My cell phone rang then, and Liam gave me a look. He was snarly and angry, and I knew that he was trying not to show how much pain he was in. Pulling it out, I saw it was a number I didn’t recognize. Raising my own eyebrows, I pressed talk.
“Hello?”
“Hello, can I speak to Amy, please?”
“This is she.” I wanted to back away to hear better, but I knew I couldn’t leave them alone.
“Amy, my name is Aphrodite, I’m a producer at Sites TV.”
“Oh! Hi!” I said, surprised. I had seen Sites TV a few times, they visited all the hottest spots in various cities around the world. But why in the world would the producer be on the phone with me?
“We’ve been in talks for a while with Leopard Academy about doing a Site visit, and after we heard your story, we’d love it if you could be the host for this episode.”
“Me?” I really did back away then, grabbing Sarah and pulling her back as well, to keep her out of danger. This was really my life right now, talking about hosting a TV show while my boyfriend was turning into a vampire. God. “Really?”
“Sure, you’re a great performer, I caught you in Gatsby, and your story as the scholarship winner and as the girlfriend of Liam is quite interesting. I think you’d be perfect.”
“Does Liam know?” My eyes went to him as he sank against the wall, his fists balled up.
“Well, he’s surely aware that we will be filming there. I’ll probably have to call to…”
“You can talk to him right now!” the words flew out of my mouth before I even thought about it. From his place on the wall, Liam gave me a glare. I took the phone off my ear, placing my hand over the mouthpiece. “It’s Sites TV! They want me to host a segment!”
Liam rolled his eyes, and motioned for Sarah to come closer as well. The chains jangling, he took the phone, his eyes relatively clear, and put it to his ear. We placed our hands on him again.
“Hello?... Yes… Yes, once or twice… urg.” He shifted, and reached for Sarah’s hand, placing it on his neck. I gave him a quizzical look, but he shook his head. “Yes, that will be fine… I’m sure she will be… Yes, alright. Have a good day.” He snapped the phone off and handed it back to me.
“Did you know they were considering me to host? Oh my God!” I couldn’t contain my excitement and I turned to Sarah, who was grinning at me. “You have to let me interview you! You can be my like student tour guide around the school.”
“I can’t believe it!” She was just as excited. “I love Sites!”
“Ladies.” Liam tried to get our attention. “I appreciate your excitement, but I’d like to draw your attention to the situation at hand.”
“Right.” I tried to contain my enthusiasm, taking a big breath. “Focus. Sarah, Focus.”
We lasted about 3 seconds before Sarah burst out talking again. “When is the episode going to air?”
“Ok.” Liam shook us both off him.
I noticed that his eyes were perfectly clear and that his fangs had barely come out. Whether he was still feeling pain or not, Sarah was clearly having an effect on him. “Thank you, my dear, but I think both of you need to get out of here.”
“Right.” I pulled back. “I’ll see you for breakfast in the morning and we can talk about this?”
“I’m counting the hours,” Liam replied, with a softness I hadn’t heard in a while. He leaned down to give me a quick kiss and then pulled back before anything could happen. My heart trembled a little, leaving him there all alone, but I knew that it was for the best. “Go on.”
“Love you,” I said, just as softly, and then took Sarah’s arm, pulling her away. I managed to stay serious until we made it out of the basement and to the top of the stairs. Once the door was closed, I turned to her, excitedly.
“Oh my God! I’m going to be on TV!”
“This is so exciting!” she replied, and then gestured down the stairs. “And did you see what I did? Did you see? He looked great!”
“You did great!” I agreed. “I think you’re getting stronger every day!”
“I can’t wait to be on stage and take down this chick,” Sarah exclaimed, as we walked back to the dorms. “Are you ready for the auditions tomorrow?”
“Oh God, I’ve barely thought about them. I was just going to do a Beauty monologue and then sing the title song from Phantom. Not very creative, but I don’t really have time to prepare anything else. What about you?”
“I’ve got something up my sleeve.” She gave me a wicked grin. “Hey, you go on ahead. I’ll meet up with you later.”
“Where are you going?” I asked, confused. It was late, there were no classes or shows and we were halfway to the dorms.
“I’m going to meet up with somebody.”
“With who?” I demanded, confused.
“Just with… one of the…”
“Oh my God!” Suddenly everything made sense. “It’s Connor, isn’t it? You’re hanging out with Connor! Sarah!” That’s why she was stronger, she had been practicing with another vampire. “He’s married, you know.”
“So?” She winked at me. “He never says a word about his wife when we hang out.”
“What?! Oh my God!” My jaw fell open and before I could say another word, she hurried off down the corridor, leaving me standing alone in shock. My life was continuing to get stranger by the moment.
**************
The next morning, Liam knocked on my door at 7 am. I wasn’t fully prepared, but I pulled it open anyway. To my surprise, he was standing there with a breakfast tray full of bagels, coffee, omelets, toast and a single rose in a small vase.
“Hey,” I said, standing up on my tiptoes to kiss him. “What’s all this?”
“Not as much as you deserve,” he replied, shutting the door. “Go on, get back in bed. The whole point was breakfast in bed.”
“Mmmm.” I returned to the warmth of the sheets.
He snuggled up beside me, placing the tray on the covers.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“It wasn’t as bad last night, obviously.” He poured me a cup of coffee and I took it gratefully. “Sarah is stronger than I anticipated.”
“Want to know why?” I said, sipping.