Arianell.
"How come I can't read your mind, Daniel? How is that possible? Do you not even think?" I hinted at a small smile to show him I was just curious instead of accusing him of being foreign.
He lifted his already high eyebrows like the sharp part of the angels' wings. Indeed, people would easily scout him as a crowd's stand out because of his unique high angels' wings and eyebrows. Those eyebrows were the contrast to his devilish smile.
"I got that look and almost the same line a lot when I was faced to the supernatural beings as an example the werewolves…" he paused as if he knew they were the dearest supernatural creatures to me.
I was in shock when he referred to werewolves as examples. As if he knew I had more than merely friendships with them. They were my support system the moment after dad was gone. I felt in danger when he mentioned that and made me realize my protectors weren't there. I felt exposed to danger, though I could think that I was just imagining things.
Daniel was in the Force. Why should I feel in danger?
Then he carried on,
"…maybe because I was born on the sixth of December when there was an eclipse as well." He closed his sentence with a smile to die for.
I was puzzled but I was curious enough to ask,
"Is that supposed to mean a thing? Care to elaborate?" I waited for his explanation with anticipation.
"Well, my lady, it's possible that the babies who are born in the eclipse have special power…"
"Special power? Like supernaturals?" I was being interrogative even more than what the professionals do in his line of work.
"No, not that kind of special power…" he paused to find the right words for the term he was going to use,
"Ummm… more like a defensive one. Take an example, you can't read my mind…"
"Indeed. How can you be so sure that I was reading your mind?" I purposely showed him that I scrutinized him for knowing too much, or knowing something that he wasn't supposed to know yet.
"Well, my lady, you're a descendant of an Empath. It's just a matter of time before you'll be reading minds. Unfortunately, it doesn't apply to me. You'll have to blind guessing me. I'm an anomaly." he smiled evilly.
I swallowed my saliva to show him that I felt in danger. Akrem said that playing the damsel in distress sometimes worked for a weak human Empath like I was. It might make the enemy feel pity for me. It was a way to survive the danger.
Suddenly, the expression changed on Daniel's face,
"I believe you were famished? Mr. Tanaka told me…" he sounded caring which made me remember about my poor stomach.
"Yes, I was, and I am still. Care to join me for dinner?" I couldn't believe my mouth that I invited him to have dinner with me. Though it was just a professional courtesy, but I felt so wrong to invite him. Besides, he was the man that supposed to invite me to dinner. But then again I was the hostess so it was just obvious I was the one who invited him to dinner. Still, I didn't want to give him the wrong signal.
And why did I keep on thinking about Akrem? He wasn't here.
One eyebrow he cocked, I began to feel it was his signature of expression,
"Certainly, my lady. After you…" he smiled while shoving his right hand into the main chair provided for me. He pulled the chair for me and I sat. Talking about acting like a true gentleman, he nailed it. As expected from a mature man just like he was.
I got nosy when I saw my side of the plate was full of the whole set of dinner. There was braised grilled chicken with butter rice, broccoli, and soup. Daniel had the same menu and in front of our plates, there were still two rounds of pepperoni pizza and bruschetta.
I frowned and Daniel saw my frowning,
"Oh, I took the liberty to order some more food for late dinner or early breakfast if we want to work on the files I brought from the office about your dad's mysterious murder…" he tilted his head to the direction of it looked like it was a box of papers on the corner table.
"The snack was offered by Mr. Tanaka, so I accepted…" he smiled and he looked starving when he licked his lips and I believed he was swallowing his saliva hard as well. In contrast, he said something that quite shocked me,
"Shall we pray, my lady?" amidst his line of work in the supernatural department, I was in awe he still believed in God. So I nodded, to see what he had in his prayers,
"You lead, Daniel. You're the only man in the room. Man is supposed to lead…" I didn't know why I said that. It felt like I was in his game of playing houses and spouses.
He then tangled his fingers in both hands and lowered his gaze to his plate and closed his eyes,
"Dear God. We thank you so much for the food and the success of getting justice for my lady's father's mysterious murder case. May Keanu Crane rest in peace. Amen." I was amazed that he could be so thoughtful as to mention dad in our prayers, so I followed,
"Amen."
Attentively, he looked at me and smiled, "Dig in, my lady?"
I just cocked my eyebrows because it sounded like an order rather than a question, and I started eating. I still remembered that I had two questions to ask for the sake of my curiousness, so I asked slowly hoping he wouldn't get choked,
"What did Mr. Tanaka tell you when he excused himself not to be present as the assistant for tonight's dinner?"
He chewed, smiled, and then swallowed,
"Oh, he didn't mean to excuse himself. I asked him to get some rest, he looked very tired and it was almost 10 PM as well. I believed he needs to start his work very early in the morning?"
-to be continued-