Ding
Rock Star Samil: Hey Em, do you mind opening the door? We’re on our way up the drive now
Me: Gotcha
I guess he took my request for warning to heart, which seems sort of silly now that he’s moving in. But whatever, guys are weird. Since we’re going to be roommates, I’m sure he’ll get over it.
Unlocking the front door, I step out onto the porch just as the SUV comes to a stop. With the three of us working together, it only takes one trip to bring all Samil’s things in. He’d claimed the first room at the top of the staircase. The location was convenient, but it wouldn’t have been my choice. From the looks of it, the designer must have run out of ideas by the time they got to this guest room, leaving it with stark white walls, white linens and bland oak furniture. On the upside, it was a decent size and had its own bathroom.
“Thanks for your help, guys.” Samil says as he throws himself down on the bed.
“Of course, what are friends for?” Sebastian grins, leaning against the door.
“Hey, wait a minute,” I frown, turning towards him. “I thought you were bringing dinner.”
“Slight change of plans,” he shrugs. “Clayton offered to pick it up when he gets off work, that we could pack up Samil’s stuff and not have to make a second trip later.”
“Oh, that makes sense. It’s almost 5pm now, which means Clayton and the twins should be here any minute. I’m going to head down and set the table.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be down in a bit. Gonna put some of this stuff away first,” Samil grunts, rolling off the bed. He picks up an overstuffed duffle bag and drops it on top of the dresser. The bag bursts open on impact and clothes go flying everywhere, like some kind of crazy jack in the box.
Samil’s look of horror is priceless. I bite my lip, while Sebastian claps his hand over his mouth, trying to hide the laughter.
When our eyes meet, I can’t contain it anymore. I laugh so hard, it brings tears to my eyes as I stumble towards the door. Sebastian doubles over, gasping for air. Every time we look at each other, it sets off another fit of laughter.
“OMG!” I gasp, groping for the doorknob. “I have to get out of here, you’re killing me. Have fun with the unpacking.” Finally opening the door, I make a run for it before Samil or the laughter takes me out.
“Wait… for me... Sprite,” Sebastian calls, stumbling after me. He makes it down the stairs before sinking to the floor, his back resting on the bottom step. “I’ve got to… run over... to my house and... grab a few things… As soon… as I catch… my breath…”
“Okies, just don’t die,” I laugh. “I’ll see ya in a bit.” I wave and head to the kitchen. I collect plates and glasses, then take them out to the dining room. After setting the table, I look around. What do I need now? Something's missing. I bite my lower lip as I stare at the table. Oh ya, we’ll need something to eat with. I run back to the kitchen for silverware, and even manage to find a few sets of chopsticks. Grabbing some napkins, I return to the dining room and finish up the table. There, much better.
“Hey Pixie, we’re here!” Jared calls. “Where should I put the food?”
“Bring it to the dining room, everything’s ready in here.”
Jared appears in the doorway, ladened with bags of Chinese food.
“Oh my god, let me help!” I take half the bags from him and start unloading the food onto the table. “How’d you end up stuck carrying all this? Where are Clayton and Ian? “
“They’re helping Sebastian unload, they’ll be in soon.”
“Unload? We already brought all of Samil’s stuff upstairs, is Sebastian moving in too?”
“Nah,” Jared laughs, joining me in unpacking the rest of the bags. “They’re bringing in the paint and a little after dinner surprise.”
“What kind of surprise?”
“You’ll see,” I jump at Sebastian's answer. Spinning around, I see him coming through the connecting door from the kitchen carrying a couple large bottles of soda. “But first… Dinner!” He announces.
“That’s right, Trouble. I’m starved.” Clayton's bright smile flashes as he follows Sebastian in.
“Me, too,” Ian echoes softly, entering from the main hall with Samil at his heels. Ian takes the seat next to Jared at the table.
“Sounds like it’s unanimous,” Samil says, escorting me to the head of the table and pulling out the chair. Shaking my head, I take the offered seat. He bows, before sitting to my right.
In minutes, we’ve passed around the boxes of food and everything digs in. Sebastian regales us with a play by play of the hockey game, with Clayton and Samil occasionally adding in their own commentary. Although I noticed that none of them mention the ride back.
