Seventh Mark (Part 1 +2) (22 page)

After blow
drying and straightening my hair, I added eye shadow and mascara.
Leaning toward the mirror, I paused and sniffed.
Bacon
.

Grabbing the
spare jeans and top I kept in the towel cupboard, I dressed and
peered around the door.

Michael’s lean
back and tight butt caught my attention. He stood scooping
scrambled eggs onto a plate already heaped with bacon. He turned
around, his shirt read: KISS THE COOK.

With a quirky
smile, he looked up and sang, “Happy Birthday.”

I stepped out
of the door and leaned against the wall.

Michael’s eyes
widened. “You. Are. Gorgeous.”

Suddenly it
seemed like today was going to be the best day of my entire life.
Whatever doubts I had when I woke now seemed silly and trivial. “Do
I get to Kiss the Cook?”

“I hope so.” He
walked over and kissed me with the softest lips in the world. He
stopped before barely getting started. Taking my hand he set me on
a bar stool.

“Did you make
breakfast?” It smelled good, but Grace’s warning on his cooking had
me doubting.

“Of course! And
not just any breakfast – bacon, sausage, eggs and toast!”

“Awesome!” I
picked up a fork, eying the more black than brown toast.

He brought the
plate over and set salt and pepper on the counter. Leaning onto his
elbows across from me, he waited.

I pushed the
first bite into my mouth and nodded. It actually tasted alright.
Maybe just a touch of pepper.
I dug in. No one had made me
breakfast before and I wasn’t about to ruin it. “What time did you
finish last night?” I asked between mouthfuls.

“Just before
dawn. I went to the corner shop to pick up this.” He pointed at the
food. “Do you want to open your present now?”

“You didn’t!”
Oh but you did!!
I was dying to know what he bought.

“Of course I
did. So did Grace, Sarah… and Caleb.”

My mouth
dropped in surprise.

“Who’s do you
want to open first?” Michael asked.

“I don’t know.”
I glanced around the room, trying to find gift wrapping. “Shouldn’t
we wait for the others?”

“Nah.” He
grinned. “Grace insisted you open them on your own. She didn’t want
you to feel overwhelmed by everyone staring.” He tapped his temple
and playfully rolled his eyes. “Pick a name.”

“Ummm… I don’t
know.” I ran my fingers through my straightened hair. “Wait. Save
yours for last. Surprise me with the rest.”

He walked to
the sink and opened the cupboard below. He pulled out a large
rectangular box with a bag of black liquorice. “Grace’s.”

I started to
carefully peel away the tape then gave up and ripped it open. A
large bottle of perfume.
Eternity
. “I'm going to pour this
over her head.” I tried to sound mad, but couldn’t hold back the
laughter.

Michael handed
me a small delicate looking box.

“This from
Sarah?”

Michael shook
his head. “Her gift is at the house.”

“You?”

“Caleb.”

“Oh.” Expecting
a piece of jewelry, I lifted the lid and blinked. Inside laid a
little radio, or some kind of iPod. Eyebrows raised, I turned to
Michael.

He grinned.
“Caleb thought you’d need a recording device to use while reading
the Grollic book or if you had a thought or anything that might be
of use. It records and you can hit the little orange button on the
side and it’ll transcribe your voice into an email that goes
straight to your emails address—”

“And Caleb’s?”
I couldn’t believe I’d thought it was a radio or some kind of
iPod.

“Yeah.” He
laughed, shaking his head. “He tends to be the impractical
one.”

I tossed it
onto the bed. “I’ll be sure and record a thank-you on it for
him.”

“Sarah also got
you this.” He handed me another small box.

“I thought you
said her gift was at the house.”

“It is…Open,
and you’ll see.”

I unwrapped.
A key.
For a car
.
“I can’t accept this.”

He held his
hands up. “Then you tell Sarah you don’t want it. I’m not.”

Curiosity got
the better of me. “What kind of car is it?”

“A surprise.”
He smirked. “Want to go find out?”

“It’s too
much.” My mouth said the words but I was dying to find out what it
looked like.

“Rouge, you
plan on going to go to university next year. You’ll need something
to get back and forth.” He must’ve misunderstood the look on my
face because he snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s
a bloody lease. You can buy it out if you want to after the three
years are up.”

