He pushed her up from her bottom until she was on her feet and she walked quickly to the bathroom before she peed on herself. When she was done, she opened the door and he was standing there next to it waiting for her.
“Give me a minute to use the bathroom, then if you want to brush your teeth, I have some extra brand new toothbrushes you can use.”
She turned her head quizzically to the side, “Why do you have extra brand new toothbrushes exactly? Do you have lots of girls sleep over?” she asked him, half laughing.
He shook his head, “No, my neighbor is a dentist and she gives me tons of new toothbrushes all the time. I think she really just tries to get rid of them and uses me to do that” he answered her.
“I thought you had the only apartment up here” she said, a little confused.
“Well, I do, but all of these restaurants are connected so we consider ourselves neighbors. The lady to my left is a dentist, and the guy to my right is a rich college student who has never worked a day in his life. You know nothing at all like me” he said with a glint in his eye.
She nodded and he shut the door behind him and she waited outside the door while he was in the bathroom. When he finally opened the door, he stood there with four toothbrushes, still in their packages in his hands.
“Which one?” he asked her.
She grabbed the pink one and walked back into the bathroom opening it up and stood next to him while they brushed their teeth together. After they were done brushing their teeth, he decided to take her by her apartment for a fresh change of clothes, and then they were going to spend the entire day together.
***
Later that night after he dropped her back off at her apartment, she started to dance through the house, loving how great being with him made her feel. She started wiggling her fingers, pretending that there was faerie dust coming out of the tips, just like they had in the old Disney movies she watched as a child, when suddenly sparks actually came out of her fingertips.
Her heart started beating so hard it felt as though it was going to burst out of her chest at any moment. She looked at her fingertips and was surprised to see that they looked completely normal. She debated calling her dad and asking him if he knew anything about what was happening to her, but she decided that she had a better idea. She was going to go and talk to Jasmine about it; after all she was open to magic, she owned a store with magic right in the name.
She left her apartment, closing the door, but not bothering to lock it, and headed down the elevator to the lobby, ready to run across and catch the elevator on Jasmine’s side of the building. After putting in her code for the penthouse, she crossed her arms and waited patiently, hoping that Jasmine was home.
When the doors opened up, she stepped into Jasmine’s apartment and looked around.
“Jasmine, are you home? It’s Abby and I really need to talk to you about something” she yelled out, hoping she would hear her.
She walked around the apartment, trying to find her and instantly fell in love with her place. The rooms were huge, at least twice the size of her small rooms and were decorated in modern art, with black furniture and odd sculptures and paintings everywhere she looked. She finally made it to the back of the apartment and noticed a door was open at the end of the hall that looked like it could be the master bedroom and just as she was about to yell out Jasmine’s name again, she heard her talking, and heard her name come up. She stood very still listening to Jasmine talk to someone on the telephone.
“No, she hasn’t realized it yet” Jasmine said to whoever was on the other end of the phone.
Abby held her breath as Jasmine was listening to the person on the phone talk.
“As far as I know, there has only been one incident, but I’m sure she hasn’t told me everything” Jasmine finally answered.
Abby wished she could hear what was being said on the other end of that call.
“Yes, she seems to like him very much, hopefully there is a great love brewing. But, the magic hasn’t fully come to her so she hasn’t consummated the relationship. That is part of the spell Aine put on her when she was born.”
Abby gasped, she was talking about exactly the same thing she had come to ask her about. Finally Abby couldn’t take the suspense anymore, so she walked into her bedroom and cleared her throat so that Jasmine would know that she was standing there.
Chapter 9
Jasmine turned to look at her with a very odd look on her face, as though she had been caught stealing money from her mother’s purse.
Without taking her eyes off of Abby, Jasmine said into her phone, “Oh, Abby’s here, gotta go. Bye Mark.”
Abby crossed her arms over her chest, “Where you just talking to my dad about me?” she asked her.
Jasmine nodded her head, “Yes, but it’s not what you think.” She said quickly.
Abby laughed, “Oh, so you weren’t talking to my dad about some spell that this Aine chick that I had a dream about put on me as a baby to make sure some supposed magic wasn’t unlocked until I had sex with a great love?”
Jasmine’s face turned whiter than I even thought possible, on her already porcelain skin.
“Well, that is pretty close. But, you should not know any of this because you are supposed to figure things out on your own. Oh, Aine is going to kill me if she finds out.” She said, sitting on the bed and putting her head into her hands.
“Okay, who is this Aine woman? She came to me in a dream the other night.”
