Five minutes passed before headlights slew across her driveway. George stood up out of the car and headed for the house. She met him at the door.
“Angie, I am so sorry that I am late,” said George.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I was ready to leave when I heard giggling in the back of the car. Sara, Ivan and Joe had hid back there thinking that they could go on our date,” he said.
Angie broke out in giggles. She’d met the imps the day after her talk with Meg. George had thought it a good idea that she be introduced to the children. Bitty and ‘Solda had been polite. Sara and the two boys had been curious that George would want to date someone so much littler than he was. It had been an interesting afternoon. They’d howled, pack hunted her around the yard and told every family secret they could think of including the fact that Meg was pregnant.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked.
“Yes, I am. Where are we going to eat?” she asked. George had promised dinner and a movie. Everything after that was optional.
“I thought that Chinese place on 5th sounded good. They make a fantastic Orange Peel Beef,” he said.
“Oooh, that sounds good,” said Angie. She grabbed her coat and they headed for George’s car.
*
The Wonderful Temple was just that. George had ordered appetizers and Orange Peel Beef for the two of them. Jasmine tea steamed in the little teapot.
“This is heavenly,” said Angie.
“I agree. Ysabel brought me here a few weeks ago. I’ve been looking for a reason to come back here ever since,” he said.
They finished up their dinner and George handed Angie her fortune cookie. He cracked his own open and ate half while he read his fortune. He smiled.
“What does it say?” asked Angie.
“Great fortune comes to you in small packages,” said George as he smiled. “What does yours say?”
“Love is an unexpected surprise to enjoy,” she read. “Did you bribe them to give us these fortunes?”
“No, I didn’t. Mine would read more like ‘love is a cracker jack treat’ or something like that,” said George. He was a little flustered. “If you’re ready, the theater complex is just around the corner.”
“Yes, I’m ready to go,” she said. Angie stood up and George helped her on with her coat.
George paid the bill and they headed for the theater complex. George had bought the tickets online so that they didn’t have to wait. They had agreed on The King’s Speech, although Sara and the boys had told them they should have gone to Rango.
It didn’t take long for them to find seats. George took Angie’s hand in his as they settled into watch the movie.
*
“That must have been so frustrating to be unable to talk,” said Angie.
“I agree, but at the same time we struggle with it all the time,” said George as they walked back to the car.
“What do you mean?” asked Angie.
“When we shift, the jaw, lips and even vocal cords change shape. If we are inbetween wolf and man, we often get a bit stuck. Right head, wrong vocal cords. Trying to go one way or the other can be a real pain and frustration,” he explained.
“Oh! George, I’m sorry, I was insensitive. I shouldn’t have suggested this movie. I’m so sorry,” said Angie. “Oh god I screwed up!” she thought.
“Stop. You did nothing wrong. You had no way of knowing. Hell, the only one of us you’ve seen shift is Kevin,” said George with a little more force than he expected. The last thing he wanted was for Angie to feel guilty about anything, especially a movie.
Angie blinked. She stood there for a moment trying to collect herself. George sounded so fierce for a moment that she shivered involuntarily.
George stopped, looked at Angie and then realized that he had scared her as the scent of fear touched his nose. “Angie, I… I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?” he asked. He held out his hand to her.
Slowly, Angie took his hand. It dwarfed hers. She’d never seen puppy dog eyes on an adult, but she could see that he was earnest about not wanting to scare her. She moved forward and pulled the hand she held around her waist and put her free arm around him. They stood there for a moment just holding one another. Neither one of them moved. Angie went to look up at George and realized that she barely came to the bottom of the pocket on his shirt. She started to giggle.
“Angie?” George asked wondering what was going on now.
“I just realized how small I really am in comparison to you,” she said. “I don’t even reach your pocket,” she said giggling.
George looked down and realized that she was right. He started giggling too. After a minute, he let go of her long enough for the two of them to walk to George’s car.
“So, where to now?” he asked as they pulled out of the parking lot and into traffic.
“How about my house?” Angie asked. “Your’s is a construction site and full of small children.”
“Your house it is,” said George.
*
They pulled into Angie’s driveway and parked the car. Angie had forgotten to turn on the porch light and was having trouble seeing the lock.
“Let me have your keys,” said George.
“Okay, but I don’t know how you’ll do any better,” said Angie.
George took the keys and let his eyes shift just enough to see the lock. His night vision was superb and he had the door open in a few seconds. They went inside and Angie turned on the lights just in time to see that George’s eyes were more yellow-gold than the blue they had been earlier that evening.
“Oh,” she gasped softly.
George blinked hard a time or two and when he opened his eyes, they were their normal blue. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, but I can see better as a wolf,” he said.
“It’s… it’s okay. I just didn’t expect it. I’m still so new to this whole thing that to be honest, I don’t know what to expect,” she said.
“You okay with this?” he asked pointing to his eyes.