Rachel
She finished pulling on her outfit and admired herself as best she could in the bathroom mirror. A full-length mirror was something she desperately longed for, but unfortunately the meager allowance that was given to all the women by the Cadians was not enough to allow for fringe niceties like that. She’d had to scrimp and save to buy the outfit she was wearing today, along with just about every other outfit she owned, except for a dress she’d worn to the formal ball when she’d first arrived in Cloud Lake. An extra sum had been provided for that.
“Should I wear the dress instead?” she asked, turning to her friends.
Both Elle and Angela had come over to help her prepare. Rachel had been so excited. She’d wanted to go on her date the evening that he’d called, but it hadn’t been convenient for either of them, and would have been semi-rushed anyway. So they’d agreed on the following day, and now it was here, and the time was near as well. Hector would be here any minute, and she wanted to make sure he liked the way she looked.
“No, it’s too long and formal,” Elle said. “This is the first date. You want to dress nice, but you don’t want to go overboard.” She paused. “Do you know where he’s taking you yet?”
She shook her head. “No idea. He said it would a surprise, but I didn’t have to wear anything specific.”
“I think you look fabulous,” Angela said, nodding her head fiercely to put emphasis on her words.
“Damn straight,” Elle agreed. “He’s gonna be drooling all over you.”
Rachel blushed. “Okay, if you think so. God, who knew dressing up while almost thirty weeks pregnant would be so hard?”
The three of them giggled.
“Probably anyone who stopped to actually think about it,” Elle said. “But trust us, you look great. And he’s well aware of the fact that you’re pregnant.”
“I know,” she said. “I mean, I know he knows, but I can’t help but wonder if he knows. You know. Like, he knows I’m pregnant, he can see it. But does he know what that means if he gets involved with me? If we’re going to be together, that he’s signing up for the child that comes with me?”
She reached down and caressed her stomach gently with both hands through the white stretchy top she wore. It was like a blouse—it had a collar and buttons on it—but the material was designed to stretch around her stomach. Elle had found it while out shopping one day, and since the two of them were near the same size, she’d agreed to let her borrow it. Many of the women did this, since they couldn’t afford to all buy their own wardrobes.
Putting together women of similar sizes into clothing support groups had just been one of the many types of groups she’d put together since arriving in Cloud Lake. It had just been a random idea at the time, but now she was extremely grateful for it. She would never have thought of such an item beforehand, but it looked amazing, or so they both were telling her. The true test would be what Hector thought.
“I’m sure he knows,” Elle said dismissively. “But just in case, make sure you bring it up at some point before it gets serious, just so that you can reassure yourself.” She shrugged. “It’s what I would do.”
“Yeah, I definitely will. Not today though,” she said.
Elle made to reply, but before she could, the door of her ground-floor unit shook with the restrained thunder of someone knocking upon it.
“Oh my goodness, he’s here!” Angela half-shrieked.
“Aren’t I the one who’s supposed to be freaking out?” she asked Elle, while the both of them looked at their friend.
“Yeah. But don’t tell her that,” Elle replied.
Rachel laughed, feeling the butterflies in her stomach begin to do loops as she brushed a hand through her short hair and took in a deep breath. “Okay ladies, into the bedroom, and no making any noise. And definitely no peeking.”
Angela pouted while Elle dragged her along, disappearing back into the small bedroom at the rear of the unit. Once she was sure the door was closed, Rachel headed toward the front door, which rattled again with a knock.
“Coming,” she called.
The knocking stopped.
Looking through the peephole she found herself staring at a stubble-covered chin. The eyeholes clearly weren’t designed with shifters in mind.
“Who is it?” she asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.
“It’s Hector,” came the reply, the low thunder of his voice working its way through the door.
Rachel couldn’t contain the smile that blossomed on her face even if she’d wanted to, which she didn’t. Throwing back the lock, she swung the door open.
“Hi,” she said nervously as he came into sight.
“Hello,” he replied, his voice tight with nerves as well.
The two stood there for a moment without saying anything. Rachel looked him up and down. He was wearing a bone-colored V-necked short-sleeve shirt and charcoal gray pants with a sharp crease down each leg. The shoes were a dark brown mix of dress shoe and everyday walker.
She felt her cheeks grow heated as his eyes met hers and she realized he’d been watching her give him the once-over. The brown circles of his eyes seemed to shrink as his pupils dilated while he smiled at her.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said, not trusting her voice to say anything more.