Jasmine shook her head, “I cannot tell you that, it is not my secret to tell.”
Abby groaned, “I really need somewhere to sit down.”
Jasmine patted the bed next to her and Abby sank down, not knowing what to say. Finally Jasmine looked up at her.
“Please don’t be afraid of what changes your body may be going through right now, and please do not be afraid of the love that you hold for Tom.”
Abby turned her head and looked at Jasmine, “that is exactly what Aine told me in my dream, why is it so important for me to fall in love with Tom? I just met him. It is way too soon to start talking about love.”
Jasmine shook her head, “No it is never too soon to love someone. When it is written in the stars, it doesn’t take long.”
Abby laughed, “Okay, I have to get out of here before I think I’m going crazy, or you are.”
As Abby was standing up to leave Jasmine grabbed her arm and when she looked over at her noticed that she had a very serious look on her face, not one I had ever seen from her before.
“Abby, please trust me and do not be afraid to be with Tom, making love is a beautiful and natural thing” she said in almost a whisper.
Abby pulled her arm from her hand, “I’m not a freak just because I’m a virgin, I will have sex with him when I’m ready, and nobody will rush me. Got it?”
Jasmine put her hands up in defeat, “Got it. End of story, let’s forget this ever happened, see you in the morning?” she asked her.
Abby nodded, “Of course, I wouldn’t miss work, I love working at the store. See you tomorrow.” She said, and then walked out of the room to the elevator, half expecting Jasmine to come after her to talk more, but she didn’t.
When she got back to her apartment, she had two texts from Tom asking her if he could meet her tomorrow for lunch and she happily replied that she would meet him at the sandwich shop at their usual time, then taking off all of her clothes, she slid into bed, not even bothering with her pajamas.
***
The dream started the same way as last time; she was standing in the field with the large orange flowers. When she turned toward the gazebo she already knew what was behind her, she saw Aine standing there looking at her. Abby walked up to her, and stood right next to her.
“Hello Aine.” She said to her.
Aine smiled, “You now need to know more since you heard too much already from Jasmine. Please come and sit with me in the gazebo, and I will answer some of your questions.”
“Abby, you first asked where you were. Well, you’re body is at home in bed in Dallas. I have pulled your spirit out of your body and brought you here to me in Ireland.” She said.
Abby’s mouth dropped open, “Ireland?!” she exclaimed, unable to process how someone could pull a spirit out of a body and fly it halfway across the world.
Aine nodded, “Yes, we are at the entrance to a place called the Other World. It is a place for all of the lesser gods to live in peace away from the evil of the mortal world.”
Abby nearly laughed, “Gods? You mean like Greek Gods?” she asked her.
Aine shook her head, “No Abby, the Greek Gods live on Mount Olympus, Celtic Gods live in the Other World. It is actually located on the southern coast of Ireland, near present day Waterford, but only magical beings with certain magical powers can see it and enter.” She explained to her.
Abby shook her head, trying to clear it of the confusion she felt, “So, what does this have to do with me? I’m not a God, and I have no magical powers” she said to her, even though she was thinking of all the odd things that were happening to her lately. Aine put her hand on Abby’s shoulder and looked her in the eye.
“What I am about to tell you will change your view on life forever, so are you sure you are ready to know?” she asked her with a serious look on her face.
Abby nodded and Aine continued, “I am your mother Abby, and I am the Celtic Goddess of Love and Sexuality.” Aine seemed to hold her breath as she waited for Abby’s reaction.
“Do you mean like Aphrodite?” Abby finally asked.
“Yes, Aphrodite is Greek though, I am her Celtic equivalent” she said.
Even as Aine said the words, Abby could feel that she was telling the truth, and had an odd suspicion ever since she first came here that she was somehow linked to her. Abby sighed, she did believe her, but there were so many more questions.
“I can feel that you are telling me the truth, but I was told my mother died in a car accident when I was just a baby.”
Aine lowered her head, “I know. I had your father tell you this story so that you wouldn’t feel as though I had left you, but after leaving this place, I was in a lot of trouble. They threatened to banish me forever and make me live a mortal life, and after I met your father, I was ready to make that choice. After I became pregnant with you, I had to make a choice. Live with you and your father and risk you both being hurt in the war that would have followed, or to leave you so that you could have a normal life. I couldn’t bear the thought of you getting hurt because of me, so I left, and it nearly killed your father when I did.”
