Flirting With Magick (17 page)

“
So, do you guys think it’s true about Bron and Ray?” Pippa asked
the group, raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow as she re-pinned her
platinum hair where it had fallen out of her chignon.

“I’d doubt it,” replied Kevin, taking off his glasses and polishing
them with his tie. “Bron’s a gorgeous woman. Why on Earth would she
be interested in a podgy old bloke like Ray?” There was a suggestion of bitter jealousy in his voice.

Laura, a happily married forty something with a penchant for flirtin
g
with younger men whenever her husband wasn’t around, leaned ov
er
to Rachel and myself. “Did you see those two cuties that just walked in?
I wouldn’t kick either of them out of bed.”

Rachel and I both followed Laura's line of sight.

“Hmm, nice,” Rachel whispered sneaking a sideways look at Lachlan
to make sure he hadn’t heard. She looked relieved that he was de
eply immersed in conversation with Kevin.

Pippa tucked a non-existent lock of hair behind her ear in what
would have been a flirtatious gesture had the two men been watching
. “Yes, very nice,” she mused.

I recognised the two figures straight away. One of them was gesturing
to the back of the pub as if describing what to do with the space.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” I told the girls as I leapt out of my seat.

“Ooh,” I heard Pippa say as I headed to where the men were standing
at the other end of the pub. “She’s not going to talk to them, is she?”

I was enjoying the opportunity to leave them in shocked silence as
I tapped Luke on the shoulder, then gave him and Scott each a peck o
n the cheek, sneaking a glance at my open mouthed colleagues.

“What are you two doing here?” I asked them, my voice begin
ning to get the tell-tale nasally sound of one coming down with a cold.

“Silas has booked this place for a gig,” Scott answered, looking at
me quizzically. “We’ve just come to check it out. What are
you
doing here?”

“You guys get around, don’t you?” I smirked. “I work at the grey
building on the next corner. A group of us come here a couple of times
a week after work.” I looked back at the table. The women of the group
were all still gaping. I decided to put them out of their misery. “Co
me on over; I’ll introduce you.”

***

“So what do you do?” Pippa tried the hair flick again as she directed
her question at Scott. I bet she was wishing she had had left her hair
loose so she could have taken full advantage of it. Obviously her boyfriend
,
who was currently overseas on business, was the last thing on her mind.

“We play in a band,” Scott answered politely.

“Ooh really?” Trilled Laura. “Anyone we know?”

“Probably not, but hopefully you will soon,” Luke replied. “We’
re called
Reckless Choice
. We’re releasing an album later in the year.”

“How exciting,” Laura chirped, batting her eyelids at him. Luke,
accustomed to this kind of attention treated her with his sexiest smile
. “
So, Luke, is it? When will you be playing here? I’m sure we could get
a group from the office over to give you some support.”

I caught Scott’s eye across the table. My mind going to the previous
night when he pulled my hair during a rather strenuous romp. I twirled
a strand around my finger as he had done and yanked at it, giving h
im a conspiratory smile. He stifled a laugh as he tried to concentrate on what Pippa was saying.

Sean leaned over to me, eyeing me suspiciously. I could tell he had
just seen our private joke.

“How do you know these two?”

“Luke’s my cousin.” I explained; he didn’t need to know any more
than that.

“Oh.” He threw another look at Scott and waited until Pippa had finished chattering. “Where are you playing next?” he asked.

“PeaSeas, this weekend. Do you know where that is?”

“Yeah, I live not far from there.” Sean turned back to me. “Will
you be going?”

I nodded before a violent sneeze destroyed any further comment
.
I
sniffled and push the remainder of my drink away. “I probably should be
getting home.” I stood up and addressed the group. “See you tomorrow.”

“Abby.” Scott followed me out the door. “You alright?”

“
Yeah, I just need an early bedtime I think.” My voice was becoming
more absent by the minute. I was beginning to only be able to whisper
. “You must have worn me out last night.” I smiled.

