by Justine Dee
Chapter Two
Gwyn tapped her fingers against the keyboard, not hard enough for anything to be entered on the screen but just because she knew she should be working. She was bored and tapping her fingers at least gave the illusion she was working.
She was not bored because of a lack of work; with Logan away, she had more than enough work to keep her busy.
She always did.
It was simply that none of it held the slightest bit of interest for her and she just wanted to be gone from her office, from work, from the city. She had images of sitting in the forest somewhere with tall ancient trees all around her. She could imagine a stream nearby swirling down around boulders and low hanging branches. The image was distracting in its power and peacefulness but she would rather be there. She would rather be most places than here right now, well most places in nature.
Her mind kept turning to Lance. She had not been able to get him out of her head since she had returned from visiting her father’s resting site and seeing Myrddin. She had managed to get herself to a good point prior to that trip, the point where she missed Lance but that missing him did not consume her, but now, now the thoughts were threatening to overwhelm her again. The truth of the matter was she was hurting about the fact that he could see her again but he had chosen not to.
“Gwyn?”
Hearing her name she looked up from her screen to see Izzy standing by her desk. Gwyn had not even heard Izzy come in, she had been so lost in her thoughts.
“What’s going on? You look like someone just gutted your cat.”
Izzy was always colourful in her language. Gwyn watched Izzy as she pushed the paperwork to one edge of the desk and sat herself down. Izzy turned to face Gwyn, running her fingers around the wedding band that Roen had put there just a few days earlier, eloping while Gwyn had been with Myrddin.
“Come on, spill it, sunshine.”
Gwyn sighed.
“I’m sorry, it’s nothing like that. I’m just thinking about my ex and having an insane desire to run away into the woods.”
“So do it,” Izzy replied. “Logan has.”
“This isn’t going to do itself.” Gwyn retorted, waving a hand over her desk.
“The company isn’t going to fall apart because you took off for the rest of the day, Gwyn. And if it does, well, tough titties.” Izzy smiled at her. “Or you can tell me about this ex of yours, if you prefer. I love a good story and I know some people who could creatively dispose of him.”
“Izzy, no!”
Gwyn was not sure if Izzy was serious or not, especially given the stories that Gwyn had heard about this woman.
“It’s not like that. He broke my heart, but with good reason. I broke his first.”
“And you want him back?”
“Yes, no...I don’t know. He doesn’t want me back so it doesn’t matter.”
“Oh.” There was a whole heap of extra emphasis when Izzy said the single word, understanding the key emotion she conveyed in the syllable.
“He’s getting married isn’t he?”
“No.” Gwyn shook her head, that might be better or worse, no worse, most definitely worse.
“He just doesn’t want me back.”
“Am I interrupting you dear ladies and your girly gossip?”
Gwyn looked up and saw Myrddin in the doorway. She was surprised at his sudden appearance and, yet, somehow not surprised at all.
“Is that him?” Izzy whispered to Gwyn before sliding off the desk to turn and face the newcomer.
Gwyn shook her head to say no.
“Well then, hello handsome.”
“Down girl, you’re married,” Myrddin laughed, sizing her up just as intensely.
Gwyn smiled and rolled her eyes, it was like watching hyenas circling each other on a wildlife documentary.
“Oh I like him,” Izzy grinned. “So if you’re not the evil ex, I don’t get to stab you. But I would still like an introduction.”
“Stab me?” Myrddin raised an eyebrow.
Gwyn just remained silent; she wasn’t getting a word in on this conversation anytime soon and she knew it.
“Honey, you can try and stab me if it’ll make you happy but I’m a slippery bugger. And I’m her brother, name’s Myrddin.”
“Oh very Celtic. What did your parents have an Arthurian obsession or something?”
“You know your mythology. I like her.” Myrddin winked over at Gwyn who just rolled her eyes again.
These two would be perfectly suited for a fabulous kind of friendship that would provide countless hours of entertainment for all watching. Gwyn wondered if they had already had one in another life. Something told her that they had, though she could not remember anything. It was just instinct that told her this was not the first time these two had interacted. Then she remembered that Myrddin had already said her path had crossed Izzy and Logan’s before so it made sense that his had too.
“I’m very likeable, lickable too.” Izzy grinned and winked gratuitously in Myrddin’s direction earning a chuckle.
“And how quickly would I lose my tongue via your husband Roen if I were to lick you.”
