Flirting With Magick

by Bennett, Leigh

  “This is 'Operation: Over Josh',” she insisted loudly every time I objected. “Most women cut their hair after a break up, but we can start with some new clothes and makeup-– sexy stuff.”

  “But he’s not here to see what he’s missing out on,” I protested.

  “It’s not for him, and it never will be.” Kate said firmly. I hid a smirk. She never got along with Josh, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if she was secretly relishing the idea she wouldn’t have to see him again and was just feigning sympathy for my sake. She pulled out a charcoal coloured, lacy bra and undies set and held it up against me. “Try this on. It will make you feel sexy again.”

  Later that afternoon, the light flashed insistently on my answering machine as we wearily entered my flat. “Hi, Abby?” The deep, masculine voice was unfamiliar. “It’s Luke here, Luke Marshall, your cousin. I just wanted you to know my band’s playing at Springers tonight. I heard you lived near there, so I thought maybe we could catch up for a couple of drinks? We play at eight, so… I guess I’ll see you if I see you. Bye.”

  “Springers. Does he know we practically live there? Meet you back here.” Kate ran out to her flat to get ready, dragging her bags behind her.

  Spell to Find True Love

  Moon: Waxing

  Pink candle

  Piece of paper

  Pen or pencil

  Rose essential oil

  Rose petals (optional)

  Carrier oil such as olive or sweet almond

  Engrave a heart into the candle and light it.

  Combine a few drops of Rose oil with carrier oil and pour into a warm bath along with the rose petals.

  Take your piece of paper and write down all the qualities you would like in a partner.

  Breathe in the aromas and feel love surrounding you while visualising yourself in a true love partnership.

  When your bath is over, extinguish the candle and thank the universe.

  CHAPTER TWO

  A HEAVY BASSLINE pulsed under my feet as we arrived at the pub twenty minutes after eight.

  “They sound pretty good!” Kate yelled over the music, weaving through the punters crowding the bar as we made our way towards the stage. As usual, she attracted a lot of admiring glances in her tight, lime green shirt. Beside her, I felt positively matronly, trying to make the most of the only assets I had with a low-cut burgundy top.

  Clutching our drinks protectively, we found a space to the left of the stage and surveyed the scene. One part of the pub housed the stage and had been completely cleared of tables. The dance space was taken up by a predominantly female audience, and once we managed a glimpse of the performers, it was easy to see why.

  “God, they’re all HOT.” Kate verbalised my thoughts. “Which one’s your cousin?” As I negotiated my view in between the overzealous bouncing of a midriff bearing, ponytailed blonde in front of me, I scanned over the band. The singer had curly brown hair, dark, droopy, puppy dog eyes, and appeared lost in his own world as he tenderly caressed the microphone. As I recalled, Luke was a blue-eyed blonde. The only one fitting that description was the guitarist. He was tall, with fresh- faced, angelic good looks, which were toned down by the tattoos peeking out below his T-shirt sleeves. He seemed to be the main reason for the female interest. I caught him relishing in the attention, winking at a particularly pretty member of the audience. The bass guitarist had jaw length, jet-black hair, which contrasted with his porcelain skin and eyes of such a striking green I could see their colour from where I stood in the back row. He presented a mysterious image with his all-black outfit, pierced brow, and lack of interest in the crowd. I found his apparent indifference extremely sexy. The drummer was difficult to see behind my cousin, but I managed to glimpse a pleasant, freckled face and a cheeky smile.

  “That’s Luke, the guitarist.” I pointed him out to Kate.

  “Are you kidding?” I felt somewhat insulted at her incredulity that he and I shared the same genetics. I was about to offer that he looked like his father to whom I was not related, when she continued, “Obviously, good looks run in your family.” I laughed, but was touched by the compliment.

  As the last song drew to a close, I wondered how I was going to get Luke’s attention through his horde of fans. I decided to buy another drink before everyone headed for the bar and wait until he appeared reasonably available.

