Missing the Present

by Viola Grace

  * * * *

  “Puck! Bring her back!” Voronwe shouted it across the realms.

  Puck appeared in the home of the winter king. “Yes, Your Highness?”

  “Where is Ellora?”

  “She has resumed her life. She was a little dizzy, but she is back in the moment that I removed her from. As we agreed.” Puck remained out of reach.

  “I want her back!”

  Puck chuckled. “She does not belong here. Without you at her side for five minutes, the castle itself would freeze her to death. Humans are delicate.”

  Voronwe blinked. “It has been so long that I had forgotten.”

  “It has been centuries in the human world and thousands of years here. You have been alone a long time, Your Highness.”

  “Why did you have to take her then?”

  Puck cleared his throat. “That was your doing. You said one more time. When the time was up, she came back to my shop.”

  The winter king plunged the temperature down, and Puck started shivering. “You can freeze me if you like, but it was the truth. She was never yours to keep. She told you as much.”

  “You were listening?” His voice was a low whisper. A cold wind blew through the castle.

  “I listened to her demands and your responses, and the same in reverse. What have you learned about modern human women?”

  Voronwe paused. “What?”

  “That was the point of this. It wasn’t just to find you a lover. You could have sculpted one out of the snow if you just wanted a body.” Puck sat cross-legged four feet in the air. “So, what did we learn?”

  The winter king struck him with a snowball, but he growled. “Things are more complicated. They are responsible for themselves, so there is no family to bribe. They are educated, and there is something called the internet that allows them access to information at will. The women work for a living in mixed-sex environments and live on their own without extended family sharing the same space. They choose their companions and lovers, and don’t depend on introductions from family.”

  Puck nodded. “Very good. Now, do you want your lover back?”

  The winter king was silent for a moment and then, “Yes.”

  Puck smiled. “Good. Now, the first thing you need to learn is how to use a computer. I can have a tutor here in three minutes. If you are going to be educated in the modern era, you should get dressed. Humans don’t run around naked.”

  The winter king summoned his clothing, and true to his word, Puck sent a troll to teach him how to use a computer and the fine art of modern laws.

  When he had learned how to type, he sent the search for Ellora and was stunned at how many there were.

  Ickhart, the troll, nodded toward the screen. “Do you know any of her information? What she does, where she works?”

  He frowned. “She is a quilter who works at a publishing house as a secretary.”

  The troll nodded. “Add those words to the search.”

  Time ticked, and then, the image of Ellora standing next to a quilt at a show, her standing on a stage behind the publishing house president, and a strange link that made him frown. “What is this?”

  “Social media. You can link to her and communicate directly. Puck says that she might not remember you, so you may want to wait on that until you are in the human world.”

  The winter king sighed and kept looking for signs of Ellora. At least he had her family name now. Riskin. Ellora Riskin. Where did he know that name from?

  Chapter Five

  Ellora was still wondering why she had nearly passed out in the antiques shop. She had an appointment with her doctor in a week, but he was on holiday, and the other practice doctors were jammed up with the cold and flu season.

  It had been two weeks since she had been to the shop, and now, she was back at work answering the few calls that were trickling in and organizing schedules for the editors who were working remotely.

  She reached for her Frappuccino and slurped it then set it down.

  “Elly, you are looking a little different this year. It seems like the change in calendar is agreeing with you.” The company president leaned on her desk.

  “Hi, Anthony. I guess that everybody makes shifts, and I have just started one.”

  “Yeah, but frozen drinks in January?”

  She chuckled and kept her eyes on her monitor. “That was my change. Shortly after Christmas, I started craving ice and frozen drinks.”

  He chuckled. “Are you pregnant?”

  She snorted. “Uh, no. I haven’t completed the appropriate rituals for that. I have always been a fan of winter; I guess it just soaked in.”

  Her desk was covered in snowflakes, and when she looked at some of them, she felt unaccountably sad.

  “So, what is my schedule looking like today?” Anthony chuckled.

  “It is looking like I am doing the job of an admin as well as a receptionist. When are you going to hire someone or give me a giant raise?” She sucked on her straw again and looked at him through her lashes.

  He blinked and smiled. “That is the Elly that I was looking for.”

  “Uh-huh. You have a new author coming in today. He’s writing fantasy romance, weirdly enough. You are discussing audiobooks and sourcing a narrator for it.”

  “Right. We are going to plaster the internet with his debut work. We are trying to get him to agree to some voices, and since he is local, he agreed to come in so we could talk.”

  Elly chuckled. “An author who wants an in-person meeting. You have found a unicorn.”

  He laughed and headed to his office. “Let me know when he gets here.”

  “I always do, Anthony.”

  He closed his office door, and she continued to do her job. It was about a half-hour later before she heard the elevator ding. Elly looked up and fixed a polite smile on her face.

  The man who came around the corner looked surprised to see her. “Oh, I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

  She chuckled. “I get that a lot. You have an appointment with Mr. Witherstone?”

  He nodded. “I do. My name is V.R. Winter.” His voice growled across her desk in the most pleasant way.

