Jean was standing in front of the mirror.
For the third time.
His clothes were fine.
His hair was fine.
His shoes were clean.
There wasn't a single visible wrinkle on his shirt.
And after nearly twenty minutes of changing clothes only to put practically the same outfit back on, he had reached a rather important conclusion.
He was nervous.
Very nervous.
It wasn't the first time he'd gone out with Tesia. In fact, if someone had seen the two of them over the past few weeks, they probably would've thought they were already in a rather peculiar relationship.
They had walked around the city together, gotten ice cream, gone shopping, spent hours talking, and even ended up in situations so absurd that anyone watching them probably would've assumed they were already a couple.
The sexual tension was probably pretty damn obvious...
But this time was different.
This time, they couldn't hide behind the word friends.
There were no excuses.
No ambiguity.
This wasn't simply another afternoon together.
It was a date.
The first official date between Jean and Tesia.
And apparently, that was enough to turn a thirty-five-year-old man into someone incapable of deciding which cologne to wear.
Jean picked up two bottles and looked at himself in the mirror again.
"Hmm..."
He held them up.
One in each hand.
A few days earlier, he'd asked the exact same question.
Just not to himself.
He'd asked Juan.
And, unfortunately for Jean, his coworker's answer had been rather peculiar.
"If someone sees me sniffing your wrist, they're gonna get the wrong idea about me."
"Oh, come on. I'm trying to decide between these two colognes for my date with Tesia. Which one is better? Quit messing around."
Juan had sighed.
Then he took Jean's wrist.
He smelled one.
Then the other.
And strangely enough, despite his earlier comment, he did it with almost professional seriousness, as if someone were actually paying him to do it.
"This one."
Jean smiled.
"This one?"
"Yeah. The other one's fine, but this one suits you better. It's sexier. She's not gonna want to get away from you."
And now, standing in front of the mirror in his apartment, Jean looked at the bottle Juan had chosen.
"I guess this'll do."
He applied a little cologne to his wrists, then to his neck. He waited a few seconds before approaching the mirror again.
He looked himself over.
One final inspection.
His hair.
His shirt.
His collar.
His shoes.
The scent of his cologne.
Everything seemed to be in order.
"Okay..."
He took a deep breath.
"Don't screw this up."
He stared at his own reflection.
"It's a date. Just a date."
He paused.
"With a vampire..."
Another pause.
"A blonde vampire who's probably going to look insanely beautiful and make me even more nervous and insecure about myself..."
Jean closed his eyes.
"That doesn't help."
///
Meanwhile, somewhere else in the city, Tesia had much more important problems to deal with.
Her bedroom looked like it had been turned into some kind of clothing store display.
There were dresses all over the bed.
Others were scattered across a chair.
One was hanging from the door.
Another was spread across the floor.
And several more had somehow ended up piled in a corner for reasons even Tesia couldn't explain.
A couple of days earlier, Invi had been sitting on the bed with an expression of absolute exhaustion.
"Tesia..."
"Yes?"
"Do you really have to try on every single one?"
Tesia stepped out of the makeshift changing area she'd set up in the corner of the room.
"Uhmm, yeah."
"You've already tried, like, fifty."
"They're not fifty."
Invi raised an eyebrow.
"Fifty-three."
Tesia froze.
"You counted?"
"Of course I counted. I'm suffering this much, at least let me keep track. Why don't you just go naked? You're hot as hell. He'd probably get hard just looking at you."
Tesia stared at the dresses she still hadn't tried on.
Then she processed what Invi had just said.
Her face immediately turned bright red.
"W-w-w-w-what!? Get hard!? Naked!? Invi!!!!! Don't say things like that! Help meeeee! Hang in there a little longer! We still haven't found the right one!"
Invi let her head fall backward.
"I'm tiiiireeeeed!"
She dramatically collapsed onto the bed.
"Somebody heeeelp meeeee! My scatterbrained friend has kidnapped me against my will and is forcing me to help her pick out a dress!"
Tesia puffed out her cheeks.
"Invi..."
"What?"
"Just help me narrow it down to a few. I trust you."
Invi slowly lifted her head.
She looked at Tesia.
Then at the dresses.
Finally, she sighed.