  “Abby?” My pre-planning proved ineffective as thirty minutes later I was still making my way back to Kate, expertly sidling through the crowd when I heard my name being called. Whirling around, I caught the good-looking blonde guitarist giving me a smile that I realised hadn’t changed in twenty years. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a couple of glittery faced girls look me up and down before turning back to each other in disgust. One of them was the midriff baring, ponytailed girl— obviously one of Luke's biggest fans.

  “Luke. You guys were great.” I motioned to hug him, but the glasses I held rendered me unable.

  “Here, let me help you.” He took one of my wines as someone placed a beer in his other hand. “Are these both for you?” He gave me a grin, which I soon learn was a common look for him.

  “I’ve got a girlfriend with me.” I explained, embarrassingly only realising his joke once my mouth was open. “I’ll just go get her,” I added quickly to cover my mistake.

  “We’ve got a table over there.” He gestured to the far end of the room where his fellow band members and another man had assembled. “Join us.”

  I swore that every woman in the pub shot noxious looks at Kate and me as we squeezed in between cheeky drummer and mysterious bassist. Luke took the opportunity to give me a hug. “Guys, this is my cousin, Abby and…”

  “Kate.” Kate confidently scanned the table as introductions were made, while I nodded politely in her shadow.

  “This is Nathan, Daniel, Silas our manager, and Scott.” Luke pointed to the drummer, singer, manager, and bassist respectively.

  “You were great!” I gushed, a little too earnestly. “Have you been playing long?”

  “Since high school,” Scott, the bass player, replied. He flicked his hair back from his eyes and presented me with a sexy smile. Looking at him up close, he no longer appeared as gothic and detached as he had on stage. He had a friendly and approachable demeanour, which instantly put me at ease. And I was mesmerised by the way the barbell through his brow bobbed incessantly as he chatted. Squashed next to him around the tiny table, I became pleasantly aware of his thigh pressed against mine.

  “We’ve just scored a record deal, so we’re doing the pub rounds at the moment." Luke nodded towards Silas for confirmation. “We should have an album out by the end of the year, and then we’ll do a national tour.”

  “So all that guitar playing in your room has paid off, hey?” I thought of the dismissive way Aunt Marie used to talk about it. I doubted she’d be so contemptuous when Luke started playing sold-out stadium shows and bought her a new car.

  “I bet that’s not all you were doing.” Nathan, the drummer, punched Luke on the arm.

  The evening wore on with Nathan’s hilarious tales of typical high- school boy exploits and battle of the bands wins and losses, and I managed to pull out the “naked under the sprinklers” story after a few too many rounds.

  Scott, it turned out, had been Luke’s best friend since primary school, and they started the band, which was called “Reckless Choice,” in high school music class. Through a long process of auditions and unsuitable former members, they managed to recruit Nathan and Daniel, who I thought was born to be a front man with his outgoing, almost arrogant manner. I learnt he was a bit of a ladies’ man, and his latest squeeze was an attractive soap opera actress. He kept checking his watch anxiously, before finally announcing he was off to meet her.

  Eventually the wine became too much for my bladder, and I excused myself to go to the bathroom. On my way back, I noticed the pub had thinned out, with most patrons having moved on. A familiar face at the bar caught my
eye.

  “Hi, Robbie!” I exclaimed to the TV host I had met only a week earlier. As I did so, I missed the step up to the bar and suddenly found myself face down on the carpet, with the contents of my handbag flying everywhere. I managed to compose myself enough to keep talking (albeit a little too quickly), whilst picking up my belongings (why, oh why can’t I clean out my handbag more?).

  “I’m Abby... From Lancer Morris... well, not anymore, I finished yesterday... we met about a week ago.” I stood up. He replied by pointing to a lipstick tube and a tampon that had rolled under a barstool. “Um, thanks.” I picked them up, trying to ignore the stickiness of the floor, while wishing it would actually open up and swallow me. He then pointed to some loose change that had rolled all over the floor in different directions.

  Shit.

  “Don’t you know how to help a lady out?” Scott appeared, glaring at Robbie. “Or are you just an arrogant turd?” He said it loudly enough to elicit a number of disgusted stares toward the TV host.