  She took in the white hair and bright blue eyes in his pale face. He looked like a fantasy romance writer. Hell, he looked like a cover model. It seemed his hair was braided back, but he wasn’t effeminate.

  “You can call me Elly. I will be directing you around when you come in and making sure that you and your editor don’t lose touch.” She slurped the frappe one more time and got up to bring him to the president’s office.

  He murmured behind her. “You like snowflakes.”

  She smiled. “I do. I have always been more a fan of winter than any other season. I feel like myself when it’s cold.”

  He chuckled. “It is good to know.”

  She paused and turned to him. “Do I know you? You seem very familiar.”

  “I can guarantee that if we had met properly, you would remember.” He reached for her hand and bent over it, pressing her skin to his cool forehead.

  She swallowed and walked to Anthony’s office, knocking and then opening the door. “The new author is here, Anthony.”

  “Great. Can you sit in and take notes?”

  Elly nodded. “Sure. Let me get my stuff.” She squeezed past Mr. Winter and went back to her desk, forwarding the phones to the editors’ admin.

  She grabbed a notebook and a pen, returning to the president’s office and settling in the corner. They were shaking hands and talking happily about the cover art, the editor, and finally, they got to the audiobook details.

  “None of the voices you have sent to me are appropriate. I am looking for a female with a medium tone and a knowledge of sarcasm. She has to be able to pitch and roll her tone with the emotion in the story.”

  Elly sat and made notes about the details of the negotiation. She was scribbling away when she noticed that the room wa
s silent. She looked up, and both of them were looking at her. She read her notes, and the last phrase said, We can always ask Elly. She has read audio before.

  “Yes?”

  Mr. Winter smiled. “Yes? So, you will read it?”

  She nodded. “I can read a sample, and you can listen if you like it. My reading voice might not be as even as my speaking voice.”

  He smiled. “I am willing to take the risk.”

  Anthony looked between them. “You two just met, right?”

  Mr. Winter inclined his head. “Yes.”

  “Huh. Weird. Elly doesn’t relax around many people, but her knuckles aren’t even white.”

  She turned back to her notes. “Shut up, Anthony.”

  The men laughed, and when she flicked a look at Mr. Winter, he was looking at her with a soft smile on his lips. She exhaled softly and looked back to her notes. She flicked a glance at the author. “Mr. Winter, are you going to remain while I do the sample audio recordings, or did you want me to just email you the files?” Some authors liked to listen while others were mortified.

  “I would like to listen. I have an audio studio at my home, but I understand if you don’t want to go home with a stranger.”

  Anthony snorted. “She might not be able to take you, but she would definitely make you regret trying anything.”

  Elly exhaled. “We will try the studio in-house. Someone took out half the equipment for their New Year’s Eve party, and there may be some issues as I haven’t had time to untangle the mess yet. We also can rent space in town.”

  Mr. Winter nodded. “As you like. I have the studio, was letting a friend use it this morning, and it is at your disposal.”

  She blinked. “Thank you. It will remain an option. How soon did you want the file?”

  Anthony answered, “The sooner, the better. You can take the afternoon off if you want, so you can work on this.”

  “That is hardly taking the afternoon off.” Elly gave him a dark look.

  He laughed. “You know what I mean. Sam can do your reception duties for a half day. Things are slow this time of year anyway.”

  “Fine. Where are the pages you want me to read?”

  Anthony looked to Mr. Winter. “Did you have a place you wanted her to start to see if she’s suitable?”

  Mr. Winter nodded. “I do. In the edited draft, chapter three at the beginning. It is a conversation between the hero and the male.”

  She frowned. “Is it male-male?”

  He chuckled. “No, but the hero of this story is the woman, so adding the feminization is unneeded.”

  Elly smiled. “Does that line work on women?”

  He smiled slowly. “I haven’t tried it out beyond this room. What do you think?”

  She shrugged, and a blush flared on her cheeks. “It needs some work.”

  She glanced at Anthony, and he was staring at them as they talked, looking from one to the other.

  “Are you sure that you two haven’t met before? You seem to have quite the connection, and frankly, I have never seen Elly turn that colour.” He nodded. “Elly, take the time you need for this. Tower of the Fey King is the first of the series. We want to launch it right.”

  Elly nodded. “I know how you get about your first-timers. Fine. The rest of the afternoon to work on this audio sample. Did you finish fixing the studio?”

  Anthony shook his head. “No, and Regis is already booked up for the next few days.”

  Mr. Winter nodded. “It is settled. I will give you my address, and you can drive yourself to my place.”

  She winced. “Is it within cab range? I took the bus today.”

  He paused. “It is just outside the city limits.”

  Anthony called out, “Get a voucher. He can drive you there, and you can cab it home.”

  She smiled. “Thanks for keeping my safety at the forefront. Your habit of pimping me out to your authors is distasteful.”

  Mr. Winter snickered. “I promise to be on good behaviour, and there is a cell signal and a local detachment available.”

  Elly blushed. “I did not mean to imply that you wouldn’t be. Sorry, Anthony just has a tendency to try and give new authors whatever they want to lock in and contract all aspects with us. He’s tried to use me as a bargaining chip before.”

