The Devil's Bargain Ch. 14

Tansa and Igor left us in a little bar to wait, while they went to a restaurant down the street to meet our subject - Kayla.

- "Physical features?" I said.

- "Could be anything." said Terry. "Physical disfigurement, wheelchair, scars ..."

- "Last year, Jesper went with a woman who'd been burned in a fire." said Nick.

We all bore scars, I thought. Some were on the outside. Igor contacted us sooner than expected, and we walked down to the restaurant. It wasn't very big - eight tables filled the place. Four of them were occupied. We chose a table for four, situated where Tansa's guest could see us. It was odd to sit down with Terry and Nick in full view of a young woman who might call upon any one of us.

- "This is weird." I said. Terry shushed me. "What? It's going to look bizarre to her if we sit here and don't say a word. How 'bout them Blue Jays?"

- "Fuck." said Nick. "They've got the bats. But would it kill them to get a pitcher or two?"

Terry chuckled. "This is weird."

We ordered three gin and tonics (they don't give you bad breath). We also smiled a little too much; Tansa might be upset, later.

Yes, of course I looked; Kayla was slim, with long, straight, corn-coloured hair. It was hard to get a good look at her face, though, because she only glanced at our table, and then quickly turned her face away. I also thought that she was far too young for me - until Tansa signalled for me to come over.

- "Kayla, this is Angel."

- "Angel?"

- "Pleased to meet you, Kayla. May I sit down?"

She nodded. Kayla was a pretty young girl. Her eyebrows were a bit overdone, but her eyes were wonderful. Her nose was trifle large, but it offset her wide mouth perfectly. Her skin tone was fabulous. I saw no sign of scars or disfigurement.

- "Join us." said Tansa. "Kayla here is under the impression that no man would want to date her - much less commit to her."

- "I find that hard to believe." I said.

- "That's what I've been trying to tell her." said Tansa.

Kayla had initially dipped her head when I said that I found it hard to believe. Now she found her courage - or her defiance. She lifted her chin, and looked me in the eye.

Then she smiled.

Mother of Mercy. The poor girl ... I don't know how many teeth a person is supposed to have, but Kayla had too many. Way too many. They were crowded against each other, and pushed into unnatural angles. Three of her teeth looked like they'd been filed, or sharpened into points. Three more looked like fangs on a vampire. Her open mouth was a nightmare.

I'd been waiting for some sign of physical disfigurement, but I'd never imagined something like this. Then I saw Tansa looking at me, and I recovered.

Kayla had been bearing this cross since she was a child. It certainly wasn't her fault. My heart went out to her.

- "Your parents couldn't afford braces?" I said. To be honest, I wasn't sure that braces could have fixed this.

- "No." said Tansa. Kayla hadn't said a word. Then, mercifully, she closed her mouth, and became a cute girl again. "Kayla needs ... reassurance."

- "Would you want to go out with me, Angel?" she said. Kayla had a curious way of speaking: head down, so that her hair partially obscured her face, and with curious lip movements, so that she revealed as little as possible of her mouth.

- "Yes, I would." I'm not sure where that came from, but it was sincere. "In fact, we could go out now, if you'd like."

She smiled, thankfully without showing too many of her teeth. "I'd like that."

- "There's a nice little bar just down the street." I suggested.

- "Oh. I'm sorry." She flushed a little. "I don't drink."

- "Don't be sorry. Have you eaten?"

- "Yes."

She wasn't making this easy for me. I didn't know Guelph at all.

- "Maybe we could just start by taking a walk?"

- "Okay. That would be nice."

We were in no hurry. In fact, I would describe our pace as a stroll. Kayla didn't seem to have a direction or a destination in mind, so we just followed the street for a few blocks.

- "Is there a park or something like that around here?" I asked.

- "Umm, there are some nice spots around the University, but umm ... I'm not really sure where they are. I ... I'm not from Guelph, actually."

- "Oh? Where's home, originally?"

I could see it in her face the moment I finished asking: bad question.

- "It's ... a long story. No - more of an embarrassing story. I ... I'd really rather not talk about it." she said. Kayla was fibbing, though; she wasn't embarrassed - she was ashamed.

- "That's okay." I said. "I'm not from here, either. I wish that I knew a nice place to take you."

We came across a little parkette with a reasonably clean bench. By unspoken agreement, we headed that way. Just before we sat down, I realized that the bench wasn't quite spotless. I quickly doffed my jacket, and spread it out for her to sit on.

- "Oh - I couldn't." she said.

- "Please." I said. "If you want, I can go down on one knee to persuade you."

- "No! You don't have to do that." Kayla sat down quickly. She smiled, but then immediately turned her head so that I wouldn't see her teeth.

I sat down beside her. "Are you in school, Kayla? Or working?" I asked.

Another bad question. She grimaced. "I got a college diploma, back home. But when I moved here, the only job I could get was waitressing."

I understood. Kayla was running from some traumatic event in her past. With her present job, she had no benefits - meaning no dental plan. It would take her ten years of diligent saving to be able to afford getting her teeth fixed. I knew what it was like to have no money, but I didn't know all of what she was dealing with.

