Without a Net Chapter Three
So I meant to post this on Wednesday, really, I did, but things just did not go the way that I had planned. It's getting to the interesting part soon, I promise.
Catching His Fish
Chapter Three
The sound of his cell phone ringing woke him up. He fumbled over to grab it and checked the time before answering it. It was eight o’clock, on Sunday.
“Hello?” He was certain that it sounded more like ‘lo’ but the person on the other end was replying, so it didn’t matter.
“Mr. Davis, this is Artemis Shaw.”
Darco felt himself wake up instantly. “Yes?”
“We’ve got it at the dock, and we’re waiting for you.”
“Excellent. I will be there momentarily. I have a few calls to make. Thank you.”
“Yes, sir.”
Darco hung up and let out a soft laugh. He called a mover first and gave him directions to the pier before calling Dianna. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be too put out with him about calling her so early. He shrugged and dialed her number.
“Erugh.”
“Good morning, you sound lovely.”
“’uck oo.”
“And such pleasant manners.”
“Darco?”
“Yes.”
“Why the hell are you calling me so early?”
Darco smiled. “My fish is at the pier, you wanted to come with me if I recall.” He ran a hand through his dark hair. He needed a quick shower and a shave before he left.
“Fine. I’ll be over in a bit.”
“You are such a morning person, my dear.”
She snorted. “Go to hell.” She hung up then.
Darco chuckled at her antics and put his phone back on his nightstand. He crawled out of bed and walked into his bathroom. His shower was quick and efficient. He shaved as quickly as possible without cutting himself and emerged out of his bathroom naked to go searching for clothes.
He settled on a blue suit and left his room to wait for Dianna in the sitting room. She arrived shortly, looking better than he would have thought, but still not her best. She was wearing big shades and when she took of the glasses, her eyes were red and she hadn’t put on any makeup. Her eyes looked small without her normal dramatic eye shadow.
“Are you ready to go?” He didn’t point out her looks. She already knew and didn’t need any salt rubbed into the wound.
“Yes.” She replied a bit stiffly. She didn’t approve of his hobby.
He stood and ushered her out of the door. They would take the Lamborghini. She got in on the passenger side with a huff. Darco rolled his eyes at her, hidden behind dark lenses. He climbed in on his side and put his baby into gear.
***
Dianna was wrinkling her nose. He wondered what she had been expecting the pier to look and smell like. It was a fishery, so of course it was going to smell of fish.
He met Artemis in front of his ship. The man was as oily as he had remembered. He had a pointed nose that was unflattering for his face and deep set eyes. Those eyes darted around nervously. Odd, the man had sounded so calm on the phone.
“Mr. Shaw.”
Artemis smiled at him. “Mr. Davis, and who is this lovely lady?”
Dianna leveled him with a bored look. “Dianna Rice.”
“A pleasure, Miss.” He grabbed her hand and kissed it. Dianna looked like she was about to be sick.
Darco took pity on her. “Where is it?”
Artemis looked away from Dianna and smiled. “This way.”
Darco and Dianna were led to a tank. It was dark in color and they had to climb a ladder to look into it. Dianna was not wearing heals for once, so she managed to look as well.
The creature was lovely. Pale blue-green scales along the tail led to a strong looking torso of pale skin. Pale hair and a humanoid face. It was a mermaid. Merman in this instance, if he knew his mythology correctly.
“Oh, he is very lovely.”
The creature looked up at her and narrowed its big eyes. Doing so bared it neck; it had gills. How odd.
“Yes, it will be right at home in my study.” The creature’s eyes flickered over to him. A strange look passed over them, but he doubted it was anything remotely human. It was an animal after all. A beautiful creature was still a creature, no matter how human it looked.
He watched it swim around for a moment before climbing down.
“Mr. Shaw, you will receive the rest of the payment shortly. Directly to your bank account as last time. Thank you.”
The fisherman nodded and left them alone.
“Do you think he will keep quiet?”
Darco looked at the man’s ship. It was an everyday fisher. “No, but I don’t need to worry about that, because his ship is going to sink.”
Before Dianna could do more then raise her eyebrows, another man was walking up to them. “This is the item?”
“Yes. It’s a rare fish; I’m adding it to my collection.”
“I see, sir.” The man started shouting various orders to his men and they went about moving the large holding tank.
“What about them?”
Darco looked at them. “They are under my employment. They spill the beans they know what will happen to them.” He shrugged.
“And people think I am cold hearted, Darco.”
