Stressed!

by Deborah Martin

  3:00 came and went. Sally and I slogged through our afternoon, looking at one another with anticipation whenever I went to the bathroom or kitchen. Ev, of course, sat in his office, oblivious to the drama. Every time the phone rang, Sally answered it after one ring, hoping it would be one of the two with good news.

  I left for home at four, Sally telling me to call her if I heard anything. I made her promise to do the same. Being a busybody, I poked my head in the deli door on my way out. Charlie was the only one there. “They left at two thirty and haven’t been back. I have no idea,” was all he said.

  Too agitated to sleep, I passed ten thousand games played of mahjong instead of napping. Dinnertime came and went. I was just about to go to bed when there was a light knock at the door. When I opened it, Cassandra said “hi”, pushed her way in and plopped on the couch.

  “I’m freezing and I need a cup of tea,” she said.

  Chapter 21

  “So what happened?” I asked as I put a mug of water into the microwave to heat and pulled out an Earl Grey teabag, which was all I had left.

  “We couldn’t find Mr. Hancock. Before I opened this morning, I walked over to the building in question and the ‘For Rent’ placard with a telephone number was gone. So I had to wait until one of the businesses upstairs opened to get the name of the landlord. I didn’t have a chance to get away until Charlie and Tommy showed up for work but when I finally got the number out of one of the receptionists, whoever answered the leasing office phone said there was no Mr. Hancock working for them.

  “On top of that, the space isn’t set up for food service. As a matter of fact, they leased it yesterday to some retail operation. So, it was all a put-up job.”

  “Then Tommy’s in the clear, right? But if you didn’t meet with this Mr. Hancock, where’d you two go this afternoon?”

  “Over to a bench by Lake of the Isles to talk. I figured I’d already told Charlie he was going to have to go it alone for an hour or two so we may as well use the time to clear the air.”

  “And?” I prompted.

  “I don’t know. Tommy’s job is safe because he’s good and we work well together but on the personal side, if I don’t trust him enough to see through a farce like this, what’s it going to be like if something really bad happens? We talked until sunset and I just can’t get past the ‘what if’.”

  “First off, you need to give Charlie a bonus. Yeah, I know he’s been with you for ages and has worked by himself before but I’ll bet you didn’t even call him, did you?”

  “Yes, I did. About an hour ago. And yes, he’s getting a bonus plus two days off next week. He said this afternoon had been slow so wasn’t worried that he was the only one there. You know afternoons are mostly coffee and sweets, anyway.”

  “Not the point and you know it. Back to the problem at hand. Why can’t you get past the ‘what if’? Before this mess, you said you trusted him implicitly and now you don’t?”

  “I know. But the deli is my baby and if something happened to it, I’d never forgive myself. Gramma would be pretty upset, too. This just showed me how possessive I am about it and if Tommy and I get married, I’m not sure I’m ready to share it with anyone.”

  “So who says you have to share? It’s your business and has been from the get-go. I thought you two had already talked about all that and he was content with the current arrangement.”

  She sighed, drained her mug and stood. “We did and he is but I’m still unsure of everything. I need to think but more, I need to sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a very long day and Sunday will be even longer. If I don’t call you before then, I’ll see you Sunday at Ev’s, OK? Thanks for listening.”

  I hugged her. “Anytime and you know that. Get some sleep. Maybe things will sort themselves out in your dreams.”

  After she left, I crawled into bed, Fudge settling himself in my hair. I turned out the light, said a little prayer to the universe for my friends and fell asleep.

  ***

  New Year’s Eve finally arrived. It felt a little strange to be going out – I normally hibernated that night to avoid all the drunks and their revelry. Ev had a hostess for the party, his current lady-love ogre, Marianna, so I didn’t have to hurry over. I took a cab to his place shortly after nine and after grabbing a glass of wine, started my social rounds.

  I hadn’t paid any attention to the guest list before handing it off to Sally so was surprised to see Adamo and Bella in attendance. “I thought you two didn’t do parties?” I said after greeting them.

