Electric Blue (5 page)

"Yes, your highness." Poppy whispered. She felt like slamming Daphne's head into the nearest piece of glass. That wouldn't solve anything, but it would make her a hell of a lot happier.

She got out her duster and dusted the portraits and canvases. She ran her hand along the soap stone carving she loved and eyed her handiwork. The gallery looked beautiful in the morning light; too bad it had Dragon Lady in the background, she ruined perfection.

Poppy unlocked the door and sat behind the main desk, her new Maeve Binchy novel at the ready. She could hear Daphne behind her, gabbing on the telephone to artists and people with money. She wanted to hit Daphne over the head with the telephone until her ears rang. All this negativity wasn't good for her at all, she thought. She looked up from her book, Scarlet Feather when the bell rang. In walked Lucia, wearing a pretty lilac coloured dress and dainty black shoes. Poppy had never seen her looking so pretty.

"Hey beautiful," she said, "What’s the occasion?"

Lucia blushed. "I just felt like being pretty today." She smiled. "Besides, it was my first day at Alicia's store, so I figured I'd try to look my best."

Poppy recalled that Lucia was now working at Strange and Unusual. "How do you find it?"

"Not so bad. Not very magical though; just a lot of sorting and inventory. I like working with the customers though, that's fun."

"Well, I'm just glad that Alicia was able to hire you on."

"So was I. I haven't been doing so well . . . I'm just glad that the Goddess provided, you know?"

Poppy wondered what was troubling her. There were clouds behind Lucia's eyes, turbulent emotions. Poppy hoped that she would tell her what was bothering her in time. "What brings you in here?" she said to change the subject.

"Well, I'm looking for a little something. . .I. . .I recently moved into a new apartment and need to find something to brighten up the place. Alicia suggested that I talk to you, so I headed on over."

Poppy smiled. "I'm glad you came over. I can find you something nice, I'm sure." Lucia looked not a day over the age of nineteen.
It must be her first apartment
, she thought. "What were you looking for?"

"Something affordable." Lucia chuckled. "I won't get paid for a bit yet, so I don't have much, my parents. . .I don't have much," she said.

Poppy wondered what her parents had to do with her buying art, but Poppy let it slide. "We'll see what we can find. New apartment, huh? Maybe we could go out junk shopping or something, see if we can find something with character for your new place."

"The art in here has plenty of character," said a clipped, frozen voice behind Poppy. She turned to see Daphne glaring at her. "You should encourage patrons to purchase something from here, Poppy, not something from a second rate junk shop."

Lucia stared at Daphne as if she had been slapped. "Excuse me?"

Daphne fluttered her lashes. "Of course, I don't mean that junk shops are second rate, only that you will find high quality art here. What would interest you?" she asked, eyeing Lucia's wallet.

Lucia saw this and smiled. "Nothing here would interest me, thank you." She looked at Poppy. "I'll call you tonight; maybe you and Alicia could come over?"

"Sure," Poppy said, "that would be fine."

Lucia showed herself out and Poppy waited for the tirade to start. When it didn't, she turned to find Daphne staring at her with malice. There was ice in her eyes. Finally tired of her, Poppy sighed. "What's your problem?"

"I'm sorry?" Daphne said. Her tone of voice sounded as if she were offended that Poppy would speak to her in such a way.

"What's your problem?" Poppy repeated. "Ever since the show I did, you've treated me with nothing but disdain. What gives?"

"You really want to know why?" Daphne asked.

"Yes, yes, I'd really like to know why."

"I don't like your kind." Daphne said matter-of-factly.

"You don't like the fact that I'm a lesbian?"

"This has nothing to do with your sexuality. It has to do with what you are."

"And that would be?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you?!" Daphne yelled. The Dragon Lady was on fine form tonight. "You're a Witch!" she practically spat this at Poppy's feet.

"What?" Poppy could hardly believe she was hearing this.

"You heard me. You're a Witch. You think people don't talk around here?"

"What do you mean?"

"The rumours!" Daphne screamed at her. "Ever since you did that show, with your Goddess prints, I knew what you were, but since Valentine’s Day, don't you know what others are saying about you?"

Poppy tried to think about what had happened on that day, what had really happened. As per usual, her brain drew a convenient blank, a blackness that seeped around her thoughts and kept her from remembering. Sometimes she preferred it this way. She knew that what had happened in Jethro's house has changed her. But she didn't know how. She was too afraid to find out.

"You don't like me because I'm a Witch?" Poppy asked. She could not believe she was hearing this.

"It's not right, not natural." Daphne said.

"Neither are you." Poppy said, going to the desk and grabbing her book, bag and coat from behind the desk. She headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Daphne asked.

"I quit. Screw yourself." Poppy retorted.

"What?!" Daphne looked stricken. "What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to run the gallery on my own?"

"Figure that out yourself. I'm not going to stay and work for a nasty woman like you. I've stayed for too long. I need to get out of here."

"But what am I supposed to do?" Daphne whined.

"Stuff it. I'll pick up my last pay check next Friday." Poppy said, smiling. Still smiling, she headed out the door and into the sunshine.

* * * * *

"Well, it's about time," Alicia said. Poppy had gone straight to Strange and Unusual and poured her heart out to her lover. Lucia was in the back organizing zodiac calendars.

"You don't mind that I quit?" Poppy asked.

"Heavens, no! You've been working for Dragon Lady for far too long. Time to get back to what you do best."