He shrugged again. “Yes, but I am not as public as you are. Do not tell me that you wanted that man to live. Can you honestly say that you object?”
She shifted slightly and raised her head. She looked like she was ready to protest his actions, but she deflated. “No, I honestly cannot blame you. However, Darco, that doesn’t not make what you are doing right.”
Darco scowled at her. “You know, that is rich coming from you.”
She pursed her lips and shrugged. “I’m not breaking laws.”
“Only morals. Come, I should meet my movers at the house.”
She pursed her lips again, but she relented. He had a feeling that she was going to leave immediately upon their return to his house. He found that he didn’t care. She would get over it and right now, he was more interested in his new pet.
***
He had been right about Dianna, she had left his house in a huff and a muttered apology to Henry, whom she’d ran into.
“Miss Rice does not seem to be happy, sir.”
He shrugged. “We had a minor disagreement. Nothing important, she will get over it. Now, I am going down into my study. Frank and his boys are delivering my fish.”
Henry’s gray eyebrows rose. “You finally found it then, sir?”
“Yes.”
Henry nodded and left the room. Over his shoulder, he said, “Be wary, sir, things don’t always go the way that we think they will.”
Darco rolled his eyes and made his way down into his study.
The room was dark when he entered. He flicked on the light switch and sat behind his desk. He turned around and gazed at the tank. He could tell the exact moment when the merman was added. The water churned and there was a flurry of movement from the other fish.
The creature swam around the tank cautiously. It was blowing out bubble and frowning at the other fish. Probably speaking to them, though he’d never heard of anything like that.
Its movements were delicate, and it swam much like he pictured a dolphin would. He didn’t have any whales or sharks; those were for people that didn’t have their sights set higher. The creature was perfect.
It swam over to the glass and looked through it with a frown. Darco didn’t know if it could actually see through the glass, and he really didn’t know if it was frowning. It wasn’t human after all, and thinking of it that way would probably on confuse him in the end. It did seem to be frowning though, and its webbed fingers were spread across the glass. They looked very much like human hands, but the webbing between them made them seem alien.
It had fins on its arms too. It was strange how something could look so human, and at the same time, look completely not.
It pushed away from the glass with what looked like a scowl. What was it thinking? Did creatures like that actually have thoughts? It was a confusing contemplation.
He watched it swim away with a puzzled frown. It truly was a beautiful creature, if only Dianna could have understood that. He glanced over at his wall clock; it was seven thirty. The boat had been sunk by now. He didn’t feel anything when he though about it. It had been necessary and even if someone had survived, there would be no way to trace it back to him.
He grew bored of watching the fish swim around in their tank. The merman was hiding, and now that he’d seen it, the others seemed to dull in comparison. Standing up, he strode out of his study. Monday was coming early, and he still needed to eat. He shot one more glance at the tank before shutting the door to his office.
***
The board members were being boring again. He wondered if that was a trait that was required of them.
Dianna wasn’t present. She usually sat in on the meetings and took notes. The fact that she wasn’t sitting next to him was a bit worrying. However, it was only Monday and he had plenty of time to make it up to her. Though suffering through meetings without her might speed progress along a bit.
“The stocks are on the rise.”
Well of course they were. His company was slowly dominating all of the others and draining them. Like a leach. He’d have felt bad if he wasn’t offering jobs to the people that were inevitably being laid off.
The meeting droned on a he watched. He remained silent for the most part; they were handling his business well.
His phone vibrated. He frowned slightly and fished it out of his pocket. He had a text message from Dianna.
I’m sorry.
That was a first. She was never one to apologize. He was preparing himself to beg and grovel at her feet. He typed back a quick response.
Indeed?
He looked back up at the meeting. He was back to his usual aloofness. The board members hadn’t even paused in their talking. He thought that he should resent that, but he didn’t.
His phone vibrated again.
Yes. I’m sorry. How’s the meeting?
He was immensely glad that she did not lower herself to using that ridiculous text message speak. It was revolting and he had a tendency to forget what half of the little symbols meant.
Boring. He replied quickly. He flicked his eyes back up at the board members.
“The new building rights are almost secure. We just need you to look over a few things, Mr. Davis.” He was handed several sheets of paper. He looked it over. He was building another club apparently. This one, it seemed, catered to techno. He flipped through the documents.
“Mr. Forester, it says nowhere on here anything about an alcohol license.”
The elder man grabbed the document from him and looked it over. He was surprised when Forester didn’t start cursing. Darco paid more attention than it looked like he did. He liked playing the brat prince.
