“You wanted to talk?” Blade said as he set his tray down and slid into the seat across from Mandy. For her part, Mandy responded by stealing a couple of his fries – nothing he wasn’t used to. He smiled though.
“I’d be remiss if I said I didn’t miss that.”
She smiled. “Yes, I wanted to talk.” she looked around to make sure no one was close enough to hear. Fortunately, their corner of the McDonald’s was either relatively empty or people were too busy on their phones or laptops to pay attention.
“Well, what about?” he asked before digging into his food.
“Me. You. Timur. Secrets.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Something’s on your mind.”
She nodded. “I was talking with Timur last night. He told me he went to talk to you.”
“That’s true enough. What did he say?”
“That you were a little arrogant. But mostly to say it’s not cool to move in on another guy’s girl. That about right?”
He took his last bite of sandwich and nodded. “Pretty much.”
“He also told me you’d been keeping a secret from me. Something big, something that wasn’t your fault for never telling me.”
“Oh?” he said, a hint of caution in his voice.
“Yeah. He said you’re a ghoul.” her voice was low to ensure no one overheard, but he had definitely heard her, and he was too shocked to hide his expression.
“When…How…Are you mixed up in all of it?” he said, his voice slightly panicked and pained. The thought of her also being a ghoul bothered him a lot. He knew vampires didn’t always treat their ghouls well. Hell, even Richard didn’t always treat him well.
“My Dad found out about them and told me. Turns out quite a few of the people we knew were mixed up with it.”
“That’s a hell of a coincidence.” he said, taking a sip of his drink after regaining his composure.
“Maybe. But it is what it is, and they’ve never done anything to hurt us.”
“Interesting. So they’ve never tried to feed on you, or make you into what I am?”
She shook her head. “Dad made a deal with them – I’m off limits.”
Relief washed over his face. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“How long?” she asked.
“How long what?”
“How long have you been…well, you know.”
“Not long. About a year, though I’d been working for him for a while before that. My canceled dates with you and sudden departures were due to that.” he said apologetically.
“It’s ok. I was used to it because of Dad. Which, by the way, I was also told you know what he really does.”
He nodded. “Yeah, it explains a few things.”
She reached over, stealing a few more of his fries. “There’s more.”
“More?”
“On a different topic.” she looked thoughtful as she took a sip of her drink and tried to contemplate how best to get things across.
“You know you can tell me anything.” he said, reaching across the table to put a hand over hers.
“I know. Well, it’s like this. I talked to Timur about him and me, and me and you.”
“You and I?”
“Yeah. How I feel about you and stuff.”
“And how is that?”
She gave him a look. “I imagine the same you still feel towards me.”
He smiled. “Where does that put us then? Are you two through? Or are we cutting ties?”
“Neither. Quite frankly I care about you both and want you both. I know you probably don’t want to share me again, but it’s the truth.”
He sucked in a breath, then let it out slowly. It was true, he didn’t want to share her. But to have her at all again? He could deal with that.
“Mandy…”
“Blake.” she said, a teasing tone in her voice, and he winced a little.
“Please..”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry.”
He sighed and smiled. “I’d do anything to make you happy. If that means sharing you, so be it.” he took the hand he was resting on, and brought it to his lips for a kiss.
“Thank you.” she said. “That only leaves one more thing.”
“Oh?”
She nodded. “To get both of you in a room together and hash this relationship out like adults. I want to make sure the two of you can get along better than you and Lucius did.”
“I’ve got a free evening tonight.”
“I’ll text him, and see if he’s available. We’ll go from there.” she pulled out her phone, and sent a message to Timur: Hey Timur. Was wondering if you would be willing to meet with Blade and I tonight, in order to has things out? I want to make sure we can all get along.
She set the phone down and picked at her food. “Now we wait.”