“Will you be okay to drive?
Luke and I can take you
home if you like.”

“No, you stay here; keep Pippa and Laura entertained.” I cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Okay, as long as you’re sure. I hope you feel better soon.” He kissed
me on the forehead and went back to the table.

I left the pub and headed to my car, pretending I didn’t see Sean gazing at me through the window.

***

I awoke the following morning with a head full of cotton wool and
my limbs sore and tired. My scratchy throat now felt like I had swallowed
needles. I had also slept through my alarm and was due to be at work
in fifteen minutes. Sliding out of bed, I made a cup of tea in order to wait out the time until the office opened.

Rachel conscientiously answered the phone as soon as it turned
eight-thirty.

“Hi, Rach; it’s me, Abby.”

“Geez, you sound terrible. I take it you won’t be in today.”

“No. Could you please let Bronwyn know?”

“Sure. At least I know you don’t have a hangover. You left half your drink. Cold?”

I sniffled, “Well and truly; I feel shit.”

“Oh, you poor thing.” Her sympathy was short lived. “Those guys
last night were nice. You’ve mentioned them to me before, haven’t you?
”

“No, I don’t think—“

“Wednesday night guy!" She interrupted. “The long haired one. Scott, isn’t it? He's gorgeous.”

“Yes, that’s right. He called me the first time we were at the pub."

“Still not a boyfriend in training?”

“No,” I answered firmly.

“Well, good. Because you should have seen the look on Sean’s
face when he thought Scott was leaving with you last night.”

“What look? Scott was just making sure I’d be okay to drive hom
e. What’s it to him anyway?”

“He kind of looked... jealous? Suspicious? Um... concerned wou
ld be the best way to put it.”

“I’m sure... I’m a big girl,” I answered dryly, not taking her bait. She
really wasn’t going to let up with this one. “
What time did everyone
leave?”

“Lachie and I left not long after you, and your friends left at the
same time. Otherwise I couldn’t tell you. Sean is out of the office all day
,
and I haven’t seen anyone else yet, but it was fun. I think it’s going to
be a weekly regular for the office. Listen, Bronwyn’s just arrived. I’ll tell
her you’re sick. Hope you feel better soon and see you on Monday. Bye.”

She hung up before I could say any more.

I WAS THE FIRST TO ARRIVE
at the designated restaurant in the CBD
.
Dianne's wild red hair was conspicuous amongst the other customers
, despite her conventional blue suit, as she rushed in, ten minutes late. Dianne would be late for her own funeral.

“Hey, baby!“ she practically yelled, kissing my cheek then rubbin
g
it to remove her lipstick mark. “How are you?” I noticed a woman had
followed her in. “You remember Jemma, don't you? She used to be in
Troy's department at work.”

I smiled at the other woman. Beautiful, slim, and perpetually tanned
with perfectly highlighted, long coffee hair, Jemma had always kind of
intimidated me. Not that my insecurity around her was unfounded. She
was stunning. She also had a reputation for preferring men who were
already taken, so I had watched her like a paranoid hawk the couple of
times Josh had met her. She didn't give me any reason to worry thoug
h;
she had been friendly towards him but nowhere near predatory. Maybe
he wasn't her type. I knew it wasn't out of loyalty to me.

“Hi, Jemma. Nice to see you again.” I was pleasant. She smiled and
sat down, sneaking a look around at the restaurant under her pe
rfectly
curled lashes, probably to check out the male contingent. “Where’s Troy?”
I looked hopefully towards the entrance. “isn’t he coming?”

“He’ll be here in a minute,” Dianne replied. “How are you, anyway?”

“I’m sorry to hear about you and Josh.” Jemma pouted at me in wha
t I assumed was sympathy.

“That’s okay. I’m fine,” I said cheerfully.

“Wow, you sound so happy.” Di clapped her hands together,
"especially since our last phone call. So you’re finally over him?”

