’s mouth. “Hot sausage?” asked Damien.
“Yeah, in a bun or out of a bun, I do love sausage,” said Crystal.
“Big, meaty sausages?” asked Damien. “With lots of...toppings?”
“Oh, of course, and I really like the Polish and Italian ones,” said Crystal.
“Well...if it’s sausage you’re into...” said Damien slyly, before brushing Crystal’s hand over his pants so she could feel his bulge.
“Oh my God, really?” asked Crystal, pulling her hand away. The last thing she’d expected was that she’d feel Damien’s cock that night...but even through his pants, she could tell that he was really hung down there, and what was worse, it actually turned her on. “Damien, gross! This is a first date!”
“Hey, you had to know how dirty that sounded,” said Damien, taking Crystal’s hand again. “Sausages...buns...” The very thought of Crystal’s ample buns in his hands set Damien’s cock a-twitching.
“Okay, whatever mister, I guess I’m going to have to eat tofu and salads from now on, because I can’t imagine ever being able to look at a sausage the same way again,” said Crystal as they approached the mini-golf course. The mini-golf course was large and took up about half the carnival, but was pretty empty. Now that Crystal thought about it, the whole park was pretty empty, except for employees and some families playing games and eating food. It was also very clean. “Why’s the place so quiet tonight?”
“The carnival? No clue,” said Damien. Damien’s bear roared, telling him to just frikkin’ tell Crystal the truth, that the truth could win her over easily, and that before the night was over, he could have that curvy goddess in his bed...but Damien ignored the bear as frikkin’ usual. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
“You know, I bet my editor would love for me to write an article about this place,” said Crystal. “It’d be super popular with our readership.”
“Uh...sure,” said Damien. “But wouldn’t you rather write about something more important?”
“Yeah, but that’ll happen when pigs fly,” said Crystal. “Let’s get our clubs and balls.”
Damien resisted making a joke about how Crystal could have his club and balls. The pair got their putters and a set of three golf balls each, Crystal picking out a pink club and pink balls and Damien picking out a green club and balls.
“Didn’t take you for the type of girl that would like pink,” said Damien as they walked to the first hole.
“Really?” asked Crystal. “Why’s that?”
“You were wearing that goth ensemble when we first met,” said Damien.
“Goth? It’s called looking professional,” said Crystal. “Members of the press have to dress in all black so they don’t stand out too much.”
“Ah, like spies or ninjas,” said Damien.
“Well, if you hadn’t noticed, I’m dressed a lot differently tonight,” said Crystal, motioning to her outfit.”
“Okay, okay, so I guess I can’t judge a book by its cover,” said Damien. “Lesson learned. When was the last time you played mini-golf?”
“Oh, gosh, it was years ago,” started Crystal. She told Damien stories about her youth, and they learned more and more about each other as they played through the eighteen miniature golf holes. As they reached the sixteenth hole, it had started to sprinkle, and by the time they turned in their clubs (Crystal narrowly beating Damien by three strokes), there was a light rain.
Crystal and Damien high-tailed it to the food court area, which had canopies over the various vendor’s stands. “What do you want?” asked Crystal, pulling out her wallet.
“Hey, it’s a date, I’m supposed to be the one to treat you,” said Damien. He had to admit, he was impressed that Crystal was offering to pay. Never had a girl ever offered to pay before.
“Come on, you already lost at golf, you really wanna lose twenty bucks on food too?” asked Crystal. “What do you want?”
“Hey...I actually have these tickets for food,” said Damien, pulling out another string of tickets. “They work for the rides and for the snacks. After tonight, they’ll be worthless. So, we’ve got to spend them all tonight. What do you want?”
“Let’s see,” said Crystal. “A loaded sausage on a bun would really hit the spot...and a diet cola, because I worked up a real thirst playing mini-golf. Oh, and can we get fries and onion rings?”
“Of course,” said Damien. “And that cotton candy you wanted, did you want pink or blue or yellow?”
“Can I get all three, mixed together?” asked Crystal.
“Your wish is my command,” said Damien. “Go nab us those seats over there, under the canopy.”
