Forever Charmed: Book One Forever Loved

by L. J. Hawke

  Tania took one breath, then another. She said quietly, “In America, we use lines in a doorway or on a wall to tell how quickly children grow. We usually don't save shed skin. But it works for this particular problem.” She reached out and stroked his face, as Sanur rose to face her. “So you've been able to do this since you were an infant?”

  Sanur laughed. “Golden pythons are born from eggs, as many as fifty of them, in the wild. Our mothers give birth only in human form and only have one or two children, because human bodies are not built to carry fifty babies. Very early in our existence, after having fought to survive, changing into a very weak human baby would have killed us. Imagine having to take care of fifty human infants at once! I think that's why the magic works the other way, allowing us to be born in the human way. But, around age five we begin to change, and by six or so we move back and forth until we have the power to choose.”

  “I thought shapeshifters didn't become able to shift until their teens.” Tania laughed at herself, a little wildly. “Wait, that’s movies.” Her eyes were luminous, her skin pale, her breathing a little ragged, the only sign she had just carried her lover around her neck and in her hair as a snake.

  Sanur wrapped a copper sarong around himself and sat down on the bed. Tania sat down next to him. “One of many things pop culture gets wrong. And our parents were made in the human way and have human children.”

  She stroked her fingers down his hand, relieved. “Good.”

  Sanur smiled gently. “In the past, we were sent out to live in multiple households, learn as many ways of life and as many skills as possible. This was called fostering in Europe, a way of life with us. This is why I was not as destroyed at my parents’ deaths that you may consider me to be. My father left when I was small. My mother left me with a couple in order to find him, and they died in a tuk tuk accident. What was destructive was my ending up with improper parents.” He pointed to a silver frame, partly hidden by a book. Tanya looked around the book to see a woman's face. She had Sanur’s eyes and his nose and beautiful smile and hair tinged with gold. Ethereal, otherworldly. Next to that picture was a much smaller photo of a man with Sanur’s high forehead, strong jaw, and copper hair. Obviously the father.

  Tania nodded. “The couple was paid to raise you, then put you in an orphanage. Then Htet found you.”

  Sanur nodded. “Htet found me again and sent me to boarding schools. I made friends with some boys who became my brothers. They helped slip me out of the orphanage when I needed to become a python.”

  Tania tilted her head. “The friend who fell in love with your woman, and they stole your money and left. Did that guy know?”

  Sanur shook his head. “No. I am so very glad he did not. But if he had, I doubt he would have behaved the way he did. I think...I think he would have been afraid of me. Too afraid to do what he has done.”

  Tania began by taking off her skirt, then her blouse, carefully folding them up. “Were any of these people you considered family shapeshifters?”

  “No. I have only met a few, various branches of the family. They are all over the world, not just Asia. My kind only lives in those countries where it would seem to be normal to keep a python as a pet.”

  Tania laughed, a little wobbly. “So I can introduce you to my friends twice, once as my boyfriend, once as my giant pet python I somehow managed to smuggle into the country.”

  Tania stood up, walked over, looked down at Sanur. He stood, and she looked him in the eye. “My life has been a series of bizarre events. I guess this is why I seem to be so calm now.” Her voice shook. “What am I saying? This is so weird.” She held out her shaking hands; Sanur took her hands in his. “I let you take your time with me, believing you were nervous about my past. But you were holding back because of who you were. I find that a little bit...amazing. Back in my small town, everybody knew. Couldn't get a guy to touch me with a ten-foot pole, unless he thought I was a whore. Had a few guys in college, not from my hometown, obviously. Tried it with a girl, but I preferred men.”

  Sanur snorted. Tania grinned. “A few guys in college. So, I've done the deed completely normally. You don't have to worry about hurting me, giving me some sort of flashback or making me feel bad. I like sex, I enjoy it. I just don't have it with anyone that walks by. I wanted to be with someone who's worth it. And even though you turn into a snake, everything about you says to me that you are respectful, loving, and kind.”