“Yeah, but…” I
didn’t know what to argue or say.

“You wanted
eighteen to be big. Well, it is.” He checked his watch. “Is it okay
if I give you my gift later? When I get back from the meeting?” His
face gave nothing away.

“Sure.”
Is
he… No…Maybe?
“Will it be just the two of us, uh, here?”

“I plan on it,”
he whispered huskily, leaning forward and kissed me on the lips. I
closed my eyes to enjoy the moment. When no kiss came, I opened one
eye to peek at what he was doing.

He stood his
head shaking and looking annoyed. “Fine. Grace is wondering if
we’re coming over to the house. She wants to know if you like her
gift.”

“Is she a
little persistent when you don’t answer right away?”

“It’s like she
keeps knocking on the door. The door inside my head.”

“Let’s go. I
don’t want you ending up with a headache. It’s nearly one o’clock.”
Michael would need to leave with Caleb and Seth shortly.

I stood and
held out my hand. His warm fingers slid into mine as he kissed me
on the mouth. This kiss was different; more passionate and wild.
Whatever he felt made me want to hold him tight and not let go.
Tempted to suggest we head across the room instead of out the door,
I pressed closer. However, as impulsive as the kiss had started, he
quickly pulled back.

“Sorry… gone
all night, and now having to leave you this afternoon, I feel like
I am going through a bit of Rouge-withdrawal.” He lightly traced
the tip of my nose with his finger.

“I don’t mind
the needy kisses.” I giggled. One of those girlie laughs I’d made
fun of all my life. I did one of those. “I'm happy to help take
that feeling away.”

He groaned and
pulled me into a tight hug. “You’re going to drive me crazy. You
already do and it can only get worse! A wonderful, intoxicating
worse.”

“Well, if I’m
the worst thing that’s ever happened to you…”

“Come on.” He
scooped me up. “Or I’ll never make this Higher Coven meeting I
already don’t want to go to.”

Michael held
his hand out to let me step through the sliding doors first. A
pyramid of birthday cupcakes sat on the counter. Flames danced on
the number candles – a one and an eight. Chocolate and vanilla
cupcakes piled three high, each covered in whip cream and sparkles.
Even though it was nothing big, it made my throat constrict. No one
had ever bought, let alone baked me a cake. Not even Sally in the
three years I’d live with them.
Uggh, after what she’d pulled
why would I even think of her?

Sarah and Grace
stood behind the counter, looking like a couple of kids who
couldn’t wait to blow the candles out themselves. I smiled at their
excitement.
Maybe this is kinda overdue for all of us.

My heart
melted.
How had I gotten so lucky?
I nearly stumbled as I
realized how much I cared for all of them, not just Michael.
Nothing in my life had led me to believe life should be like this.
Yet, this all seemed… exactly right.

“Come blow out
your candles!” Grace sounded like an excited six year old.

The kid inside
of me ran over to the cupcakes, determined to blow them out before
they did. I could forgive Grace’s bottle of perfume – for now. I
pulled my hair back and blew lightly, paranoid I might let spittle
escape at the same time.

“Happy birthday
to you!” Grace and Sarah sang and clapped together.

My cheeks ached
from all my smiling.

“Did you open
up all your presents?” Grace asked, blinking and trying to look all
doe-eyed.

“Almost.”
Michael leaned over and grabbed a cupcake. “I’m going to make her
wait till I get back from the meeting.”

Sarah walked
around the counter and grabbed my hand. “Let’s go see what’s in the
driveway.” She started pulling me toward the living room and front
door.

I managed to
grab an icing-loaded cupcake. “I…You…It’s too much.”

“Nonsense! If
you're going to be staying with us, you'll need a vehicle to get to
school, hit the mall or wherever.” She paused at the door, one hand
on the knob. “Ready? You go first.” She swung the door open, her
eyes darting outside, to me, then outside again and back to me.

My jaw dropped.
Beside Michael’s mustang was a black Jeep. I didn’t know what to
say. How did one respond to the coolest, unbelievably expensive,
awesome-ist thing in the entire world?

Sarah grabbed
my hand again and pulled me towards the Jeep. “I thought about what
you’d need. You're not like us. If you get stuck you’ll need
four-wheel drive to get out. I wanted something for you to feel
safe in…and fun at the same time.”

