Celtic Magic

by Amber LaShell

  She wasn’t back at the register for even five minutes when the cute guy with the brown hair came walking into the store. It was too odd to be a coincidence so she figured he must have seen her walk in, probably thinking she was shopping. She watched him as he walked around for a few minutes, then finally picking up a book on Irish mythology he came over to the counter.

  She didn’t say a word to him as she rung his book up and took his money, but that didn’t stop him from letting her know why he had followed her.

  “I am so sorry if I freaked you out back there, I just had never seen you before and was trying to get up the nerve to come and talk to you when you left.” He said to her.

  She just stared at him waiting for him to leave.

  He looked around nervously, “Um, my name is Tom, well Thomas, but everyone calls me Tom.” he said as he stuck his hand out waiting for her to shake it.

  After waiting for a few long seconds she finally reached out and shook his hand, “I’m Abby.” She told him quietly.

  He smiled at her, looking relieved that she was finally talking to him, “Short for Abigail?” he asked her.

  She shook her head, “No, just Abby.” She said shrugging her shoulders.

  “Oh”, he said, looking embarrassed, “I don’t normally do this, but would it be possible to meet you for dinner, or maybe lunch?”

  Abby had never been asked out before and at first didn’t know what to say, but she figured if she was going to start a new life, a date would be a good place to start.

  “Sure” she said, “I can meet you back at the sandwich shop tomorrow at two, that’s what time I have my lunch hour.”

  He smiled and his face lit up, “Great, I’ll meet you there then, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said, turning to leave, but then as though changing his mind, turned back to Abby, “Can I get your number?” he asked.

  She nodded and rattled off her cell phone number as he tapped it into his phone. Once done, he smiled at her and rushed out of the store, as though she would change her mind if he stayed any longer. She giggled as the door was closing.

  “Who was that?” Jasmine asked, suddenly right next to Abby. She nearly screamed at her sudden arrival, but was just able to hold it back.

  “Oh, his name was Tom, he asked me out to lunch tomorrow.”

  Jasmine smiled, “First day on the job and you already have a date, good job. He was really cute too by the way.”

  Abby blushed and turned as the bell rang, signaling new customers. She was curious as to how her first date would go.

  Chapter 4

  The next day she took extra care to make sure she was up early so she could actually wear something cute, and fix her hair. As she was grabbing her purse and keys to head out the door, she felt an odd feeling in her stomach. It felt as though her stomach was twisting and turning in ways she had never felt before, and she wondered, is this what butterflies felt like? She had never been on a date before, so she didn’t remember ever being this nervous about anything.

  She shrugged her shoulders figuring this was something every girl felt when she had a date coming up and as she went to open the door, it suddenly flew open as though someone had pushed it open from the other side.

  Her heart started pounding and she grabbed at her chest, as though trying to keep her heart from jumping right out of it and gasped so loudly that she wouldn’t be surprised if her father had heard it from his house. She slowly leaned forward trying to see around the corner, checking to see if someone had opened the door from the hallway, but there wasn’t anybody lurking in the hallway.

  She looked down at her phone seeing that it was still early, so she hurriedly locked her door behind her, ran for the elevator, and hit the button for the lobby. Once she reached the lobby, she practically ran over to the elevator on the other side of the room for the right wing hitting the button and cried out in glee when the doors opened right away.

  She pushed the button for the 20th floor and tapped in the code Jasmine had given her for the penthouse and sighed in relief when the doors closed and the elevator started to go up.

  She fidgeted as the elevator continued to climb, feeling like she was in the slowest elevator invented. When it finally stopped and the doors opened, Jasmine was standing there looking down at her watch. She looked up and saw Abby standing there, her face as white as though she had seen a ghost.

  She stepped in the elevator and pushed the button for the lobby and looked over at Abby, “What’s wrong, you look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

  Abby took a breath and told her about how the door had flown open as though by itself, not stopping until she got to the end of the story.

  Jasmine looked at her for a second before she finally replied, “What were you thinking about when the door flew open?”

  Abby was surprised at this question and tilted her head to the side as she answered, “I don’t know, I remember thinking that I had butterflies because of my date, then I looked at the door thinking I needed to hurry and get to work and that was when it flew open. Why does that matter?”

  Jasmine smiled at her, “Oh, I was just wondering, I’m sure it was just a fluke, the wind or something. These old buildings get crazy drafts in them sometimes.” Jasmine reached over and patted Abby on the shoulder, “Don’t worry about it sweetie, I’m sure it’s fine.”

  Abby smiled at her; there was something about her that made Abby feel safe and calm, and with her reassurance she could go back to being excited about her date.

  ***

  When her cell phone beeped telling her it was two o’clock she waved to Jasmine, letting her know that she was going to lunch and after checking her hair and makeup in a mirror, walked out of the shop and down the street to the sandwich place.

  She looked into the window before she walked in and saw Tom already sitting at a table by the window looking through a menu. He looked so cute sitting there with his curly hair wild and unruly. She was smiling as she walked into the restaurant and walked up to his table; he looked up and saw her, jumping up to pull out her chair for her to sit down.