  She kissed each of his thumbs, then gently kissed him. “We have this electroshock thing going on. When I touch you it feels like electricity. It may be your magic, your shape-shifting ability. The fact that you're partly human and partly something else is just...a part of you. Disturbing, but interesting. I just don't want it to stop.” Her voice went breathy, trailed off.

  “Neither do I.” Sanur kissed her forehead, her nose, both cheeks, her mouth. He took his time, tasting her dark berry cola lips, then just held her close for the longest time. He had to let go, because another part of his anatomy let him know rather clearly than he needed to move this along. He helped her out of her camisole with its shelf bra and her panties, both in a cobalt blue that stood out against her skin.

  Sanur led her to the bed, took off his sarong and threw it on the end of the bed, took a box of condoms out of the dresser drawer and ripped it open. She laughed. “Good, because I really didn't want to deal with fifty babies quite at the moment.” He grunted laughter and stole her breath with a kiss. He kissed her neck, stroked her shoulders, stroked lines down her back with the tips of his fingers, making her shudder. “I'm glad you came to the party ready.”

  She kissed his neck, nibbled on an earlobe. He groaned, pushed her onto the bed, and started kissing his way down her neck. Sanur tasted her hot sweetness and wondered what he had done to deserve his equal coming into his life. “Rani,” he called her, the Sanskrit word for queen. They kissed for a long time as he stroked her back, ran his fingers through her hair, caressed her face, her neck. He fell, and fell, and was gone.

  Afterward, Sanur moved their clothes at the end of the bed onto the wooden bench on the side of the room, rolled off the now-sodden coppery silken blanket, pulled down the sheets, and slipped her in. He opened the door to the bathroom and slid the blanket into the hamper. He washed his hands and came out to find her grinning at him right outside the bathroom doorway, her red hair tousled.

  “My turn.” She entered the bathroom and squealed at the double glass sinks and large rain head shower tiled in copper. There was also a granite tub on the other side, more of a soaking bath to sit in, like a spa. She shoved him out of the bathroom, did her thing, and came back to slide into bed next to him. It took some time, stroking and licking each other, but soon they were both willing to go again.

  They slid into sleep and woke up to rain on the roof. The light in the room was dim, but they could see enough to take one more time to love each other. Sanur held Tania close, felt her slide into sleep again. Soon, exhaustion drew him under with her.

  Breakdown

  In the morning, they showered together, and Sanur was happy all over again that he had such a large shower built. They were slow with their movements, exhausted. “Was what happened last night...real?” Tania asked, after drying her hair.

  Sanur kissed her neck. “Yes, I am really a snake shifter, from a long line of snake shifters. You needed to know what I am.” He kissed her nose. “It was time.” Sanur dressed in blue underwear, a golden shirt, and blue shorts. He gave her a pair of blue gym shorts and a khaki shirt that was ridiculously loose on her to wear. “We will buy clothes for you today that you can keep here.” She put her clothes on, brushed her hair with a brush from her purse, and they walked back to the kitchen.

  Htet prepared warm croissants, fruit, and little pots of chocolate along with tea and mango juice for breakfast. Htet gave Tania a tablet computer, open to a website with women's clothing. “Please order whatever you like, Rani,” he said to Tania.

  Tania took the table
t and lay it on the table. She quickly chose underwear, then ordered some shorts, khaki pants, and tops, then put the tablet down and began eating her food. She looked at first one man, then the other. “Rani means queen, doesn't it?” she asked them both.

  Htet inclined his head, and Sanur grinned. “She learns things quickly.”

  “She does,” agreed Sanur, sipping his tea. “That she does.”

  Two days later, Tania stood in front of the desks, listening to her people with headsets on, something she liked to do about three times a day. She heard Achara dealing with a customer who was obviously dithering. Since the person spoke English, Tania walked up behind her, tuned into the call with a single button on her headset, and took over the call in a honeyed Southern accent.