His phone buzzed again.
I’m sorry. What are they talking about now?
He almost rolled his eyes. She probably only apologized so that she could find out what was going on with the meeting. It was a shame her parents were still alive and kept her firmly out of their monetary affairs. She would have been brilliant at it. Instead, he benefited from her sound advice.
He replied quickly. The new club. They forgot the license for alcohol.
“I will call the proper people immediately. I cannot believe that was overlooked.” Darco could. It had probably been intentional. Some sort of strange misguided attempt at making a more appropriate Davis foundation.
He almost snorted. There was nothing that could save his reputation. It wasn’t bad, but he was well linked with his clubs and other businesses. His father was rolling in his grave. Served the bastard right, he though uncharitably.
I doubt they forgot.
The woman read his mind. He bemoaned the fact that they would never work out. He replied quickly. I thought as much.
He kept his dark brown eyes on the board member’s faces. Several of them looked upset, but he didn’t know if it was because he had found them out, or because they were upset as well. Looking the old men over thoughtfully he figured that it was the former of the two. They hadn’t liked it when he had taken over the business and even now, they were trying to control it.
He smiled grimly. It was a pity that he wasn’t letting them.
I’m at the building.
He rolled his eyes. She had been texting while driving again. He wondered if he should bother to tell her that it was hardly safe. He decided against it. Dianna knew what she was doing. The woman didn’t need a keeper.
The phone on top of the long table rang. He picked it up.
“This is Darco Davis speaking.”
“Yes, there is a lady here saying that you are expecting her.”
He grinned. His new secretary had probably been ripped up one side and down the other. Dianna hadn’t had to pleasure of meeting her earlier. “Yes, please send her in.”
The board members looked hard pressed not to glare at him. He grinned in the most charming way that he knew how. He doubted that they were falling for his charms though.
“Dianna Rice is here.”
A few of the old men shifted in their chairs. Darco had to fight to keep a victorious grin off his face. They hated her more than they hated him.
The door opened and Dianna waltzed in. She sat down next to him and pulled out her notebook. “You may continue with the meeting.”
They actually scowled at her.
***
“They were not happy to see you.”
Dianna shrugged. “They never are. What are you having to eat?”
They were at one of his favorite restaurants for lunch. It was a little Italian place that served the best pasta. He stared at the menu. “I think I’ll have the pasta primavera with a glass of Pinot Grigio.”
Dianna wrinkled her nose at him. “I’m not a fan of white wines. Hmm.” Her brown eyes darted over the menu. He would be surprised if she ordered anything other than a light salad. “They have a lovely merlot here, but what to have with it.”
Darco gave her an amused smile. She would decide on her lunch based on her favorite wine.
Their waiter came by then. “Are you ready to order?”
He was fairly young and very attractive. The man dark blond hair was cut close to his head, but there was still enough to grab. His dark eyes were a lovely contrast to his hair.
“Dianna?”
She looked up from her menu and let her eyes roll over the waiter. She gave a dainty little shrug and nodded. “Yes. I would like a glass of your finest merlot and your pesto pasta with sun dried tomatoes.”
“Would you like a soup with that?” His voice was pleasant too.
Dianna blinked at him. “No thank you.”
He nodded. Darco hoped that he didn’t screw up their order. The boy wasn’t writing anything down and Darco wasn’t too keen on trusting a total stranger’s memory. “I will have the pasta primavera with a glass of Pinot Grigio.”
The waiter nodded. “Both fine choices, I will be back with your wine in a moment.”
Darco and Dianna watched him leave.
“He’s not really your type.”
Darco chuckled and leaned back in his chair. “No, I suppose not. He isn’t yours either. Not rich enough, for one.”
Dianna pouted playfully. “You are right of course. And he has an air of innocence that is really off putting. I like corrupting, but he screams cherry at me.”
Darco rolled his eyes and took a sip of his water. “Yes, he does seem so. Speaking of men…” he trailed off.
Dianna’s eyes darkened and she pursed her red painted lips. He was almost sorry that he had mentioned anything at all. Her expression cleared quickly though and she gave one of her dainty little shrugs, the ones the meant nothing and everything. He was suspecting that she was still hurting on the inside.
“It hardly matters anymore, does it?” she finally said.
He watched her take a sip of her wine before speaking. “If you are certain, love.”
She scowled at him. “Darco, stop trying to be nice. You are bad at it.”
