Hat Trick

by Morris Fenris

  Cole valued Ethan’s opinion and knew he needed to do something before he lost the fight forever. Wheels began turning in his head as he started to formulate a new plan.

  “Coming out?” Mark asked just before leaving. “We’re all going for drinks at Ol’ Harry’s.”

  Startled, Seraphina quickly closed the window she was browsing and forced a smile on her face. “It’s alright. You guys go have fun. I want to turn in early.”

  Mark frowned, scanning her face. “Are you okay? You seem a bit off these days.”

  “You know what to say to a girl, Mark.”

  He flushed and nervously tried to retract. “I didn’t…”

  “I was just messing with you… I’m okay.” She flashed him another smile, and this time it did not seem that fake. “You should go enjoy your night.”

  She was the last one to leave the office. Just as she reached the lobby, her phone rang.

  “Did you leave yet?” Carli’s excited voice came over.

  “Was just going. Why?”

  “Stay put. I’m picking you up.” That was all she said before the phone went dead.

  “Hello?” Seraphina frowned and dialed back. “Why are you picking me up?”

  “Can’t I be nice to you?”

  “Carli…”

  “I’ve a surprise for you. Now stop asking so many questions and wait for me.”

  Seraphina shook her head in bemusement and took a seat outside the building. Carli was up to something but she was too tired to protest or even think of what she likely had in mind. Two minutes barely passed when a car honked at her.

  “Thanks,” Seraphina murmured, getting inside.

  “You can thank me later.” Carli seemed more excited than her usual self. She was definitely up to something.

  “We are not going home, are we?” Seraphina asked suspiciously.

  “Nope,” Carli and grinned.

  She pulled the car into an empty parking lot and reached to retrieve something from the backseat.

  “Is this where I run screaming from the car because you have something ominous planned for me?”

  Carli threw her a funny look before shoving a bag into her arms. “Change.”

  “What?” Glancing inside, Seraphina sucked in a deep breath as she saw the contents. “Carli… Wow!”

  “It’s for you. Now, change! We’re due for some fun and I don’t want to be late.”

  Seraphina opened her mouth to argue. She did not want to go along with whatever Carli had planned. All she wanted to do was go home and take a nice, long bath and then sleep. She really needed sleep. Her mind did not think so much when she was asleep. If she was lucky, she did not dream either. But she saw the excited look on her friend’s face. Carli would be disappointed if she said no. Also, she had not been much of a friend to her recently. This was the least she could do.

  Crawling into the back seat, Seraphina changed out of her work clothes and slipped into the gorgeous dress. It hugged all the right curves and felt great against her skin. Carli flicked on the car light as she fixed her make-up.

  “It would have been more comfortable to dress up at home but I would have had a hell of a time dragging you out. This was more effective,” she said with a smirk.

  “Your mind works in mysterious ways, Carli.”

  Carli rubbed her hands together in a devious manner and started the car. “You’ll be happy with its working, sister.”

  “You know I don’t dance, right?!” Seraphina yelled into Carli’s ear the second they stepped inside the noisy club. It was one of the fancy ones that had a long line outside but Carli just walked up to the front of the line, had a word with the bouncer and was let in with a nod and a huge grin.

  “Seraph… More than half of these people here don’t know how to dance. It’s not stopping them!”

  A few daiquiris and tequila shots later, Seraphina found herself on the dance floor, letting the music move her body. A guy moved in from behind and gyrated his body against hers, causing her to jerk in surprise. But the buzz of the alcohol was setting in and instead of pushing him away, she grew bold and ground against him.

  She put all her energy into dancing. All the anger, resentment, sadness and frustration – all those ugly emotions – she focused them in her body movements. She had never danced so wildly in her life before. She was doing so in public now. Unaware of how long she had been on her feet and how many drinks she’d had since then, she started to feel a bit clouded.

  Carli’s face and voice swam in and out of focus as the woman tried to steady her. “How many ...?”

  Seraphina did not feel good. Her stomach started cramping and her mouth tasted funny. A throbbing began behind her eyeballs and she felt too giddy.

  “...Okay?”

  Was Carli talking to her? She did not look like Carli. She had a funny dress on. Another cramp hit her and she doubled over. Maybe she should sleep. The ground would be nice. It felt cool. She was hot and it was cool. It was perfect.

  Seraphina groaned loudly and then winced as even that sound started the ringing in her head. What had happened last night? She felt like utter crap. Her muscles protested strongly as she lifted herself up from the floor. Why was she on the floor? She did not remember falling asleep on the floor. Looking around, she felt herself flood with relief. This was her room. She was not in some stranger’s room like she had feared.

  She remembered snippets of the evening. Covering her face in her hands, she muffled the moan as she recalled the shameless way she had danced. There had been some guy there. She was lucky that he or anyone else had not taken undue advantage of her.

  How had she gotten back to the apartment? First, she had to find Carli and then slowly kill her for dragging her to the stupid place. She fought to control the nausea that rolled through her when she stood up. Dashing to the bathroom, she made it just in time as the contents of her stomach emptied.

  “Rough night, huh?” Carli spoke casually from the door.