  After he sat back down in his own chair he smiled at her, “I was almost convinced that you wouldn’t show up, I was afraid I had scared you off yesterday.”

  Abby giggled in a way she never had before, “Well, I didn’t have anything better to do, so I figured what the hey.” She told him, hoping he didn’t take it the wrong way.

  He laughed a deep hearty laugh that made her smile, “Well, I’m glad you decided to throw caution to the wind and go out with me. There is just something about you, as soon as you walked in that door, I couldn’t take my eyes off of you, and I just knew I had to meet you.” He told her as he looked deep into her eyes, making her stomach jump and flutter again.

  After that their food came and they both stopped talking and ate, though never once taking their eyes off of each other. When they finished their food she tried to get to know more about him, but just as he was starting to tell her the answers to her questions, her cell phone beeped, signaling that it was time to go back to work. Tom looked disappointed as she gathered up her purse and started to head out the door, but then he grabbed her hand to stop her, and as soon as her skin touched his, it felt as though she had touched metal after dragging her feet on the carpet, but instead of going right away, it never stopped.

  Tom looked at her with his eyes wide before finally pulling his hand away. “Wow that was weird. Has that ever happened to you before?” he asked her.

  She shook her head and looked down at her hand, it looked the same as it did before, but there was something inside of her that just felt different. She looked back up at Tom and mumbled out, “I have to go” before turning to run out the door.

  Chapter 5

  She walked back into Celtic Magic just as Jasmine was ringing up a new customer. She hurried and put her purse into her cubby hole in the back, then returned to the front to get behind the register.

  Jasmine looked at her oddly th
en finally asked, “What’s the matter? You look weird.”

  Abby shook her head and replied, “Nothing, I’m fine.”

  Jasmine shrugged her shoulders and walked away to help a customer who had just come in. Just then her cell phone beeped and she looked down at it and saw that it was from Tom. Hey, want to do something this weekend? Abby looked up and saw that Jasmine was still talking with the customer and answered back.

  Sure, pick me up at my place on Saturday at around 8? She hit the send button then stuck the phone back into her pocket as the customer came up to the counter with a load of items. Jasmine was really a good sales person; people always bought lots of things when she was through talking with them. The phone beeped in her pocket while ringing up the customer, but she knew she had to wait until the customer was gone to check the message.

  After finishing up her sale and watching the customer walk out of the door, she looked around for Jasmine, but she wasn’t in the front room, so she figured she was in the back. She pulled the phone out of her pocket and opened the message. A.M. or P.M. and I don’t know where you live, but sounds good. She giggled as she tapped her reply. P.M. silly, I don’t leave the house that early. Call me on Saturday and I’ll tell you how to get to my apartment.

  “Was that Tom?” Jasmine asked, suddenly standing right next to her.

  She jumped and gave a yelp, “Sorry, you scared the crap out of me Jasmine, but yes, that was Tom. He wants to go out again this weekend.”

  Jasmine smiled, “Well that is good news, the first date must have gone well then.”

  Abby nodded, “Yes, it did.” Jasmine patted her on the shoulder and went about her day, and Abby never once stopped smiling.

  ***

  The next Saturday came around fairly fast as she continued to learn the ropes at Celtic Magic and was beginning to actually enjoy working there, and talking to all of the people that came in looking for different things. She even had a woman who was actually looking for banishing oil, and just as she was about to tell the lady to stop watching so many movies, she found it with the other spell ingredients.

  This store was really making her open her eyes to new people and a new way of looking at things. The best part of the week though was when she got her first paycheck on Friday. She cashed it immediately and hit the stores, looking for the perfect outfit for her date. She found a dress at a small boutique the next block down from work, a very cute yellow sundress with white flowers on it. She then had to have a purse and some shoes to match the outfit, and nearly spent her entire first paycheck on a very nice pair of yellow wedge heels.

  It was worth it though because when Tom finally rang the bell that Saturday night, she had her blonde hair pulled up halfway, and makeup on that was supposed to make her green eyes bright and sparkly.

  She answered the door and her mouth gaped open, there was Tom with his hair as curly as ever, wearing a button up white shirt and grey slacks.

  He cleaned up very well, and Abby looked down at her sundress, “I think I’m underdressed” she said.

  He shook his head, “No way, you look great, I really like your hair like that.”

  Abby blushed, every time she wore her hair even partially down people always told her it looked better that way, but she mostly just pulled it back into a ponytail or messy bun. It was just too hard to wear down and took way too long to straighten and fix it every day.

  “Thanks, you look good too. Where are we going?” Abby asked him as she stepped out into the hallway and locked the door behind her.

  “Well, I made reservations at Nobu, and then I thought we could take a stroll in the park and just talk.”

  Abby looked over at Tom with her mouth hanging open. “Nobu? I have heard of that place, isn’t it really expensive?”

  Tom shrugged his shoulders, “It’s really good, I have been there a few times and their sushi is the best around. Plus they have this special called Omakase where they bring out tons of different dishes for you to try. It’s really good if you have never been” he told her.

