“Me as well, me as well.” He took one step into the door way before leaning over in his stage whisper pose. “Trust me, you don’t want Martina’s hellish breath on the back of your neck.”
“I’m sure I can imagine,” Zoe said as she led him inside. “There’s a lasagna in the oven. Should be done soon. I think there will be enough for two.”
“Excellent, Excellent. It smells lovely,” he said after a long breath through his nose.
“Take a seat.” Zoe gestured towards the couches. She tried to ignore the sudden realization that they were incredibly cheap and not very comfortable. If she had a proper dining room setup, she’d have led him there instead. “I’ll get us some glasses,” Zoe said and quickly stepped into the kitchen.
Zoe sighed as she retrieved two glasses. They weren’t even wine glasses, just cups. Rex would look at them, look around at her home, and run off. He’d wisely decide to find a career that paid more, even though Zoe made more than enough to live off of. Most of her money went towards research.
Freezing halfway back to the sitting room, Zoe had a thought. What were they going to talk about. Not many people considered magical theory to be an interesting line of discussion. Sure, they would politely nod along and pretend they understood or cared about what she said–they never actually did.
Many of her projects, especially the current ring project, she couldn’t even talk about with anyone. They were simply too dangerous or too incriminating.
Resigning herself to a night of awkward silence, Zoe headed back to Rex. She dropped the glasses on the coffee table and took a seat across from him.
He politely smiled, no traces of any disgust on his face. With a flourish Tom would be jealous at, Rex popped open the bottle and poured a healthy amount in both glasses. Her glass slid across the table with a flick of his finger.
Zoe lifted the glass, swirling it around with her wrist. It had a faint scent of alcohol and bit of a floral smell to it. It wasn’t that she thought Rex Zagan would poison her, but she waited for him to take a swig of his own glass before she took a small sip of hers.
Paranoia never hurt anybody, after all.
The drink was a tad dry. Not to her tastes at all.
“So,” Rex said after she set the glass back on the table, “everything is lined up for me. I’ll be finishing the paperwork tonight to finalize my teaching position next year.”
“That’s good,” Zoe said. The words felt, for lack of a better word, lame in her mouth. “I’m sure the students will enjoy another practical class,” she added.
“Ah, yes. I am sure I will enjoy teaching them. It should be,” he paused, “
During that pause, Zoe was sure she saw a flicker again. Not of disgust or hatred, but of elation. The barest hint of a grin before his face resumed the mannerly smile he had on before.
Beeping of the oven echoed throughout the small house before Zoe could continue the conversation. Zoe excused herself and headed into the kitchen, shut off the timer, and pulled out the lasagna. She scooped a third onto her plate and a third onto another plate. One leftover meal would have to suffice.
For a moment, Zoe thought about moving the lasagna into some sort of visually appealing arrangement. That thought quickly vanished from her mind. Not only did she not know where to start, but she decided she didn’t care. If Rex wanted a fancy looking meal, he could go find a restaurant.
“Looks delicious,” Rex said as Zoe set out the plates on the table. He said it sincerely if Zoe didn’t miss her mark.
She took her own seat and started eating.
A few bites in and Rex was all smiles. Zoe couldn’t detect the slightest flickers of any other emotion on his face. He dug in like a man possessed. Eating the way he did made Zoe wonder if he had been eating much at all in the past few days.
“This is absolutely exquisite. You’ll have to give me the recipe sometime, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Zoe said, “maybe. It might be a family secret.”
“Ah,” he said, “I know a lot about family secrets.”
“Oh?”
“Yep. My family has a whole slew of them. ‘Never speak of these to others,’ I was always told growing up. Quite the pain if I say so myself.” He took a large bite of his lasagna leaving not much left.
Zoe hoped he wouldn’t ask for seconds.
“Then again, all my family secrets are about magic and other magery. Not many culinary secrets in the Zagan family.”
Zoe couldn’t help herself. She had to ask. “And what secrets are in the Zagan family?”