  “Normally, I hate parties,” said Adamo. “However, it was an opportunity to see you and Ev again; and I didn’t have anything pressing on the calendar.”

  “Me, too,” Bella said with a smile.

  Since I was there as a guest rather than an employee, I hung with them longer than I normally would have at one of Ev’s parties. It was fun to not feel pressured to greet everyone with a smile on my face, whether I wanted to or not.

  We’d been chatting about twenty minutes when I felt an arm around my waist and saw Adamo’s eyebrows rise. No one I knew in the room had my permission to be that close so I shoved my elbow into the stomach I presumed would be immediately behind it.

  “Oof,” said a very familiar voice. “Is that any way to greet me?”

  I turned, put the arm that wasn’t engaged with a glass around Tony’s waist and, looking up at him with a shit-eating grin on my face told him, “You should know better than to surprise me like that.”

  A quick kiss told him he was forgiven and then I had to ask what he was doing there. When we’d spoken the night before, he said he was required to make an appearance at some actor’s party in a posh suburb of Los Angeles.

  “Ev called me last night to see if I was going to be here. And to answer your unspoken question, I didn’t say anything about us but he knew anyways. He must pay more attention than you thought. He told me he had an announcement to make and asked if I could figure a way to be here. When I saw whose party I was supposed to be at, it was a no-brainer. But I asked him not to say anything to you. I wanted it to be a surprise and it looks like it was.”

  It looked like our relationship was going to be made public. I introduced Tony to Bella and Adamo; then he excused himself to go get a drink. He was back at my side in a flash.

  “Isn’t the skinny chick with the dark hair and apron your friend, Cassandra? I think you’ve got competition because she said hello to me with a wink.”

  I elbowed him once again.

  We left Bella and Adamo talking to someone else and made nice to the other guests. I was surprised at how many neither Tony nor I knew. Quite a few were old friends of Ev’s from his time in Los Angeles. They must have been good friends indeed to have made the trip solely for this party.

  About eleven, Cassandra joined us. When I asked about Tommy, all she said was he was done working for the night and had gone home. To his dad’s house. Tony, who obviously knew what was going on (I didn’t keep secrets) said he’d be the luckiest guy in the room to have two beautiful women to escort. Cassandra elbowed him but I could tell it cheered her a bit. We chatted about nothing, trying to tippy-toe around her issues with Tommy.

  According to the huge atomic clock Ev had mounted in the living room for the occasion, it was 11:57 when Ev stood on a chair and boomed, “Everyone. May I have your attention for a moment?”

  The room quieted immediately and everyone turned to look at him. “Many of you will notice this isn’t one of my normal parties. The reason for that is that to my knowledge, we all, every single one of us, either have a common hatred of a certain demon or are close to someone who has a problem with this guy. I thought a party would be the perfect way to tell you that my grandfather found Happy’s real name. My witch friend Cassandra tells me that in a fortnight’s time, the moon will be in the correct phase and planetary alignment, whatever that means, to do the banishing ritual. So in a couple of weeks, we should all be free of the bastard!”

  You wou
ldn’t believe the amount of noise seventy-something people can make. Tony released his arm from my waist to clap both hands over his ears. His hearing was just as acute as any dog’s and even my ears were hurting from the applause, whistles and yelling. It only got louder as the clock dinged and everyone started counting down to midnight.

  As soon as we had sung “Auld Lang Syne”, Tony leaned down and spoke into my ear. “I didn’t get a hotel room. D’you suppose it’s time Fudge met me?”

  I did, indeed. Gregory appeared at my shoulder. “Ev said for me to give you two a ride home, it being difficult to get cabs tonight and all. If I’m not mistaken, you’re ready to go. Cassandra, would you like a ride as well?” She shook her head and said she had her own car. “Then shall we?” One look at Tony’s face told me he was as ready as I.

