Sunrise at Sunset (7 page)

“You know, Caleb,” she began innocently, “Nobody’s perfect. Relationships aren’t easy for any of us.”
A major understatement in my experience, and perhaps his
, she thought. The latter postulation was based upon her own intuition more than anything substantive.

He wanly smiled and admitted, “Guilty as charged.”

She supportively smiled at him and subsequently heard his stomach growl. An amusing thought crossed her mind, and she struggled to avoid grinning. “Well, I’m ready to render judgment,” she smoothly announced with a sober expression.

His eyes playfully glinted up at her from where he sat.

“I sentence you to dinner with me tonight,” she declared with a note of finality.

He grinned and held his wrists out to her in mock submission. “Haul me away,” he quipped with the flash of a cute grin. “I’m yours.”

Oh Caleb, you really shouldn’t have said that
, Katrina thought slyly as a sudden surge of desire ran through her body.

As they walked out to the parking lot, he felt embarrassed about the prospect of driving Katrina around in his older Honda. Fortunately for him, she offered to take them to the restaurant in her Audi. He again marveled at the impressive driving experience the sleek automobile offered, and that was just from the passenger seat. But while he was grateful for Katrina shuttling them around town, he insisted on paying for dinner.

They selected one of his favorite restaurants, the popular and swanky Café Circa downtown off of Edgewood Avenue and Boulevard. Caleb assured her that the food and service were fantastic every time he went there. It was bustling with people that evening, adding a lively energy to its atmosphere. Katrina scanned the room, noting one of the interior walls was lined by a lengthy, finished oak bar with wooden barstools. Behind the bar was a series of backlit shelves lined with every variety of alcohol known to mankind. The dining area held an array of varnished oak bistro tables surrounded by oak barstools, and the lighting was moody and rather romantic.

She smiled at Caleb as he arranged for seating. They sat across from one another initially, but after a moment of taking in the atmosphere, she moved to one of the stools next to him.

“Do you mind?” she asked with a playful sparkle to her eyes.

“I’m flattered,” he replied with a proud grin.

They both ordered a beer on tap, and he requested chips and salsa. Caleb ordered Chicken Panini, while Katrina settled for a plain house salad made with the restaurant’s signature pumpkin seeds and empanada strips. They chatted as the crowds bustled around them amidst the sound of trendy music.

“So, what do you think of this place?” Caleb asked with a grin.

Katrina looked around, absorbing the atmosphere. Her heightened senses registered the overload of human scents, voices, and emotions. She liked it immensely and felt the hunger for fresh blood rise in her, requiring additional effort to keep her senses in check.

“I love it,” she replied with a warm smile. “It suits you.”

He nodded appreciatively.

“Is this your hangout of sorts? A favorite spot to take all the prospective women in your life?” she playfully asked.

He chuckled. “Actually, it’s one of my favorite spots, but Melanie hates it for some reason. She said it’s just not her style or something.”

“Well, it’s a place I can really sink my teeth into,” Katrina countered.

After laughing for a moment at her strange remark, he lost himself in her beautiful green eyes.

“Tell me more about your life, Caleb,” she gently urged. “I want to know everything.”

He was flattered by her interest and described his experiences growing up with his mother and how he seemed to do much better in school after they moved away from their old acreage home for the Columbus city limits. He and his mother created fresh memories in the new house and tried to leave many of the past, painful ones behind.

His grades improved in junior high and high school to the point where he received a scholarship to Georgia State. He was grateful for the wonderful college fund made available to him after Wanda won a raffle from her workplace. It helped pay for his tuition all the way through graduate school.

Katrina warmly smiled at him, fully pleased to hear her efforts to help him and Wanda had worked out so well. Though it wasn’t as if she was trying to make amends, or strike some karma-balance for what she was. Being a vampire was a merely a fact that she had long since reconciled in her mind. She was proud to be who she was and harbored no illusions of what living meant for her. It meant blood for sustenance and clandestine living among the human population to protect her secret and longevity. She broke out of her reverie to realize that he had fallen silent and was intently watching her.

“I guess my life’s been pretty boring for the most part,” he conceded.

Her face fell as if she’d been scolded, though she had heard every word he had said to her. “Oh no, Caleb,” she insisted. “I was just envisioning what you were telling me. It’s inspiring how well your life has turned out given so many challenges.” She reached out to touch his arm, and he smiled while placing his hand over hers.

“Thanks,” he offered. “You’re one of the few people who seem to care to listen to me drone on like this.” Caleb sighed as the realization hit him that, aside from Melanie and a few of her friends, he still hadn’t yet formed any close friendships in the Atlanta area. Many of his college friends had moved away to new locations or returned to their home towns where they grew up. And he was still so new in his position at the college that he was still getting to know everybody there. The majority of people in his life at the moment were friendly acquaintances.

“I’m not like other people that you know,” Katrina earnestly clarified.

“No,” he agreed after a moment’s pause. “You’re not. And I’ve never been happier.”

She bent her free arm up on the table and propped her chin on her hand as she smiled at him. He swallowed once and moved his face closer to hers. It felt like an imaginary string was pulling him to her as he gazed into her penetrating stare. She slyly smiled like a predator that had snared its prey and was relishing the catch. As their lips almost touched, their meal abruptly arrived with the appearance of their server.

To Katrina’s amusement, Caleb turned his head to look up at their waiter with a forced, false grin, offering, “Wow, that was amazing timing.”

