Page 54 of My Demon Assistant

"Wait, stop," I urged as I tried to understand what had just happened. What did I say…oh!

I covered my mouth to stop myself from laughing, but my eyes gave me away, and Eshim sighed. "I got something wrong, didn't I?"

A chuckle slipped past, but I cleared my throat, and breathed deeply to get a hold of myself. "Yeah, sorry. By hit me, I just meant tell me. Tell me what you want to do tomorrow."

"Oh, that makes sense," he said, then gave me a bright smile as his earlier excitement returned.

"I want a traditional human date experience. I want you to pick me up at my place tomorrow, take me to a movie, then lunch, then maybe an activity of some kind, then dinner, and then I want you to walk me to my door and kiss me goodnight."

I blinked, surprised and a little bit awed by his request. I hadn't expected him to ask for something so...human, but I supposed it made sense. Eshim had told me early on that he—and many demons—liked experiencing things the 'human way.'

"That sounds like fun. Though you know we don't have to do everything in one day, right? You can always ask for things you want to do. This isn't a one-way relationship, Eshim."

"I know. I promise. I enjoy doing the things you want to do just as much. And I know we have all the time in the world, but there are a lot of things I want to explore with you. Alot," he emphasized, making me laugh.

"All right. I will do my best to make it the best date day you've ever had."

"I have no doubts," Eshim said, then turned to Tom as he brought over a stick four times his size and dropped it at Eshim's feet, his tail wagging a mile a minute.

"Looks like he wants to play."

Eshim grinned, then picked up the stick and threw, and we watched as Tom raced after it.

Eshim

The next day, I was up and ready bright and early.

I'd spent the night at Jerry's, then popped back to my apartment at around four. I'd left Jerry a note explaining why I'd left: so he could come pick me up for our date.

I stared into my closet, unsure what to wear. All my clothes were things I'd seen on TV and thought I'd look good in. A bit of magic, and I had a copy of the clothes all for myself.

My wardrobe was eclectic to say the least, but since we'd be spending the whole day out, I wanted to wear something that looked good but was also comfy.

In the end, I settled on a blue button-down shirt that matched my eyes, and dark jeans, black boots, and a soft, long coat that I'd hopefully get to put on Jerry at some point this evening like the movies.

After messing with my hair for a while, I went to my living room and sat down on my couch to wait for Jerry. We'd decided he'd come over around ten, and a glance at my clock told me it was just five minutes past nine. Fuck.

A knock at my front door made me rush for it in the hopes Jerry was early—even though I'd repeatedly stressed the importance of 'doing it right'—and I jerked it open, startling Matilda, my neighbor. She had a Tupperware I knew would contain fresh cookies, and I smiled widely as I held the door open.

"Hey, Mats. Come on in!"

"Don't you look good this morning! Heading out?" she asked as she bustled in, and I grinned as I closed the door and turned to face her.

"My boyfriend's picking me up at ten for a date."

Matilda smiled widely, her brown eyes soft with warmth. "I hope you have a good time, sweetie. Here, I brought you some of your favorite chocolate cookies. I'm afraid I won't be able to bring them around for much longer."

"What? Why? Are you okay?" I asked as I took the offered box, and she patted my arm.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm just moving closer to my daughter next month."

I frowned. "But I thought you were planning to move to the retirement home with your sister." Her sister lived in a new upper-class retirement home, and Matilda had been excited about moving in with her once her lease ended.

"I was," she said with a sad smile, then shook her head. "But the place is expensive, and we can't afford it. My daughter said she'd figure something out, but she has kids and needs every penny she and her husband make. She did find me a cheaper place near hers, so I thought I'd move there, be close enough to help out with the kids every once in a while."

"Is that what you want?" I asked as we sat down on the couch, and she sighed.

"It doesn't matter—"

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