26 Chapter 26 - Utterly Lost In Her Eyes

Dante

Morning came and Asmodeus chose the outfit I would be wearing for the fanmeet.

He chose a bandshirt, a pair of ripped jeans and a leather jacket which wasn't mine.

"Whose jacket is this?" I asked.

"Mine. It's got a lot of compliments in it." He gave me an impish smile.

I was curious so I checked the inside pockets and found two packets of condom, some mint and chewing gum and a small metal flask filled with whisky.

"What the fuck is this?" I held a packet of condom in my hand.

He merely shrugged. "You never know. Today you might get lucky. Just keep them just to be safe."

Mephisto came over wearing cream colored pajamas, went over to the counter and brewed some coffee. "Seriously, you're dressing him like a rockstar when he has the attitude of a recluse?"

"I'm pretty sure the encounter in purgatory has brought a few changes to his personality, or am I wrong Dante?" He was looking at me with his eyes, the azure and the amber, and I felt I was losing myself in them. I had to shake my head.

"Yeah, kind of." The nightmare of last night still felt too real as if it was a premonition and not just a product of stress from the encounter in purgatory.

"Just remember, today just focus on your task. Death can wait." Asmodeus almost sounded sympathetic.

Mephisto raised his cup of coffee at me. "Try not to fuck up."

I flipped him the finger and got ready for the fanmeet.

Caroline

The exclusive fanmeet was happening in The Canterburry Cafe, a high-end restaurant that served delicious coffee and tasty pastries. The idea of doing a fanmeet in a place such as this almost put me off. I preferred meeting fans in an environment where they aren't overwhelmed by a display of luxury but it was out of my hands so I told myself to just give it my best.

The members of Night Prowlers weren't too happy with the venue either but we still had to do it, for the fans.

We decided to wear casual clothes, though we still dolled ourselves up with makeup to look good. When we were ready, we all went to the venue where the fans were already ushered inside the event hall and were seated in circular tables. They were being served a light meal for breakfast. When they saw us enter the room, a lot of them looked undecided what to do. A few were looking at us with beaming eyes and the rest were just losing it, shouting impromptu fanchants which made us smile.

There were twenty people inside the event hall. Ten fans of Night Prowlers and the rest was mine. We were supposed to meet and talk to them individually. Each fan was seated in a table and we were to chat with them for ten minutes or so. Flora was quick to point out that the whole thing was like going on a blind date which wasn't far off from the truth.

Then I saw him sitting in one of the tables and I felt my heart skip a beat. Dante, wearing dark leather. He looked rather out of place and it made him stand out. He seemed to be avoiding my gaze and was too busy looking at his phone.

*We'll see about that.* I smiled to myself and went on ahead.

Dante

I tried to avert my eyes from her but I just couldn't help myself and so when she was seated with the first fan that she had chosen, I occasionally looked at her without her knowing. All the while I tried to think about a good conversation piece to keep her interested for the ten minutes that I would be alone with her. And all I could think of were books.

*For fuck's sake, this is what I get for being a recluse for years.*

The gifts I was going to give her were in my lap, a box of chocolates, a book by Charles Dickens and a bouquet of flowers. Some of the people I came in with brought plushies, portraits, hats and other stuff. Some even brought extravagant gifts. I saw a guy earlier show off a necklace made of pearls that he was going to give to every member of Night Prowlers. The amount of dedication this people were displaying almost made me feel small.

Caroline was happily chatting away when I finally noticed that I was up next and I felt my knees go weak. I've never felt so anxious like this, even when I was face to face with Death or the Archangel Michael. My hands were cold and my head seemed to have grown numb as if my brain was shutting down.

And before I knew it, she was sitting in front of me. If looks could kill, then there'll probably be nothing left of me. She was wearing a simple peach t-shirt and a miniskirt. I couldn't look away and at the same time I wished the ground would've swallowed me whole. She was smiling at me, her pink lip gloss looked so inviting and I couldn't stop myself from thinking about how her lips tasted.

*Get a hold of yourself, stop staring.*

She wasn't saying anything. She was just staring at me and though I could've stayed like that forever, I knew that every minute counts.

"Hi." It came out as a squeak. *There goes what's left of my self-esteem.*

This made her giggle and I took it as a good sign. "Hello Dante." Her reply was short and curt. I was losing my mind. Every table she was on, she seemed to be the one who was taking over the conversation but now it felt like she was content in following my lead and I was leading her nowhere.