Once they began to eat, Katrina mostly picked at her salad as they talked about topics ranging from favorite historical periods, to favorite aspects of the Atlanta area, to how the Braves were already looking to next season for their race to the pennant. They enjoyed each other’s company immensely and shared a rich chocolate dessert between them.

Caleb regretted that the time had passed so quickly. He was rather quiet on their return drive to campus, but felt very happy. He sensed strong chemistry with Katrina and realized for perhaps the first time just how poorly matched he and Melanie were.

Katrina was flush with emotions as she drove the two of them back to the college. She remembered how close they’d been to a first kiss at the restaurant and was startled by how much she had craved it. She felt a palpable attraction to him, both physical and emotional, and his personality seemed both genuine and endearing. She also relished the diversity in conversational topics and how well-informed he was. It surprised her how strongly, and how quickly, her feelings for him were growing in more directions than she could have anticipated.

As she pulled up next to his car in the campus parking lot, she put the Audi in park but left the engine running. She looked over to him and effortlessly smiled.

“Thanks again, Katrina,” he offered as he released his seatbelt. “I really had a great time tonight.”

“Me too,” she softly replied.

He seemed confused as to what to do and chose to open the passenger door. He wanted to reach across the seat and kiss her, and yet his mind screamed that he was technically still dating Melanie. And while he felt a sense of betrayal over seeing Katrina behind Melanie’s back, he was still happy he’d done so. Not that he approved of that sort of thing, it was a first for him, but rather being with Katrina just felt right. He despised the situation he was facing, but knew the only clear way to any form of redemption was being honest with both Melanie and Katrina.

She watched him silently, seeing the conflict wash across his features, and waited patiently. She realized somehow she had helped propel them both down this path, but she left free will in Caleb’s corner. That is, if trying to deny the temptations directed by one of nature’s most powerful, deadly predators was free will at all.
No
, she realized,
human free will is altogether something just as powerful as I am regarding affairs of the heart.
The word “affairs” stuck in her mind.

“Have I created complications for you, Caleb?” she asked with a hint of sympathy.

He looked across the seat at her hesitantly and conceded with a sigh, “I think I’ve done that all by myself.”

She smiled briefly and reassured him, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Caleb frowned slightly, realizing his next question might ruin everything, and asked, “What is it about me that compels you to say that? Because I don’t know that I would if it were I in your place.”

Katrina regarded him for a moment, and she heard his heartbeat increase rapidly.
He’s terrified that honesty is going to doom him
, she mused,
along with what I’ll say
. But she had a small surprise of sorts in store for him in her response. “Well, you’re just going to have to un-complicate things a little and find out,” she offered with a smirk.

At first he seemed stunned, and then surprise gave way to hopefulness. He dared to smile. “I’ll call you,” he promised.

“Good enough,” she responded resolutely. “Good night, Caleb.”

“Good night, Katrina,” he replied with a hint of appreciation.

He watched her drive halfway across the parking lot before stopping the little black sports car, the taillights shining brightly as the brake was applied. He frowned at her delay and unlocked his car door.

Get into your car, Caleb
, Katrina thought as she watched him in the rear view mirror.
Parking lots aren’t very safe for you, it would seem
, she added with a twinkle in her eyes.

As Caleb closed his car door he saw her pull away into the night.
Was she waiting on me, or did she change her mind about me
? he wondered. Then another, somewhat odd notion made its way to the forefront of his mind.
Watching over me, maybe
? The idea filled him with a strong sense of satisfaction. Once his father had left, Caleb’s mother changed into a very protective figure in his life, and somehow Katrina’s behavior reminded him of those same feelings of safety. Certainly, it wasn’t as if Caleb viewed Katrina as some sort of maternal figure. Far from it, in fact. Merely that the perceived sense of protectiveness Katrina showed to him felt similar.

He chuckled at the outlandishness of the idea and began his journey home.
I’m imagining the whole thing
, he resolved.

As he drove home, a sense of dread and foreboding began to grow, and his mind went immediately to what he would say to Melanie about his conflicted feelings. He was never one for confrontation, but firsthand experience already taught him Melanie was.

The weekend turned into a last-minute dash to update his lecture notes along with changes that had occurred to him during the previous semester. Melanie didn’t call at all on Saturday, and he dreaded the upcoming conversation that he needed to have with her. It was obviously better that he waited until she returned from Jacksonville so they could speak in person.

Great, then Melanie can have the added benefit of yelling and cursing at me in person
, he considered darkly.
It should be very cathartic for her
.

Caleb had learned that Melanie never lacked animation when it came to her temper. Fortunately, he was the peaceful type who only argued back verbally. On one occasion, Melanie actually threw something at him in the middle of an argument, but he managed to dodge a paperweight effectively. The experiences of dodging errant pitches in baseball came in handy at such times. Caleb’s mother had preached to him since he was a child that violence was no solution to interpersonal conflict. Additionally, he still had bad childhood memories of when his father was physically abusive with him and his mother, and those experiences added to his personal abhorrence of physical violence.

Saturday evening, he tried calling to check on Melanie, but his calls went to voicemail on all three occasions. Finally, he fell asleep on his apartment couch watching movies on cable and skimming through the pages of the latest biography on Harry Truman. He fell asleep sometime after 1 am, completely unaware of a lone figure peering in at him through the sheer curtains of his living room from the fire escape.

Katrina couldn’t help herself on Saturday night. She was restless, and her mind kept wandering through a series of thoughts, all of which ended up on Caleb. She soon found herself observing him from his fire escape in the darkness. Fully realizing she was obsessing over him, the truth was undeniable: She enjoyed his company and couldn’t wait to see him again.