  The woman was actually from America but lived in Singapore and had very eclectic tastes. Tania formed a picture of the woman in her mind, golden skin, tasteful silver earrings, and most likely burnished golden hair, a shade a stylist had managed to copy from the spun-sugar hair of a child.

  “Now, sugar,” said Tania, getting into the role. “I see you can't decide between the African mirror and the Balinese one. The African one is more dramatic and should go in your hallway. A woman always needs to check the mirror before she leaves. If you have space for another mirror, such as to reflect the artwork and your beautiful living room, go ahead and get the other one. Why make a choice at all? Just order one this month and one the next month. Problem solved.” The woman read off her credit card number, and Tania smiled while Achara put the number into the system and completed the order.

  “Some people are ditherers. That means they can't make a decision. Make it for them, but very politely, in a way that they can't see that that's what you're doing.”

  “Yes, Mom,” said Achara. Tania made a face with goo-goo eyes at her, making Achara laugh, and continued her rotation. Lupe was upstairs on a photo shoot, obvious from the sound of furniture moving around over their heads. On the floor, the calls were coming in fast and furious.

  The desks were arranged in a circle, and Tania could stand in the middle of them and listen to everything. Tania was fiercely proud of all of them, and she had thoroughly documented her training program so that Kannika and Achara could take on more and more day-to-day training and oversight work, and could handle things if Tania went out of town.

  Tania fielded some calls, one of them a Spanish-speaking customer who needed some things shipped rather quickly. The other was a young woman with an art gallery who absolutely loved the idea of having console tables and other things like that which she could sell if she wanted to. “We will surround you with beautiful things. Why don't I send over three or four things? Pay me for them and be sure to tell your customers they’re for sale. If they don't sell, we can trade the pieces out, but somehow I doubt that's going to be a problem.” The owner of the art gallery wanted a contract, so Tania modified one to cover that situation, emailed it to the woman, and got a signed copy back within ten minutes.

  Tania sent the staff an email explaining that designers could choose to do this, but that they had to buy the pieces first. She included a copy of the contract, and asked that the calls be transferred to herself or Lupe if they came in.

  Tania was still out on the floor, ready to field a few more calls, when Lupe came up to her, jaw set, face red, obviously spitting mad. Tania flipped her eyes over to her office, but Lupe decided to have a meltdown in front of everybody. “How dare you make a contract like this without speaking to me first?” she screamed directly in Tania's face. “We don't do things on consignment!”

  Tania held up a hand. “Please lower your voice. Customers on the phone can hear you. If you had bothered to read the contract, you would see that all of the pieces must be purchased first.” Tania kept her voice low, polite, even creamy. Her mother had been a master at not seeing the obvious, at covering over unpleasantness. Tania had learned from the best.

  “What do you mean I didn't bother reading the contract? Do you think I'm stupid? Are you calling me estupido?” Lupe spat the words into Tania's face.

  “Please enter my office. We can talk there.” Tania pointed. “Professionals have discussions in offices.” Tania let a tiny bit of steel show.

  “Fuck you,” said Lupe. There was a scrape of chairs as people picked up their laptops and went out into the courtyard, wireless headphones still on their heads. Tania desperately hoped their noise-canceling headphones would cover up Lupe’s screaming.

  Tania went to the still, quiet place she had gone for many years, the place where nothing could reach her to do harm. “I get that you're upset. But that was the most unprofessional behavior you could have possibly had. Supervisors are in control of their emotions. And right now you aren't in any sort of control, right in the middle of our workplace while people are trying to help customers on the phone.” She turned and strode to the office, forcing Lupe to follow.

  Once they were in the office, Tania walked behind her desk. “You could have had forty-nine percent of the company. Sanur already had the paperwork drawn up. Apparently, that's not what you want. That's good to know. There are boxes in the storage area. Please clean out your desk.” Her voice had lost the buttery tones, but was very calm and polite, and pitched very low so that Lupe had to strain to hear.

  “You can't fire me,” said Lupe, her voice venomous.

  “I own fifty-one percent of this company, so, yes, I can. Please pack your things and leave at once.”

