“Pull yourself together, Violet,” I told myself.
Looking over at my computer, the King Arthur webpage was still up and I immediately felt ridiculous. Glad that no one was around to make fun of me, I turned the computer off and threw the empty pizza box away.
I’d had enough crazy for one night and my full stomach was sending me straight into a food coma. Bat cradled in my arm, I went to bed and fell asleep thinking about Arthur and his destiny to rule Britain.
Chapter 5
The next few weeks went by without incident. I did a little more research on King Arthur but came up empty handed. If some sort of Magic was behind Robert healing me, the only way to confirm it would be to confront Robert, who had mysterious vanished.
My cuts and bruises slowly started to heal so, on the outside I looked more like myself every day. But on the inside, I had been forever altered. Nothing felt the same anymore. I didn’t know how I was supposed to slip back into my life as if the attack and Robert had never happened.
Becky, on the other hand, thought she had the answer to all my problems: a double date. She told the guys to meet us at the Mexican restaurant, Cantina, at eight. True to form, Becky had made us about ten minutes late. She spent so much time fussing over what I was going to wear that she barely had any time to get herself ready. As we walked up to the restaurant, Becky pointed out the guys and informed me the tall brunette was my date. We stepped onto the curb and Becky gave her date a quick kiss before turning to introduce me.
“Violet, this is Daniel,” she said, looking at her date and patting him on the chest. It reminded me of a new owner scratching her freshly adopted mutt’s belly.
“Nice to meet you,” I said, extending my hand.
“You too. Beck never shuts up about you,” Daniel said with a laugh as he shook my hand.
“And this is Ian. Ian, Violet. Violet, Ian,” Becky said, waving her hand between us with a big smile.
“It’s very nice to meet you,” I extended my hand to Ian.
His cool blue eyes crawled over me and the corners of his mouth turned upwards.
“The pleasure’s all mine,” Ian cooed. He took my hand in his and raised it to his lips.
I smiled and politely removed my hand from his grasp. This is going to be a long night, I thought. I’d had my share of sweet-talking, suave types of guys and learned the hard way to stay far away from them.
I had to give it to Becky, though. She told me he’d be good looking and he was. In a very obvious way but handsome nonetheless. His dark jeans and white button-up clung to him in all the right places, accentuating his fit physique. It was a warm summer evening so he’d rolled up the sleeves of his shirt just below the elbow, leaving the top few buttons undone to show off the hollow of his neck. He was tan, but the faded orange color of his skin betrayed it as a fake tan.
“Shall we?” Ian asked, holding out his arm for me to take.
I took a deep breath, grabbed his arm and we headed into the restaurant.
The Cantina was new in town and fairly busy. Daniel had called ahead for a table so we didn’t have to wait long before being seated. The lights were kept low to help set the mood and candles in tinted glass vases glowed in the center of each table. Mariachi music played through the audio system, bringing the restaurant to life. Beautiful portraits of Mexican dancers and landscapes decorated the walls. Ian pulled my chair out for me to sit down and then sat next to Daniel across from me.
“So, Violet. I hear you’re a photographer,” Ian said, leaning across the table with his chin barely a safe distance from the candle.
“Yes, I am,” I replied, wondering if the evening would be improved if Ian accidentally set his shirt on fire.
“What kind of pictures do you take?” He sounded genuinely interested.
“Pretty much anything.”
Becky stepped on my foot under the table and I had to bite my lip to keep myself from yelling out.
“What I mean is, I’ll take any job to help pay the bills,” I added, biting my lip to ignore my throbbing foot. “Portrait’s, school photos, weddings.” The word “weddings” brought on a hundred flashes of the night I was attacked. Robert’s intensity, Brett dressed in red, my blood-soaked clothes. I had to suppress a shudder as I remembered the feel of the blade sliding into my stomach.
“I see,” Ian said, bringing me back to the present, “but what kind of pictures do you actually enjoy taking?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the odd jobs from time to time. It’s just, there’s something about a bare landscape, a part of the world untouched by human hands that I like to capture.”
“You should go by her studio and see some of her work,” Becky suggested, tearing her attention from Daniel for a brief moment.
I glared at her. How could she be doing this to me? She knew I didn’t even want to be here and now she was making additional plans for us.
“Your studio?” Ian asked, looking back at me.
“Yeah, I own my own studio,” I replied.
“Wow, that’s really great. I’d love to come by sometime and take a look.”
“Yeah, sounds good.” I kept my voice even, trying to be nice.
Before I could change the subject and ask what he did for a living our waiter came over to get our drink orders and drop off the complimentary chips and salsa. Both Ian and Daniel got beer and Becky and I ordered margaritas, blended for me, on the rocks for her. Plus an extra spike of tequila. I needed a strong drink and now.
“So, what is it you do for a living?” I asked while looking over the menu.
“I’m in film, mostly editing,” he said, shrugging nonchalantly.
“Film, huh? So you’re a Hollywood big shot?”
He laughed. “Not really a big shot, not yet at least. I’m still working my way up the ladder.”
“He’s being modest. This guy calls all the shots,” Daniel said, laughing and pointing his thumb in Ian’s direction.
Ian looked up at me from under his lashes, obviously a little embarrassed by his friend. He had a childlike innocence about him I hadn’t noticed before. Maybe my first impression of him wasn’t quite accurate.
“Have you worked on anything I might have heard of?” I asked, a little more interested in the conversation now.
“I mostly do indie films, but I’ve assisted on a few mainstream movies. I don’t really like to talk about it too much. In LA it’s all about what you’ve done and who you know. That’s all anyone ever talks about so I don’t really like to talk about work when I’m outside of the industry bubble.”
“Oh, well I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. I was just curious.” My cheeks flushed and I shifted uncomfortably in my chair.
“It’s nothing to be sorry for. Besides, I want to hear more about you.” He put his hand on top of mine and looked up at me.
Pulling my hand from underneath Ian’s, I reached up to grab my margarita before it could be placed down on the table and took a much needed sip. Our orders were taken and before Ian could ask me anything else about myself I turned my attention to Daniel.
“So, Daniel what do you do for a living?” I asked.
“I have an auto body shop. Mostly I restore older cars,” he answered, scooping up some salsa and shoving the chip in his mouth.
“It’s actually a nice shop,” Becky clarified as she looked at Daniel with an admiring gaze. She really seemed to be taken with this guy. I was surprised; maybe she did have real feelings for him.
“You mean to tell me the shop is actually in good shape?” Ian asked, laughing. “The last time I was there it looked like a bomb went off.”