4. Xander

Iarrived at the library a few minutes after it was dark enough to ensure my safe travels. The building was empty save for The Librarian, who’d set up a small table in the back where match-made dates took place.

I had seen a few couples meeting here before, always envying their happiness. They were fortunate to have found each other, I used to think. But now, my time had come and I would be the one sitting across from a gorgeous man, though there was no one else in the library to envy us tonight.

I took my seat, using this moment alone to smooth out my suit. It had been tailored for me nearly 80 years ago, but I took great care in preserving my clothing and it still looked fresh from the tailor to my eyes – the mothball smell hadn’t fully aired out in the short time I had it out of my closet, but I hoped my date could ignore that tiny detail.

I’d taken the time to slick my hair back and polish my fangs as well, though I wasn’t sure if shiny fangs would be exciting or intimidating to this human. Either way, I planned not to bare them too early into the date. That could end quite badly if my past experiences with dating humans were anything to go by.

I waited patiently as the minutes ticked by till, all too soon, the bell on the front door jingled and a man of average height and build walked in. He wore a light blue sweater and dark slacks. His hair was blonde, a sharp contrast to my jet-black hair, and even from my place across the room, I could see his eyes were a dark shade of blue complemented nicely by the sweater. He looked pleasant enough to me, but the true test would be how he felt about dating a vampire.

The Librarian directed him toward the back. I stood to greet him, the absence of a beating heart becoming painfully obvious to me in this moment.

“Hello, Luke,” I said, extending my hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Xander.”

He took it, nearly recoiling from the cold, clammy grasp, but maintained a smile as he looked me up and down.

“Hi, Xander,” Luke replied. “It’s great to meet you too. I’ve been looking forward to this all day.”

I returned to my seat, beckoning for Luke to do the same. The tension was thick, but I knew Luke was trying not to show how uncomfortable he was with the fact that I was a vampire. It was difficult to accept, but there were many harmful stereotypes about our kind and some humans preferred the company of other more palatable monsters over the blood-sucking types.

“Nice suit,” he told me.

“Ah, thank you. I hoped it would be adequate for our first meeting.”

“I, uh, I half-expected to see you in one of those capes – you know the kind – the black ones lined in red satin.” He laughed nervously, but I didn’t return the laugh. “The ones that they wear in books,” Luke continued, his smile fading as he realized the faux pas he’d made. “I guess maybe you don’t wear those in real life?”

“We do not,” I said coldly. “I take it you don’t know much about vampires, do you?”

Luke shook his head. “I’m sorry, I really don’t. I’ve never – that is, I–

“No need to explain further. It was lovely to meet you, Luke, but I think both of us will be wasting our time if we attempt to continue this date.”

I stood up, ready to leave my supposed perfect match. I had no interest in putting up with ignorant comments from a human who likely wouldn’t be invested in a long-term relationship once he realized what it entailed anyway.

“I hope you have a pleasant remainder of your evening,” I continued, my tone coming off icier than I’d wanted it to.

Luke’s face fell as he watched me push my chair in. “Wait, please!” he cried, jumping up from his seat and blocking my way out of the corner of the room.

I didn’t push him aside, though I thought about it. With his lack of knowledge of vampires, I was quite certain he didn’t understand that physically blocking me from leaving was impossible. I admired his attempt, however, so I stood in place and let him say his piece.

“That was a stupid thing for me to say,” he said. “I shouldn’t have made the joke and I’d really like to get to know you better if you’ll just give me a second chance.”

His face reminded me of a sad little puppy moping after being scolded. It was difficult to resist, so I took a deep breath and sat back down, hoping I wouldn’t live to regret my decision – or not live, as fate would have it.

“Very well, let us start over. I’m warning you, however, that one more insensitive comment will be the end of any relationship we might’ve had. I have no interest in pursuing someone who doesn’t respect me.”

“Of course, that’s completely fair.” Luke settled back in his chair and, for the first time that evening, we struck up a proper conversation.

The Librarian watched from their desk, pretending to pore over documents and file them away in dusty old cabinets. Every few minutes, they sneaked a glance over at us. I had no doubt they were trying to ascertain if it was going well, but it was difficult to tell from that far away. I almost expected them to walk over and ask, but they didn’t. Perhaps they were confident enough in their matchmaking that they didn’t need to ask how it was going.

I wished I possessed some of that confidence. I had no idea if the date was going well or not. Luke was interesting and quite funny when he wasn’t making jokes at the expense of my species, but there was a certain human na?veté about him that worried me.

“I think we should discuss our preferences in bed,” I finally said after we’d exhausted every other detail of our lives.

“On the first date?” Luke raised his eyebrows.

“It would be for the best – we can establish expectations early on, and that sort of thing.”

“Well, I’m up for that conversation if you are.” He leaned forward, arms on the table. “Who do you want to go first? Me or you?”

“Perhaps you should begin, as I think once I’ve told you about my proclivities, yours will all but pale in comparison.”