Chapter 5 - Not So Enchanted to Meet You

It was finally the end of the holiday season so it was back to work for both Oliver and Christina. Oliver had been running himself ragged at practice so Percy had invited him over for a lad's night while his girlfriend was busy.

"So, when was the last time you went out on a date?" he asked.

Oliver laughed. "When did you start caring about my love life, Perce?"

"Answer the question, Wood."

Oliver shrugged and ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair. "I don't know. It's hard to find a woman who doesn't just want to sleep with me because I'm a famous Quidditch player."

"I suppose so."

"Did you have someone in mind?"

Percy shrugged. "Audrey's cousin's boss might be a good match for you."

"Audrey is a muggle, isn't she?"

"She is, I'm not sure if that means her cousin's boss is a muggle as well."

Oliver nodded. "You know I'm familiar with the muggle world since my mum is a muggle born and my Gran has been nagging me to meet a friend of hers granddaughter."

"I always forget that your mum is a muggle born."

"Actually now that I remember, I finally agreed to meet the woman in a few days."

"You did?"

"I am. We're meeting in the muggle world at a restaurant that my Gran recommended."

Percy nodded. "Are you still writing Christina?"

"Sparsely, really. But I suppose we've been busy."

Percy nodded.

—

A few days later, Oliver was getting for the date since it was the muggle world. He had decided on a pair of denim jeans and a nice dress shirt. He brushed his hair and left his flat.

He took the metro to the restaurant and walked in. He immediately noticed a woman with wavy blonde hair.

She looked up at him. "Are you Oliver?"

"I am. You must be Christina."

"That's me."

"Wood, party of two," the hostess said.

"Shall we?" he asked, offering his arm to her.

She smiled and accepted his arm. "Aren't you chivalrous?"

"I am."

They were led to the table and Oliver pulled out her chair and she sat down.

"It's nice to see you again, Christina," the hostess said.

"You too, Erica."

The hostess walked away.

"So, you're familiar with this place?"

"Very, a friend of my dad owns it. And I grew up with his adopted daughter who is a year younger than my brother."

Oliver nodded. "Oh, you have a brother?"

"Two younger brothers. Aaron is two years younger than me at 24 and Justin is 22."

"So, that makes you 26?"

She giggled. "It's not polite to ask a lady her age, Oliver but yes I'm 26."

"I'm 27."

Christina nodded as the waitress arrived at the table and asked for their drink order. Oliver asked for a beer while Christina asked for a soda instead.

"So, do you have any siblings?" Christina asked.

Oliver nodded. "I'm the middle child, I have a brother named Chris who is five years older than me and a sister who is almost six years younger than me."

"That's nice, what's her name?"

"Emma."

"I've always liked that name."

Oliver nodded. "So, what do you do as a job?"

"I work with my dad at a pet shop. How about you?"

He assumed she was a muggle so he said. "I play rugby."

"Oh, I love rugby but I don't recognize you from any of the teams and I assume you would have paparazzi following you," she noticed.

"You think I'm lying?"

"It seems suspicious."

Oliver's temper was rising. "I'm not lying."

"You must be."

"I only agreed to meet you so my Gran would stop nagging me," Oliver said, getting up.

She said, "My gran was the same. I said I would meet you just because you were a nice lad but apparently not."

Oliver stormed out of the restaurant in a huff. She finished her drink even after Erica tried to convince her to stay.

She arrived home just in time to put Effie to bed.

"I suppose your date didn't pan out?" Francis asked his daughter.

She sighed. "No, it didn't. But I suppose I would be offended too if someone accused me of lying."

"What do you think he lied about?"

"He said he played rugby. But I didn't recognize him from any of the teams."

Francis nodded.