  “No, you don't.” Lupe’s voice was shrill. “You had to borrow money from Sanur to buy fifty-one percent of the company! That means that he owns it!”

  “No, I borrowed money from a trust. And the percentage I borrowed was relatively small. I've already paid off nearly half. And, I'm done speaking with you. You've done very well here and have been able to accumulate a great deal. By the time your desk has been cleaned off, I should have your contract reviewed and whatever money is owed to you ready to go.”

  Lupe stared at her. “I thought we were friends.” Her voice was an ugly growl in her throat.

  “So did I. But your behavior just now was incredibly unprofessional. People have disagreements all the time, personally and professionally. But they don't have them on the customer service floor in front of the employees. A person made a simple purchase, and you decided to blow that completely out of proportion. That person may buy more from us, especially since I believe the pieces she chose will sell. People can buy our things and resell them if they want to. It's kind of how business works. Now, I want you to leave.”

  “Why the fuck did Sanur choose you to own fifty-one percent of the company?” demanded Lupe, leaning over the desk, trying to get into Tania’s personal space.

  Tania leaned right back and spoke directly into Lupe’s face. “I don't know. You'll have to ask him. Why don't you do that? But I suggest not going in there screaming. I don't think he'll react well to that. If you're looking for a guess, which is all I can offer you, it's that my debt was nearly paid off. I worked very hard and got a very lucky break with an employer who was willing to have a trust loan me the money to pay off my debt faster. Then there’s the fact that I was doing about eight jobs, and I got reimbursed for that too.”

  Tania pitched her voice even lower, got right into Lupe’s face. “But, believe me, I would have paid it off, even if I had to live in some of the places I've lived in back home. I lived in a place so tiny that there were three closets, barely big enough to stand up in. One held the few clothes I had, the second held a tiny refrigerator and a hot plate, and the third held a bathroom so small that the door hit the toilet, and you couldn't get in if the shower stall door was open. Have you ever lived like that, Lupe? I have, and I'm not afraid to go back there if it will dig me out of where I was.”

  Lupe stared at Tania, aghast, silent with shock. “I took on job after job here, learned everything by being thrown in the deep end. I made so many mistakes that I thought Sanur was going to throw me out the window half
the time. I ordered the wrong part for the printer and blew the thing up. I aggravated the wrong client. I hung up on people until I understood the phone system. But I learned, and I grew. Is my good fortune an amazing, miraculous turn of events? Hell, yes. But I did work hard. Now, the door is over there.”

  “You screwed your way into this company, you little puta.”

  Tania fought to not let her jaw drop. “We had one real kiss, in the heat of the moment. A very amazing one, but only one. Sanur ran like hell and decided to wait until my debts were paid off and he had withdrawn from the company to make another move. You can call me a whore all you want. I've been called a hell of a lot worse by people I considered even closer friends, people who knew me from childhood. But, at this point, you're calling Sanur someone who sexually harasses women. He is not, and if he had I would have taken him to a court of law, and I would have removed his face first. He is quite literally the most honest man I've ever known, and I've known some very good people.”

  Tania put her hands on the desk and leaned forward a little more, her voice very low and biting. “So you can take your petty, jealous bullshit from middle school and shove it up your ass. You have just proven several things to me. First, you cannot handle your emotions. Second, you're quite willing to behave extremely unprofessionally. Third, you're willing to destroy relationships by throwing grenades on them. Fourth, you make unfounded assumptions. If you knew either one of us at all, you would know that simply could not have happened. Now, for the last damn time, pack up your shit and get the hell out of here.” She looked over Lupe’s shoulder and smiled.

  Sanur said from the doorway, “I completely agree.” Lupe jumped and whirled around at his silent entry. “Pack your things immediately. I will wire money into your account based on your contract. I never want to see your face again.” Lupe whirled, faced Sanur. Tania knew that look on Sanur’s face. It was a look of a predator ready to strike. His papery, spicy-incense scent filled the room.