I shook my head at my wayward thought and tried to concentrate on the conversation before me. Marnie and Emily were talking about Devi, the cook at Colette's.
"Devi brought in some chicken curry the other day that he made at home for Colleen to taste," Emily said. "It was so good. But of course Colleen wouldn't try it." Devi was forever after Colleen to let him put some Indian dishes on the menu, the food of his heritage, but Colleen was adamantly against it. She insisted that Indian food had no place in a French cafe. Devi argued that the only thing French about Colette's was the beret that Colleen wore. So he was always bringing in Indian dishes for her to try, hoping to sway her. Most of the time she didn't even bother to taste them.
Marnie grinned. "I swear, one day Devi is just going to slide a chicken tikki masala on the menu without Colleen noticing." Suddenly her eyes rounded as her eyes traveled up behind me. "Hi," she squeaked out.
I turned to see what had her so discomfited and saw Simon, sans beard, with his sunglasses folded and tucked into the front pocket of his trenchcoat. Simon gave the group an easy smile.
"Hi ladies," he greeted and then casually slung an arm around my shoulders. He cocked his head as he surveyed Marnie and Emily. "A fairy and a princess?"
Marnie nodded vigorously. She was decked out in a green dress that bowed out in a skirt that resembled petals. Her costume was completed with a pair of wings that hung a bit haphazardly on her back. Emily was dressed normally, wearing jeans and a short-sleeved pink sweater.
Emily gave Simon a confused look. "I'm not a princess. I'm not wearing a costume."
Simon winked at her. "I know a fair maiden when I see one."
Emily flushed pink, clearly pleased with Simon's compliment. Emily was usually reserved around new people, even more so than me, but I could see her falling under Simon's spell. I was partly amused but also steeled myself against Simon's easy charm that touched everyone. I needed to remember that words of honey seemed to drip easily from his lips. I had to be careful not to take them to heart.
Simon kept his arm around my shoulders. "Do you mind if I steal Caitlin for a moment?" Both Marnie and Emily's faces fell in disappointment but they nodded their heads. I inwardly smirked at their reaction. They seemed crestfallen to lose his company, not mine.
I looked up at Simon as he drew me away towards the kitchen. I had been hyper aware of Simon's movements during the party. Instead of mingling from group to group, he stood in one place and the other students seemed to be drawn to him. He laughed easily and loudly, engaging in conversation with everyone around him. People just gravitated towards him and Simon didn't seem to think twice about it. He was probably used to the attention. He had caught me staring at him a couple of times, which had been mortifying, so I had forced myself to stop searching him out in the crowd. Consequently, his approach had been a surprise.
"Do you need something?" I asked as we entered the kitchen. Plastic cups were scattered on the counter along with crumbs. I started collecting the cups and cleaning the counter when Simon stopped me with a hand on my arm, turning me around to face him.
"I was just getting tired of the crowd so I thought I could get a little breathing room in here. And I couldn't think of better company than you."
I ignored the last part of his comment and narrowed my eyes. "All the adulation getting to you?"
Simon grinned. "Even us rock stars need some alone time."
"So what am I doing here?"
"I'd rather be alone with you than alone on my own."
I shook my head at Simon's nonsensical explanation but smiled. Even though he was flirting, it seemed harmless. Not the intense interest he had shown earlier. "Thanks, I guess?" I indicated his missing beard. "I see that the beard didn't last too long."
Simon rubbed his jaw. "I couldn't take it anymore. It was driving me crazy. And then of course Marcus took his off when he saw I wasn't wearing mine." He smirked. "Grant is annoyed because now he just looks like a homeless guy that needs a shave."
I laughed at Simon's explanation. "Poor Grant."
Simon fingered one of my cat ears, a smile still lingering on his face. "I'm driving down to Connecticut next weekend. It's my sister's sixteenth birthday."
"That's nice," I replied. He had spoken a little about his sister, Kendra, before. It sounded like they were pretty close even with a five year age difference. "Is your family having a party for her?"
"Yeah, they're throwing her a pretty big shindig." Simon lowered his hand, casually tucking my hair behind one of my ears. "Do you want to come?"
"Where?" I asked stupidly. Of course I knew where. I just didn't know what else to say so I bought time with a guise of confusion.
"To Connecticut."
"Um." I could feel my face getting hot and I warned myself not to read too much into his invitation. "Thanks for the offer. But I'm working next weekend." I paused. "Is Grant going?"
"Yeah," Simon replied, dropping his hand to his side. He studied my face and I forced myself to stay expressionless. "I was thinking that if you could come, we could invite Sarah too. Marcus can't go because he finally has a soccer match and he said Jenny promised to cheer him on during the game. Can't you get someone to cover your shifts?"
"Well," I began slowly. Now that I knew that he wasn't inviting me exclusively I breathed a little easier. I told myself that I didn't feel any disappointment. "I'm not sure. I guess I could check."
Simon looked hopeful. "We could leave Friday night and come back Sunday afternoon. I can show you around my hometown."
I smiled at his enthusiasm but I still wasn't convinced that going to Connecticut was a good idea. Now that I seemed to be having visions with regularity, the last thing I wanted was to freak out at Simon's house. I was sure his parents wouldn't be too happy with him bringing a strange crazy girl home. "I'll check but I can't make any promises," I warned. "But thanks for the invite regardless."