“Shall we then?” He gestured down the little concrete walk that led to the crushed gravel that was the single-lane pathway between the units.
“Of course.” She stepped out of the house, grabbing her purse from a hook and closing the door behind her. She didn’t lock up. Not only was there no need, but it would have been unlocked when Elle and Angela left anyway.
Hector snagged her arm and linked it in his before she could protest. They walked along the winding pathway that led through the units, heading for the exit. There were a number of buildings that had been constructed, all with equal amounts of units within them. Each unit was identical, allowing the shifters to have constructed them quickly and easily. They were meant to be temporary though, and so not much effort had been put into things like landscaping and fringe décor.
Eventually they emerged back onto one of the streets that marked the edges of Cloud Lake, and headed back into the town itself. The units were at the south end of town, while the embassy itself was on the eastern border.
“Do I get to find out where we’re going?” she asked eventually.
“Nope.”
“Oh.” She fell into silence.
Hector took pity on her and gave her arm a little shake. “A surprise is better, isn’t it?”
“Depends on the surprise.”
He laughed gently. “I had to go for something a little generic, since I wasn’t completely sure where your interests lay. But I think I picked out something good that we’ll both enjoy.”
Rachel worked her mouth in thought. “I see. It sounds like you’ve put some thought into this.”
“Well, I’ve had several weeks to think about it,” he said, teasing her about always being busy.
“I’m sorry!” she laughed. “I’m involved in a lot of stuff with the other women, and it’s just been so hectic lately. I just didn’t have time.”
“You found some now though, so I’m thankful for that.”
She smiled up at him, admiring the soulful look of his eyes as the brown circles focused on her.
“Sort of,” she admitted. “I was also kind of told I wasn’t allowed to come to some of the things and that I was being banned from them until I agreed to see you.”
Hector came to a stop.
“What?”
The mirth on his face took away any sting that might have been in his words. “You’re telling me that this is a pity date? That your friends forced you into it?”
Rachel just sort of shrugged.
“Oh jeez. My ego is never going to recover from this one,” he moaned, clutching at his heart. “Here I thought you’d finally just had some time available. But nope, you’re doing it just so you can be allowed back in your groups!”
“That’s not it!” she laughed, slugging him playfully in the arm before slipping her hand back around his elbow. “It’s not like that at all.”
“It sure kind of seems like it.”
“It’s not. I kind of wanted to do it already, and when they found out that I kept saying no to you because of my commitments to them, they took charge and removed my excuse.”
“I’m still not feeling overly reassured that you actually want to be here,” he joked.
“Good. That means you’ll have to try extra hard,” she teased, tugging on his arm to prevent him from walking away as he laughed.
“I’m already going to try extra hard. How else am I supposed to impress a beautiful woman like you and make her want to see me again?”
She smiled at the flattery. “You’re off to a good start.”
“Finally, something is coming up Hector!”
They both laughed and then continued on their walk. The pace was slow, and he stopped them at various benches along the way. It was weird; every prior date that Rachel had been on, the man had picked her up in a car. It was just a thing, they drove somewhere. But it wasn’t like that with Hector. They walked. All shifters walked. Few, if any of them really, drove vehicles. Most of them hated technology and stayed away from it as much as possible. There was a nice quaintness to that, but before long her feet began to hurt.
“Is it much farther?” she asked gently. “I don’t mean to complain, but, well…” she gestured at her stomach and half-lifted her shoulders in his direction.
“Another minute, maybe three depending on pace,” he said.
Rachel frowned up the street as they kept walking, trying to figure out where they were going. It was roughly five thirty she figured, which was a little early for dinner, but still a possibility. She could eat if he took her for food. Her eyes weren’t seeing a restaurant though.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
“To get the single best thing humans have invented besides beer,” he said with a grin.
Rachel glanced at him. “I thought shifters had a thing about steaks as well?”
“We do. But I said things humans invented. Steaks are definitely a shifter invention. Sorry.”
“I don’t care who came up with it, as long as it’s still pink when it’s served,” she said pointedly.
Hector mimed fainting. “Please, just take me now. A woman who likes her steak properly cooked?”
She grinned. “I’m not a rare type of girl, but medium-rare, medium at the absolute most, and I’m a happy lady.”
“Hallelujah!” he exclaimed, then sobered slightly. “But we’re not going for steaks. Or beer. I figured the first we could discuss, the second I’ll hold off till the third date.” He paused. “Maybe.” They laughed.
