Miss Green

I was feeling bold, and hoped that fortune would favor me in return. Miss Green clearly had a soft spot for me, for reasons I didn't know yet. If I was going to risk fucking up, then I might as well go for the best possible outcome if things turned out my way. I could already imagine it, the chance for me to meet the others as the young new fling of the wisest among them. If I wanted to make an impression on them, I couldn't think of a better way to do it than that.

"Ballsy. I like that." Reba applauded me for my choice. She took a glance at the calendar in the wall in front of us, and followed it with one at the clock. "Well, they meet tomorrow, but it's already six in the afternoon. She might be eating dinner already. Surely, you wouldn't be reckless enough to barge in right now?" The nerve of her to egg me on like that. The worst part was that it worked. Now I really wanted to see what I could do.

"Just give me a minute, alright" I raised my legs over the chair and crossed them together, after which i put my hands on my knees and closed my eyes. Trying to ignore everything around me as I concentrated, I searched for a reason I could give the librarian to let me dinner with her in her own place. Wait, I didn't need it to be at her place. I could try to invite her here. If only there was a reason for the special occasion... Like someone pressuring me.

"Got it!" I clapped my hands as I jumped out of my chair, running towards the refrigerator. "Okay, Reba, I'm going to need you to do two things. The first is easy, you're going to dress up with some of my clothes, I can help you pick them in a moment. The second is complicated. Can you make something good with this, in about an hour?" I opened the door, letting her see what ingredients I had.

My white haired friend didn't quite know what I had planned, but she was glad I did come up with something. "Yeah, I've done better with worse. Quite a few of my previous ringmasters had me cook for them. I'm not a word class chef, but it's going to be pretty tasty." She was eyeing the chicken breasts. "If I was you I would ask is she's a vegan or not, and pray that she isn't."

"Will do!" I nodded as I rushed outside into the hall. Taking a moment to calm myself down, I confidently walked to Miss Green's door and knocked on it. I waited for two minutes before she undid the lock and opened a little gap to see who I was. Her surprised expression softened when she saw me.

"Michael, to what do I owe you a visit at this hour?" She fully opened the door and walked into me for a hug. She made them surprisingly tight for a person her size. Strangely, she was wearing a trench-coat, and I could feel something on it's front pocket poking against me. I decided not to question her about it, lest that ruin the mood and make my goal more difficult.

"Oh, I hate to bother you, but I have my sister for a visit and I accidentally spilled how good you've been to me ever since I moved here. She's now insisting that I have to invite you for dinner. I tried to reason with her that you were probably preparing your own or even eating at this hour, but she just wouldn't budge." I felt pretty good about my story and performance, yet I could sense quite a lot of suspicion in her eyes. Regardless, her smile never left her face. "You have no reason to appease her like I am, but you would be doing me a big favor if you came over."

"Luckily for you, I was so enthralled my book this afternoon that I had neglected my dinner. I would much prefer to eat a nice dinner with the two of you than to be cooking late into the night or opening a can of beans." She noticed what she was wearing. "Of course, I'll need to change first. When is dinner happening?"

"In an hour or so, around seven. Also, my sister insists on cooking, and she wants to know if you're a vegan or if there's anything else that you can't or won't eat."

She laughed. "I'm not, thanks for your concern. I know that it's polite to ask, but I've had quite a few people over the years assume I'm a vegan, and to this day I don't know why that is. To my friends, the only thing that convinced them I'm not a vampire is my enjoyment of garlic." She backed into her apartment. "See you at seven!"

I honestly couldn't believe myself that this worked out so well. It really seems like this was my lucky day.