Reflections on Keeping Company with Outsiders

She asked me out for coffee, and I don’t know what to say.

Some background: after last week's incident, Claire caught me after work and told me that she thought I'd been a little too harsh with Toby. I admitted that I might have gone a little far (if she only knew!), but pointed out that if he's going to credit God for everything that goes right, he also has to blame God for everything that goes wrong.

Claire surprised me by admitting that I had a point. She said, "I mean, I'm a Christian too, but when he starts going off like that, it makes us all look silly." Funny that I remember her exact words.

Two days later, she asked me if I'd like to go out for coffee or something after work. I told her I wasn't sure what to say. She said I should think about it.

I'm sure she thinks that I'm worried about store policy. I'm the pharmacist, and she's one of the technicians. So us dating would be a clear violation, a possible firing offense for both of us. Not that that stops anyone, mind you.

The real problem, of course, is our... religious differences. She's an outsider. At a guess, she's never even heard of the Ancients. She'd be appalled, even horrified, by what Their worship requires. That's precisely why we only date other believers... Well, usually. There are exceptions, now that I think of it. Sometimes even successful ones... but they generally involve the believer keeping his activities a secret.

Of course, she'd probably want me to become a Christian... which isn't a problem, really; that's easy to fake. It's not like they have Watchers to weed out the insincere or untrustworthy, after all. So I could do that.

And all this speculation is undoubtedly premature. It's just coffee, after all.

So sure, why not?