Darco didn’t bother protesting, and if he would have tried, the arrival of their wine would have stopped things quite neatly.
AN: Taduh!
Catching His Fish
Chapter Three
The sound of his cell phone ringing woke him up. He fumbled over to grab it and checked the time before answering it. It was eight o’clock, on Sunday.
“Hello?” He was certain that it sounded more like ‘lo’ but the person on the other end was replying, so it didn’t matter.
“Mr. Davis, this is Artemis Shaw.”
Darco felt himself wake up instantly. “Yes?”
“We’ve got it at the dock, and we’re waiting for you.”
“Excellent. I will be there momentarily. I have a few calls to make. Thank you.”
“Yes, sir.”
Darco hung up and let out a soft laugh. He called a mover first and gave him directions to the pier before calling Dianna. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be too put out with him about calling her so early. He shrugged and dialed her number.
“Erugh.”
“Good morning, you sound lovely.”
“’uck oo.”
“And such pleasant manners.”
“Darco?”
“Yes.”
“Why the hell are you calling me so early?”
Darco smiled. “My fish is at the pier, you wanted to come with me if I recall.” He ran a hand through his dark hair. He needed a quick shower and a shave before he left.
“Fine. I’ll be over in a bit.”
“You are such a morning person, my dear.”
She snorted. “Go to hell.” She hung up then.
Darco chuckled at her antics and put his phone back on his nightstand. He crawled out of bed and walked into his bathroom. His shower was quick and efficient. He shaved as quickly as possible without cutting himself and emerged out of his bathroom naked to go searching for clothes.
He settled on a blue suit and left his room to wait for Dianna in the sitting room. She arrived shortly, looking better than he would have thought, but still not her best. She was wearing big shades and when she took of the glasses, her eyes were red and she hadn’t put on any makeup. Her eyes looked small without her normal dramatic eye shadow.
“Are you ready to go?” He didn’t point out her looks. She already knew and didn’t need any salt rubbed into the wound.
“Yes.” She replied a bit stiffly. She didn’t approve of his hobby.
He stood and ushered her out of the door. They would take the Lamborghini. She got in on the passenger side with a huff. Darco rolled his eyes at her, hidden behind dark lenses. He climbed in on his side and put his baby into gear.
***
Dianna was wrinkling her nose. He wondered what she had been expecting the pier to look and smell like. It was a fishery, so of course it was going to smell of fish.
He met Artemis in front of his ship. The man was as oily as he had remembered. He had a pointed nose that was unflattering for his face and deep set eyes. Those eyes darted around nervously. Odd, the man had sounded so calm on the phone.
“Mr. Shaw.”
Artemis smiled at him. “Mr. Davis, and who is this lovely lady?”
Dianna leveled him with a bored look. “Dianna Rice.”
“A pleasure, Miss.” He grabbed her hand and kissed it. Dianna looked like she was about to be sick.
Darco took pity on her. “Where is it?”
Artemis looked away from Dianna and smiled. “This way.”
Darco and Dianna were led to a tank. It was dark in color and they had to climb a ladder to look into it. Dianna was not wearing heals for once, so she managed to look as well.
The creature was lovely. Pale blue-green scales along the tail led to a strong looking torso of pale skin. Pale hair and a humanoid face. It was a mermaid. Merman in this instance, if he knew his mythology correctly.
“Oh, he is very lovely.”
The creature looked up at her and narrowed its big eyes. Doing so bared it neck; it had gills. How odd.
“Yes, it will be right at home in my study.” The creature’s eyes flickered over to him. A strange look passed over them, but he doubted it was anything remotely human. It was an animal after all. A beautiful creature was still a creature, no matter how human it looked.
He watched it swim around for a moment before climbing down.
“Mr. Shaw, you will receive the rest of the payment shortly. Directly to your bank account as last time. Thank you.”
The fisherman nodded and left them alone.
“Do you think he will keep quiet?”
Darco looked at the man’s ship. It was an everyday fisher. “No, but I don’t need to worry about that, because his ship is going to sink.”
Before Dianna could do more then raise her eyebrows, another man was walking up to them. “This is the item?”
“Yes. It’s a rare fish; I’m adding it to my collection.”
“I see, sir.” The man started shouting various orders to his men and they went about moving the large holding tank.
“What about them?”
Darco looked at them. “They are under my employment. They spill the beans they know what will happen to them.” He shrugged.
“And people think I am cold hearted, Darco.”
He shrugged again. “Yes, but I am not as public as you are. Do not tell me that you wanted that man to live. Can you honestly say that you object?”
