Dags leaned forward. "About that doll, it's a..." he looked past Mike and smiled, straightened up. "Here's the lovely lady now."
Mike turned to see Teresa winding her way around the tables to the bar. Dressed in a blue suit with a white silk shirt, her blonde hair gleaming like spun gold in the dim lighting of the loft, she gave Mike a warm smile and kissed his cheek. "Hiya Dags. Wine please." She took a stool beside Mike. "I'm glad you came."
She looked as lovely now as she'd looked the day he'd met her. Mike couldn't keep his eyes off of her.
After pouring Teresa a glass of wine, Dags moved to his other customers. Mike swallowed. The lump he hadn't noticed before didn't move and threatened to choke him. "Uhm...why...what's...are you...?"
"Mike, I'm moving away."
The lump in his throat fell with blinding speed to his stomach where it ignited and burned slowly. Acki had been right. The doll was right! "I see. And you plan on taking Brendi away from me, don't you?" He gulped his wine this time, not tasting the fruity blend. A glance at Dags told him the bartender was listening.
Teresa put a hand on Mike's arm. Her eyes were warm. A smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. "Mike, are you okay? I see this isn't going to be as easy as I hoped."
He gave her a stiff smile and pulled his arm away, nearly knocking over his empty glass. "Easy? You're going to take my little girl away to Canada to teach her to speak French and you call it easy?"
Both Dags and Teresa stared at him as if he'd sprouted a third eye. In one fluid motion, Dags took the empty glass, replaced it with cold water.
"Mike," Teresa glanced at Dags, who moved away. "What are you talking about? I'm not going to Canada."
"Does it matter where? You're going to take her away from me."
A tiny familiar voice spoke in his head, Kiss me now. I can fix this. If she says yes before you kiss me, it's over!
Mike glanced down at the backpack.
Dags had said to wait. To listen. Not to jump to any conclusions. The bartender rarely gave out bad advice.
Screw that creepo! I'm your salvation on this one! This is it. It's the perfect time. Kiss me or she'll take the kid! Acki shouted in his mind.
He bent down and pulled the pack into his lap. Maybe if he just discreetly unzipped it and stuck his face in. A quick peck on the plastic cheek.
Come on, bozo. We made a deal!
Teresa put a hand on his arm again. "Mike, I'm not sure where you've gotten your information, but I'm not going to Canada. I'm going to Virginia. I got that job. The one I applied for last week." Her long lashes made shadows on her peach colored cheeks.
The backpack moved in his lap, the hard plastic of the doll actually moving the canvas. Maybe if he pulled it out real quick, pretended he'd bought Brendi a doll and he was kissing it for her. "S-so you're moving?" He leaned his arms over the pack and pushed down.
"Yes," Teresa looked down at the backpack. She saw it moving too. "Mike, is Felix in there?" Felix was his house cat, a black and white cat-mutt with a vicious appetite for cheesecake.
"Ah...no. No. Please, keep telling me about this job." Damn, if she thought it was the cat, then he could stick his face in the pack and she wouldn't believe him crazy.
The backpack squirmed. Acki's voice broke through his thoughts again. She'll tell the kid horrible stories about her dead-beat Dad back in Georgia. Take me out and kiss me.
Dead-beat dad? Mike smiled at Teresa, unzipped the pack and pulled it out. Teresa's eyes widened. "Why in the hell did you bring that ugly thing?"
"Are you taking Brendi with you?" Mike held the doll tightly, brought it closer to his face. Just a quick peck, lightening fast. She'll never notice. Neither would Dags.
Dags came to them. He pointed at the doll. "There's something I need tell you about that thing."
Don't listen to him. He only wants me for himself! Acki's voice sounded panicked.
"Shut up," he hissed.
Dags moved back. "Hey...sorry. But you really ought to put that thing away."
Mike sighed. "Not you Dags, but not now." He looked at Teresa. "What's going to happen with Brendi?"
Teresa looked down, to her left, then her right, the way she always had when she needed to tell him something she'd rather not. "That's what I needed to talk to you about."
Dags reached out. "Can I see that doll? I just want to check something."
Mike almost jerked it away from him. Acki continued screaming in his mind to kiss him. This was not going well. Dags would continue to hound him and Teresa would side with Dags. Maybe if he just let him hold it for a second, then he could take it back and kiss it real quick, shove it back in the pack and they wouldn't see.
Don't let that freak touch me. Kiss me now or you will lose your daughter forever! Acki's his eyes bored holes into Mike's brain.