  We said our goodnights, grabbed Tony’s overnight case and our coats from the bedroom and followed Gregory outside. Snow was lightly falling and made everything sparkle. Or maybe it was just my mood. “Your place, Amy?” Gregory asked with a grin.

  “Yes, please. And by the way, Happy New Year to you!” I replied.

  Although I was happier than a pig in a poke, I was still a little apprehensive about bringing Tony home for the first time. My dinky little apartment would probably seem like a dump in comparison to his condo and how was Fudge going to react?

  Although he’d seen it many times before when dropping me off, Tony surveyed the neighborhood with a critical eye as Gregory turned off Lyndale Avenue. Two more turns and we were on my street.

  “Nice and quiet. What I wouldn’t give to not hear traffic 24/7.”

  I gave Gregory a kiss on the cheek when he dropped us off. “Make him give you at least two days off for having to work tonight,” I said.

  “No worries, Amy. He’s already told me to go home after I drop you and that he wouldn’t need me for a couple of days. It sounded like he planned on hibernating at the house with Marianna.”

  The moment of truth had arrived. I unlocked the door and waited for either the assault that greeted me when I came home late or a lot of hissing and spitting. Fudge did neither. When we walked in the door, Tony sat his case down and walked cautiously over to Fudge, who was sitting in the middle of the living room with a quizzical look on his face. He squatted down and held out both hands. Fudge took a quick sniff, looked up at Tony and then over at me.

  “He’s a part of my life, too,” I told him.

  Fudge meandered over to me, head-butted my leg, walked over to his food dish and let out a very loud “meow”.

  “If he hasn’t hissed or bit and is more concerned about his food, I’d say you’re OK,” I told Tony as I made my way to where I kept Fudge’s food and poured some into his dish.

  “That’s my impression, too,” I heard but not from the living room. When I turned around, Tony wasn’t in sight. “If you’re done with the cat, could the dog get some attention?”

  I found him sprawled on my bed. It was indeed going to be a good new year.

  Chapter 22

  My phone rang at the crack of noon the next day. Tony and I were only on our second cup of coffee. “Don’t you need to sleep in or something today?” I asked Cassandra.

  “I left right after you. Must be habit or something, because I was awake at six when the alarm would normally be going off. I’ve already put all the holiday decorations away and cleaned the house.”

  “So you called to gloat?”

  “No, I called to see how we get all the people that were at the party last night together to do the banishing ritual. Remember, Uncle Morris said anyone that had an extended life span needed to participate to get its protection? There were a lot of non-humans there.”

  “Without enough coffee in me to think coherently, I’d say it’d be pretty easy – just send out another invitation off Ev’s guest list. I can get that back from Sally easy. But I’ll need some notice.”

  “That’s no problem. I think I know when it has to be held but I’d like Adamo’s input. If possible, I’d also like him to lead the ritual. He seemed to be the oldest magical person in the room and he’s one of the people affected by the demon. Do you have his phone number?”

  I didn’t, but suggested she call Bella and hung up. They could sort it out. I wanted to enjoy my holiday.

  “Sounds like your friend is getting the ball rolling. Does this mean soon I’ll be able to tell everyone you’re mine?” Tony nuzzled my neck.

  “I guess so, if that’s something you want to do. Am I yours?” I snuggled further into him.

  “Doll, I haven’t met anyone who fits me as well as you. What do you think?”

  “I’m still getting used to the idea of seeing someone regularly, and one who gets all furry and scary once a month at that. Can we take it a day at a time?”

  His laugh sounded like a big dog’s bark. It was deep and gruff. “I don’t expect you to immediately change your lifestyle, if that’s what you’re thinking. I just want to be able to say I’m involved when I’m asked. And I am asked frequently.”

  “When do you need to leave?” I changed the subject. I had some more thinking to do, but not while wrapped in his arms.

  “I have a flight out tomorrow morning. Can you stand me for another day?”

  I could and I did. We watched the Bowl games, napped and ordered Chinese in for dinner. But I’ll admit that when I kissed him goodbye at the door Tuesday morning, I was really glad to have my apartment to myself again. I wasn’t used to having anyone except Fudge around.