She shifted slightly and raised her head. She looked like she was ready to protest his actions, but she deflated. “No, I honestly cannot blame you. However, Darco, that doesn’t not make what you are doing right.”
Darco scowled at her. “You know, that is rich coming from you.”
She pursed her lips and shrugged. “I’m not breaking laws.”
“Only morals. Come, I should meet my movers at the house.”
She pursed her lips again, but she relented. He had a feeling that she was going to leave immediately upon their return to his house. He found that he didn’t care. She would get over it and right now, he was more interested in his new pet.
***
He had been right about Dianna, she had left his house in a huff and a muttered apology to Henry, whom she’d ran into.
“Miss Rice does not seem to be happy, sir.”
He shrugged. “We had a minor disagreement. Nothing important, she will get over it. Now, I am going down into my study. Frank and his boys are delivering my fish.”
Henry’s gray eyebrows rose. “You finally found it then, sir?”
“Yes.”
Henry nodded and left the room. Over his shoulder, he said, “Be wary, sir, things don’t always go the way that we think they will.”
Darco rolled his eyes and made his way down into his study.
The room was dark when he entered. He flicked on the light switch and sat behind his desk. He turned around and gazed at the tank. He could tell the exact moment when the merman was added. The water churned and there was a flurry of movement from the other fish.
The creature swam around the tank cautiously. It was blowing out bubble and frowning at the other fish. Probably speaking to them, though he’d never heard of anything like that.
Its movements were delicate, and it swam much like he pictured a dolphin would. He didn’t have any whales or sharks; those were for people that didn’t have their sights set higher. The creature was perfect.
It swam over to the glass and looked through it with a frown. Darco didn’t know if it could actually see through the glass, and he really didn’t know if it was frowning. It wasn’t human after all, and thinking of it that way would probably on confuse him in the end. It did seem to be frowning though, and its webbed fingers were spread across the glass. They looked very much like human hands, but the webbing between them made them seem alien.
It had fins on its arms too. It was strange how something could look so human, and at the same time, look completely not.
It pushed away from the glass with what looked like a scowl. What was it thinking? Did creatures like that actually have thoughts? It was a confusing contemplation.
He watched it swim away with a puzzled frown. It truly was a beautiful creature, if only Dianna could have understood that. He glanced over at his wall clock; it was seven thirty. The boat had been sunk by now. He didn’t feel anything when he though about it. It had been necessary and even if someone had survived, there would be no way to trace it back to him.
He grew bored of watching the fish swim around in their tank. The merman was hiding, and now that he’d seen it, the others seemed to dull in comparison. Standing up, he strode out of his study. Monday was coming early, and he still needed to eat. He shot one more glance at the tank before shutting the door to his office.
***
The board members were being boring again. He wondered if that was a trait that was required of them.
Dianna wasn’t present. She usually sat in on the meetings and took notes. The fact that she wasn’t sitting next to him was a bit worrying. However, it was only Monday and he had plenty of time to make it up to her. Though suffering through meetings without her might speed progress along a bit.
“The stocks are on the rise.”
Well of course they were. His company was slowly dominating all of the others and draining them. Like a leach. He’d have felt bad if he wasn’t offering jobs to the people that were inevitably being laid off.
The meeting droned on a he watched. He remained silent for the most part; they were handling his business well.
His phone vibrated. He frowned slightly and fished it out of his pocket. He had a text message from Dianna.
I’m sorry.
That was a first. She was never one to apologize. He was preparing himself to beg and grovel at her feet. He typed back a quick response.
Indeed?
He looked back up at the meeting. He was back to his usual aloofness. The board members hadn’t even paused in their talking. He thought that he should resent that, but he didn’t.
His phone vibrated again.
Yes. I’m sorry. How’s the meeting?
He was immensely glad that she did not lower herself to using that ridiculous text message speak. It was revolting and he had a tendency to forget what half of the little symbols meant.
Boring. He replied quickly. He flicked his eyes back up at the board members.
“The new building rights are almost secure. We just need you to look over a few things, Mr. Davis.” He was handed several sheets of paper. He looked it over. He was building another club apparently. This one, it seemed, catered to techno. He flipped through the documents.
“Mr. Forester, it says nowhere on here anything about an alcohol license.”
The elder man grabbed the document from him and looked it over. He was surprised when Forester didn’t start cursing. Darco paid more attention than it looked like he did. He liked playing the brat prince.
His phone buzzed again.