Until now, I've never been really bothered by people. I could talk to them with an air of apathy and indifference without even knowing it but with Caroline I felt like a boy again.

I didn't really have any clue where to start so I didn't bother thinking about what I was saying and just sort of went all in. "You guys were great last night."

She smiled. "Thank you. I hope you enjoyed the show."

"I certainly did." And then nothing, my mind was blank and Caroline looked as if she was waiting for me to say something. *Fuck, think of something, something to keep it going.* "You look really beautiful today." *Nothing like telling her the obvious, why not tell her the sun rises in the east and sets in the west while you're at it?*

"Thanks, I guess?" She sounded unsure as if she expected me to say something else.

"Oh, I brought you this." I handed her the gifts I bought her.

She thanked me and asked what was inside the yellow paper bag,

"Well, it's a copy of A Tale of Two Cities. I hope you'd like it." I told her.

"The title's familiar." I could see her eyes lighting up or was that just an illusion I don't know. "What's it about?"

"It's a tale of love lost, love found and sacrifice. It's one of Dickens's best work though I generally prefer Great Expectations but I guess it's really up to the reader." I was pandering but I couldn't help myself. Books are my life.

"I'll be the judge of that." said Caroline smiling. "You really love books don't you?"

"I won't deny that. Sometimes, fiction makes more sense than this world, you know?"

She merely nodded and her piercing green eyes met mine and this time I didn't flinch. "How so?" She asked, her voice almost a whisper.

"Well, in real life for example, there are a lot of things that I can't really say out loud whereas characters from books have no qualms in expressing how they feel."

"That's true." A strand of her hair came over her eyes and I had the urge to brush it away. "It's like that for me when I write songs."

"Yeah, I always wonder what the mindset of the writer is when he's writing." Caroline talking about her songwriting made me reflect on the first few sets of prose and poems I've written after Neo spurred me on to write.

"When I write songs, I don't really think of how it'll come out. I just write, does that make sense?" She was smiling, it was then that I noticed that we've been staring at each other's eyes and none of us were willing to look away.

"Yeah, it's just my opinion but I think there shouldn't be any preconceived concepts or ideas when you write in order to capture how you feel as raw as possible."

She smiled at that. "You should be a writer, you sound like one already. Are you writing in your spare time by any chance?"

"I write some stuff, nothing interesting." I never really talked about my writing before and this was the first time besides Neo and Lucifer. I felt like I couldn't lie to her.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." She pouted at me and it made her look so cute, I laughed. "If you don't mind, I'd like to read something that you've written down if that's okay with you." She was pleading with her eyes and I felt helpless.

"Sure, I'll let you read some." Now I was certain that I couldn't say no to her.

The conversation was almost at an end. I knew that there were only a few minutes left and so I took leap of faith. "Um, so Caroline, I know this may sound stupid but I'd like to ask you something." I couldn't look her in the eye now, I felt like walking on thin ice.

She looked curious and a little bit amused. "What is it?"

"W--w-would you, you know like to hang out with me?" Then I bit my lip and looked at her dreading her reply.

"Hang out? Like a date?" She was staring at me and she looked uncomfortable and I felt like I fucked up.

"I'm sorry, forget I asked that." I smiled at her awkwardly. "I just wanna get to know you better so I just had to ask otherwise I'd end up regretting not taking the opportunity. Anyway, I apologize for asking you like a creep, I promise you won't ever hear such things from me again."

I put my head down and prayed for the ground to swallow me whole.

"Don't you wanna hear my answer?" She asked and the amusement and playflulness in her voice was obvious.

"Sure." I was anxious and curious.

"Yes." I only stared at her like an idiot, unmoving and unbelieving. My heart was hammering in my chest like it was on fire. When I still didn't say anything, she looked worried. "Are you okay?"

"Y-y-yeah, just shock I guess." In truth I was freaking out. "So how does this work?" When she gave me a questioning look, I clarified. "So, how do we h-h-hang out? I-I mean you're a busy person and all, not to mention you've a tour." Even saying the words made me feel stupid. The whole thing felt like dream.

She seemed to be thinking. "Well, I'm free tonight."

*Tonight? Oh god, what do I do?* "You are? Okay, um where would you like to hang out?"

Then the ten minutes were up but before she left the table, she tore down the card that went with the bouquet, and wrote down her number. "I don't know, surprise me Dante Caulfield."

And she left the table.