  Robbie silently turned his back, downed the last of his drink, and motioned to his two friends who were chatting up some jailbait at the other end of the bar. “Shit band anyway,” he muttered under his breath before slinking out of the room.

  “Are you okay?” Scott crouched next to me and dropped some of the rogue coins into my bag.

  I picked up a condom from under his feet. “Um, I don’t have this because I intend using it. My friend put it there. I don’t actually...” I began, then popped it irritably back in my bag, and turned to thank him, feeling my cheeks grow red as I realised his face was only centimetres from mine. I could smell the masculine aroma of pine scented soap mingled with the smoke and beer of the pub and see the smoothness of his recently shaven skin. As our eyes met and my heart skipped a beat, the previous night’s spell fast tracked its way through my head. Could it be working this quickly? Could it be him? I held my breath, unsure of what to do or what his next move was, but not wanting to spoil the moment.

  “Hey, Scotty. We’re dying of thirst over here.” Nathan, who had impeccable timing, broke the magic. Scott stood up, pulling me with him. He ran a hand through his hair and placed his order at the bar while I headed back to the table, my knees still shaking.

  Damn.

  As he sat back down, I suddenly realised with horror the potential consequences of the last few minutes with the TV host.

  “Scott, do you know who that was?” I asked, a little shaken.

  “Who? That dickhead in the bar?”

  “That was Robbie Myers. The host of 'Hottest Hits Now.' He introduces new bands. What if I’ve stuffed up the chances of you being on his show? Oh God, I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it, love.” Silas interrupted my drunken panic as he moved to leave. “He doesn’t control what goes on the show. Besides, blokes like that are a dime a dozen, and by the time Reckless Choice is on there, he might have already been replaced three times over.” Silas said goodbye, my fear dissipating as I took in the reality of the situation.

  “I thought I’d seen him before.” Scott mused. “Hey, it’s not your fault you fell over. He’s the arsehole who’s too stuck up to give you a hand.”

  “Yeah, fair enough. Thanks, by the way.” I wouldn't be surprised if the incident ended up on some celebrity gossip blog next week, the thought made me smile. I looked into his eyes, noticing that the striking colour was due to the way an amber pigment near his pupils fanned out to mix with blue. I felt a flutter in my stomach, and my cheeks burned again as I tore my gaze from his face, down his arm—taking in the swirly tattoo on his bicep—to the glass he was holding. His fingers were tapping against the smooth surface, and I was wondering what it would be like to have those bass playing fingers between... Oh God. I pushed the thought from my mind. My bed had been free of company since Josh left. Was it any wonder I was feeling a bit frisky?

  Kate was effortlessly lapping up Nathan’s attention. Meanwhile, bare-midriffed, ponytailed girl and her friend had taken advantage of the two vacant seats to desperately try to keep up a conversation with Luke.

  “Either someone’s going to miss out or Luke’s in for a fantastic night.” I whispered to Scott. Luke couldn’t handle the pressure off stage, and he loudly announced another round of drinks, ensuing further giggles in support of our little private joke.

  “Do you want to get out of here? Get a coffee?” Scott asked, watching me swallow the last of my drink, while I was really trying to gulp down my excitement as my pulse started to race. Was he asking me out? I’d had all the alcohol I could take for the night and was grateful for the offer of a change of scene. We left Luke and Nathan in the more than capable hands of Kate and the glittery midriffed girls and drifted out into the icy night.

  A small café was still bursting with light, and we wandered into the welcoming smell of sugary chocolate icing and strong espresso. Finding a table in a cosy corner, we ordered our coffees, and I suddenly realised, with growing dismay, that I had the mysterious, sexy stranger all to myself. Without our friends to look to for support and the distracting buzz of the pub, we found ourselves in an awkward moment.

  “That jukebox was doing my head in.” He finally shattered the silence. I caught him running his hand through his hair again and wondered if it was a nervous gesture.

  “I know what you mean; seriously, how many times can you hear “Khe San” and “Sweet Home Alabama” in an hour?”

