Page 58 of My Roommate Is a Vampire

Frederick looked directly at Sam and asked, “Between Nordstrom and Gap, which would you say hasnicercasual men’s clothing?”

“Nordstrom for sure.”

“Then Nordstrom it is.” That decided, Frederick pulled out an honest-to-god pocket watch on a chain from his pocket. Checking the time he said, “I believe we have two hours before the mall closes and our errand ends. Shall we begin?”

“Wait, hold on.” Now Sam was pulling his phone fromhispocket. “Shit, it’s my firm.”

He put his phone up to his ear. “Sam Collins.” His voice was so different—stiffer, more formal—than it was when he spoke to me. It must be one of the partners calling him.

Frederick frowned at me. “His employer calls him in the evening?”

“Sam’s a lawyer,” I explained. “He’s in his first year and he works absolutely inhuman hours. His husband Scott told me he’s at the office close to seventy hours a week right now.”

Frederick looked horrified. “That’s horrible.”

“I know.”

Sam had pulled a notebook from his bag and was jotting things down as he listened to whatever the person on the other end of the line was telling him. “I don’t understand why Kellogg is panicking over the merger. It’s happening next week, I understand that, but...” Another pause. “Yes, of course. I’ll draft that memo as soon as I get into the office.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “I’m out in Schaumburg right now but I can be there in forty-five minutes.”

Sam hung up, then looked at me, eyes apologetic.

My stomach plunged somewhere in the general vicinity of my shoes. “Do you have to go now?” I asked, my panic rising.

“Yeah. I’m really sorry. This merger we’re handling is...” He trailed off, shaking his head. For the first time I noticed the dark circles ringing his eyes. “There are no problems whatsoever with this merger. It should go off without a hitch next week, but our client is panicking and I need to go calm them down.”

And then, he raised an eyebrow and leaned in a little closer before adding, in a low voice, “I amespeciallysorry I’ll miss Frederick trying on clothes.”

That was almost enough to distract me from the terror I was feeling over the fact that I would soon be alone with Frederick in various states of dress and undress for an entire evening. I swatted my best friend. “You are amarried man,Sam.”

“Married, not dead.” He paused, then added, “In all seriousness, he seems like an okay guy. A bit strange, but...” He shrugged. “I’m no longer convinced you’re making the worst mistake of your life in living with him.”

I snorted. “Good. Now go be a lawyer. We’ll be fine.” I looked over at Frederick, who looked anythingbutfine with this change in plans. His eyes were saucer-wide, making him look nearly as terrified at the idea of doing this alone with me as I felt.

“Text me if anything comes up or if you have any questions,” Sam said, shouldering his messenger bag. “I’ll get in touch with you tomorrow to see how it went.”

And then, he was gone. Leaving me alone with Frederick, to go try on casual men’s clothing.

This was going to be great.

Absolutely great.

Frederick cleared his throat beside me. His eyes were on his shoes, the left fingers of his hand drumming rapidly on his upper thigh.

“I am... glad you don’t work as hard as he does, Cassie.” His voice was so quiet I had to strain to hear him over the din of the crowded shopping mall. “I would worry a lot, I think, if you did.”

His eyes met mine, soft and so warm, before flitting away again a moment later.

He cleared his throat. “Shall we go to Nordstrom, then?”

Nordstrom. Right.

“Yeah,” I said, feeling breathless and a little dizzy at the abrupt change in subject. How on earth was I going to survive this? “Nordstrom it is.”

The last time I’d been in a Nordstrom was nearly twenty years ago, when I’d come to this same mall with my mom to try on dresses for my bat mitzvah. Given how long ago that was, it was astonishing how strong the feeling of déjà vu was the moment I walked into the store. The perfume that seemed to permeate the air, the fluorescent lighting—all of it brought me right back to being thirteen years old, miserably uncomfortable in my own skin, and wishing I were just about anywhere other than where I was.

From the way Frederick’s hands kept clenching and unclenching at his sides, I suspected that he was feeling much as I had all those years ago.

“I had not expected this establishment to be so...” He trailed off, his dark eyes wide and showing how overwhelmed he was as he tried to take everything in.

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