Wicked Magic (8 page)

When she felt Alex place a hand on her knee and squeeze, Chandler turned and looked over at her.

“Come on, my dear. Once we get situated in our room, I’ll take you to dinner. Afterward, we’ve been invited to one of the local art galleries. My friend Tore is showing some of his work tonight.”

“How do I need to dress?” Chandler worried she didn’t have the appropriate outfits to be seen out with Alex.

“For this showing, you’ll see everything, but dressy casual is fine. Tore isn’t much different than you. Lives in T-shirts and jeans as well, so you don’t have to worry about him being presumptuous. In fact, I think you’ll really like him and his work. He’s big into graphic art. A real computer whiz. I’d bet he even plays the computer games you design.”

“Good.”

“Besides, if anything we do requires a designer dress, I’ve already got it covered.”

“You must think I’m a real pain.”

“Absolutely,” Alex teased. “Now come on.”

* * * *

The French restaurant Alex took Chandler to was owned by a seasoned and well-known chef friend of hers. When Alex was recognized, she and Chandler were treated like celebrities. They were escorted to one of the restaurant’s best tables and were fed a delicious multi-course meal. Afterward, they headed to the art gallery showing Tore’s work.

Traffic was crazy, and the city was alive with an endless stream of energy. That was something Alex had missed since moving to Castleton. Not the crazy traffic, but its unique diversity and the nightlife.

Boston wasn’t far away from Castleton, but that city possessed a different flavor than New York City. Some would consider her snobby for her opinion, but she’d been raised here, and no matter where she ended up living, this place still felt like home to her.

As the town car weaved in and out of traffic, inching closer to their destination, Chandler talked non-stop about the evening. She was enthusiastic about the food at dinner and the people she’d met.

Alex smiled to herself as she allowed Chandler to dominate the conversation. For an introvert, she could be chatty when she wanted. Alex felt flattered. Chandler didn’t appear to give her trust to too many people, only those she seemed comfortable with.

Feeling the familiar buzz from her smart phone, Alex didn’t want to look at it. She suspected that it was Millie again. She left her phone in her pants pocket and ignored it. Focusing on Chandler, she tried not to let their evening out get spoiled.

When their car stopped in front of the gallery, Alex got the attention of the driver and said, “We’re probably going to be here a few hours. I’ll call you about twenty minutes before we think about leaving. Okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

After she and Chandler exited the car, they pushed past the crowd in front and entered the gallery. The sound of eclectic, alternative rock music played in the background. It managed to overshadow the chaotic noise of voices from the people gathered inside, by a decibel or two.

As they maneuvered through the room, Alex took in the artwork they passed by. The majority of it was abstract graphic design photography. The images varied from the familiar to the bizarre, with colors ranging from black and white to a dramatic burst of rainbow colors. She found them interesting, but not something she would put up on the walls in her house. The images represented Tore’s twisted view of the world, whereas in her work she preferred to seek out the beauty, no matter how insignificant the object.

“Do you see your friend?” Chandler asked.

“I think I saw him over in the back corner.” She indicated the far right side of the room by tipping her head in that direction. “Close to the bar. He’s not much for mingling with the public. He likes to have a certain amount of liquid courage when he has to deal with people he doesn’t know.”

“I don’t blame him there. Most people freak me out as well.”

“It’s all how you allow them to treat you.”

“Well, it’s easy when you’re someone like you.”

“I wasn’t born with confidence, my dear. I’ve had to work at it.”

“Nope, I don’t believe that. I bet even as a kid you didn’t take shit from anyone.”

“Too much competition in my family. So you’re right. I learned early.”

Alex felt her smart phone buzzing again. With the shoot tomorrow, she couldn’t assume that every call or text message was only from Millie Winters.

Allowing Chandler to walk ahead of her, Alex stopped and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She woke it up and scrolled through the latest messages. One was from Roger. Six were from Millie. Morbid curiosity compelled her to open the last message from Millie. Sucked into the world of her phone, Alex forgot where she was for a moment until she heard Chandler’s voice. Looking up, she found that she was once again at her side.

“Something wrong?”