"Sex?"

Alicia giggled. "Painting. You haven't painted anything in months. It's time you got back to work. You can use the attic as a studio. It's not being used anyway."

Poppy kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you too." She took out her purse from behind the front counter and handed Poppy her credit card. "Go shopping; enjoy the day. Go bug David; Goddess knows that he could stand to get away from that computer for a bit. I'll see you at home around dinner time. Be home for about eight, okay? I'm making dinner."

* * * * *

Poppy arrived home at ten to eight that night. She hadn't wanted to bother David, and
Orlando
was busy at Fortunes Galore, so she was content to wander and watch the world pass her by. She stopped for lunch at a café and read her book, luxuriating in the fact that she was not working on a weekday and that she was finally free. It felt wonderful.

When she got home, she called out Alicia's name. She went to the kitchen and found a note on the fridge:

Gone to the store to get some pesto. Back in ten. Go check out your new studio space! Love you, Alicia.

Poppy smiled to herself and climbed the steps to the attic on the fourth floor of the house. She could hear music coming from Moe's room as she climbed the stairs. Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue floated through the house, filling the hallways with music.

When she got to the door to the attic, she noticed a box on the floor. It was purple and she recognized it from the Spandoosh gallery. She opened it and nearly dropped it in the process. Inside was her statue, the woman on the cliff. Also inside was a note in Alicia's familiar scrawl.
For inspiration
, the note read. She smiled, felt that glow of happiness inside her and opened the attic door.

Chapter Eight

She's Gone

"What do you mean she's gone?"

The voice on the other end of the telephone was cold, crisp, even. It gave Daphne chills. Daphne McGowan was a person who wasn't easily scared. She could look at the dismemberment of small animals and not shed a tear. For her to be scared, it had to be big. Daphne was terrified.

"Well, there was a misunderstanding, you see. . ."

"No, I don't see," said the voice. "You were supposed to be watching her. What happened?"

"There. . .there was a misunderstanding. She quit."

"You were supposed to be nice to her, keep her where we could see her."

"Be NICE to her?" Daphne shuddered. "I couldn't do that, not knowing what she was, what she's capable of."

"This has to do with more than Witchcraft. I told you this. You know this."

"Yes."

"Then how could you let her go? You are a worse thing than she is; a reject of mythology. How could you judge her?"

"If I had stopped her, it would have been suspicious. Besides, I could tell that she didn't want to work here."

"And whose fault is that, McGowan?" The voice was ice itself.

"Mine," Daphne said.

"That's right. You've displeased me, McGowan. I don't like being displeased."

"Oh, please!" she begged. "Please, master, please, give me another chance. Let me prove myself to you."

There was silence on the other end of the line for a bit. Then the voice spoke. "Fine. You amuse me. Do not disappoint me this time."

"What would you have me do?"

"Observe her. That shouldn't be too hard for you, should it, Daphne?"

The fact that the voice had chosen to use her first name let her know how much trouble she was in. "Yes, master."

"Good. You will hear from me." There was a click and the voice, the ice, was gone.

* * * * *

"So how are you liking it so far?"

Lucia turned to see Alicia approaching from the back office. Her hair was a mess and there was dust on her light pink blouse. "What happened to you?" she asked.

Alicia sighed. "Finishing up unpacking some statues. Who knew that running a business would be so messy?" she laughed. "It's nothing a shower and a good meal won't cure."

"That reminds me, Poppy called. She's ordering in Chinese."

"That woman is a goddess."

"I'll say." Lucia finished her till. She had been pulled out of the back room to run the store while Alicia and Orlando finished unpacking.
Orlando
had since gone home to David and it was half an hour past closing time. She wanted to go home herself, even if it was just an empty apartment. Her cat, Snowball, was waiting for her. She was putting quarters into a cloth bag to take downstairs to the safe when she remembered something.

"When were you going to tell me about the locked room?"

Alicia gave her an odd look. "Locked room? Where?"

"In the basement. I noticed it when I was in there getting more money for the till today."

"There's nothing in that basement but space for storage, the safe and a cabinet for storing delicate items. It's just a big open room. There's no locked room."

"Well, there's a locked door to something. It's behind the stairs, a big rust-coloured door, all covered with locks."

"What?" Alicia said. "No there's not. No, I would have seen that."

"C'mon, I'll go show you," Lucia said.

Sure enough, when they got downstairs to the basement, there was a big rust-coloured door, covered in padlocks. The door seemed to hum in the partial darkness of the basement.
             
   "Well, I'll be damned," Alicia said.

* * * * *

They both stared at the door for a few moments. The basement was dark and they wanted to be anywhere but down below, in front of a magical door that appeared from nowhere.

"Where do you suppose it came from?" Lucia asked.

"I don't know, but I don't like it. I'm going to open it," Alicia said.

"What do you mean? It's locked from here to sundry. You couldn't get through there if you tried."

"We've got to try. I have a locked room in my basement that shouldn't exist. There's gotta be something I can do."

Alicia reached forward. Apparently she was meant to open the door, because once her fingers touched the chain holding the locks together, it fell away, falling from the door softly like cloth. It fell to the floor like a serpent. Lucia watched the chain and locks pool at the floor with wide open eyes.

"How did you do that?" she whispered.

"I don't know." She sighed. "I have no idea." She reached forward again, the rust red door glaring back at her in the darkness. With a shaking hand, she tried the knob. It turned.