I’m sorry. What are they talking about now?
He almost rolled his eyes. She probably only apologized so that she could find out what was going on with the meeting. It was a shame her parents were still alive and kept her firmly out of their monetary affairs. She would have been brilliant at it. Instead, he benefited from her sound advice.
He replied quickly. The new club. They forgot the license for alcohol.
“I will call the proper people immediately. I cannot believe that was overlooked.” Darco could. It had probably been intentional. Some sort of strange misguided attempt at making a more appropriate Davis foundation.
He almost snorted. There was nothing that could save his reputation. It wasn’t bad, but he was well linked with his clubs and other businesses. His father was rolling in his grave. Served the bastard right, he though uncharitably.
I doubt they forgot.
The woman read his mind. He bemoaned the fact that they would never work out. He replied quickly. I thought as much.
He kept his dark brown eyes on the board member’s faces. Several of them looked upset, but he didn’t know if it was because he had found them out, or because they were upset as well. Looking the old men over thoughtfully he figured that it was the former of the two. They hadn’t liked it when he had taken over the business and even now, they were trying to control it.
He smiled grimly. It was a pity that he wasn’t letting them.
I’m at the building.
He rolled his eyes. She had been texting while driving again. He wondered if he should bother to tell her that it was hardly safe. He decided against it. Dianna knew what she was doing. The woman didn’t need a keeper.
The phone on top of the long table rang. He picked it up.
“This is Darco Davis speaking.”
“Yes, there is a lady here saying that you are expecting her.”
He grinned. His new secretary had probably been ripped up one side and down the other. Dianna hadn’t had to pleasure of meeting her earlier. “Yes, please send her in.”
The board members looked hard pressed not to glare at him. He grinned in the most charming way that he knew how. He doubted that they were falling for his charms though.
“Dianna Rice is here.”
A few of the old men shifted in their chairs. Darco had to fight to keep a victorious grin off his face. They hated her more than they hated him.
The door opened and Dianna waltzed in. She sat down next to him and pulled out her notebook. “You may continue with the meeting.”
They actually scowled at her.
***
“They were not happy to see you.”
Dianna shrugged. “They never are. What are you having to eat?”
They were at one of his favorite restaurants for lunch. It was a little Italian place that served the best pasta. He stared at the menu. “I think I’ll have the pasta primavera with a glass of Pinot Grigio.”
Dianna wrinkled her nose at him. “I’m not a fan of white wines. Hmm.” Her brown eyes darted over the menu. He would be surprised if she ordered anything other than a light salad. “They have a lovely merlot here, but what to have with it.”
Darco gave her an amused smile. She would decide on her lunch based on her favorite wine.
Their waiter came by then. “Are you ready to order?”
He was fairly young and very attractive. The man dark blond hair was cut close to his head, but there was still enough to grab. His dark eyes were a lovely contrast to his hair.
“Dianna?”
She looked up from her menu and let her eyes roll over the waiter. She gave a dainty little shrug and nodded. “Yes. I would like a glass of your finest merlot and your pesto pasta with sun dried tomatoes.”
“Would you like a soup with that?” His voice was pleasant too.
Dianna blinked at him. “No thank you.”
He nodded. Darco hoped that he didn’t screw up their order. The boy wasn’t writing anything down and Darco wasn’t too keen on trusting a total stranger’s memory. “I will have the pasta primavera with a glass of Pinot Grigio.”
The waiter nodded. “Both fine choices, I will be back with your wine in a moment.”
Darco and Dianna watched him leave.
“He’s not really your type.”
Darco chuckled and leaned back in his chair. “No, I suppose not. He isn’t yours either. Not rich enough, for one.”
Dianna pouted playfully. “You are right of course. And he has an air of innocence that is really off putting. I like corrupting, but he screams cherry at me.”
Darco rolled his eyes and took a sip of his water. “Yes, he does seem so. Speaking of men…” he trailed off.
Dianna’s eyes darkened and she pursed her red painted lips. He was almost sorry that he had mentioned anything at all. Her expression cleared quickly though and she gave one of her dainty little shrugs, the ones the meant nothing and everything. He was suspecting that she was still hurting on the inside.
“It hardly matters anymore, does it?” she finally said.
He watched her take a sip of her wine before speaking. “If you are certain, love.”
She scowled at him. “Darco, stop trying to be nice. You are bad at it.”
Darco didn’t bother protesting, and if he would have tried, the arrival of their wine would have stopped things quite neatly.
AN: Taduh!