  January second was the same as every January second. Rich people, for whatever reason, tended to get way too drunk and then in trouble of one form or another every New Year’s Eve. Most of my work was just recording incidents in the file for future reference (especially when contract renewals came up) but there were a few phone calls that Ev needed to make to soothe ruffled feathers. Like I said, some folks just didn’t take kindly to bodyguards getting them out of a potentially icky situation.

  Cassandra called mid-afternoon. “I know this is short notice but can you come over tonight at seven? We need to finalize the plans for the ritual and I’d like you there.”

  I got a little uncomfortable. “Me? I don’t do magic and I wouldn’t have a clue what you’ll be talking about.”

  “I know, but you were the one that lit a fire under everyone to finally do something about this guy. Adamo and Bella both think just having you sit at the table will lend value to our discussion.”

  I heaved a big sigh. Since I was sort of responsible for the mess, I figured I should see it all the way through. I told her I’d be there.

  I arrived at Cassandra’s shortly before seven. Adamo and Bella were there. Adamo still looked like Gandalf. Bella didn’t look like a powerful witch but more like a society matron in an elegant silk pantsuit. Ev was there, too, along with an ogre I’d never met. He looked a little like Ev but admittedly, I had a hard time telling ogres apart if I didn’t know them well. The wrinkles and white hair at least indicated that he was much older than my boss. Ev introduced us. “Amy, this is my grandfather, Ragnar. Bestefar, this is my assistant, Amy.”

  “Ja, Evander’s told me a lot about you,” he said with a thick Scandinavian accent as he reached down to shake my hand. “I’m very grateful to you for forcing us all to finally take some action.”

  His hand completely enveloped mine so I allowed him to shake my arm. “I’m pleased to meet you as well,” I said as evenly as I could with my whole body vibrating in time to his pumps of my arm. (I found out much later that Ev’s grandfather lived in Norway and that bestefar is Norwegian for grandfather. Another interesting thing to file away about Ev: he spoke Norwegian fluently. Who’d a thunk it?)

  Cassandra handed me a glass of wine just as Adamo cleared his throat. “We’re all here so let’s get to it, shall we?”

  I said hello to Bella as we all found chairs at the dining room table. Ev and Ragnar leaned against the wall. There were no chairs large enough for them, but
at least this house was old enough that ceiling height wasn’t a problem.

  Adamo began. “As you’re all aware, Cassandra’s great-uncle found us the verbiage to banish Happy, and Ragnar somehow managed to come up with his real name. As pronunciation of the name is crucial, I asked Ev if his grandfather could be in attendance not only at this meeting but at the ritual, as well. Ragnar has graciously agreed.

  “We are quite fortunate in that a perfect astrological conjunction happens in a couple of weeks. A banishment can be performed at any time but it’s much easier if it’s done at the new moon. Aries is the most favorable sign for banishing and it so happens that this month’s new moon will be in the sign of Aries. Therefore, we’ll schedule the ritual for Saturday the twentieth, in the hour of Saturn or at 8:00 in the evening.”

  He looked around the room and everyone nodded in agreement.

  “Cassandra has graciously agreed to allow us to use her backyard,” he continued. “It’s perfectly laid out for such a ritual and is large enough to hold about one hundred people. In addition, she tells me the neighbors won’t call the police if they see or hear anything of a magical nature.” He looked at me. “Amy, I’m assuming you’ll handle getting the word out to everyone who was at Ev’s the other night.” I nodded. “I’ll give you the wording for the invitation before we leave here tonight, as well as the addresses of some other people who need to be included. Ev said he’ll foot the bill for the printing and postage.

  “The ritual itself is fairly straightforward for anyone accustomed to such things. I’m happy to lead it. However, it requires a couple of ingredients I don’t currently have in stock. I thought I’d ask the other magical people here if they do. Does anyone have a male mandrake root or black salt?”