Callie’s eyebrows shot up.“Really?Why?”
“I love the sun.”
“You must hate this time of year!”
Talia breathed a laugh.“I really do.I mean, I know why we’re all huddled around the Arctic circle, but could we at least have the sun not disappear for four months?”
“So, what do you do when the sun is gone?”
Talia drew a finger up Callie’s forearm.“I look for it elsewhere.”
Callie rolled her eyes, but she felt herself blushing again.Talia bit her lip and smiled.She knew she had hit her mark.
Their drinks arrived and the mixer slipped away.The clearest ice cubes Callie had ever seen clinked together as Talia brought the stout square glass to her lips.Callie did the same and was surprised to find flavours beyond just alcohol and dye.She frowned in confusion.
“Whatisthis?”
Talia cocked an eyebrow.“Is this your first whiskey?”
“Isn’t it all just alcohol and dye?”
Talia covered her mouth to suppress a laugh before her eyes turned sympathetic.“I’m so sorry.That was rude.”
“It’s okay.”Talia’s apology made Callie feel guilty that she had caused it.“You seem like the type who likes to sweep a girl off her feet with expensive toys.”
“Idohave expensive toys,” Talia was grateful for the opportunity to drop that hint, and she relished watching Callie blush.“But I swear, I just wanted a quieter spot to talk.”Talia held up her hand.“Unless you’d prefer to see my toys.”
Callie pursed her lips thinking it over.“You never told me what you did.”
“To be fair, I asked first.”Talia’s smile was back.
“I’m an AI psych.”Callie wasn’t ashamed of her job.It paid the bills and allowed for a few luxuries, but she wasn’t pulling the same amount of money as Sparx.And Sparx drank at Binge, like she did.
Talia’s eyes lit up.“Me too!”
“That explains the mask and the magstrip on your face, but how do you afford this?”Callie gestured to her drink.
“Just side jobs.”Talia waved it away as though any side job would pay for liquor that could only be made using barrels from nearly extinct trees.“Which Model do you work with?”
“Model 21.”Callie wanted to ask about her side job, but she got the feeling Talia didn’t want to elaborate and things weren’t serious enough to push.
“Nice.I’m right next door with Model 2.”Talia leaned in deeper, eyes rapt.
Callie could see that Talia was one of those people who could make you feel like you were the only one in the room.And she was falling for it like an idiot.
Her inner Sparx would tell her she was just being too suspicious.Who told someone everything about themselves on the first date?And this wasn’t even really a date.It was onlydate-adjacent.
This was the problem, Callie decided, with being a psychologist, especially one with the trauma of having Brin as an ex – if Brin was even still alive.Every interaction was viewed through the lens of manipulation.No wonder she hadn’t moved on in two years.Of course she was always exhausted, constantly keeping her guard up.
Callie took a deep breath.What harm could possibly come from letting Talia be interested in her, even if it was just to get something in return?Thatsomethingwas probably just her pants anyway.And if Callie was being honest with herself, shewantedTalia to get what she wanted.
So, Callie would open the door a little.Not all the way, just enough to have a bit of fun.Who knows?It might relax her enough to let someone else in.And if that someone else was Talia, she could ask those questions later.
Callie watched Talia’s lips form the words, entranced.It must have been the alcohol because she lost herself in the motion of her vermillion.Her lips didn’t close all the way when she stopped talking.They framed a tiny window, right where the bottom lip creased in the middle, and you could peek at her top incisor.
Her brain told her she was staring and Callie jolted, trying to remember what Talia had just said.Her lopsided smile was so adorable, and Callie realised she was about to fall into that trance again.
“I’m sorry, what?”Callie stammered.
