Small Magics by Ilona Andrews Page B

tedious, odd, and it didn't make a bit of sense.  With the name like Gonzo the Spearcarrier, she had expected some fights, maybe acrobatics, and Kitai fire magic, but no, the movie followed the story of some medieval Kitai official who was seduced by his boss's wife.  Or maybe he seduced her.  The movie seemed to consist of one long conversation after another and after a while she got confused.
    Chad stared at the screen with a grim expression.  He didn't seem to like the movie any more than she did.
    After about thirty minutes Alena considered walking out.  But then Chad had paid for it.  What if he would get offended?  She could hear her mother's voice droning on in her head now: "All you had to do was sit through a two-hour movie, a movie, tickets to which had been purchased for you as a gift.  Was it really that difficult?"
    No, Mother.  Of course Mother.
    It was no use.  She was trapped.
    Finally the credits rolled on the screen.  Alena got up and quietly followed Chad out of the theater.
    Outside, Chad's face took on the look of serious concentration again. The movie had been an utter failure and now he had to do some damage control. She wondered what his next move would be.
    He steered her toward Lion Park, where marble statues of lions guarded a huge three-tier fountain. Of course. The ice-cream stand. Chad followed the Old Town manual of dating to a T: having done the movie, no matter how awful, he would now buy her ice cream.
    They walked in silence.
    "That movie sucked," he said.
    "Yes."
    More silence. This was so not working out.
    Chad came to a sudden halt. She glanced in the direction of his stare and saw the ice cream shop. A big CLOSED sign hung up front.
    Chad looked almost pained. For a moment she actually felt sorry for him. Chad realized that verbal seduction was quite beyond him and her family name prevented him from simply grabbing her and giving her breasts a squeeze, as he obviously wanted to do. What was more, thirteen years of childhood made for a lot of memories and these memories sat between them like an impenetrable barrier.
    "Do you remember a couple of years ago, you pushed me off the pontoon?" she said suddenly.
    Chad glanced at her.
    "My mother forbade me to go swimming because of the factory dumping waste upstream from the pontoon, but I came anyway. I was wearing a black dress with red and yellow dots on it. You pushed me off the pontoon, and I felt something odd with my foot, but I climbed out. And then you pushed my friend Sveta in. The blonde? She wore a white t-shirt. You pushed her in, and when she surfaced, a dead body came up behind her."
    She vividly remembered a pale body rising through the murky water the color of tea. Sveta had screamed and screamed. Even when the cops wrapped her in a blanket, she still made these tiny squealing noises, like something was broken in her chest.
    Light gleamed in Chad's eyes. "I remember that. He was a wizard from the local academy. He'd gotten drunk, tried to swim the river at night, and got cut by a propeller."
    Alena nodded. "You probably made me step on the dead body."
    Chad smiled.
    She stared at his grin in disbelief.  He thought it was funny.  She had nightmares about it for a month after and he thought it was funny.
    That was about enough of that. Alena raised her chin. "Look, the movie was bad, the ice cream didn't happen, and we won't even count the broken sleigh or the dead guy. Thank you for taking me out, but I'd like to go home."
    A dark shadow passed over Chad's face. He squared his shoulders. "Okay," he said finally.
    They headed down the sloping street toward the river. She did try. She gave it her best shot. No doubt everybody would be very disappointed that she failed to hit it off with Chad. But to sit in the park next to him, while he figured out what would be the fastest way to feel her up really was beyond her. Especially after that self-satisfied smile.
    They turned the corner and stepped onto River Street.