Chapter 3

“What?” Linda asked, perking up and looking around. “Where is he?”

Eve slumped into her seat and hissed, “Don’t look at him!”

 Sighing and tilting her head, Linda asked, “How can I look at him if I don’t know where he is?”

 Eve glanced at him again and saw he was deep in conversation with another man. He hadn’t noticed her. 

 Sitting up, she jerked her thumb toward the other side of the room. 

 “Do you see the gorgeous guy sitting at that table across the room?” she asked. “He’s talking to the blonde guy in the blue suit.”

 Linda turned to look and asked, “You mean the hot guy coming this way?”

 “What?!” Eve yelped, sitting straight and turning to look. 

 Sure enough, Arec was walking toward their table with a smile. 

 “I feel sick,” Eve whispered, not taking her eyes off him as he walked closer.

 “I didn’t expect to see you here at my favorite restaurant, Ms. Rolands,” he said as he stopped beside their table. “Or may I call you Eve since we’re outside the office?”

 She tried to smile at him and croaked, “Eve is fine.”

 He nodded and said, “Then Eve it is.”

 He glanced at Linda and asked, “And who is your lovely friend?”

 Linda practically glowed as she held her hand out and introduced herself. 

 “Linda Marcello,” she said, batting her eyes at him. 

 He took her hand and shook it. 

 “So nice to meet you,” he told her in a low voice.

She giggled and said, “The pleasure is all mine.”

 “Oh, I don’t know about that,” he said, grinning at her. 

 Linda blushed even pinker, if that was possible. Eve rolled her eyes at her friend. Arec must have seen her as he winked at her with a devilish grin. Eve could feel her face getting warm and glanced out the window. 

  Movement along the top of the hill caught her eye, and she leaned closer. 

 “What is that?” she asked, leaning toward the window to get a better look.

 She cupped her hand over the window to block the light behind her. 

 “What is what?” Linda asked, turning to look. 

 “I swear I saw something moving at the top of the hill,” Eve told her. 

 “What did it look like?” Arec asked. 

 Eve turned to look at him and was startled by the intense look on his face as he stared out at the darkness. 

 “I’m not sure,” she said, frowning. “It was big, and it moved fast.”

 Shaking her head, she added, “I could only see it because it was silhouetted against the sky.”

 Linda shuddered and said, “That sounds spooky. I’m glad I didn’t see it.”

 Eve smiled at her and said, “I’m sure it was nothing. Most likely, it was just a reflection from something in the room, and I mistook it for something else.”

 They both turned to look at Arec, who was still staring intently out of the window. 

 “Do you see anything?” Eve asked.

 Arec started as if her voice had broken him out of a spell. He looked down at her and shook his head. 

 “Just my reflection,” he told her. “It’s too dark to see anything out there.”

 She nodded, frowning. 

 “If you ladies will excuse me, I need to get back to my table,” he said and walked away before either could respond. 

 “Well, he certainly was interesting,” Linda said. “Was he like this all day?”

 Eve nodded, slumping in her seat. 

 “Imagine trying to work around that all day,” she said, shaking her head. 

 Linda shook her head and said, “Girl, that does sound exhausting! However did you manage to stop yourself from ripping his clothes off every time you got near him?”

 Giggling, Eve straightened and said, “Believe me, it wasn’t easy, but I managed. I do need the job after all.”

 Waving her hands over the table, she added, “This dinner isn’t going to pay for itself.”

 As if on cue, the server came by with the check. 

 As he put it on the table, he said, “Don’t worry about the bill. That attractive gentleman over there already paid for it.”

 Eve and Linda turned to look across the room. Arec and his friend spotted them, and Arec waved. Linda waggled her fingers back at him while Eve looked stunned. Finally, she lifted her hand and gave a halfhearted wave. 

 “Such nice gentlemen, those two,” the server said, watching them leave. 

 Turning back to Eve and Linda, he said, “They also said if you added dessert, it was on them.”

 Linda’s eyes lit up, and she said, “Then I’ll take the chocolate cheesecake.”

 Looking at Eve, she added, “Make that two.”

 Eve sighed and nodded. 

 “Why not?” she asked with a shrug. “Let’s live a little.”

 After they had finished their meals, they sat at the table and talked, catching up on their lives. 

 “Excuse me, ladies, but I must ask you to finish up.”

 They broke off their conversation to look at the server, who stood beside their table with an apologetic smile. 

 “I’m afraid it’s past closing time, and we need to finish cleaning,” he said. 

 Eve and Linda looked around the now-empty restaurant, then looked at each other with identical looks of surprise.

 “I’m sorry about that,” Eve said. 

 Linda nodded and said, “We must have gotten carried away with talking. Let’s get out of your hair, so you can close down.”

 They packed up their leftovers and walked out of the restaurant, calling out their apologies to the staff as they did. 

 “Where did you park?” Eve asked. 

 Linda pointed to the edge of the parking lot and said, “It was crowded when I got here, so that was the closest one I could find.”

 “Let me walk you to your car,” Eve said. “I don’t want you walking all that way by yourself.”

 “Then who’s going to walk you to your car?” Linda asked. 

 “You can give me a ride,” Eve told her. 

 Linda thought for a moment before nodding. 

 “That sounds like a plan,” she said. 

 They walked toward Linda’s car, which was parked under a light. 

 “At least you didn’t have to park in the darkest part of the parking lot,” Eve said as they walked. 

 “Tell me about it,” Linda said, glancing toward the trees. “It sure is spooky out here tonight.”

 Eve looked around and nodded. 

 “Hey, at least the full moon is providing us with plenty of light,” she said, nodding toward the moon rising over the trees. 

 Linda turned to look at it, then frowned and asked, “Isn’t that the time of the month when crazy things happen?”

 Eve shrugged and said, “Those are just stories. I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything like that.”

 Linda shivered and said, “Plus, it’s that time of the month when the werewolves come out.”

 Eve laughed and asked, “Are you serious? Werewolves? Do you really believe that stuff?”

 Linda looked at her and said, “You never know.”

 They reached Linda’s car and got inside. Linda drove to Eve’s car and parked beside it. 

 “Here you are, my friend,” she said. 

 “Thanks for the ride,” Eve said, getting out. 

 “Enjoy your leftovers, and let me know what Mr. Hottie McHotPants does tomorrow!”

 “Will do!” Eve said before shutting the door. 

 Linda waited until Eve got inside her car and started it before waving and pulling away. 

 Eve waved back, then noticed a discarded plastic bag on the ground next to the car. 

 “Man, I hate people who litter,” she said, opening the car door. 

 After getting out and throwing the bag away, she stared at the moon for a few moments, admiring its beauty.

 Thinking of Linda’s comment about werewolves, she shook her head and muttered, “Seriously. What was that girl thinking?”

 She walked to her car and reached out to open the door when something in the window’s reflection caught her eye. 

 Turning, she screamed as a pair of yellow eyes and a mouthful of sharp teeth leaped at her.