  She retched again.

  “What?”

  After gargling with mouthwash, Seraphina turned to glare at her friend. “I’m going to kill you!”

  Carli held up her hands in a peace sign. “What did I do?”

  “I-I …you!” Seraphina made a frustrated noise and stomped outside.

  “There’s coffee for you on the kitchen counter,” Carli yelled helpfully.

  “Ungh!”

  A cup of coffee and some scrambled eggs later, she felt the majority of her migraine recede. She turned towards Carli who was watching her like a hawk.

  “How come you’re not drunk?”

  “I was the designated driver.”

  “You took me there to get me drunk? I could have gotten drunk at home. It would have been much safer!” Seraphina said indignantly.

  “Relax… I was watching you the whole time. Well, most of the time,” Carli said, staring at the ground.

  “Ohh,” Seraphina huffed and put her head into her hands. “What did I do last night?”

  “You danced. Like crazy. And drank. Like a fish. I had to rescue you!”

  “There was some guy… I remember dry humping him.”

  Carli crinkled her nose. “Yeah, him. Don’t worry. Nothing else happened.”

  “Nothing else? Nothing else?! That’s like enough embarrassment to last me a lifetime.”

  “Look on the bright side. You now have a wild memory.”

  “Ungh.” Then she remembered her puzzling question. “How did we get home?”

  “We had to drag you. Literally.”

  “We?” She raised an eyebrow at her friend.

  “Uh…yeah. I met someone there.”

  “Who?!”

  “Ethan,” Carli mumbled.

  “Ethan… Wait, Cole’s Ethan?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Carli!”

  “What? How was I supposed to know he was going to be there?” Carli defended herself. “It’s a good thing he was there though. You weren’t an easy
drunk. If he hadn’t helped me, you would be waking up in the club’s toilets.”

  “Yuck,” Seraphina said, cringing at the mental image.

  “Yeah. So you might want to thank him for that.”

  “Shit.”

  Seraphina could not believe she had been seen in that state by someone she kind of knew. What if he told Cole? Sure it did not matter if he told him. They were not together anymore. But she could imagine Cole not approving of her behaviour. Why was she thinking of Cole again? Oh, because her friend had gotten her into a mess. Maybe thanking Ethan in person would not be necessary. People thanked each other via text all the time. That’s what she would do. That way she would be saved from any further embarrassment.

  “Gah, Carli!”

  As she passed Carli’s room, she thought she heard the sound of laughter coming from inside.

  ♥●●♥

  * * *

  Chapter 12

  Cole felt his heart stutter as he paced outside Seraphina’s apartment. His palms were sweating and he felt light-headed. He was about to take the big step. It was big for him. He had never done anything like it before. He had never felt anything like it before. He was not being coerced into it. He really wanted to do it. But he was afraid.

  The elevator doors pinged and out stepped a strange-looking woman. Her smoky eyes zeroed in on him and she frowned.

  “You’re going to stand outside all day or do you plan to knock?”

  “You’re the psychic. You tell me.”

  Her lips thinned and she shook her head in disapproval, muttering under her breath, “poor woman.”

  Lifting up a heavy hand, she knocked loudly on Seraphina’s door causing Cole to yelp.

  “I wasn’t ready yet!”

  The words were hardly out of her mouth when the door swung open to reveal a very sweaty Seraphina. She had been working out from the look of her clothes. Cole’s mouth dried up at the sight of her as old stirrings awakened, mixed with new ones. Her brown eyes widened as they moved from the psychic to him. For a second he was afraid she would slam the door shut on their faces but she quickly controlled her expression, putting on a calm one.

  “What are you doing here?” Her eyes flickered in curiosity towards the psychic before alighting on him. Not exactly on him. She addressed his T-shirt.

  He had done a bit of research before heading to her apartment. So he knew exactly when her roommate would be out. He had a little help from Ethan in persuading her to leave Seraphina alone for the day. If they wanted to solve the problem between them, they did not need an obstacle – namely a roommate who painted very vivid images of the damage she wanted to do to him.

  “I…uh....” God help him. He was stuttering like a little boy but the relief that flooded him upon seeing her was so profound. That along with the nervousness, momentarily struck him dumb. The psychic scowled at him and turned a smiling face at Seraphina.

  “I believe this idiot has come to his senses,” she said coolly.

  “Who are you?”

  “She’s a psychic!” he finally blurted out.

  Seraphina’s eyebrows rose and something – pain – crossed her face. “I don’t know why you’re still trying to hurt me. Just leave me alone,” she said, her voice trembling with tears.

  He felt like someone had sucker-punched him. “No!” He held up his hand to block her from shutting the door on his face. “I don’t want to leave you alone. I don’t want to be left alone either. Please, Seraphina. Please let me say what I came to say before you make your decision.” He pleaded with a desperation that was loud and clear, not just in his voice but also in the way he held his body.

  She hesitated and then relented. “Okay.”

  “We shouldn’t do this in your hallway.” Cole could feel the prying ears pressed up against the doors of the other apartments. This was private. It had to be done behind closed doors.

  Seraphina looked like she was about to argue and then her gaze flickered on the door across from hers. She could sense the ears too. Opening her door just enough, she let both of them in.

