Lesson 48- Enjoy your cake, but don’t eat too much at once!

**TORIN**
I repress a sigh as I look over the order form. I’m not making any progress. It’s strange, I never used to have any difficulties focusing on this kind of stuff. I also never noticed how depressing it is to be working alone in my office when I can hear people out in the bar having a good time. I opened this place six years ago, but until recently, I never particulary enjoyed spending time out in the bar. I wanted to, I imagined having a drink and relaxing. But it’s hard to relax when you know that everyone else is uncomfortable. The atmosphere isn’t the same. So I’ve always made do enjoying that relaxed atmosphere from in here and tried to just be satisfied that I get to provide that kind of feeling for others, even if I have to do it indirectly. It’s why I can’t get enough of watching Carina work. Sure, everyone else still avoids me. But she doesn’t. She talks to me, and not about anything important either. She doesn’t talk to me because she needs something or has something to report to me. She just talks, and shows me cat videos and even argues with me. Is it weird that I enjoy that? I don’t remember the last person to argue with me. Even my own parents didn’t have the time to bother fighting with me. Or maybe they just weren’t interested. It’s so strange how much I enjoy the attention, although I didn’t realise quite how much until we fought and she started ignoring me. It’s not just that I enjoy the attention though, I like having HER attention. She’s special. I’m not deaf nor am I stupid. I hear what people say about me, and I’ve heard them talking about her when she’s out of earshot. Everyone feels bad for her, trapped by the big scary demon. But she’s so cheerful and so damn NICE to everyone that no one has said anything. They all think that because she’s human, she doesn’t realise the danger she’s in, doesn’t realise the evil creature that is guarding her prison. And they don’t want to tell her because they know there isn’t anything they can do about it and they don’t want to upset her. They all underestimate her. Rina isn’t naive or oblivious. She knows the situation that she’s in, but she’s brave enough to give me the benefit of the doubt. That’s something no one else has done before. It’s not that she doesn’t understand, she is just hoping for the best. It makes me want things to turn out how she wishes. I want to be able to trust her, but I can’t. Humans aren’t supposed to know about magical creatures, if I let her go, I would have to accept that she really does like and trust me, that she won’t send some mob to burn my bar down and try to retaliate for trapping her here. I want to believe that, but it just doesn’t make sense. Why would she do that? So instead I just sit here and stew about it. I want her approval and I want her to like me, but I know that I won’t be able to keep this forever. Either I’ll let her go and (assuming she doesn’t try to get me killed) I’ll probably never see her again, OR I’ll keep her here and I’ll lose her anyway because there is no way she will tolerate this situation forever.

This friendship has an expiration date but I have no idea when it’s all going to collapse. It makes me want to spend as much time with Rina as possible. Which is why I’m sitting here not getting anything done. I want to go see what she’s doing. But when Laura and Kyle were planning this evening, Laura described it as a ‘girls night’ which sort of implies that my presence would be unwelcome. Just because Rina is MY only friend, it doesn’t mean that I’m her only friend and it doesn’t give me the right to try to monopolise all her time and attention. I sigh and run my hands through my hair. To be honest I should probably be trying to keep my distance. I’ve been slipping since we made up. But whenever she’s around I get so caught up in her and I find myself being drawn to her before I realise it. But I shouldn’t let myself get so attached. It isn’t fair to either of us. If only I could have met her under some other circumstance. Not that I can think of any situation where I could reveal that I’m a demon to some random human girl without it being a serious problem. But it’s nice to imagine. So, I stay put in my office all by myself and pretend that I’m working. It’s a relief when my phone rings and I have a distraction. My ridiculous self perks up and wonders if it might be Rina calling. Then I want to bang my head on the desk. Obviously she isn’t calling me. I have her phone. I check the caller I.D. It’s Kyle.
“Hello.” I answer.
“Uh, hello.” Kyle says awkwardly, clearing his throat.
“Is everything okay out there?” I ask. I never told my staff that they can’t knock on my office door, but for some reason they all choose to call or text me rather than just walk across the hall. It’s strange, but if it makes them more comfortable working for me then I can deal with it.
“Yes well… There isn’t anything wrong exactly. I just… I don’t know. I thought you should know. Rina is…” Kyle trails off. I shove my chair back and jump to my feet, throwing my phone down and rushing into the kitchen where Kyle is still standing with his phone held up to his ear.
“What about Rina?” I demand. Kyle stares up at me, eyes wide and incredibly nervous. He’s sweating.
“I… I just thought that maybe you would want to know that she’s… Well… Maybe you should see for yourself. She’s in the bar.” Kyle says vaguely. The bar? I thought she was staying in her room and having a girls night. What is she doing in the bar? I frown and without waiting for further explanation, rush down the hallway and throw the bar door open. Catcher is there and immediately steps out of my way.
“Hey boss. Uh, I’ve been keeping an eye on them, they’re just having fun.” He says with a hint of fear in his eyes. I ignore him and search for Rina but I don’t search long before she finds me.

**RINA**
So, Kyle brings us a chocolate mousse cake thing that is basically the best thing I’ve ever tasted. While we eat the ENTIRE CAKE, Laura and I watch a movie, we paint our nails, do face masks, play with makeup and I let Laura do my hair.
“You look so hot. I love your hair. I could never get mine to look like that.” Laura sighs and tugs on a strand of my hair.
“Your hair is gorgeous. Don’t be crazy. I considered dying my hair red once but I never went through with it. I’m glad I didn’t though. I’d have been so mad when it didn’t turn out as nice as yours.” I grin and Laura beams a smile at me.
“Your hair is so long and pretty.” She responds. I sigh.
“You’re so good at doing hair. I could never get my hair like this on my own. But it feels like a waste, there’s no one to appreciate it. All dolled up and nowhere to go.” I joke. Laura shrugs.
“There’s an entire bar of people right out there. We could go get a drink or something. It would be fun. That’s a girls’ night activity, right?” She says hopefully. I nod.
“Sure, sounds fun. Just let me get dressed and we can go out.” I agree. Laura drops her hands onto her hips and shakes her head.
“No way. I didn’t bring a change of clothes and I won’t fit into yours. If I have to go out there in my pyjamas so do you. This is a slumber party. Pyjamas are a must.” She insists. I consider. I guess I don’t really mind people seeing my pyjamas. Plus my hair and makeup look awesome, it would be a shame to waste Laura’s effort.
“Alright then, sure, why not. Let’s do this.”