‘Good morning’, is the text from Grant I wake up to; it’s followed by a heart emoji.

     I stare at the message for a little bit as my breath catches in my throat for a short moment. My heart flutters. I look away from my phone, forcing myself to release the air my throat trapped.

     I relax.

     My fingers tremble a little bit before I respond. ‘Good morning… How'd you sleep?’ In hindsight, my message sounds a bit dumb—-or, at least that's what my brain’s trying to convince me of.

        ‘Great… Honestly… Possibly even the best I've slept lately.’

      I can feel myself blush when I read that message from Grant. ‘Oh, really? Was the date that good?’, I reply back.

       ‘Yeah… I haven't had this much fun on a date since Genevieve’, he replies.

     I raise an eyebrow before I send my next message. ‘Genevieve? Collin’s mom, right?’

     It takes Grant a moment to respond. ‘Yes… His mother…’

      Another moment passes before Grant sends, ‘Sorry if it's weird I'm still thinking about her.’

      I feel bad when I read his response. He shouldn't feel like he needs to stop thinking about her—-we’ve only been on one date. It's not like we're married or something.

       ‘No, no. It's fine,’ I try to reassure him. ‘I still think about Stasya’s other father, Anatoliy, every now and then. I get it. It's hard to fully move on sometimes. I don't blame you.’

      There's nothing for a few minutes. And then, ‘Oh, uh… thanks…’

       I don't text back quite yet when I see the three bubbles appear on my screen. I let Grant say what he wants to.

     ‘Hey, um, Fedya? You think you'd like to come with me to a coffee shop tomorrow morning? I can text you the location if you want.’

     I grin at Grant’s message, feeling my face heat up. ‘Sure. I'd love that.’

─┉─¡! • !¡─┉─

    “It's good to see you,” Grant mumbles to me, softly when he sees me enter the coffee shop.

     Gods, he's falling fast for me, my mind notes as I observe his demeanor and tone—-it’s almost lovesick.

      I exhale as Grant continues to look upon me, gently. He's so damn cute… I think to myself.

       I clear my throat and blink a few times once I realize I'm staring at him. “Uh, Grant? Can I ask you something?”

     Grant nods as we head towards one of the lines to order. “Sure. Go ahead.”

     “Why a coffee shop?” My voice starts to sound with my question. I raise an eyebrow slightly. “Don't you think that's a tad bit… cliché?”

    Grant laughs a little to himself. “I guess it is, isn't it?” He goes quiet for a little bit. “I have my reasons.”

     “You do?” I begin to ask him. “And what might those be?”

       Grant looks down to his feet, watching as his shoes inch ever so slightly forward in the line we wait in. He seems to need a moment to compose his thoughts; whatever his reason is, there's a lot tied to it—-that much I can tell.

     Finally, Grant looks up to me once more. He takes a deep breath. “...it’s just that Genevieve and I used to go to coffee shops all the time before Collin was born… There was one place in Dublin specifically that we'd go to all the time.” He pauses, wetting his lips, biting them shut as well for a brief moment before releasing. “We'd lose track of time there… The whole day would fly by and we wouldn't even know it… The place was… special to us to say the least.”

     “It sounds like it,” I start to reply to what Grant has just told me. “So… You wanna feel that again? The joy of it?”

     “Yeah… if that's not stupid that is…” Grant swallows.

     “No, it's not stupid,” I quickly reassure him. “I get it. That was a really good point in your life. You wanna relive how good that made you feel… How secure…” I pause and then look around the shop as we step up in line. “Plus, this place is cute… I can see myself coming here more often with you… As long as the baristas aren't dicks.” I grin a little.

      Grant snickers a tad bit at my comment. “Oh, no. They're not. I've been here enough to know that. They're delights to be around.”

    “If you insist…” I hold in a laugh.

    Finally, it’s time for us to order.

    We say what we want.

    Grant says hi to the guy behind the counter—-Seamus—-who he must be friends with.

     We get our coffees and sit down at a nearby table.

    Once we sit down, I look back over to the counter where Seamus is taking peoples’ orders. Then, I look back to Grant. “He seems nice.”

     “Oh, Seamus? He is,” Grant replies. “He's definitely a good friend of mine… Probably the closest one at that.”

     I lean forward a little bit in my chair, rooting my elbows and forearms against the small wooden table. “How long have you known him?”

    Grant leans back in his chair a little, pressing his back into it. “Well…” He looks up, thinking on the answer to my question. “Let's see… uh…” He looks back from the ceiling to me. “I've known him for about… twenty some years now.”

     I raise an eyebrow. “Twenty-something, huh?” I pause for a moment before asking, “How? You look so young… Both you and Seamus do.”

     Grant chuckles a little to himself. “Can you keep a secret?”

     I nod. “Yeah. Of course I can.”

     Grant sucks in a breath. “Seamus is a vampire.”

      I raise an eyebrow. “A vampire?”

      “Mhm,” Grant says with a nod. He repeats, “A vampire.” He pauses before saying, “And because of that, it's hard for Seamus to make friends. Poor dude.”

      I can relate, I think to myself. I wanna speak up and say something about my own paranormal connections, but I'm not quite sure. I can trust him. It's okay… if he's not ratting out his vampire friend, Grant won't turn on me, I think to myself. I sigh, lowering my voice’s volume. “Grant? Can I tell you something?”

     Grant leans forward more, lowering his own voice. “Yeah… Go ahead.” He gazes gently at me, which makes me feel a little bit better about what I'm gonna tell him.

      I inhale deeply. “I’m a… siren.”

     Grant smiles, faintly. “Oh… Uh… I…” He stops. “It might just be easier to show you.” He reaches up to his beanie, pulling it up a little, just to show me the point in one of his ears.

     I blink a few times in disbelief before I, myself, smile gently at him. My best dream just came true: he's an elf.