Dance D'Amour

Aleksi was nervous walking into the club that night. You would think becoming a vampire would give you all the confidence you can imagine, but he still worried about her liking him. Yes, he could use powers to persuade her, but he didn’t want to. Who would want someone who only wants to be with them because they were forced to? It’s been weeks that he has been watching her and he still doesn’t know her name, not from lack of availability, he just wanted her to speak it to his face the first time he learned it.

This particular club in England is where he saw her for the first time, and since following her, is where he learned, she liked to go on Thursday nights to get some reading done. He had heard men she turns down ask her why she came to a club to just sit in a corner and read. Most people don’t think a bar with loud music and dancing is ideal for reading, but she always calmly told them, she enjoyed the atmosphere: the lighting and music, and she liked having a drink while reading. The men always thought she was secretly waiting to meet someone there, she was just a picky bitch and none of them were good enough for her. Aleksi had learned all this in his time following her. Tonight was going to be his turn, however, and he had to make sure he wasn’t turned down like the others.

He managed to get to the club early, before she did with the hope that if he got to her before she started reading, her mood might be a bit more favorable. If that didn’t work, he would speak to her about the book she’s reading, he made sure to know what it would be, and read it before coming here. If there was one thing he was grateful for in being alone at the moment, it was that there was no other vampire around to tell him how pathetic, and human he was being. He knew the easiest way to go about this would be to just turn her, she would be kind of stuck with him then, right? Despite himself, he felt like he may actually care for her, and he just didn’t want it to happen that way. Lost in his thoughts he almost missed her ordering her drink.

“Spiced rum and hot cider.” She told the bartender.

“Shot on the side, or in the cider?” He asked her.

“In. Thanks.” She clarified.

While she was waiting for the drink Aleksi made his move. He rose from his booth and walked up beside her. Lucky for him, she had her book in her hand, “American Gods, huh?”

“What?” She turned to him, puzzled look on her face.

“The book.” He motioned to her hand.

“Oh!” Things visibly clicked in her head, she smiled. “Yes, American Gods. Gaiman’s great.”

“Absolutely,” His heart seemed to melt at her smile. “I just finished the book a couple days ago, I think you’ll love it.”

“And who are you to know what I would love?” She asked him, still not trusting yet and not-so-secretly wishing her drink would be ready soon so she could sit down.

“My name is Aleksi.” He held out his hand.

“What kind of name is that?” She shook his hand, stifling a laugh.

“My parents were Finnish, even though I was born in America, they couldn’t let go of the Finn names.” He just smiled. His name being something of confusion for most people, was nothing new to him.

“I see, well, I apologize for laughing.” She smiled at him once more, looking him directly in the eye for the first time, “Name’s Amelia.”

“My pleasure, Amelia.” He nodded to her. “Would you care to sit with me?” he gestured to his booth.

Uncertainty danced across her face and a brief moment of panic struck Aleksi, he really didn’t want to have to go with Plan B if she said no. Finally after a moment of internal conflict, Amelia decided to join him. Aleksi couldn’t hold back his grin as she took her drink from the bartender and took a seat across from him in the booth.

Amelia was just as glad to be in the booth that night as he was. The many people she had turned down in this bar were right, as reluctant as she was to admit it, she was hoping to meet someone decent someday. She just knew all the men who approached her only to comment on her looks or with some lame pick-up line were just looking to get laid, and she wasn’t okay with that. She really didn’t think it was asking too much to have someone show an interest in what she was interested in. Too many of the clubs patrons were just playing dress-up, so she knew she wasn’t going to find someone just based off of looks here. That is why she always brought a book with her. It may not have been the greatest way, but she figured, a decent man would find her at some point, and have something to talk to her about, that wasn’t related to having sex. She was in this moment, beyond herself with happiness that it finally happened, and that it was with the cute guy she’d been eyeing for the last few weeks that she’d been coming here.

“So, you told me your name is commonly misunderstood, especially by other Americans. Why not change it, at least go by Alex or something?” She asked him.

“Because that’s not my name.” He answered, plainly. “I would rather have a three minute conversation with someone, explaining my name to them, than destroy something my parents felt was good enough to give to me.”

“Wow, fair enough.” She nodded. “So, you claim to have read this book already. What is your favorite part?”

“Oh, come now, you’re still reading it! I couldn’t possibly spoil anything in it for you.” He flashed that mischievous grin at her once again. “I’ll tell you what though, when you have finished it, we’ll talk about it.”

Amelia just smiled at him and took a sip from her drink. The talked about various things throughout the evening. From music to movies to books, they were getting to know each other’s surface personalities as well as anyone on a planned first date would. By the time the club was ready to kick everyone out, Amelia just wanted to keep talking to him.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” She asked him.

“Tomorrow?” He was surprised to hear her asking, but it made him glad to know she was interested. “I’ve no solid plans as of yet. Why do you ask?”

“Well, forgive me for being so forward, but I really would like to see you again.”

Aleksi gave her a smile and told her that he would like that. They saw each other every night for about three weeks and it was apparent to Aleksi that she was what he had been searching for. She was what he wanted, and she would need to come with him. She was a veterinary tech, he admired her for her love and care of animals. It was now just to be a struggle to get her to accept and understand what he needed from her. He wanted to ask her permission, but was afraid if he asked her to become vampire to stay with him she would say no. He would just need to turn her. He needed to be ready for any backlash from her that might result however, and he just wasn’t yet. For now, he just wanted to relish in his time with her.