"I'm sorry." she said. "I'm not much of a date."

- "What? I have zero complaints. It's a lovely evening, and I'm out with a lovely, charming girl. Can we take a picture? I'd like to remember this."

She almost smiled. "Wait - did you say charming? Why would you think that?"

- "It's not just flattery, Kayla. First off, you told me that you don't drink, and that you've already eaten; you didn't lie, or try to tell me what you thought I wanted to hear. You smile sweetly when I do or say something that you like, but then you turn your head to hide your teeth, for fear of ... scaring me? Offending me? But most of all, because you're concerned for my feelings - you're worried that I might not be having a good time. It's charming."

Her reaction was not quite what I would have expected.

- "Who are you?" she said.

- "I'm your Angel."

- "What does that even mean?"

I sighed. "It means that I made a bargain of my own with Tansa, years ago. I got exactly what I asked for - which is why you have to be extra careful when you deal with her. Read everything six times - and then once more. Bargain hard. Get everything you can."

- "So you're only with me because you owe her?"

- "Yes, I owe her. But no - it's not the only reason I'm here. I like you, Kayla. I told you: you're charming, and lovely."

- "Lovely? You saw these." She deliberately opened her mouth wide, to show me her teeth.

- "You showed me, earlier. But your teeth aren't all of you. And they can be fixed."

- "Right - if I win the lottery. So I'm lovely, am I?"

- "I think so."

- "And charming."

- "Yes."

- "Well, thanks, Angel. I appreciate you trying to cheer me up."

- "I'm not trying to cheer you up, Kayla. I'm trying to help you change your life."

That might have hit her a little harder than I intended. Kayla began to cry.

- "Why would you say that?"

- "Because Tansa set me up with an Angel. And I'd like to do for you what she did for me." No, I wasn't talking about sex - I meant the way Angel had changed my outlook.

She sniffed, and looked deep into my eyes.

- "Why? Because I'm some sort of charity case?"

- "No." I said. "Never that. But because you're a wonderful young woman who deserves a chance to be happy. And as someone who got a second chance at life, I want to help you get that too."

That opened the floodgates. Kayla had tears pouring down her cheeks. She instinctively turned and wrapped her arms around me. I hugged her back.

Some time later, I walked her home.

At the entrance to her shabby apartment building, Kayla looked me in the eye.

- "Can you tell me your real name?"

- "It's Dan." Tansa probably wouldn't approve, but it wouldn't have felt right to lie to Kayla.

- "Hi, Dan."

- "Hi, Kayla." I said. "Listen - do you think you might like to go out on a real date with me?"

- "What?"

- "Dinner. Just you and me. No Tansa."

- "Umm ... when?"

We would have to schedule a date and time around her work hours, and my Tansa commitment. I promised to call her right away if I found out that there was some conflict. Kayla nodded, but she seemed sad; she probably thought that I was already preparing to let her down.

I didn't have my phone with me, so I had to memorize her number the old-fashioned way.

- "I'll call you as soon as I can." I promised.

- "Okay." she said. "Thanks ... for the walk. I enjoyed it."

- "Me too. I'm looking forward to dinner. Goodnight, Kayla."

***

Tansa was gone, in Matt's car, with Terry and Nick. Igor was going to drive me home. Fortunately, he hadn't assumed that I was going to spend the night with Kayla. He'd watched us walk to her place from the little park, and was waiting nearby.

- "Can you call Tansa?" I asked. "It's really important."

- "How important?"

I told him everything. Igor just nodded, and pulled out his phone. "Contacts." he said. "First one."

She picked up. "Something wrong?"

- "Tansa? It's Dan."

- "On Igor's phone? What happened?"

I told her.

"Then you'd better not disappoint her."

- "Umm ... I think this may take more than one date."

- "You think?" she said. "I know it will. But I'm glad that you figured it out on your own. Don't worry - I have a substitute that I can call in to ride with Terry and Nick. It'll mean more driving for Igor and Matt, but hopefully they can handle it. You'll probably want to tell Kayla your real name - and you can give her your number."

- "I kind of already told her my name. She asked."

Tansa sighed. "Don't do that anymore without checking in with me first, okay Dan?"

- "Understood."

- "Enjoy your date."

- "Thanks."

Once she hung up, I immediately called Kayla. It was less than half an hour since I'd said goodnight to her.

- "Hello?" she said, a little hesitantly. I'm sure that Igor's phone showed up as an unknown number.

- "Kayla? It's Dan. I'm using a friend's phone. I just wanted you to know that we're on for next Sunday. Can I pick you up at seven?"

- "Really?"

- "Absolutely. Listen, I'll call you tomorrow, on my own phone, so you'll have my number - just in case you have to cancel, or postpone."

- "I won't."

- "Me neither. Goodnight, Kayla. See you next week."

- "Goodnight, Dan."

I handed Igor back his phone.

- "Thanks. And ... I'm sorry about the extra driving."

- "It's no trouble - friend." he said. "Good luck with your date. Dates."

*****