"Oh just the girls" Maria smiled pleasantly. She really was beyond beautiful and somehow her swimwear was even skimpier than Alexandra's "they have helped me so much since I came here from Venezuela"
"That's a long way to come" James admitted "what made you decide to relocate here?"
"My boyfriend" she answered innocently as if she were somehow unaware of the purpose of James' visit "he is a wizard at the school. He was able to get me a place here. I was very lucky"
James wanted to smack himself in the forehead. Of course she had a boyfriend, he was amazed so many of the other girls here were single looking like they did. And of course he was a fucking wizard. James could practically hear Elspeth laughing at him. That extra two minutes hadn't been benevolence at all.
"Well, it was great talking to you" James nodded getting up "I shouldn't keep Elspeth waiting"
"Already?" Maria looked baffled "that was two minutes?"
She shrugged and waved him goodbye.
As James made his way back to Elspeth he couldn't have been happier. In hindsight his desperation to ralk to Maria had been nothing less than greed. She was lovely to look at but he had never really seen her as a potential kindred spirit or compatible partner like the others he had approached. Her status as his "if I get a few extra minutes at the end" option said it all. He had gotten a little carried away. But he figured most men suddenly put in this position would have behaved like kids in sweet shops too.
Still, he had four beautiful, amazing magical women to choose from. He was confident they were the pick of the bunch and he couldn't have managed his time any better. He'd be lucky to spend more time with any of them.
James figured he probably just had the short walk to Elspeth left to make his decision. He just needed to be completely sure the name currently in his head was the one he wanted to give to her.