"Fine..."
She stood up.
"Come here."
Tesia walked over.
Invi began examining her from head to toe with exaggerated seriousness.
"Turn around."
Tesia obeyed.
"Slower."
Tesia turned again.
"Lift your butt a little."
"Like this?"
"Yeah..."
Invi narrowed her eyes.
"Hmm..."
Tesia waited for her verdict.
"That dress really brings out your..."
Invi glanced down at her own chest.
Then back at Tesia.
"Your huge..."
She looked at her own chest again.
"..."
She sighed.
"Your huge natural assets."
Tesia blinked.
"My what?"
"Nothing."
"What were you going to say?"
"Nothing, I said."
Invi crossed her arms.
"The dress is fine."
Tesia smiled.
"Really?"
"Yeah. But I still want to see the others."
"Okay!"
Invi closed her eyes.
"Why did I say that?"
///
After an amount of time that neither of them was probably willing to admit to, they had finally narrowed it down to five dresses.
Five.
The winners.
Tesia had carefully placed them side by side on the bed while staring at them with a serious expression, as if she were making a decision capable of changing the fate of the entire world.
Thanks for your help, Invi...
Invi was probably at home sneezing, a tiny tear in her eye and a defeated smile on her face as she gave a thumbs-up, remembering just how much suffering she'd endured that day helping her friend choose a few dresses.
Tesia was completely alone now.
The final decision was hers.
So she looked at them.
Then she looked at the clock.
"..."
It was almost time.
Tesia took a deep breath.
"This one."
She picked one up.
Set it aside.
"No."
She picked up another.
"This one."
She changed her mind again.
"Although..."
She looked at the third.
"Hmm..."
After a few seconds, she finally made her choice.
"This is the one."
She stood there, staring at it.
It was strange.
She had attended family gatherings, events, and celebrations where practically everyone expected her to look flawless.
But none of those occasions had ever given her that little knot in her stomach.
Tesia smiled at herself in the mirror.
"Jean..."
///
At ten minutes to six in the evening, Jean was already waiting.
They had agreed to meet directly in the parking lot of the place they were going to.
Jean had arrived with plenty of time to spare.
Perhaps too much.
He checked his phone.
Put it away.
Took it back out.
Checked the time.
Put it away again.
And every now and then, he used the front-facing camera to make sure everything was still in place.
I wonder how stupid I look doing this...
He adjusted his hair slightly.
"Okay."
He looked at the screen again.
"Perfect."
A few seconds later, he looked at himself again.
"No, wait."
He adjusted his collar slightly.
"Now it's perfect."
Then he heard a familiar voice.
"Jeeaaaan!"
Jean looked up.
And froze.
Tesia had just gotten out of the car.
Her father had decided to drive her there because, according to her, flying to the location might ruin her hair, her dress, or both.
Before getting out completely, she leaned toward him and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks, Dad."
Her father smiled.
"Have fun, sweetheart."
"Yep!"
Tesia closed the door.
The car began to drive away.
And then she saw him.
Jean was there.
Waiting for her.
For a moment, Tesia felt all the nervousness she'd been trying to hide for the past few hours rush back all at once.
But she smiled.
"Jean!"
"Tesia..."
The vampire walked over to him.
Once they were standing face to face, she gave herself a little twirl.
"I made it! How do I look?"
Jean looked at her.
He didn't need to think about it.
"You look beautiful."
Tesia froze completely.
Her face turned bright red almost immediately.
"You..."
She lowered her gaze slightly.
"You look really handsome too."
Jean smiled shyly.
"Hehe... thanks."
For a few seconds, neither of them knew exactly what to say.
It was strange.
They had spent so many hours together that, normally, talking to Tesia was the easiest thing in the world. She could fill any silence with a ridiculous question, a joke, or some unexpected comment.
But now they were standing there.
Both dressed up.
Both nervous.
Both perfectly aware that this time, they weren't simply going out as friends.
Jean glanced toward the entrance.
"Should we go in?"
Tesia nodded.
"Let's go."
They walked inside together.
And although neither of them said it out loud, they were both thinking exactly the same thing.
This time is different.
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.
She smiled.
And they walked in together.
The human and the vampire's first official date had just begun.