Charlotte had to come back soon. These were not the thoughts of a normal, functional adult man. Zed motioned for Leonard to follow him into his office.

“I am just worried about Jillian,” Leonard insisted. “She’s my boss and she really worked to make me comfortable here, instead of sending me back to DC for being a human disaster. And I just hope she’s doing OK.”

“So it has nothing to do with the little midwife?” Zed asked.

Leonard sputtered, “No, why would you ask that?”

Zed’s dark brow lifted as a smirk formed on his face that sent a shudder of foreboding through Leonard’s bowels. “That’s OK. I think she made dinner plans with Jon for when she gets out anyway.”

His head whipped toward the door as if he was going to run through the town and then the woods to get to Charlotte before Jon could put his…flippers on her. Leonard sprang to his feet, his feet tangling with the edge of Zed’s carpet and he fell over his chair, narrowly missing the corner of the Oaken desk hitting his temple.

“Aha!” Zed thundered. “I knew you liked her!”

Leonard slumped in his strange prone position over the chair, defeated. “Well, of course, I like her. She’s amazing, and beautiful and smart and capable. I more than like her. I would very much like to date her and eventually love her and have what you and Dani and Bael and Jillian have.”

“So what’s the problem?” Zed asked.

“I’m not sure.” Leonard shrugged. “I’m cursed, and generally people who are cursed don’t get what they want in life. That’s sort of the point. So, I’m scared. I’m scared of being cursed forever. I’m scared of not being cursed and what that could mean for the rest of my life. And yes, maybe I’m a little scared of the idea of being with a woman who has the power to curse me again if things go sour.”

“S’il te plait, do you think it’s easy, dating a girl who can do what Dani does?” Zed scoffed. “You’ve seen her tase Adam McTeague with her brain during committee meetings when he waffles on too long, right? You think I’m not terrified? Most women who are worth the effort of relationships and all the pitfalls involved with them should scare you a little bit.”

“You make a good point,” Leonard agreed, scrubbing his hand over his face.

“So remove your head from your own ass and tell that girl how you feel before you lose her,” Zed told him. “And that’s the extent of my mature and manly advice.”

They both jumped when a shrill noise sounded from inside the Oaken desk.

“What’s that?” Leonard asked.

Zed whispered, “The Sonja phone.”