“We need to celebrate your victory!” Jared grins. “Dinner at Mel’s tomorrow.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Sebastian says. “Now, we have a surprise to reveal and a bedroom to paint. So close your eyes, Sprite. We’ll lead the way.”
I stand and cross the room, taking his offered hand. The joyful heat of his excitement rushing over my skin. I closed my eyes and let him lead me out of the dining room. The others energy surrounds me, as we slowly move through the house.
“Just a little farther…” Sebastian instructs. He finally stops walking and his arms wrap around my shoulders. “Alright, open your eyes.”
I open my eyes and immediately recognize the game room, with its dark wood paneling and uncomfortable leather furniture. The painting Sebastian hated was gone and in its place hangs a huge TV with a big red bow. Below it, the console table now holds a pile of movies and a Blue Ray player. My breath catches in my throat and my eyes tear up at their surprise.
“We figured you’d probably want to pick out your own furniture, but we wanted to get you started. Think of it as a belated birthday present.” Samil explains.
Brushing away the tears, I turn to look at my guys. “Oh my god, this is too much.”
“Hey Emmy, don’t cry.”
“And it’s not too much. This is a gift we will all enjoy, Trouble,” Clayton smiles, pulling me into a bear hug that lifts me off my feet. His protective energy wrapping itself around me like a second skin. “Now we have a place for us to watch movies together at your house.”
“Ya. No offense to your laptop, Sprite, but it’s not exactly easy to watch movies on.”
“Fine, you win,” I laugh, returning Clayton’s hug. “Now put me down!”
Grinning, he sets me back on my feet and steps away.
“Where’s my hug, Sprite?” Sebastian pouts playfully.
Rolling my eyes, I give him a hug. I can’t help but laugh as I notice Samil and the twins lined up behind him for hugs of their own.
“Ok, ok. Hugs for each of you, then we have a bedroom to finish painting.”
∞
With the windows open, and the six of us working together, we finish the painting in no time flat. I grin, happy to finally have the Barbie pink eliminated from the bedroom. I’d worry about whether I should paint the closet and the bathroom later. At the moment, I don’t want to deal with the issues that would involve, like moving all the clothes.
After that, we end up on the floor in front of the new TV. Set up for the night with a pile of blankets and pillows scavenged from around the house and a table full of snacks, we settled in for an 80’s horror movie marathon.
Sunday, November 8th
∞
“Up and at em Pixie. We’ve got a ferry to catch if we’re going to make it to that meeting in time.” Jared sang at an ungodly hour.
“Why?” I groan, pulling a blanket over my head. “Why do you guys always plan things so early in the morning?”
“Early?” Jared scoffs.
“It’s almost 11am, Emmy,” Ian chimes in, snatching the blanket from me.
“So hurry up,” Jared finishes, shaking his head. “You’ve got 30 minutes to get dressed and pack an overnight bag.”
“Wait, why do I need a bag?”
I yawn, rubbing my eyes.
“Cause our meeting is at 2:30, so we won't make the last ferry back.” Ian explains.
“We can stay the night on the mainland,” Jared picks up. “Get a room near the docks, and grab the first ferry back tomorrow morning.”
“That is, if it’s ok with you Emmy.” Ian adds in a rush.
“Ya sure, that’s fine.” I yawn, sitting up and stretching. “Although I don’t understand why the ferry stops running so early.”
Ian shrugs. “Not enough tourists to justify running it as often in the winter. Plus it gets dark earlier.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” I reply, dragging myself to my feet. “What should I wear to this meeting anyways?”
“Whatever you want Pixie.”
“Not helpful,” I sigh. “I want to make a good impression. I really need someone trustworthy to take over for that creepy Ms. Blackmore.”
“Don’t worry, Emmy,” Ian assures. “You don’t need to wear anything fancy. Like I told you, he’s eccentric. Just dress comfortably. We’ve got a ferry ride and a bit of a drive ahead of us.”
“Now that that’s settled, off you go,” Jared says, gently pushing me down the hall. “Times a wastin.”