“Potentially very quickly,” Izzy laughed. “But it might be fun to find out.”
“Being around you sounds dangerous.” Myrddin moved in on Izzy pinning her against Gwyn’s desk.
Gwyn closed her eyes with a quiet groan. She was sixteen again and waiting for the ground to open up and swallow her. What was it about family that delighted in embarrassing each other to death?
“Please don’t start going at it on my desk.”
Both Izzy and Myrddin laughed tilting their heads to look at her almost as if they were choreographed.
“You know me better than that, Gwyn,” Myrddin said and licked Izzy’s cheek, backing off with a laugh.
“Oh I know you very well, Myrddin, and it would not surprise me at all,” Gwyn replied, sighing dramatically before she continued. “Why are you here, other than to provide a floor show with my boss?”
“Well of course I wanted to meet the infamous Izzy again.” He grinned and mocked a bow toward Izzy who did a crooked curtsey by way of a reply.
“Wait, again? I hate to break your heart sunshine but if we’ve met before I’ve forgotten.”
“Death will do that sweetheart.” Myrddin laughed and crossed to the couch by the wall. He sat down.
“Death?” Izzy looked startled.
“He means you knew him in a past life,” Gwyn explained.
Gwyn leaned back in her chair. Time to freak out the boss it seemed. But she was not going to be the one telling the story if Myrddin had charmingly decided that he had to come and burst Gwyn’s easy little world.
“I wonder which one,” Izzy replied.
Gwyn nearly fell off her chair. Izzy believed? She did not question it? Really Gwyn should have known better, Izzy and Logan had both spent time in India and Tibet and various other locations on something of a more spiritual pilgrimage. That Izzy should believe in reincarnation should not surprise her at all. However she was so used to the normal mortal mind that failed to grasp such concepts that when someone believed and without any convincing, it surprised her.
“You know some of them?” Myrddin leaned forward, a more serious look on his face.
“I have not spent as much time as my brother with shamans, mystics, yogis, priests and other spiritual people but I have spent enough that past life regeneration is a normal term in my vocabulary.” Izzy replied eyeing Myrddin a little warily. “Why?”
“There is coming a time when it might be best for you to know those lives.” Myrddin replied and then his body language changed.
The tension slipped away, the philosopher was gone again in place of the clown. There was clearly a reason he was born under the astrological sign of Sagittarius in Gwyn’s opinion.
“And the other reason you are here?” Gwyn asked before Izzy could reply.
She was not ready to have this talk yet. She wanted
Logan here for it too but he was on his trip in the middle of the forest and did not want to be disturbed except in the case of fire, murder or arrest. He had looked at Izzy when he had said that at the time. Logan did not even know yet that his sister had run off and eloped while he had been gone. Gwyn thought it was all pretty romantic really. She frowned as the thought led her to Lance and the fact that she was most likely never going to be getting married, traditional or not.
“I wanted to invite you out to dinner with us.”
“Us?” Gwyn could feel her chest constricting and he had not even hinted anything about who else was with him. It could be a lot of people but somehow she knew.
“The big black bear and his foster brother are with me.”
He said it so weirdly that she wanted to fly across the desk and hit that smile off his face. He was toying with her and he was enjoying it. As if she would not know who the big black bear was, or his foster brother. Adrian and Lance were with him; her exes. Her exes were in town and Myrddin wanted to take them all out to dinner. Or was it he just wanted their reunion to be in front of witnesses to try and prevent bloodshed and drama?
“And they are code for? Or is this above my security clearance, double O hotness?” Izzy was making light of it but Gwyn could tell she was not just asking to be silly or anything, she was trying to assess the situation. Gwyn smiled; it was nice that Izzy had her back.
“The big black bear is Adrian, my ex-boyfriend, and Lance, his foster brother, is my ex-fiancé.” Gwyn replied in a quiet voice.
“You some kind of sadist, sunshine?” Izzy frowned at Myrddin.
Gwyn could see Izzy’s fingers on her thigh, Gwyn knew that Izzy’s knives were always there and it was kind of nice that Izzy was being protective of her, unnecessary but nice. She watched as Izzy stroked at her thigh and waited for a reply.
“Not at all, sweetheart, but they have to get this over with. There are bigger things ahead.” He looked from Gwyn to Izzy and back again, no sign of the clown now. “They need to make peace; for all of our sakes.”