Chương 19: Dating Out Of My Looks Bracket

The high from punishing Calvin didn't last long. He did end up getting about fifteen years in prison but it didn't change the fact that Molly was a shell of herself.

Erevan didn't know how else to help her. He took care of everything she needed physically but emotionally he was at a loss. He wasn't used to dealing with crying people because demons almost never cried. The last time he had done it was nearly 150 years ago after getting severely injured in his initial training.

Molly cried constantly and neither he nor Stella knew what to do about it except be there. Being there wasn't terribly helpful or productive though. There had to be something else they could do!

"I believe you need a change of scenery," he said seriously. "You should go on a vacation."

"By myself?" she asked in disbelief.

Right. He had forgotten humans didn't like doing activities alone. "I'll go with you if you require a travel companion. I can arrange for someone to take care of the cats."

"Do you really think that will help?"

"Yes. You need a distraction and that is the best one I can think of. Where would you like to go? Your options are unlimited."

Molly sighed. "I guess going somewhere like London or Paris or Rome would be cool. It's a bit cold for sightseeing though. Should we go somewhere tropical instead? I've always wanted to swim with dolphins but never had the chance."

Having her show the slightest bit of enthusiasm for anything was encouraging. Erevan jumped on the suggestion immediately. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. I'll take care of the travel arrangements and itinerary. Don't you worry about a thing! We're going to have a great time."

He took care of everything in less than an hour and they left the next day after dropping Stella off at a pet boarding center. She wasn't very happy about that but begrudgingly admitted that Molly did need to get out and do something fun.

They ended up staying at a resort in Hawaii that had a private beach. Typical tourist attractions were on the itinerary along with spa treatments, hiking, kayaking, parasailing, and swimming with dolphins. He didn't want to give her too much time to think.

"It's beautiful here," Molly said softly as she looked over the railing of their hotel room's balcony.

The breeze blew through her hair and somehow added to the air of forlornness surrounding her. Erevan was determined to make that dissipate by the end of this trip no matter what it took.

Somehow, cheering up a depressed human was more difficult than anything he had done as a demon general. Emotions were so fickle and uncontrollable that it was hard to account for things like that when making plans.

"It is," he agreed. "You should get some sleep, Molly. We have a big day tomorrow."

"Alright."

Molly stepped away from the railing and crawled into bed before hugging a large stuffed bear she had added to the suitcase he packed for her at the last minute. He wondered why that was briefly before realizing it was serving as a temporary replacement for Stella to help with her nightmares. Clever.

Erevan watched over her secretly until she fell asleep before doing it himself. He had a week to get her to cheer up and would do it no matter how hard he had to work to make that happen.

If she was in a decent enough mood when they got back, it would be easier to keep distracting her until she recovered. She needed to get past this if there was ever going to be peace in their household again. Both of her attendants were suffering watching her suffer.

When he woke up, Molly was already wearing a sundress over her swimsuit and gave him a wan smile. "I guess I couldn't sleep. Should we go get breakfast?"

Showing some initiative rather than waiting to be told what to do was a good sign, wasn't it? "Absolutely! Allow me a moment to get ready."

Erevan changed his clothes in an instant using magic in the bathroom but stayed in there an extra minute so it wouldn't be too suspicious. He grabbed a backpack full of items Molly would need throughout the day such as sunscreen and water bottles on their way out the door and they headed down to the buffet.

He had never been to one of these before. It reminded him a bit of victory feasts back in the demon realm except more organized and with a higher quality of food. He loaded up his plate knowing he would need the energy for all the activities they had planned today.

The demon realm didn't have beaches…or at least not ones like this. There were wickedly sharp black glass shards making up the ground and the water was so dark and murky it was impossible to see what was lurking beneath the surface. That wasn't the case here where the sand was soft and you could see through the water completely to the sea floor below.

Molly seemed to perk up a bit simply by spending time on the beach. She jumped through the shallow waves for a while as he participated with a watchful eye to be sure she didn't injure herself.

Then she asked for his help building a large sandcastle, which he had never done before but had read about in preparation for this trip. When that wore her out, she flopped onto a beach towel next to him and read a book while sipping a tropical drink he fetched for her.

She seemed more relaxed than she had in months. He was relieved, especially when she cracked up over something she read. That was more like her.

It seemed Erevan's plan was working already. This trip was going to perk her up and get her back to normal!

"This is nice," Molly sighed contentedly once she finished her book and laid back on the towel to look up at the cloudless blue sky. "Maybe I should forget about Michigan entirely and move here. It's not like I have anything to stay for. I would miss you though so I guess I'm stuck."

"Why? Wherever you go, I go. I have no attachments in Michigan either," he said seriously.

She turned to look at him with obvious questions in her eyes. "Seriously? You don't have any family or friends in the area that you don't want to leave behind? There's no reason for you to uproot yourself for me."

"My only friend is you…and I suppose Stella on a good day."

Molly snickered at that. "That's pretty sad, Vanya. Although I guess my situation is pretty sad too since I have to pay my only friend to stick around."

"It isn't about the money," Erevan insisted. He wasn't truly taking any so how could it be? "There's something special about you, which is why I want to take care of you. I enjoy the time we spend together."

He meant it. Being with Molly was far different than being with the demon king. Less stressful. More fun. Serving her made him happier than he thought was possible. He did get some degree of satisfaction before for a job well done but it wasn't at all the same.

"I do too," she said with a small smile. "Thanks for putting up with me when I've been so mopey. It's pretty pathetic that I've been so affected by someone so stupid. Did you hear he got arrested?"

Erevan barely managed to stop himself from grinning. He was the one that made it happen, after all. "I did. He was never worth your time or affection anyway."

Molly sighed and looked out over the horizon. "I know. Even from the beginning, he was only using me because he wanted to be taken care of. I realize that now. And I was so desperate for love that I fell right into his trap. No one could ever love me."

"That isn't true!"

He may have been a bit too forceful there because she looked at him funny before laughing. "You sure are loyal, Vanya. Really though. My own parents didn't even love me beyond what I could do for them. I've never been anything but a disappointment, which is why I don't talk to them anymore.

"I wanted to believe that not everyone was like that. That there was someone out there who would think I was good enough. Sucks to find out I was never good enough to Calvin either even if he is total trash.

"Handsome trash though. It makes sense that he cheated on me with that beautiful woman. I know I'm not much to look at and never have been. That's what I get for dating out of my looks bracket, I suppose."

Erevan frowned. He didn't think Calvin or that woman looked better than Molly. Humans all looked alike.

Demons had vastly differing appearances that usually involved horns, wings, tails, and/or scales. Their coloring varied more than humans' did as well. It was simply the way things were. No demon appearance was deemed better or worse than another.

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