  He laughed as the waitress arrived with our lattes, his full, pink lips pulled back over his perfect teeth. I pictured those lips on my neck, working their way down... what the hell was the matter with me? Did my innocent love spell turn me into a raving nympho? Or had it just been too long since I’d been in the presence of an attractive man?

  “So what do you do?” He broke through my thoughts.

  “I finished a job yesterday, so I’m having a week off before I start the next one. I’ll be running the front office—some secretarial work, supervising the reception, that kind of thing. Do you know Lancer Morris Management?” He nodded. “That’s where I was. I’ll be starting at Avalon IT, a software distribution company. It’s completely different than looking after actors and entertainers so I can’t tell you much about it.”

  After the initial moment of awkwardness, we managed to talk over three more coffees and into the wee hours of the morning. I discovered that when he wasn’t recording or performing, he worked for a musical instrument retailer, hoping to be able to quit soon so he could concentrate on the band full time. He was proficient in guitar, bass guitar, and piano and, up until recently, used to teach all three.

  "How come you don't sing or play guitar for the band?" I asked, wondering why the band's co-leader didn’t take a more prominent role on stage.

  "Dan and Luke are better frontmen," he explained. "And I'm the only one who plays bass."

  Luke and himself, as the founders of Reckless Choice, wrote the majority of their music, although Daniel put in a lot of the lyrics and Nathan had increasingly brought forward some works of genius. He spoke highly of his bandmates; it appeared they were a tight group. They obviously had a great deal of respect for each other and were in it for the long haul. Music was clearly his life, and he provided further evidence of this when he briefly mentioned his last relationship:

  “We were together for about eighteen months. It started off alright, but it got to the point where it was just too hard to work and have a relationship as well, especially since we moved to Melbourne." I watched as he took a sip and wiped the froth from his mouth. "She came down for a little while, but it didn’t work. I broke it off about three months ago and haven't been looking for anything serious since, especially since we got the record deal.” I waited for further information, but it was all he was going to volunteer, and it answered my question about the spell; it wasn’t him. That was a shame.

  “How about you?” he asked.

  I made it as brief as possible. “He moved interstate for a job about six mo
nths ago, and our relationship wasn’t going to work like that, so we broke up.”

  “How long were you together?”

  “Three years.”

  He raised his eyebrows with incredulity, as though three years was his equivalent to a lifetime. “Wow. Must’ve been serious.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  I didn’t tell him I had thought Josh was ‘the one,’ that I thought we were a step away from moving in together, that my heart had been well and truly stomped on and kicked into the gutter when he said he was leaving.

  I had the spell behind me now, and I recognised it as a major leap in the healing process. It was time to move on. Evidently, moving on at this stage wasn't going to involve Scott in any sort of serious relationship arrangement. But he was nice and attractive, and it didn’t mean I couldn’t have some fun.

  We ventured out into the chilly winter night once more, and I shivered nervously as he placed his hand lightly on the small of my back, enjoying how he kept it there as we walked to the end of the street. I decided to make a courageous move. “You know, I only live down the road. We can walk from here, and you can call a cab from my place if you like.” I didn’t want him to think I was blatantly offering a night of passion, but I could tell that we both knew a taxi would not be winding its way to my door tonight.

  When we reached my block of units, I listened out for any sign of activity behind Kate’s door. Silence. She was either asleep or had ended up somewhere else.

  "Did you and Kate meet through living in the same block?" Scott asked as we tackled the remaining stairs to my level.

  "No, we used to work together, and my friend Dianne, who I was sharing with at the time, wanted her boyfriend to move in. Kate told me my flat was up for rent."

  "I never would have guessed she was an accountant."

  "Yeah, I know." I put the key in my lock, unsure what I should do once we got inside. I could feel his body warmth from where he stood close behind me, and I closed my eyes, hoping he wouldn’t just call a cab and leave. “Take a seat.” I suggested, throwing my coat onto the couch and pretending to look for my phone. I knew I must have left it in my bedroom after discussing clothing options with Kate while getting ready. He stood at the entrance to the living room, leaning casually against the door jamb, watching me conduct my charade.