“Hey, where is everyone, anyways?”
“Clayton’s working, and Samil dragged Sebastian along to help him with his boat.” Jared replies as he herds me up the stairs. “I guess he was supposed to work on it yesterday and got side tracked with the move.”
“Oh, umm, ya, he mentioned something about that.” I say, opening the door to my room. “Alright give me 30 minutes, and I’ll be ready to go.”
“You’ve got 20 before I come back and dress you myself.” Jared smirks, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Whatever,” I roll my eyes and stick my tongue out at him, before shutting the door.
Blowing out a breath, I lock the door and rush into the bathroom. After taking the world's fastest shower, I head into the closet. I drag an empty backpack off the shelf and drop it on top of the dresser in the center of the room. I shove a random tee shirt, a pair of jeans, and some underwear and socks in the bag. That done, I toss on a long sleeve, black and white striped mini dress and a pair of black leggings. I sit down on the window seat and pull on my socks and Doc Martens. Twisting my rainbow hair into a bun, I grab a hair clip to hold it in place. I sling the backpack over my shoulder and run into the bathroom, rummaging around under the sink until I find my toiletry bag. I fill it with my hairbrush, deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste, before sticking it in the backpack. That should get me through an overnight stay, I hope. If not, I’m sure we can stop at a store.
I go downstairs to find the twins waiting for me in the entryway, freshly showered and ready to leave. I smile at them in their jeans and black tee shirts with fading rock band logos highlighting their lanky swimmers build. I can’t remember the last time I saw them dressed so close to twinning. It seems strange for Ian to be so dressed down from his usual polo shirt and khaki pants, but surprisingly nice.
Before I let my brain wander too far down that dangerous road, I pull my cross body purse and current book out of my messenger bag, and then slip on the leather jacket they gave me for my birthday and flash a bright smile.
“Ready to go?” I ask.
“Just waiting on you, Pixie,” Jared says, opening the front door.
“Terrific, let's get out of here.”
∞
We make the ferry with time to spare and the trip to the mainland is uneventful. We fell into a comfortable silence with Ian sitting in the back seat working on his laptop, while Jared fills the time playing games on his phone. I pull out the book I’d been reading, thankful for a chance to finish it. While I love spending time with the guys, I had hoped to finish my book yesterday. Saturday definitely hadn’t gone as planned.
When we get to the mainland, Jared and Ian are surprisingly tight lipped on our destination. Going back to my book, I lose myself in the story.
The car turns and suddenly we’re bumping and shaking. I look up in surprise, dropping the book into my backpack. We’re driving through a dirt parking lot half filled with cars, following the directions of a bunch of bored looking guys in orange vests, listlessly waving flags. A huge orange and yellow banner announces De Borsh Carnival.
Say What? We’re meeting the twins' family lawyer at the Carnival??? What the hell.
The car stops, and the twins immediately jump out.
“Come on Emmy, we’ve got to hurry.” Ian says, opening my door.
“Really?” I scoff, raising an eyebrow.
“We don’t want to be late, Pixie,” Jared pipes in, leaning over to meet my eyes.
“If you say so,” I say dubiously. “If this has been a trick to sneak off to the carnival without the others, there is going to be hell to pay.” I warn, climbing out.
“No tricks, Emmy. I promise,” Ian assures as he takes my hand and guides me towards the entrance. Jared comes up on the other side, draping an arm across my shoulder.
“Trust us, Pixie, would we steer you wrong?”
“Ian, I trust. You… Not so much.” I shrug, sticking my tongue out at him.
“You wound me,” Jared groans, clutching his chest with his free hand. “Just for that, you two go on without me. I’m going to check out our lunch options.”
Ian shakes his head but doesn’t say a word. He walks up to an open window at the ticket booth and asks the young woman behind the counter, who doesn’t look old enough to be working, for three adult wristbands.
“That will be $60.00,” she says, popping her gum. Ian reaches for his wallet, and I slide up next to him, dropping my purse on the counter.
“Oh no you don’t,” I say, hip bumping him while I pull a $100 out of my purse and push it across the counter. “My treat.”
