The next day Marcus was preparing to go to lunch and considering calling Cally and asking her to join him when his nose caught a whiff of world famous lasagna. All the people in the outer offices were diligently sniffing the air, showing any uninformed the the place was full of canids. With an inscrutable face Marcus waited for Sarah.
Sarah walked in carrying a large dish of her famous lasagna. "Marcus! Good I caught you! I thought it's been a while since I made you your favorite lasagna." Marcus stood and took the large dish from Sarah. Sitting it on a coffee table. He went to a cabinet and collected plates, utensils, and glasses. Glancing at Sarah, "What would you like to drink?" Since he had not uttered a word of greeting until this she felt a little hesitant, "Umm tea would be fine."
Marcus brought out a pitcher of tea and a loaf of French bread. Preparing their plates and handing Sarah her drink; he sat. He started eating immediately. "Hmm delicious. Thank you." He continued eating silently. After a few minutes of silence a fidgety Sarah finally asked, "You're going to make this difficult aren't you?"
Wiping his mouth he looked up, "My Dear Sarah, you have brought me lunch. We are eating said lunch. What am I making difficult?" "I, umm, you know, usually ask for something when I bring you lasagna. You usually ask me immediately what it is I want." Nodding Marcus continued to leisurely eat. Still without any comments. Fiddling with her fork, Sarah gave up all pretense of eating. "Umm the girls..." "Who?" "Umm, Jessie and Abby and I were talking last night. Cally had casually mentioned meeting an Egyptian priestess in her past. She was distracted at the time....."
At this point Marcus was curious. Not so much by a past Cally had mentioned but what Sarah thought he could possibly do to help her. "And?"
Sarah could not look Marcus in the face. Taking a large gulp of her tea she quickly said while she had a split second of courage, "Cally was distracted by a handsome man and food. We want to try to use you to distract her and slip in questions...." Looking up Sarah realized Marcus had a blank face of death. "Oh, Umm, No. What I meant was Cally was watching a naked man on tv..." *Blank face just got colder* "Cally was watching a sexy vampire on tv. Yeah, a vampire movie. It wasn't porn or anything. *cough* Anyway she casually mentioned a vampire from ancient Egypt and we want to see if we can get information she normally wouldn't share."
"You want to use me?" Marcus ran the conversation through his mind again to make sure he understood. "Sarah, you have left me speechless. I don't know whether to feel honored that you believe Cally could be easily distracted by me or insulted that you want to use me as what? A gigolo?"
"Well we actually thought we would need you and food to distract her while we slip in a few innocent seeming questions. Maybe a fish fry or something down by the beach. You could wear a bathing suit." Sarah was beginning to go into detail as to the plans she and the girls had come up with. She didn't realize Marcus had quit listening to her and was cleaning up their lunch. After a few minutes she realized Marcus was disposing of the leftovers and was washing out his and her glass. "Umm Marcus?"
"No."
"No, you don't like the plan? Or no you won't do it?" Marcus looked over at Sarah, "I will not be used to take advantage of Cally. Now or in the future. I also don't want to hear you tried to use some other male to distract her. Do I make myself absolutely clear?"
Sarah grabbed the sides of her skirt in nervous fingers. Muttering, "Okay Okay. But Marcus she talked about a vampire from maybe thousands of years ago. Aren't you curious?" Marcus thought for a moment. It was a serious question deserving a serious answer but not for the reason Sarah meant. "Cally is a bright beautiful young woman. What she may remember from a time when she was not who she is now is not that important to me. "
Exiting guild hall, Sarah went back to the girls who after waking had started to look through the archive online databases for fairy related information. As soon as Abby saw her, "Jessie said we shouldn't ask Marcus. But just plan a luau and invite everyone. He said no right?" Sarah responded slowly, "He said he won't be used against Cally. He said we can't use other males to distract her and he said the sweetest thing." "Oh, what was that?" "He said he doesn't care about the Wotan's past. he only cares about who Cally is now." Jessie looked up from an article on the Faerie Dog (or Coin-Sith), "I had no idea he could be romantic. Are you sure you talked to Marcus?"