  Abby looked down at her clothes again, “Are you sure I’m not under dressed? This place is fancy and I don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb.” She asked.

  Tom laughed, “No way, you look great.”

  Abby nodded as they made it to the lobby and walked outside. Tom put his hand on the small of her back and led her to the most beautiful car she had ever seen. It was black and shiny, as though it had just been washed and waxed, and he already had the top down showing light grey leather interior. He walked her around to the passenger side door and opened it for her and she slid inside, feeling the leather as she went. It was the softest leather she had ever felt, and it smelled great inside the car.

  She took another look at Tom and wondered if maybe she didn’t know enough about him, and that she really needed to keep her guard up with someone that could afford something so exquisite. They rode to the restaurant in relative silence, both enjoying the warm air and the lights of the city at night.

  When they pulled up to the restaurant there was a man there who opened her door and helped her out of the car. She looked around and noticed how bright the place was. There were even beams of light coming from the top of the restaurant shining into the sky. Tom gave his keys to the man who had helped her out of the car and grabbed her hand, pulling her forward into the restaurant. When they walked in there was a woman at a podium that was dressed in a black skirt and white shirt with a little black bow tie. She looked around and noticed that this was how the entire staff was dressed and was quite impressed.

  She had never really been to an expensive restaurant, as Chili’s was her favorite and it was comparatively cheap, and she found she liked how fancy even the servers were.

  Abby looked up as the hostess who smiled and asked Tom, “Welcome to Nobu, do you have reservations?”

  Tom nodded and replied, “Yes, Murphy, party of two for the VIP room.”

  The hostess’s facial expression instantly changed to one of complete respect, “Yes sir, right this way, we have a table for you next to the fish tank, just as you asked.”

  Tom nodded, “Thank you.”

  Abby tried not to look out of place as she walked to her seat, but she couldn’t help but gawk at all of the beautiful decorations there were around the place. The ceiling looked as though it was made from bamboo and the tables looked as though there were topped with solid gold, and they shined under lights. They passed through a door that was lined with wooden bamboo and had a gold plague next to it that read, VIP, and if the front part of the restaurant was beautiful, this room was heaven, with large columns that appeared clear, but as she looked closer, noticed that they had hundreds of colorful fish that she had never seen before.

  They finally came to their table and it was the only one next to a wall that was basically one large fish tank. She looked into it, trying to find more fish, but there were none in there. She sat down in the chair that was being held out for her by Tom and waited until he sat.

  “Why did you want to sit next to this tank when there are no fish in it?”

  He chuckled, “This isn’t a fish tank, it’s a dolphin tank, look” he said, pointing to an area behind her, and as she turned she finally noticed the large grey dolphin swimming right towards her in the water.

  She put her hands up onto the glass and watched as the dolphin swam over and put its nose up against the glass, right where her hand was.

  She heard Tom say in the background, “Wow, I’ve never seen it do that before.”

  But she barely heard him, it was as though she was one with the dolphin, and he was the only thing that mattered. How she knew the dolphin was a he, she had no idea. She moved her hand from left to right and giggled as he followed her and never let his nose come off of the spots where her hand touched the glass.

  Suddenly the trance was broken and she pulled her hand away from the glass and the dolphin swam away as though nothing had happened, and she knew it was time for him to eat
, and he was hungry. She shook her head, nearly laughing at herself for being so stupid and looked back over to Tom who sat looking at her with an odd look on his face.

  She shrugged her shoulders, “Well that was weird huh? I’m starving, did you order?”

  Chapter 6

  After dinner, Tom took her to a beautiful park downtown and they walked, holding hands. She thought about what she had learned about him so far today; first he had a great car, second he could afford expensive restaurants’ and had great taste, third he said his last name was Murphy.

  She looked over at him, “So Tom, you said your last name was Murphy, are you related to Edison Murphy, the man who started the Murphy Hotel?” she asked him.

  He nodded, “Yes, he is my grandfather. He started the hotel before I was born, but he has retired, and now my dad runs the chain.”

  Abby’s eyes grew large, “Wow that must be where all of this came from then, huh?”

  “All of what?” he asked.

  “The fancy car, the fancy restaurant, the VIP room, the way the waitress looked at you when you told her what your name was” she answered back.

  He nodded, “Yeah, but I don’t usually tell people my last name when I first meet them, so that they don’t date me just for my money.”

  Abby nodded, “Yeah, I can see where that would be a problem. Luckily I could care less about money. Are you going to be the boss once your father retires?” she asked him.

  He looked at her with an odd expression and she realized at that moment how that must have sounded. She threw her hands up in surrender and laughed.

  “That didn’t come out right, I just wanted to get to know you a little more, I really don’t know anything about you. I promise I’m not after your money.”

  He shrugged his shoulders and continued as if nothing had happened, “I don’t know, it is expected, but I don’t know if that is what I want to do. They don’t know that though, I even went to school for Hotel Management, but I hated every minute of it.”