Lina pointed to the large buffet table on the sidewall. As we neared it, I was amazed by the quality and variety of food. I had come to the meeting expecting chips and dip and maybe a beer or two, but nothing like this. Todd and Dave looked shocked as we gazed at the spread. We normally cobbled together meals of chicken, pizza, rice and beans; things that were filling and easy on our budget. This was a much pricier and fancier dinner than we were used to. There were platters of sliced, seasoned roast beef, baby new potatoes, green beans with caramelized onions and almonds, buttery rolls, and a fresh arugula salad with shaved Parmesan. Sparkling water, red and white wine, premium beer, tea, and coffee were at another station near the buffet.
As we filled our plates with the luscious food, I marveled at how tasty it all looked. We sat down with Arturo and Lina and made small talk as we ate. It was hard to focus on the conversation when the meal was so delicious. I bit into forkfuls of the salad, potato, roast, and green beans, relishing how savory they were. After we ate our entrees, we were served a small wedge of a chocolate truffle dessert with juicy raspberries and fresh whipped cream.
“Mmm, my mouth feels like it will explode from all these flavors,” I said, scraping the last bit of chocolate from my plate.
“Are you enjoying this?” Aimee asked as she walked over to our table and sidled next to Arturo.
“It’s amazing!” I replied.
Todd nodded his mouth full of truffle and cream.
“Totally amazing—but,” Dave said as he looked around the room, “renting this space and putting on this spread must have cost a fortune,”
Todd swallowed his last bite. “Yeah, this is awesome, but you really didn’t have to go to so much trouble,”
“Well, we wanted you to be happy of course,” Aimee said. “And you are very special. But to be honest, we have a dinner like this at every meeting. At the last meeting we had crab stuffed chicken wrapped in smoked bacon,” Aimee said, smacking her lips together. “It was delicious.”
“But how can you afford all of…” Before I had a chance to finish my sentence, Arturo stood up.
“Everyone, please take a seat in the adjoining room so we can start our short question and answer session with Beverly and Todd…” Though I had told Arturo the three of us would be attending the meeting, he did not realize that Dave was also a werewolf since the press had never mentioned him. Unlike Todd and me, Dave would not be in the hot seat getting questions. Lucky duck.
We walked into another room with dozens of chairs set up facing a stage. As everyone sat down, Arturo motioned to us. “Dave, please join Lina in the front row. Todd and Beverly, if you don’t mind…” I rubbed my palms anxiously as Arturo pointed to the front. Todd and I walked on stage and sat down in two of the chairs.
“We would like to start the meeting by welcoming you and letting you know how much it means to us that you are here. We realize that you will not be able to confirm if you are or are not werewolves. So as we ask you questions, please just answer in a way that you are comfortable with. Now, which audience member would like to ask the first question?”
It was chaos at first. Several people shouted out, clamoring to be heard. Eventually, things calmed down. We were peppered with a barrage of questions, like: What do werewolves eat? How long do werewolves sleep? As I looked at the expectant faces, I truly saw a sincere desire to become like us, or at least, to help us. These people were on our side.
Todd and I took our turns answering every question as honestly as we could. Each time, we would phrase our answers so we did not admit outright to anything. “From our knowledge of werewolves, they reach a top speed of 45 miles an hour,” I responded to a redheaded, reedy woman who had asked us about how fast werewolves could run. We continued to answer questions like that till finally Arturo said there was only time for one more. He pointed to an overweight, balding man in the front.
The man gave me a big grin and asked, “What is sex like as a werewoman, Beverly?”
I felt my face flush as the words flew out of my mouth, “It’s scorching hot! I love it! Weremen do it better!”
24
Oh no! What the hell was I thinking!? Did anyone notice? I felt my palms sweating as I looked around the room. There was a collective gasp from the audience. I knew that the way I had blurted it out, if anyone had any doubts before, they didn’t now—everyone knew we were really werewolves. I was horrified. What had I just done?
“Well, thank you so much for having us here,” I blurted out quickly. “It’s been nice meeting all of you. We have to get going now.” The crowd started muttering as Todd, Dave and I exited.
“Well, everything about that meeting was pretty good till the end. You pretty much admitted you were a werewoman!” Dave said as we walked briskly through the parking lot. I didn’t look at him but I could feel his steely gray eyes boring into me.
Todd frowned. “Lighten up Dave. Those people are on our side, and they know Bev and I are wolves anyway. They still don’t know you are.”
“And what makes you so perfect, Dave?” I lashed out angrily. “You don’t even have a job!” The instant I said it I regretted it. I knew Dave’s lack of a job was a huge sore spot, and the hurt in his eyes filled me with remorse. Ugh, I needed to keep my mouth shut!