“It’s amazing…”
Tears welled in my eyes, but I blinked them back. Girls who drive
Jeeps don’t cry.

“You like
it?”

“I love it!” I
ran my hand over the cold side and shivered. I needed a coat and
also some mittens. “I can’t wait to take it for a drive.”

“Let’s go now!”
Michael walked around to the passenger side.

“Michael,”
Sarah spoke quiet, but with firmness I hadn’t heard before. “You
need to see Caleb. You’re already running late.”

“I didn’t
forget.” He stared at Sarah with an unreadable face, and then
turned to me, his brows popping up. “Let’s get you inside.” He was
at my side and put his arm across my shoulder, pulling me tight.
“It’s too cold for you.”

I hadn’t even
realized my teeth were chattering, or I’d been shaking, till I felt
the warmth he offered. Inside, I stood by the gas fireplace and
held out my hands. Glancing around, I asked, “Where’s Seth?”

Grace dropped
onto the couch, licking icing off her fingers. “He left early this
morning to set up for the meeting and check in with his understudy.
He did say to tell you Happy Birthday. He offered to let me give
you a kiss from him, and asked me to videotape it. Pretty as you
are, I still refuse.”

“Totally fine
with me.” I laughed.

Michael
stiffened, his eyes darting to Caleb’s office door.

A sinking
feeling filled my stomach and I stared down at my half-eaten
cupcake. “Time to head out?”

“Shortly,”
Michael checked his watch. “Caleb needs to be there before everyone
else. It’s expected.”

“How long will
you be?”

“Don’t really
know, to be honest.” Michael reached over and rubbed my cheek with
his thumb. “Maybe a few hours. We need to come to a decision on how
to handle the situation here.”

“Of course.” I
nodded, but didn’t get it. If Caleb, the highest and probably
smartest dude in the group, and Michael, couldn’t decide how to
solve the problem how would anyone else?

Caleb strode
out of the office, briefcase in hand. “Michael, let’s go. The
plane’s ready, and I need to stop by the office downtown before we
leave.”

Michael nodded.
“I’ll meet you by the car in a few minutes.”

Caleb grunted
and continued to the front door.

It was hard to
not stare. Caleb walked so regal and his entire being embodied
strength. If the dictionary had pictures, his would be beside the
world power.

Michael pulled
me into a tight embrace. “Sorry to leave. I’d rather spend the day
with you.”

I didn’t mind,
we’d be hanging out later tonight. “However, duty calls,” I
joked.

Michael mock
saluted in Caleb’s direction. “I feel bad—”

“I’ll be fine.
Go, before you tick Caleb off.”

He hugged me
again and kissed the top of my head. He then put his hand on my
chin and lifted my face toward his. He leaned forward, his lips
tenderly touching mine.

“Happy
eighteenth birthday, little Rouge Riding. I promise to give you my
present as soon as I’m back.”

“I can’t wait.”
My mind raced with ideas.
Maybe I’ll cook dinner for us.
“Wait. Did Caleb say he had a plane?”

“A small one
here in town. And a little private airstrip.” Michael grinned.

He definitely
was royalty. The guy probably had an Air Force One plane. “Where’s
the meeting?”

“On the East
Coast.”

“I love you.
Hurry home.” I blushed, the words out before I could stop them.

He smiled, big
and goofy. “Love you, too. Stay safe.” He slowly let go of me and
headed towards the front door.

His walk’s
similar to Caleb’s
. Funny, I’d never noticed. I gave him a
small wave from the window and watched the car disappear down the
drive. I stood there long after they had gone, my eyes travelling
around the front yard. Then I had one of those thoughts that you
wish you could take it away the moment it enters your mind.
What
if this is the last time I see him?

I shook my
head, trying to erase the silly notion. But once those stupid
thoughts were in, you couldn’t get them out. I needed a
distraction. My eyes settled straight in front of me.
Jeep.

I could shop
and make dinner for tonight.

“Grace, I’ll be
fine
.” I rolled my eyes as she followed inches behind me to
the Jeep. “It’s groceries. I won’t be long.”

“I trust you.
Please don’t think I don’t. I just know what Michael’s going to say
when he finds out I let you go off on your own.”