Lesson 132- Listen to the whole story before you make a decision.

Laura and I are working together tonight, and once again she is early since she came in with Kyle.
“Hey Laura. What’s this I hear about a bet you made with Eli about Tori and I?” I say with a cheerful smile. Her own smile falters a little.
“He told you about that?” She says uncomfortably and I nod.
“Yeah, also you apparently owe him fifty bucks.” I add. She frowns.
“Seriously? When are you gonna put that guy out of his misery?” She complains.
“Laura.” I say giving her a look. She sighs.
“Okay, okay. I know. You have real and very valid reasons for not hooking up with the boss. But you totally want to, right?” She teases. I just cross my arms over my chest and she rolls her eyes at me.
“Fine.” She drops the subject, clearly disappointed not to get more gossip or evidence for whatever bet she and the others have going right now. We go to set up the bar but within a few moments of us heading out front, knocking starts at the door. I go to check who it is but Laura scolds me for it.
“Rina! You know some demon guy is trying to kidnap you! Why would you answer the door?” She demands.
“I wasn’t going to open it! I was just going to look out the window.” I complain. Laura shakes her head and does it for me.
“Oh, it’s Eli.” She says, suddenly a lot less worried. I go to answer the door. Laura still looks doubtful, I assume because Tori isn’t here. But I figure it’s fine. I won’t let him out back or anything. Just into the bar. He might have something important to say. Besides, as much as Torin complains about Eli I know he secretly considers him a friend. It’ll be fine.

I let Eli in and he immediately starts pacing the room.
“It’s about time! I’ve been waiting for you to answer the door for like twenty minutes!” He complains.
“Huh? Eli we aren’t even open yet. If you were knocking I wouldn’t have heard you.” I remind him. He just shrugs.
“You could have texted if you needed to talk. You send me like fifty messages a day anyway.” I point out. Then I frown as I realise that he actually didn’t text me today. Like at all. Shit. Maybe something actually is wrong.
“What’s up Eli? Did something happen?” Laura asks, clearly she’s concerned too. Eli shakes his head.
“No, nothing happened at all.” He says bluntly. He does not sound happy.
“You’re pissed off that nothing happened? What was SUPPOSED to happen?” I ask.
“Nothing.” He answers, way too quickly.
“Yeah, okay. So that’s a lie. What were you HOPING would happen?” I try again.
“I was… Waiting for a call. Or a text.” He complains.
“Okay, so you were expecting a call? From who?” Laura asks. Eli frowns.
“Not EXPECTING exactly. But… I thought I would get one.” He answers. Laura raises an eyebrow.
“Someone didn’t call you back?” She says, surprise in her tone. I’m surprised too. Eli is popular for a reason, and it’s not just because of his incubus magic. He is also legitimately charming and if you can get past his dramatics, he’s a nice person.
“Well… I didn’t exactly call… Or text, I don’t have this person’s number. I just sort of… Thought I might get one.” He says sadly. Laura sighs.
“You’re saying you gave your number to someone and they didn’t call you so now you’re sulking.” Laura sums up. She seems kind of unimpressed. He does seem really disappointed though.

“Eli… Do you have… Actual feelings for this person?” I ask, half incredulous and half gleeful. He shakes his head, but then gives a half shrug.
“Is that a yes or a no?” Laura asks. She looks as thrilled by this development as I am.
“Maybe… I’m not sure. But either way it’s stupid. No call back, remember?” He sighs.
“Eli… Does this person know that you WANT them to call? Do they know you’re interested?” I try. He frowns.
“I mean… I did give my number… But I suppose it might not have been obvious that I’m interested. But… It’s never mattered before. Most people who have my number call me.” He says as if it didn’t occur to him that someone might NOT call him.
“Well, if you see the person again, why don’t you get their number and call them? Make your interest a little more clear?” Laura suggests. Eli sighs and sinks to the floor, his back up against the bar. Laura and I sit on the floor on either side of him.
“You’re really worked up about this.” I observe and he shrugs, clearly embarrassed.
“Are you gonna tell us who you’re crushing on?” Laura asks, I can tell that she’s trying to mask her eagerness. I have to admit, I want to know too. Who managed to turn the incubus’ head?
“Uh… It’s a secret?” He says hesitantly. I scoff.
“Eli, you harass us constantly to tell you about this kind of thing. Why won’t you tell us? We’re not going to go around telling anyone. Besides, maybe we can help.” I suggest. Eli sighs.
“Fine. It’s Damien.” He blurts out. I stare in surprise and Laura bursts out laughing. Eli glares at her.
“You aren’t supposed to laugh!” He complains and she shakes her head.
“Sorry, sorry. It’s just… You’re crushing on a human! Maybe you are right. You’re kind of screwed. Look how much trouble Rina knowing about magic has caused.” I frown.
“Hey! I’m not trouble… It’s not MY fault some asshole demon is all obsessed with me.” I complain, but my mind is still trying to catch up.
“Eli… You’re… Are you actually crushing on my brother?” I repeat, just to be sure I heard right. He nods miserably.
“Yeah. The other night when I first met him he seemed pretty cool. I caught up with him when we left after breakfast before and I gave him my number. But he hasn’t called me.” He says sadly.
“Okay… Right… Well.. Start over. What exactly did you say to him?” I ask. I’m really not sure how I feel about this. But I may as well ask a bit more about it.
“I just gave him my number and said that he can call me.” Eli answers. Laura groans.
“Eli! You’re supposed to be good at this stuff. You have to realise that he probably thought you meant to call if he needed any help, like professionally. I doubt he would have realised you were flirting. You were way too subtle.” She points out.
“I didn’t want to overdo it!” Eli objects.
“Yeah well you underdid it.” Laura responds. Eli glances at me nervously.
“Are you mad about this?” He asks. I shrug.
“Not mad, no. I mean, you like my brother. He’s a good person, it shows good taste I guess. But I don’t really want him getting his life all screwed up by this magic stuff…” I trail off and Eli sighs.
“Yeah, I know. But… There’s no harm in just talking to him, right? And if he did find out one day…” He looks at me hopefully and I sigh.
“I just want him safe and happy.” I decide. He nods.
“That’s fair. So… Any idea if your brother is into guys?” He asks.
“Uh… I really don’t know. Sorry. He doesn’t really date much… But when I was younger he was busy basically raising me, and I lived with him until recently. If he did have a partner or something, I doubt he would have brought them back to our place.” I ramble awkwardly. Eli sighs. Laura nudges his side.
“Cheer up, look at it this way. You have Rina here to give you the inside scoop.” She grins and he smiles a little.
“Tell me more about him?” Eli asks hopefully.
“Uh… Like what?” I ask, not sure what he wants from me. He shrugs.
“I don’t know, anything. What does he do for work?” He questions.
“Oh, he’s a firefighter.” I answer. Eli sighs dreamily.
“See? It’s perfect. I’m a cop, he’s a firefighter. That totally works! Except for the part where he probably doesn’t even like me.” Eli sighs.
“Don’t you literally have magic that makes people feel attracted to you? Why are you so worried?” Kyle chimes in from the other side of the bar. We all look up to see him leaning over the bar and looking down at us. Eli groans.
“My magic only works if the person is at least a little bit attracted to me already. It won’t work if the person doesn’t like me! Really, it just magnifies what’s already there.” He complains.
“Eli… You’re like… Stupid hot. Isn’t basically everyone at least a little bit attracted to you?” I ask. Aaand of course Torin choses this moment to walk in. He looks far from happy. Oh dear.