Inwardly she cursed the person who invented Valentines Day, they made these questions so much harder. Because if you got shot down on Valentines Day...she shook her head to chase away the errant thought. She stood up from inside her cubicle and, hiding her necklace inside her sweater with a practiced movement, trotted around the corner of the room and approached his office.
She looked up at the ceiling throwing out a quick prayer to whatever Saint was watching over her as she opened the door to his office, knocking as she did so. As always, the curtains in his office were closed and only the light of a small lamp lit up the room. He'd been so annoyed when he'd been taken from the night shift she remembered. She smiled as she remembered the favors she had to call in with Bertie, the woman who made the schedules, to get him put on day shift. She just had to be sure.
And now she was, he was the one, he'd be her first she was sure of it. Stepping into the dimly lit office she found herself immediately drawn to his eyes, the way he seemed to look right through her. Past the baggy clothes and bad make up right to the woman behind them. He smiled and she felt her knees go weak, admonishing herself silently she leaned against the door frame for support and threw him a smile of her own.
"Ah 'mir, how good to see you. I mean...bump into you. I mean I knew you'd be here and I wanted to talk to you. I mean ask you a question...ehm, yeah." She was babbling and she knew it and when he chuckled in amusement she felt so embarrassed she could drop through the floor. She blushed to the tips of her ears, even his chuckle made her weak kneed. Her hand went up to her neckline and she found the strength to continue.
"I wanted...I mean if you're free, I'd like to...go out. You with me, would you like to I mean? On Valentines Day."
"Like a date?" He asked, still smiling at her, his eyes shining.
She coughed into her hand, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Uhm, yes. Like a date date. You and me, I mean we've been coworkers for a while now and I think we have a good relationship. I'd like to...if you want we could go out somewhere no one knows us. If you think people will talk."
He stood from behind his desk and it was like he unfolded. She felt her mouth go dry as she watched him straighten his tie and step towards her, still smiling that adorable close mouthed smile. He placed his hands on her shaking shoulders and looked her in the eye. She felt as if she was the only thing in the world he was interested in right now.
"I'd love to go out with you Anne, but you are right, people will talk if we go somewhere close by. Why don't I pick you up tonight and whisk you away somewhere?"
She smiled, this couldn't have gone better in her dreams. "Yes! I mean, if you want...I'll, I'll make sure I'm ready." She nearly stumbled out of the room and tripped twice as she tried smiling at him in a sultry way while walking away.
She spent most of her time at work playing with her necklace and staring at the clock on the wall, praying for time to go faster so she could get ready for tonight. When the hour finally struck six she didn't know how fast she had to get home. She may have run a red light or two.
Arriving home she quickly threw some clean clothes on, hiding her special surprise for him behind the billowing shirt that hid most of her assets from view. He'd probably be interested in something else anyway. She struggled out of her baggy pants, nearly falling onto her bum a few times as the legs tangled together.
At seven precisely she heard the honking of a car horn, she quickly spritzed on something from the bottle on her nightstand and tucked her necklace into her sweater. She waved at him from her window and motioned she'd be down soon.
Licking her suddenly dry lips, she used the special chap stick she'd prepared to moisten her lips, grimacing as she tasted it. She ran downstairs, so excited that finally, tonight would be her first. She tore open the door and couldn't help but smile when she saw him standing there. He was decked out in a very handsome suit, it made him look a lot older. His black hair was slicked back and he looked at her regally over his hawkish nose.
He smiled at her, flashing his teeth at her almost mockingly. "My lady," he gave her a sweeping bow, "your chariot awaits."
She let him help her into the passenger seat and nervously played with her hair as they drove in silence. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and couldn't help but smile at the satisfied look in his eyes.
After a while he started sneezing and she opened the window. "Sorry," she said, "I might have sprayed a little too liberally with my perfume." She looked down and only looked up again when he placed a supportive hand on her knee. They smiled at each other as 'mir turned into an abandoned plot of land. She felt her heart beat a mile a minute, secluded, far from the city and hidden from the road. It was perfect.
He stepped out of the car, his movements were starting to get a little urgent as he helped her out of the car. She threw her arms around his neck and smiled. "Kiss me Vladimir." She whispered it against his lips and he kissed her deeply, before moving on to her neck. She felt him rub his teeth against her neck and she grinned her hands going under her sweater.
Suddenly he jerked away, coughing and sneezing his lips smoking. He looked at her in surprise and she pulled her necklace from her sweater with a practiced movement. "Vampire! Tonight you will finally answer for your crimes!" She shouted the words as she held the cross out to Vladimir, who huddled in on himself and raised his arms as if to ward off the cross.
"How?" He croaked the word past his smoldering lips.
"Oh you didn't seriously think I wasn't on to you? Always in the night shift? Never really dating a girl from the office but holding us all under your spell? You thought you were so smart killing the girls outside of the city, but I was on to you from the start."
She licked her lips again and grimaced. "Garlic on my lips and in my perfume, just enough to incapacitate you."
He fell backwards onto the grass, clawing at the air helplessly. She reached under her sweater and brought out the hammer and the sanctified wooden stake. "I had all this blessed by a priest." She said, all the nervousness flowing out of her. She took a knee next to his prone body and placed the stake right on top of his heart.
"A tip, maybe a belated one, but don't be so obvious next time. I mean Vladimir? Really?" She grinned as she hammered the stake home and sat back as she watched the centuries old vampire turn to dust.
She looked up with a smile at the round globe of the moon and giggled happily as she fell back in the grass. She could officially call herself a vampire hunter now. This had been the perfect Valentine's Day.