“Emmy,” Ian sighs.
“No arguments,” I cut him off, collecting my change and the three bright yellow wristbands. “You guys keep trying to pay for everything. I’m not helpless you know.”
“But…”
“No buts, you came out here to help me. The least I can do is pay our way in.” I tell them firmly.
“We surrender,” Jared says, throwing his hands in the air. I hand them each a wrist band, then go to put on mine. I fumble with the plastic band as I try to line up the snap with the hole that locks it in place.
“Here, let me help,” Ian offers, taking my hand. His soothing energy rolls over my skin and I give in, letting him have the bracelet. His long fingers make quick work of putting on the band and snapping the latch closed, before entwining with mine.
Jared gives me a wink, smoothing a few flyaway strands of hair back from his face. “Well I’m off, shoot me a text when you finish. Have fun with Uncle Frank.”
“Uncle Frank?” I question, glancing at Ian.
“We’ve always called him Uncle Frank,” he shrugs. “On those rare occasions when we’d see him when we were kids.”
“Ahh, that must have been nice,” I say, giving him a smile. I look back in the direction Jared headed off.
“See ya later, Ocean,” I call to his retreating back. He waves over his shoulder but doesn’t stop or turn back.
Ian tugs gently on my hand. “Come on Emmy; let's check out the Tunnel of Love.”
“Seriously?” I look up at him, blinking in surprise.
“Trust me, it will be fun.” he says, releasing my hand to wrap his arms around my shoulder. Ian pulls me closer and whispers in my ear. “Uncle Frank is going to meet us on the ride.”
“Say what?”
“I told you he’s a bit eccentric. Sorry about the cloak and dagger routine, he takes his privacy very seriously. Just act casual. We're a normal couple, here to enjoy the rides.”
“Umm, ok… “I let him lead me deeper into the carnival, past the midway of games. Barkers call out to us, trying to lure customers in to try their luck. I press closer, whispering, “Is there anything I should know before we meet him?”
“Well,” Ian starts slowly, running his free hand through his purple hair. “I suppose the most important thing to remember is that he's a very private person. So when we meet, no names. And don’t talk about the lawyer stuff or the estate. For him, this is a test. A meet and greet to see if he’ll accept you as a client. Any and all official paperwork will be handled securely afterwards.”
“If that’s the case, how do I convince him to help me?” I ask, nervously biting my lower lip.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure he will,” Ian says, giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
“How do you know?” I reply as he turns us to the left. Straight ahead is the Tunnel of Love ride. My mouth drops open as small boats float by in a man-made river. How did they even put something like this together? A boat stops near the entrance and an employee in a sharp yellow and orange uniform help the couple exit, then loads the next passengers. They float under the heart shaped arch that proudly announces that this is the Tunnel of Love in red neon letters, and into the dark tunnel.
“I just do,” Ian shrugs and gives me a shy smile. “It’s a feeling I have.” It takes me a minute to pull my thoughts back to remember what exactly we’d been talking about.
“Then I’ll trust your intuition.” I flash him a smile.
He guides me to the end of the line, his arm still firmly wrapped around my shoulder. I’d say this was the strangest meeting place ever, but I don’t really have a basis of comparison.
Five minutes later, we’re at the front of the line, and the dark haired employee beckons us forward after helping the last riders off the boat.
“Thanks,” I smile at him. He nods as he steps back, waving as the boat slowly starts to drift forward.
“Well he wasn’t creepy,” I whisper to Ian. He wraps his arms around my shoulder again and pulls me against close.
“Nope, not at all,” he whispers back. Our eyes meet, and we burst out laughing as the dark tunnel swallows us up.
The boat slowly floats down the river, surrounded by walls designed to imitate rough rock. Fog drifts over the water, creeping higher until it spills into the boat. Eventually the tunnel opens up on the left to show an eerie scene. Gas lamps illuminate what appears to be a cobblestone alleyway. The bloody body of a woman lies on the ground. A man kneels next to her, a scalpel glittering in his hand.
Wave of Truth (The Magic Catalyst Chronicles Book 4) Page 5