“Josh? God yeah.” I was glad I had ignored his phone message.

“That’s fantastic!” Dianne exclaimed, so loud that some of the
other diners turned to look. She lowered her voice. “Troy tells me he’s
coming back.”

“Yes, he is. He’ll be staying at my place for a bit.” Troy “Pottymouth
” Patterson appeared, all six foot three of him, black hair sticking up,
giving me a wide toothy smile, which quickly turned to a scowl wh
en
he saw Jemma seated at the table. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Oh I’m fine, thanks Troy,” Jemma answered, unmoved by his
rudeness. “I saw Di outside, and she invited me along.”

He took the seat next to me and kissed me on the cheek, ignoring Jemma’s answer. “Hey, Abs, long time no see.”

“I know,” I said apologetically.

“So it’s definitely off with him then?” Jemma continued the conversation
after we decided to do away with lunch and have coffee and cake instead.

“Oh, definitely.” I put a little too much conviction into it.

“He was a lovely guy.” Jemma went on, “And good-looking, too.”

“Jesus.” Troy glowered at her.

“Yes, he is, I guess.” I was surprised at her sudden interest in him
,
but even moreso at the tension between her and Troy. “Sometimes it’s
a different story when you go out with someone, though,” I added,
more as a reminder to myself than a warning to her. I threw Troy a
remorseful look. This was his best friend I was talking about.

 “Maybe I should call him.” Jemma stirred sugar into her tea. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Dianne and I exchanged glances, and she rolled her eyes at me.

“What the fuck, Jemma?” Troy burst out, shaking his head,
“Fucking hell...”

“No... I guess not.” I answered rigidly. I no longer had any claim to him, but was taken aback by her insensitivity.

“Or you can fuck off.” Troy gazed at Jemma with distaste, before focusing his attention on me, smiling encouragingly. “So Di tells me you’ve got a new guy?”

“It’s nothing serious; we’re just having some fun,” I answered,
still confused at the friction between Troy and Jemma. I would have to find out from Dianne what all that was about.

“Good for you. How do you know him?”

“He’s in my cousin’s band.”

“Cool. Anyone we know?”

“Have you heard of
Reckless Choice
?”

Troy thought for a few seconds then shook his head.

“Oh, I saw them play at PeaSeas the other night.” Jemma announced
, “I didn’t see you there.” She narrowed her eyes.

“I can’t get to every gig.” I said matter-of-factly. “I was getting over
a cold. Did you see Kate?”

“Oh, I said hello to her. She’s with the drummer, isn’t she?”

“Yes,
Nathan
,” I
answered
and took a breath, turning to Troy, “Anyway
—
“

“He was alright.” Jemma interrupted, and I took a frustrated sip of my coffee. “But not as cute as the one I got to take home.”

I nearly choked on my drink. “Oh?”
Please don't let it be Scott. He
wouldn't, would he? Surely not, but then again...Oh please, please don't let it
be Scott.
Troy must have sensed my alarm and squeezed my shoulder.

Dianne looked helplessly from Jemma to me. I could tell she was as afraid as I was of what Jemma would say next.

“Well, the one I took home wasn't really the one I wanted. He left
before I got to talk to him. But there's always next time.” She paused
for drama by delicately slicing into her cake, unaware that she was
killing me with the suspense—then again, perhaps not so unaware. I
wanted to ram the fork into her eye and shout, 'Which one did you
fuck, dammit?!'

She chewed slowly and swallowed, just as excruciatingly unhurried
. “I took the guitarist home, the blonde guy.”

I almost couldn’t contain my delight and relief. “Luke. That's my cousin. He's nice, isn't he? Wow, you would be great together.” Then
it dawned on me who would have left early. “So it was Daniel you liked
,
hey? He's got a girlfriend at the moment. She’s lovely,” I added, feeling
a surge of loyalty towards Stacy. “Sexy voice, don't you think?”