“Is there anything I should know before dinner?” Eric asked. He and Cassie sat in the backseat of Ben’s car. The two were sitting awfully close to each other, and once in a while, Ben caught them holding hands or just gazing at each other.
“Who needs e-Harmony when you’ve got Ben Twist.” he thought amused, and very glad things between the two were working out so well.
“Not really.” Cassie said.
“What’s your mom do for work?”
“Odd as it is, she’s a vet.”
“Why is that odd?”
“Well, weres don’t usually keep pets. I mean, why have a cat or dog when you can turn into one? Of course some people like having an animal companion. I never really understood why, but whatever. Personally I’d rather have a pet tiger than a poodle.” Cassie shrugged.
“A pet tiger?” Eric repeated, an eyebrow raised.
“My mom works at the zoo in Seattle. And when I was little, I used to ask for a puppy all the time. So she said that a tiger would be a better pet because they were more colorful, and wouldn’t chew my sneakers.” Cassie blushed.
Ben silently laughed to himself. Eric on the other hand, enjoyed the slight flush to Cassie’s cheeks, and the way she kept awkwardly fidgeting. It was cute, to Eric at least.
“Do you still want a pet tiger?”
“No. I’ve gone to work with my mom before. Tigers tend not to like werewolves, since in the wild tigers and wolves compete over prey and territory.”
“You’ll have to continue this chat inside kiddies. We have reach our destination.” Ben said, turning around in his seat. Neither Eric, nor Cassie, realized they’d arrived at the latter’s house already. They’d spent so much time staring at each other.
“Thanks Ben.” Cassie said, and Eric echoed.
“No problem. Thanks for choosing Twist Transportation. Be sure to leave a glowing review on Yelp!” Ben drove away, with a very wide grin on his face.
But as happy for those two as he was, he wished it was that easy for him to find a mate. Ben knew all the other single females wolves in the area. And they just weren’t that “interesting” to him. He didn’t limit himself by species or age. Yet he still had trouble finding someone worthwhile to see. And not just for the recreational stuff.
Ben pulled his car over near the pack grounds. It was safe for him to run there, without worrying about anyone catching him. The sun was technically still up. Ben undressed in his car, and then shifted as soon as he got out. He locked his car, and then dove headfirst into the forest. The small pouch around his neck held tight so it wouldn’t bounce off his chest while he ran.
“Need to burn off some of the extra energy. Didn’t get to do anything last night. Won’t do anything now that Cassie’s with Eric.” Ben thought. It was a bittersweet victory. Ben’s friend got a new friend, possibly a new girlfriend, but Ben also lost his “friend-with-benefits”. Cassie had been his go to for that kind of stuff.
“Don’t be selfish Benjamin. Sharing is good. Besides, there’s a whole buffet of eligible ladies to choose from.” Ben thought.
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Back to the “just dinner”…
Eric adjusted his shirt a few times before following Cassie into her house. She repeatedly told him that he looked fine. But Eric still felt a bit self-conscious. He’d only done the whole “meet the parents” thing once before. And at least his own parents had been with him to take some of the pressure off.
“I’m back!” Cassie said once Eric finally worked up the nerve to enter.
Eric wasn’t used to his new senses just yet. So he found all the different smells in the air a bit overwhelming at first. His post-transformation car rides were another unforeseen hurtle, as he could hear some of the car’s inner-workings, and smell the gasoline.
But at least these sounds and smells were much more appealing. The strongest of all the different scents being garlic. Which even to a normal person was strong.
Following Cassie from their living room into the kitchen/dining room, Eric saw her mother mixing a bowl of what he identified as pasta sauce. Anna O’Sullivan looked a lot like Cassie, but with longer hair, and brown eyes. Eric noticed a few family photos on the wall.
Most were of Cassie, during her elementary school years. A few more were vacation photos. Eric knew the tall, broad shouldered man in the pictures was Cassie’s late father, George. His hair was black, and kept messy like Cassie’s.
“Eric, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Anna said, wiping her hands off on the apron around her waist. Eric smiled and thanked her for allowing him to join them.
“It’s no trouble. And I’m sure you’re tired of hearing this, but I’m sorry about your father’s passing.”
“It’s alright Ms. O’Sullivan, thank you. And I’m sure you’re tired of hearing this as well, but I’m sorry about your husband’s death.” Eric said.
Anna thanked Eric, and told the two teenagers dinner would be ready in a minute or two. She was very humbled at how polite Eric was. And then surprised to see how he and Cassie interacted with each other.
They’d known each other, what twelve hours? And yet, they were acting like they’d been friends since birth. Eric was a perfect gentleman about everything, pulling her chair out, complimenting her old photos, and kissing her cheek every so often.
“Cupid struck early this year.” Anna thought, smiling as she saw Cassie return the kiss. The two looked like they might start to do more than kiss, so Anna made a point to loudly open and close the refrigerator.
Eric and Cassie jumped apart (though they were both seated), and blushed as Anna came over.
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Elsewhere…
While Eric and Cassie were enjoying their dinner together, Julie was not enjoying hers. It was the standard hospital issue platter. And as she pushed what she hoped were potatoes around her plate, she tried to take her mind off things. Which was proving to be impossible.
As hard as she tried, Julie couldn’t ignore the looks her parents kept giving her every other minute. Or the looks the nurses would give her when they came into the room to check on the patient. Having spent the entire day in that damn bed, Julie finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“Mom, Dad…,” Julie raised her voice a little to make sure she got the attention of both parents, who were whispering things to each other in a corner of the room.
“Yes Julie?” Martin said, approaching his daughter’s bedside.
“Why am I still here? I feel fine.” Julie asked.
“Uh, well you did say you couldn’t really remember anything from yesterday.” Martin said, sweat rolling down his neck.
Both Martin and Melissa had spent the afternoon trying to fabricate a decent story for their daughter, which would explain her amnesia, and why she was being kept in the hospital. Unfortunately, every story left more questions unanswered than it solved.
“I remember some stuff. Just not what happened, like say last night. What did happen?” Julie looked at her parents, trying to figure out why they had those weird expressions on their faces.
“You don’t have to worry about that right now.” Melissa said.
“Ya, I do. I’ve got nothing better to do.” Julie said, screwing her face up. She was tired of everyone giving her shady answers.
“What’s the worst that could have happened? I fell down a staircase?” she thought.