“But seriously, where are we going?” They had paused in front of a convenience store/video mart, something she didn’t think still existed. “A video store?”
Hector grinned and spun her around slowly, waving a hand in front of her. “Behold,” he said in awe. “The holy grail.”
“Ice cream?” she said. “You’re taking me for ice cream?”
He cringed. “Is that a bad thing?”
Rachel hugged his arm tight. “Hell no! That’s amazing. Nobody’s ever taken me for ice cream to start a date. Let’s go!”
They started across the street after waiting for several cars to pass.
“Though I didn’t realize that you had such an interest in ice cream,” she said, meaning shifters in general.
“Oh, oh Rachel. You have no idea. Besides bars, ice cream parlors are the second most profitable enterprise in Cadia. I think we have like, fifteen of them, maybe? Something crazy like that.”
She felt her forehead wrinkle as she stared at him in disbelief. “No way. Seriously? Fifteen?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Since we started coming here on the regular, two more have opened in Cloud Lake. It’s…just a thing, I guess.”
“Interesting.”
Hector paused. “You…do like ice cream, don’t you?”
Rachel considered teasing him, pretending like that she didn’t, or maybe that she couldn’t due to an allergy or something. It was so very tempting, but he’d obviously been rather concerned about where to take her, and had decided to share something that was special to him. The least she could do was respect that.
“Absolutely,” she reassured him, squeezing his arm. “I love ice cream. I’ve never tried this particular place,” she glanced at the name. “Chilled Slab?”
“Yeah,” he said eagerly, pulling her along gently in his wake. “You pick your ice cream, and then any mixings you want, and they mix it all together on this super-chilled slab of like marble or something, to keep the ice cream cool. It’s amazing. You can get anything you want in there. Marshmallow, cookies, almonds, fruit, sprinkles. You name it, they can put it in as a topping!”
Hector’s enthusiasm was infectious. Rachel couldn’t help but grinning along with him as they headed inside. She’d never tried an ice cream place like this before, but it sounded interesting.
“Wow, that’s a lot of toppings.”
She could have sworn Hector bounced a little as they entered. The store itself wasn’t overly large. Tables occupied the immediate left and right of the door. Along the left-hand wall were some freezers containing what looked like ice cream cakes, pre-made pints, and the like. To her right was the prep station, with numerous buckets of ice cream flavors to choose from. Above that, a foot or two over Hector’s head, was a line of containers showing all the mixings one could choose from. It started against the wall, came out and around, following the length of the preparation station, then curved out into the middle of the store and finally ended on the far wall, forming a sloppy S-shape.
“Forty-nine different choices,” the employee nearest to them said by way of greeting. “Not including any of the fruit options.”
“Hector,” she said with a laugh. “There is no way I’m going to be able to choose. This is just way too many options!”
The shifter laughed and pointed to some signs nearby on the top of the glass that covered the ice cream. “You can always try some of the pre-mades, see how those work for you?”
“Oh, perfect,” she said in genuine relief. Decision-making like this was not one of her strong suits.
“I take it I should never really ask you where you want to go for dinner then?”
She looked at him in overexaggerated horror. “Please, no. It’s a nightmare. I’ll shoot down nine out of every ten suggestions, but don’t ask me to choose, please.”
He frowned. “You’re very self-aware of how that works.”
“It’s a blessing and a curse, trust me.”
“I, do,” he said haltingly. “It’s probably both a blessing and a curse for me too,” he joked. “Because I know you’ll know all along that you know what you’re doing, but you’re going to do it anyway.”
She grinned. “You get it!”
“Unfortunately.”
They both shared a laugh and then placed their order. Hector ordered something called birthday cake-flavored ice cream with marshmallow, crushed-up chocolate wafer cookies, and chocolate chips. It looked good. Rachel chose a random flavor and ended up with something resembling a s’more cookie, with chocolate chips, graham crackers, and the same birthday cake-flavored ice cream.
“This is unreal,” she said as Hector paid and they walked out of the store, the shifter pausing in his eating to hold the door for her.
“I’m glad you can appreciate the magnificence of Chilled Slab,” he said.
“I can. Thank you so much for taking me,” she said, remembering her manners just in time.
“Thank you for coming.”
She smiled and kept digging into the ice cream. Not being a major fan of cones, she’d gotten it in a cup, and the little spoon worked frantically to shovel it into her mouth before it started to melt and drip down the sides. They’d overpacked it by a good amount, though she wasn’t going to complain about it.
“So,” she asked. “Where to next?”