  “Why are you here? And why do you have a psychic with you?” She got straight to the questions.

  “Every time I tried to talk to you, I found the door shut on me. And I got threatened a lot. I had to come up with something if I wanted to clear the air between us. Your roommate, by the way, is very mean.” For a moment, he thought he saw a ghost of a smile on her face but in a blink of the eye, it was back to its blank expression. He considered that a small victory. She did not hate him that much then. “Seraphina… I want to say so many things to you. Especially to apologize for being an idiot. But I think the psychic should speak now. For the record, I have told her nothing about us. I knew the only way you would believe me was through her.”

  The psychic rolled her eyes at him and Cole could not help but feel annoyed. She had been directing that attitude at him since her arrival. Ignoring Cole, she pushed him aside and pulled Seraphina towards her, her callused hands gripping her softer ones.

  “He tells the truth. He hasn’t told me anything. In fact, I am meeting him for the first time. This was set up through another medium. Child, you’re in pain even though I can see your future is bright. But it’ll only remain so if you accept him and he accepts you. You are destined to be together. It’s written in the stars.”

  Seraphina’s breathing caught and she tried to pull away but the woman would not let her go.

  “Don’t fight it. You think he lies. He doesn’t. He is just an idiot. Men usually are. You should make him grovel for misleading you. When you first met him, he was different, was he not?”

  Cole frowned and then quickly transformed that into a nervous smile and a shrug when Seraphina looked at him. He had been different then. But now he was a better kind of different. She had done that to him. She had opened his eyes to see things more clearly. He fought to control his panic when her expression did not change at the psychic’s words.

  He did something drastic. He dropped to his knees and looked beseechingly at her. “Like she said, repeatedly, I was an idiot. I am an idiot. I never meant to hurt you. That day what you saw, it wasn’t what you thought it was. That woman,” he said with obvious distaste, “She showed up at the café just after I texted you. I didn’t want you to see her there. I don’t know why at the time I thought it was a good idea to lie to you rather than be honest. But I swear on my mother’s life – that’s all that happened!”

  His voice tremored with slight emotion as he continued. “Ever since you turned away from me, God…I have never experienced such despair in my life. I didn’t know what I had until I lost it. I had you, Seraphina. I have to have you in my life again. If I don’t, I don’t know how I will live. You breathed life into me when I felt it slipping away. You’re my light, Seraphina. Please say you’ll forgive me and take me back. I’ll do anything. Just don’t ask me to go away again. I-I can’t.”

  He sat on his knees, lowering his eyes fearful of her answer. She had to say something positive. She had to. If she did not, he did not know what he would do. His ignored the throbbing that began in his knees. He opened his mouth and then shut it again, looking pleadingly at the ground.

  “Oh, kiss him already, child! You know you want to!”

  A force hit him and he suddenly found himself flat on the ground. Seraphina lay against his body and before he could say anything, smashed her lips against him. That had to be a good sign. His body reacted instantly. He had missed this. He had missed this. He had missed her. He let her take control.

  “You’re an idiot.” She grinned at him as she came up for air.

  He looked at her bemused but just nodded.

  “But I forgive you.”

  Joy burst through Cole and he felt like someone had awakened him out of his stupor once again. Flipping her on her back, he kissed her passionately, showing his gratitude.

  “Ohh, Seraphina! You have no idea how much this means to me. But I’m scared. I was not kidding
when I said I had never done this before. I’m new to all this.”

  She hushed him. “I’m new to this too. I never had anything as intense as this with anyone. But it’ll be fun figuring it out, won’t it?”

  He laughed. “Those are some very familiar words. But yes, it will be lots of fun. If I meander off path, you will set me straight, won’t you?”

  “It’ll be my pleasure, Cole St. John.” She began to show him exactly how much pleasure it would be for her to teach him.

  Energy sizzled around them as they finally accepted their fate. The stars across the universe danced in merriment as the two souls finally connected. It was more pure than anything ever imagined. Nature smiled down at them. It was just the beginning of a beautiful start. Even idiots could not mess with the plan universe had in store for them.

  ♥●●♥

  Bonus Story 3: A New Dawn

  * * *

  Chapter 1

  “Nettie, pull back the drapes please and open the window, it’s terribly oppressive in here this morning.” Adelaide watched as the young girl moved about her bed chamber pulling back the heavy fabric on the tall windows and securing them to the sides of the wood frames. She pushed back the fine sheers and opened the elongated widow glass. The fresh morning breeze caught the gauzy fabric and allowed it to dance about the windows in billowy streams of cloudy white material.

  “Would you like me to do anything more, Ma’am?”

  Adelaide sat up in bed and held out her hand for her dressing gown. “Has Robert awoken yet?”

  “Yes Ma’am, the Earl has been up for hours, taken breakfast and is now in the study, not to be disturbed.”

  Adelaide smirked and took her robe from the girl’s fingers. “Please bring me tea and a croissant, Nettie.”

  “Yes Ma’am.” She scurried out of the bedroom, closing the ornate double doors behind her with a hushed click of the handle and latch.