"Mike," Teresa sighed. "Let Dags see the stupid doll. What's more important? Discussing our daughter's future happiness, or that ridiculous excuse for a piece of plastic?"
He looked at each of them. Dags seemed so intent on him putting the doll away. The bartender's words came to him again. Listen to her. He really should. That was her main complaint about their marriage. He was always assuming things. Never listening. Always flying off the handle at little irritations, then feeling awful when he found out too late he'd been wrong. And it was to Dags he'd made these confessions of being in the wrong. Not to Teresa, to whom they should have gone.
Dags knew more than Acki did. And he was his friend. All the bartender wanted was for him to be happy. All Teresa had wanted was an attentive husband.
What the hell. He handed the doll to Dags. "Be careful with it."
Dags nodded then tossed the thing beneath the bar. It hit the bar's wall with a loud thump against Mike's knee. Dags smiled and winked. "You'll thank me later."
Mike thought about climbing over the bar and either punching Dags or retrieving Acki. He stood just as Teresa took his hand in hers. Her skin was warm and soothing. "Mike, Brendi doesn't want to move to Virginia. And I can't blame her. She's in Junior High, all her friends are here. I can't pull her away from that." She sighed. "Look, like I said, this isn't easy for me, especially since I said some pretty mean things to you yesterday. Brendi and I talked, and she wants to come live with you until she graduates. I can come see her on weekends." Her mouth turned down at the corners. "Will you forgive me? Will you take Brendi in?"
The burning lump of coal smoldered, went out as he sat back down. Of all the things he feared she'd say, this was not one of them. Have Brendi come live with him?
Teresa leaned her head forward. "Mike? Say something."
He laughed, a deep belly laugh he hadn't felt in months. He kissed her hand. "Oh, Teresa. You've made me the happiest man in the city. Of course Brendi can live with me...uh, that is, when I get a bigger apartment."
"Well, that's the other thing. Will you move back into the house once I've moved? It's in such a good neighborhood, and you'll be hard pressed to find anything else around this town cheaper. And I'll offer child-support."
"Yes, yes, yes..." Mike beamed at Dags who had his chin resting on his fist, his elbow on the bar, a sleepy smile on his face. With a wink, he straightened, turned and grabbed a bottle of champagne from the shelves. Mike chuckled. "Just what I was thinking."
"That's why I'm the best bartender in the south," he pulled two more glasses down and popped the cork.
"I...I didn't expect you to be so happy. Not with all those things I said." Teresa took up her glass and they made a toast. Dags ordered Pecan Brownie Pie, on him, to celebrate.
Teresa squeezed his arm and excused herself to the bathroom. Mike turned to Dags who was polishing a glass with a white cloth.
"Now aren't you glad you didn't kiss that thing? That's gross." Dags set the glass on the bar.
Mike leaned his head forward on his neck and whispered, "You knew?"
"I found out some things about it on the net. Anima Cozen means spirit deceive. It's a liar by trade.
It's also able to tell the future and uses that to make bargains on giving wishes. The little creep was about to snatch your soul." He glanced about conspiratorially. "The thing steals the souls of anyone that kisses it in front of a loved one, kinda like a witness. But who wants to kiss it?" Dags shivered. "Ugh."
"So..." Mike sipped the champagne. "So it has to trick its victims into doing that. Oh damn. I nearly got myself into all kinds of trouble. I'd have been a soulless father."
Dags shrugged. "Or worse." He grinned. "Zombie Dad."
Mike shivered. Soulless could mean dead. He'd have had custody of Brendi anyway, but without his soul. He couldn't have loved her as deeply, or as strongly as he did now. Once again his assumptions had nearly gotten the better of him. Perhaps learning to wait, and listen, wasn't such a bad character trait to develop. And it was never too late to learn. "Oh God, Dags. I nearly screwed this up. What'll I do with the doll?"
Dags' eyebrows bounced up and down. "I've got this really grumpy dog in my neighborhood. I'll see if he needs a new chew-toy."
Nooooo! I'll get you my pretty—amd you're little bartender too!
About the Author…
Phaedra Weldon is the author of the Urban Fantasy series, Zoë Martinique Investigation, published by Berkley, available for Kindle. She most recently completed the soon-to-be released Eureka novel, Brain Box Blues. Look for it in stores Winter 2010 under the name Cris Ramsay.
© Copyright 2010, all rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
For more information about the author please her visit website at www.phaedraweldon.com
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Acumen Of Desideratum
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