  Anthony sat back and leaned in his chair and held up two fingers. “Twice. It worked both times.”

  Mr. Winter nodded. “I can see how it would.”

  Elly sighed and got to her feet. “I will warn Sam that she is on phones and contact my next of kin in case I go missing.”

  She headed back to her desk and let Sam know that she would be catching the phones.

  “Elly, where are you going?”

  “Audio issue. I have to head out to record a sample, and I haven’t had time to fix the mess that Anthony made, so I have to leave the building for it.”

  “Fine. Take care of yourself. You have been looking a little flushed lately.”

  Elly snorted and hung up after she said, “Thank you. You look like hell as well. Goodbye!”

  There was laughter and then silence.

  Elly finished her frappe and mourned that it had melted. Maybe she could get a handful of ice before Mr. Winter was ready to leave. She was headfirst in the freezer with her sweater lifted when there was a polite clearing of a throat behind her. She winced and smoothed everything before getting her travel mug full of ice and straightening up.

  Mr. Winter didn’t say anything as she kicked the freezer closed and walked back toward her desk with her cup of ice. She grabbed her bag and her jacket, smiling brightly. “Ready to go.”

  He nodded and offered her his arm. She shifted everything to one hand and took his arm. He seemed to exhale when she wrapped her fingers in the crook of his elbow.

  “I am sorry to spring this on you.”

  She smiled. “It’s fine. It is one of the stranger parts of my job. Don’t get me wrong. I get bonuses if the books I record do well. I get paid as a voice artist, also.”

  He nodded, and they entered the elevator. She let him go when they reached the elevator, and she pulled on her coat and draped her scarf around her neck. Mr. Winter wore a black coat that was mid-thigh length, and he didn’t bother doing it up or putting on gloves.

  They descended to the parkade, and he walked her to his car. She smiled. A white and silver SUV suited him. He held the door for her and set her bag in the backseat. She climbed in and buckled up.

  He got in, started the vehicle, and buckled up. He did a shoulder check and eased them out of the spot and then the parkade. When the bar rose up, he drove slowly into traffic before heading out of the city.

  They were on the highway when he finally asked, “So, was there any reason that you were flashing the frozen meals? Or is it a publishing thing?”

  She covered her face with her hands. “You just had to come in at that moment.”

  He grinned. “Come on. I am an author. I am curious.”

  “Well, a few weeks ago, I had an incident, and ever since then, I am running a little hot. So, I am running in a wave of milkshakes, frappes, every type of frozen item on a stick, chewing on snowballs, and eating ice.” She rattled her cup. “I had to switch to ice because I realized that most of the portable stuff that I wanted was loaded with sugar.”

  “But you don’t have a fever.”

  “No. I just feel hot. So, I am going to the doc next week, and I don’t know why I am telling you this.” She blushed. “Sorry.”

  “It is obviously weighing on your mind, and I did ask. You feel well otherwise?”

  She nodded. “Except for the few pounds I put on with my great frozen sugar hunt, yeah.”

  He chuckled. “Good. Have you ever done audio with someone else?”

  “With another female or male? Sure. Why?”

  “I am unsure of the direction I want it to take. It is a little more romantic than my other work.”
/>
  “I thought you were a first-time author.”

  “In romance. I had to change my name so that I could see how this particular genre would work out.”

  “I thought Anthony said it was the first of a series.”

  Mr. Winter chuckled. “That depends on what happens next. If the book is successful, I will hand over the next manuscript.”

  She nodded. “So, you have it?”

  “Of course. I have the next five all planned out, but this is the only one I am ready to tell.”

  “What did you write previous to this?”

  “Historicals. Dry stuff. Just genealogies and things of that nature.”

  She smiled. “Nice. Those can be fun.”

  He blinked and glanced at her with his very blue eyes. “You are the first person to have said that. Are you just trying to butter me up?”

  She laughed. “No. I leave that to Anthony. I just keep everything running smoothly.”

  He grinned. “Interesting dynamic that you have there.”

  “It works for us. He is starting to lean a little heavier at this time of year, and it gets a little annoying.”

  He nodded. “Have you tried a squirt bottle? I hear it works on cats.”

  She laughed, and they continued their drive. When he turned off the highway, they spent five minutes on a feeder road and then headed down a gravel road. They drove through the woods and turned off, facing a fence that was in the middle of nowhere. The heavy wrought iron rolled back at a small flash from a device on the dashboard.

  She twisted her lips. “It is going to be hard to explain to the cab to get them in here.”

  He nodded. “Don’t worry. I will make sure you get home all right.”

  She looked at him and nodded as they approached the huge farmhouse. It was still decked out for the holidays, and she smiled as they pulled up. “Thanks. Your place looks amazing.”

  He grinned. “I am very glad you like it.”

  They exited the car, and when he came around, she stepped out to inhale the cold air. A snowflake drifted toward her, and she caught it on her tongue. Mr. Winter’s eyes went heavy, and he stepped aside and got her bag from the back of the car. He offered her his arm, and they headed into his house. Time to get to work.