Alex closed the screen and dropped her phone back into her pocket. “No, nothing.”

“Are you sure?” Chandler looked like she didn’t believe her.

“Yes.” It was a lie of course, but she didn’t want to worry Chandler about Millie. “Let’s get you a glass of champagne and introduce you to Tore.”

“Okay.”

It surprised Alex when Chandler reached over and took hold of her hand. It was the first time, in public, that Chandler had visibly acknowledged that they were more than just friends. To anyone else, it was a simple gesture, but Alex knew for Chandler it was a huge step forward.

Alex smiled and risked placing a chaste kiss on Chandler’s cheek. Her mood shifted when she noticed how Chandler’s face pinked in response to her kiss. Alex expected Chandler to release her hand afterward, but grinned when she felt Chandler interlace their fingers.

Alex woke up early the next morning, well before Chandler. All the voicemails and text messages Millie had sent were weighing heavy on her mind. They’d started before she and Chandler flew out of Boston. At one point, Alex was forced to change her phone setting to the silent/vibrate mode when the number of incoming messages began to border on the ridiculous. If she ever found out who gave Millie her new phone number, she was going to hurt them.

New York was a sizeable city, but Alex had anticipated that she would end up running into Millie at some point. Millie was an in-demand model and picked to participate in most of the local shoots. She’d be surprised if she wasn’t working the one this afternoon. The obsessive behavior was what was unexpected.

When Roger called for her help, Alex felt this would be a good opportunity to allow Chandler to not only meet her friends, but to get to know her better. A day of work, and the rest of the weekend was supposed to be spent having fun. It all became complicated because of Millie.

Watching Chandler as she slept next to her, Alex knew she needed to handle the Millie issue before things became out of hand. She didn’t want to involve Chandler unless there wasn’t any other choice.

She thought about calling Millie. She didn’t want to. What she wanted was a large coffee and a bagel, and a neutral place to sort through some things.

As quietly as she could, Alex slipped out of bed. She selected something to wear and headed into the bathroom so she could dress without disturbing Chandler. She had a few favorite places in the city to get coffee. Since she was only here a short time, she wanted to visit at least a couple of them before she headed back to Castleton. It would be a few more hours before Chandler woke up anyway. If she was quick, she could be back before she was missed.

With her smart phone in her hand, Alex left the suite and made her way to the closest elevator. Once she was in the lobby, she had the doorman flag down a cab for her.

After she instructed the driver where to take her, Alex switched on her phone to see how many messages she had from Millie. She read one and deleted the rest. Then she listened to her voicemail and was relieved to find only two were from Millie. She didn’t care how sorry Millie thought she was. She wanted her to leave her alone. By the time she arrived at her stop, Alex had thought of more than a dozen ways to take care of Millie, and none of them were pleasant.

Once the driver was paid, Alex got out of the cab and headed into the coffee shop/bakery. She ordered a large specialty blend coffee and a bagel with cream cheese, and then headed over to one of the empty tables by the door. She’d just taken a bite of her bagel when she was greeted with a most unpleasant surprise. Millie opened the door and stepped inside. Grinning like an idiot, she headed straight for Alex’s table.

“Shit!” Alex said under her breath. She set her bagel down on her napkin as she took a quick sip of her coffee.

Glaring at the woman, Alex watched as Millie pulled out a chair across from her and then sat down uninvited.

“Good morning, Alex. It’s so good to see you.”

“I wish I could say the same.”

“Now, don’t be like that.”

“Jesus, I didn’t think you’d take to stalking me.”

“You wouldn’t return any of my messages.”

“I have nothing more to say to you. I’ve moved on. I wish to hell you would.”

“Running away to some place in
bumfuck
nowhere isn’t moving on.”

“What do you want?” Alex asked, growing impatient.

“I want you to forgive me.”

“That’s never going to happen. We’re never getting back together. What will it take to get you to figure that out?”

“But I miss you,” Millie whined. “There’s no one like you.”

“You should have thought about that before you fucked Trisha.”

“I told you, I was drunk. It was a huge mistake.”

Alex looked at her like she was dimwitted. “I don’t give a shit. Don’t you understand? I don’t even think about you anymore.”

