highlander_ii

Allison tapped her foot against the floor while she waited for her date to make her way to the table. She was second-guessing the way she'd done this. It wasn't like her. Damn House's influence. So, she was going to fix it.

"Hey!" Allison's date greeted and dropped herself into the chair across the table. "This is a pretty great place. I like the décor," she said, glancing at the themed decorations of the place. "Not my usual speed, but nice."

Allison had chosen a more casual location for this sort-of blind date. And she'd tried to find a place that her intrusive boss wouldn't think to find her in. He'd been much too nosy about her date. "Good. I was afraid it was too casual."

"No. This is great." Then she leaned forward against the table. "I like trying new things."

That made Allison smile without really knowing why. "So, Jillian..."

"Call me Holtzman," she corrected and thumped herself back in her chair again. The ultimate picture of casual and relaxed.

"Sure - Holtzman - I wanted to get something out of the way, because I don't want this to be weird. But, I had an idea of who you were when our friend set us up on this blind date."

"Huh. And you didn't flee in terror? Cool."

The woman was so relaxed and nonplussed by everything. Allison was wondering how anyone thought they'd get along. Not that she thought this wouldn't work...

She stopped over-thinking and got back to the current topic. "No. I didn't flee. And I hope I'm not intruding at all when I say this, but, I think the hospital where I work is haunted and I wanted to talk to you about it."

"You agreed to a date because you wanted to talk about ghosts?"

"No. I agreed to a date because I wanted to go on a date. But I knew who you were and I do want to talk about ghosts. I just didn't want you to think I was using the date to talk to you about your job. And I wanted to be honest..."

Holtzman grinned as she held up a hand. "I get it. It's cool. Let's eat."

Dinner conversation steered clear of work-related topics as both women spent the meal getting to know each other. Movies and music and stories of annoying bosses and exes. They were having a lot of fun telling stories and trying not to laugh too loud.

Holtzman brought it up first. "So, what makes you think the hospital is haunted?"

"Well, it started off with strange noises and a lot of what seemed like tall tales about this one room on the fifth floor that's been empty for years."

"Why's it empty?"

"If we put any equipment in there, it fails. And any patients assigned that room always feel uneasy in there and request a new room after the first night."

Holtzman pondered that for a moment. "Could I see the room?"

Allison shrugged. "Uh, sure, I guess." Her face shifted, bending in confusion as Holtzman signaled for the check. "Wait - you want to go now?"

"Sure. Why wait?"

"Isn't exploring haunted rooms more of a second date activity?"

Holtzman's grin was wicked and mischievous. "Not for me."

This was going to be one hell of a date.