Dara

         Dara was in the middle her second vampire love story novel when her phone rang. She glanced at the unknown number and almost disregarded it. It then crossed her mind that even wrong numbers could be interesting calls. She'd once answered to end up having a man telling her she had a nice voice. She'd laughed and thanked him. “Okay. I'm going now,” she'd told him.

         “Wait! What number did I dial?” the stranger had asked.

         “The wrong one. Remember?”

         The amusement that call had given her prompted her to answer her ringing cell phone. “Hello?”

         “Hi! My name is Timothy. This is not a sales call. Do you have a couple of minutes to answer some questions about the types of products you buy? Books, in particular?”

         Dara smiled at the sound of sunshine in the caller's voice. She pulled back her long, red hair and shouldered her cell phone. “Sure.”

         “What types of genres do you usually read? A genre is...”

         “I know what a genre is,” Dara said. “Horror, Biographies, Science Fiction, Fantasy and Self-Help.”

         “Which of those would you say you purchase the most?”

         Looking at the cover of “Men of the Night,” Dara answered, “Horror, although lately I've bought Romance books with vampire themes.”

         Timothy almost stifled a giggle upon hearing the information. Dara smiled. She wasn't really the “love story” type of reader. She preferred to live Romance rather than read it. But lately, with the huge surge in vampire interest, she'd been drawn to different authors' renditions of the modern vampire. There was always something deliciously seductive about vampires in general, if you didn't mind the bloodlust, that is.

         “This isn't part of the survey, but have you seen 'Moonlight Quickening?'” Timothy asked, having lowered his voice a notch.

         “Isn't this phone call 'being recorded for training purposes'?” Dara countered, grinning in spite of herself.

         “Probably.” Timothy laughed aloud. “But it's been a slow day, so I'll chance it.”

         “Three times.”

         “Excuse me?” Timothy said.

         “I've seen 'Moonlight Quickening' three times.”

         Dara was starting to giggle at the way the conversation had turned when she glanced at the clock and realized she would have to end this call, if she wanted to have enough time to get ready for her lunch date with Susannah.

         “Me, too,” Timothy said in a near-whisper, “but I rarely admit that to anyone.”

         Now Dara couldn't help but laugh. “Moonlight Quickening” was probably the worst horror/romance movie starring vampires currently on the market. While its ratings were poor, and no one ever said out loud that they liked the movie, it continued to do well in theaters. Dara had gone alone to view it and had sat in the back, hoping no one would recognize her in the dark.

         “I'm sorry, Timothy, but I need to get going. Was there anything else you needed to ask?”

         “Can I have your email address? I swear I'm not a stalker.” Dara rattled off the address of one of her many email accounts. All business-related emails went through that account. She rarely had any personal emails go there. “Hey, thanks!” Timothy said. “Have a nice day!”

         “You, too. Bye.” Dara ended the call and stretched, making her five foot seven body appear much longer. She enjoyed the feeling of her muscles flexing. She always worked hard to stay in shape, since she had a sweet tooth for the finer, more carb-laden foods. She patted her growling stomach and told it, “Hush up. I'm going.”
         
         Just the idea of eating at La Portal del Sol was making her mouth water. They served a huge array of foods that she rarely ate, since the expense of the food was something she could not often include in her budget.

         Dara quickly changed into dress clothes and peaked into the mirror to touch up her makeup. Large blue eyes, rimmed with eye liner and framed with mascara, looked back at her from beneath neatly arched eyebrows. She dusted her pale face with foundation powder and added blush to her cheeks and along each side of her perfectly straight nose. With some added some grey and black eye shadow to her eyelids, Dara called it good.

         Her cell phone rang again just as she finished washing her hands, and she checked the number: it was Susannah's. That woman's timing always seemed impeccable. Grabbing a silver clutch that would shimmer nicely next to her only little, black dress, Dara ignored the call and raced down the stairs to Susannah's waiting car.