“I don’t believe you. You wouldn’t have left New York if that was true.”

“Believe whatever you want. It’s not going to change how things are.”

“Damn it, Alex. Why do you have to be so fucking stubborn?”

“Why do you have to be such a pain in my ass?”

“Say what you like, but I still love you, Alex. I always have.”

“You only love yourself. You’re pissed that you can’t have me anymore. Don’t even try to tell me otherwise.”

“That’s unfair.”

“Millie, you’re wasting your time and mine.” Alex stood. She grabbed her coffee and her bagel, intent on leaving. “And you’ve ruined my breakfast.”

Before Alex could move past her, Millie stood and grabbed Alex’s arm, nearly making her drop her bagel. Millie flinched when Alex tensed.

“Careful, my dear,” Alex threatened and narrowed her eyes. “You don’t want to provoke me any further than you already have. You’ll be sorry if you do.”

Millie let go of Alex’s arm and held up her hands in resignation.

Alex moved forward, and was about to open the door to leave when Millie said, “I’ll see you later.” Alex stopped but didn’t look at her. “You knew I was going to be at the shoot, didn’t you?”

Turning, Alex shot her a dirty look. Unaffected, Millie wore a smug smile.

Her appetite gone, Alex tossed her bagel into the trash and reached for the door. As she stepped out onto the sidewalk, she was careful to avoid the people walking by. She was pissed and needed to figure out how to let off some steam before she headed back to the hotel. She walked several blocks before she signaled for a cab. At least Millie had the good sense to not follow her.

* * * *

Chandler was eating breakfast when the door opened and Alex stepped inside the suite. She picked up the remote and muted the television.

“Where were you?” She sensed something was off with Alex. “I woke up and you were gone. I tried to call you and you didn’t answer.”

Alex seemed perplexed. She reached inside her pants pocket and took out her phone. After a quick glance at it, she looked Chandler in the eye. “I’m sorry. I must not have heard it. It was kind of noisy where I was at. I got up early and I didn’t want to disturb you, so I went out for coffee. It’s a shop I used to frequent when I lived here. I know I should have left you a message. I wasn’t thinking.”

Moving closer, Alex leaned down to give her a kiss. Chandler expected it to be brief, but it soon became apparent that Alex had other ideas. When she touched her tongue to Chandler’s lips, it didn’t take much coaxing to get her to deepen the kiss. Everything slipped away as she wished they could spend the day in bed.

As they pulled apart, Chandler said, “Well, I guess I’ll forgive you this time. Are you hungry?”

“Mm, famished.” Alex hummed.

Chandler gave a light slap to her hip. “I’m talking about food.”

“For that too.”

“Come on, you need more than coffee. Sit down and help me with my breakfast.”

Alex moved around the table and took a seat in the chair closest to Chandler. She reached over and poured herself a cup of coffee. “So, what do you have here?” She eyed her plate of food.

“Ham and cheese omelet, country potatoes, croissants, and fruit.”

Alex picked up a fork to cut a piece of Chandler’s omelet and took a taste.

“Mm, it’s good. But I think I’ll just have a croissant and some fruit. Sunday is the only day I like a large breakfast.”

“Well, I’ve always liked starting my day with a good breakfast. I tend to get more work done then.”

As Alex was reaching for a croissant, she cocked her head to the side and asked, “Are you sure that you want to come to the shoot with me today? You might have more fun exploring the city instead. Go to one of the museums, take a tour.”

“No, I want to come with you. I want to see you work.”

“I don’t know how exciting it will be for you.”

“I think it will be more fun hanging out with you than wandering around the city all by myself. I have been to New York before. Seen the museums, done a few of the tours.”

“I didn’t want you to feel like you had to come with me.”

“I’ve been looking forward to it all week.” She took a minute to study Alex. “Unless you don’t want me to come?” She wondered if something was wrong. Alex had been acting strange off and on since they’d arrived in New York. If there was, it didn’t appear as if she was going to admit it.

“No, I’d like you there.”

“Good.” Chandler felt relieved. “Besides, I’ll have my laptop with me if I get bored. Which I doubt will happen.”