Chapter Seven

Danielle walked home in a much lighter mood than she had gone to school in. The short soul calming session that she had spent at the back of the school had helped wiped away the ugly remnants of this morning's dream. On her way home, Danielle had stopped by the neighborhood supermarket and bought ingredients to make herself some delicious pasta for dinner later. 'So living for more than a century actually does pay off,' Danielle mused to herself. During the course of her immortal life, besides constantly worrying about anyone finding out about her secret, battling evil and going through hell all over, Danielle actually put it to good use and learnt a few useful skills like cooking. She didn't think that there wasn't any dish in the world that she didn't know how to prepare. She remembered one lifetime where she had been a Duke's daughter and how the servants were appalled when she insisted she cooked her own meals.

Danielle was so absorbed in recalling the times when she had to send the servants on several errands at a time just to whip up a meal for herself, that she did not realize that a man had was calling her as she walked past the house next to hers.

"Hey lady!"

Hearing the word 'lady', Danielle snapped out of her thoughts and turned towards the voice.

"Are you calling me?" Danielle asked, mentally taking in how the man looked like.

"What are you, deaf?" the man retorted.

Frowning, Danielle thought the man's mean reply was uncalled for. Looking at him from head to toe, she concluded that he couldn't have been a very good man, judging from the way he looks, what he wore and especially the way he replied her.

"No. I was merely preoccupied with my thoughts," Danielle answered, curtly. But years of experience had thought her how to behave like a lady, for she was not born in this time of violence but in a time of etiquette and courtesy. "Since you were calling for me, what is it that you wanted?"

"I wanted to ask if you knew if there's anyone home next door," he replied, pointing his finger in the direction of her neighbor, Shirley's house. "I've been ringing the bell, knocking on that god damned door for more than ten minutes and no one answered."

"Well, what business do you have with her?" Danielle asked, frowning at the use of profanity.

He frowned even harder at her. "What are you, a lady from the 18th century? My business with her, is a pizza," he replied, a hint of mockery in his voice. "I'm to deliver this pizza to her and I'm already late with my other deliveries."

Danielle pursed her lips in anger. This man was overwhelmingly rude! She had merely made a slip in the way she had spoke and he was mocking her for it. She looked at him hard, frowning at his rudeness. She wished so much that she reply him saying 'Oh no you're wrong. I'm from all centuries you see. I've lived through all of them.' But instead, she replied by walking towards Shirley's house, not sparing him a glance as she walked past him.

"Shirley! It's Danielle! Are you there?" Danielle said as she knocked on the door. She peered into the side window when there was no response. It was dark in the house, save for a dim light emitting from the living room. It was either Shirley had forgotten to turn the lamp off or she was home and in trouble. Danielle frowned. She had never known Shirley to be forgetful. Aware that the man was staring hard at her, and without doubt frowning as well, Danielle rang the bell once more and pretended to wait for a response while she closed her eyes and focused on sensing Shirley's presence in her house.

"Danielle?"

Danielle whirled around to see Shirley walking towards her. She sighed with relief inwardly as she smiled and went down the steps towards Shirley, once again ignoring the angry man with the pizza.

"Shirley! I thought something happened to you when you didn't answer your door and there was light from your living room," Danielle explained.

"Oh! I must have forgotten to turn it off," Shirley said, shifting the bags of grocery in her arms to a more comfortable position. "Why were you looking for me?"

It was only then Danielle remembered the man. "Oh! I wasn't looking for you. He was," Danielle explained, stepping back to reveal the frowning deliveryman behind her. "You ordered a pizza?"

"Oh yes! Silly me! I forgot all about it!" Shirley explained, her face flushing in embarrassment. She walked up to the man and asked him while she dug her purse for her wallet. "I'm terribly sorry, sir. How much is it?"

"Twenty five dollars," he answered curtly.

When Shirley passed him the money, he dumped the box of pizza unceremoniously into her already full arms and walked away. Seeing that the box of pizza was about to drop from Shirley's arms, Danielle hurriedly walked up to her and relieved her of the box. Danielle watched the man walk away, appalled by his lack of courtesy. And she couldn't believe that Shirley had yelled another apology after him just as he started the engine of his motorbike. And she let her know what she thought. Shirley disagreed; pointing out to Danielle that she was at fault first for having made that 'poor' man wait for her, and had graciously switched the subject when she invited Danielle over to her place for dinner. Danielle had accepted her invitation, promising to bring over pasta that she had intended to have for dinner that night. And so, she helped Shirley bring her groceries into the house and as she returned to hers, her mind was still on that rude deliveryman.

It was almost seven when he left his workplace. 'Natalie wouldn't be too happy,' he mused. He had returned to Danny's Pizza Parlour an hour late because he was delayed by a few deliveries. He was further held back as the manager took his time to pass him his paycheck. As he sped through the streets, his recounted his day and lingered on a particular incident. Or rather, a particular individual. That girl Danielle, who'd helped him check if her neighbour was at home, had frowned at him in disapproval. She was not too please with his attitude towards her, and as frustrated as he was then, he had taken notice that she was wearing a white dress that seem to cling to her body, revealing all the hidden curves. He had also noticed that she had long brown hair and a pair of blue eyes that seemed to narrow each time he spoke to her. She probably thought him to be the rudest man she'd ever met. Not that he cared what she thought of him, for they weren't even going to meet each other again. And for his 24 years of his life, Noah Westland never cared what others thought of him.

"You're late again, Noah," Natalie said as he walked into the building towards her.

Noah noticed that she had her little arms crossed and was trying hard to frown at him. He stifled a smile. He knelt down on one knee and took her right hand in his.

"Oh mighty princess Natalie," Noah said, pretending to be solemn and serious at the same time. "Would you forgive your knight for his tardiness and grant him the honor of sending you home on his mighty steed?"

Natalie giggled. She didn't quite understand what Noah had said but she knew that her brother was trying to make up for being late. "What is 'tardiness' and 'stweed' Noah?"

Noah looked up at Natalie and a smile touched the corners of his lips. He got up, scooped Natalie in his arms. " 'Tardiness' means being late and 'steed'," Noah explained, careful to stress on the pronunciation of the last word. "means a horse."

"A horse?" Natalie asked, as she curled her arms around Noah's neck and held on as he carried her out. "Like the ones I always see on the books?"

"Yes, Darling dear," Noah answered. "So, my fair princess, where do you wish to eat?"

Natalie giggled. She liked it when Noah called her 'darling dear' and 'princess'. "Hmm," Natalie said, as she placed her finger on her chin, just like always. "Johnny's burger plwace!"

Noah chuckled. He had already known where she wanted to eat because she had always gone there to eat whenever it was her turn to decide where to eat. "Johnny's burger place it is then," Noah echoed.

He placed Natalie on the seat of his bike and went around to retrieve her helmet for her. He had custom made her helmet because the stores didn't sell one that fit her. Theoretically, kids her age weren't allowed to ride on bikes, and Noah knew the danger she's in when she's on his bike, no matter how careful he rides. But he had no choice; he just didn't have enough money to buy a car. Securing his own helmet, Noah got on behind Natalie. He turned his engine on, checked that Natalie had her helmet on properly; he yelled a 'hold on' to her before riding off into the night towards their dinner destination.