Abby rubbed her forehead in frustration and confusion, “Why would there have been a war if you would have stayed with us though, I don’t get that.”
Aine frowned, “I was actually more than just a God when I left, I was the daughter of the Queen of the Other World, and she was looking to retire. When I left, I forfeited my rights to the throne, but my mother made a stipulation that only a child of mine would be able to rule in my place. When I found out I was pregnant with you, I was so happy that I came back here and went straight to my mother to tell her the news. She wasn’t very happy to learn that I was pregnant with a mortal’s child though, and argued that you wouldn’t be born with any natural magic at all. I disagreed, telling her that I could feel the magic you had inside of me, but she still wasn’t happy that someone with mortal blood would rule, so we made a deal. If the fairies could give their blessings, then I could live with you in the open.”
Abby interrupted her, “Fairies? Are you serious?”
Aine nodded, “Yes, quite serious. You see the problem was that the Queen of the Fairies wanted all the power for herself, so she didn’t give the blessings I needed. My mother was smart though and saw through the Faerie Queen’s intentions and told me that she would start a war against the fairies if I believed in you, but that you could be killed in the process. I could not let that happen, so I moved you and your father to Dallas, as far away from Ireland as I could imagine, and put certain spells on you.”
Aine waited while Abby collected her thoughts, “What kind of spells?” she asked her.
“The only ones my powers could allow. I locked away your magic deep within you, and decided that the only way to unlock them was to fall in love and to make love with the person you love. I have sensed that something inside of you was changing, and that some of your magic was being unlocked, so I have been watching over you, but with you overhearing Jasmine’s conversation with your father, I knew you had to know more before you did something to hurt yourself, or your relationship with Tom.”
Aine suddenly looked up into the sky, looking worried and said, “Time is running out for you to be here, I only have time to answer one short question for you, and then I have to send you back.”
Abby blurted out the first thing that came to her mind, “Who is Jasmine, is she a Goddess too?” she hurriedly asked, becoming angry at herself for using her last question for something she could have just asked Jasmine herself.
Aine nodded, “Jasmine is what we call a Magical Hybrid, something we don’t see happen very often. You see, the two most powerfully magical beings in all of Ireland are the Gods, and the Fairies. Jasmine is both, her father was a powerful God, and her mother a beautifully tender faerie that no longer lives in the Other World.”
She looked as though she wanted to say more, but she looked back up to the sky and jumped up, pulling Abby up with her.
“I’m sorry Abby, but you have to go back, now!” she yelled at her.
Abby suddenly jerked awake and looked over at the clock and saw that she was only asleep for thirty minutes. She groaned and rolled over, exhausted.
Chapter 10
The next morning she hurriedly got dressed so that she could make it to work and talk with Jasmine. There were still questions she wanted answered, and since she knew the secret of who and what Jasmine was, maybe she would answer some of them for her.
As she unlocked the door, she was surprised to see that Jasmine wasn’t there yet, so she went about setting up the new stock and getting her register ready to open. Five minutes before they were set to open, Jasmine finally walked in, looking flustered.
“I’m so sorry I’m late Abby, I just had an awful night.” She said, looking around the store.
“It looks as though you have everything ready to go, we might as well open the doors.” Abby grabbed her arm and turned her around so that they were facing each other.
“I spoke with Aine again last night, and we really need to talk.”
Jasmine nodded, “Yes, we do.” She said to me, sighing.
Jasmine walked over to the door and turned on the open sign, but luckily there were no customers waiting outside, as there usually are. They walked around the desk and sat side by side behind the cash register. Abby thought that before Jasmine started to talk about things she already knew she would just come out and ask her some questions.
“I know Aine is my mother, and I know who you are now. But, there are a few things that I didn’t get answered.”
Jasmine nodded, urging her to go on.
“Well, my mother told me that the place where we were was the entrance to the Other World, which is a place for lesser gods and magical beings, but you can only go in with a certain kind of magic. My question is, how do I know if I posses the right kind of magic to even get in?”
Jasmine looked at her with an odd expression on her face, almost as if she couldn’t believe she didn’t know this already.
“Aine did not question you about the entrance at all? That is not like her to leave things out, she is usually very thorough.”
Abby shrugged not knowing what to say as she didn’t really kno
w what kind of person her mother was, or goddess I guess.
Jasmine continued, “Answer this question for me Abby, what color were the flowers that surrounded the gazebo?”
Abby thought this was an odd question to ask but figured she knew more about this magic than she did.
“They were bright orange, unlike anything I have ever seen before.”
Jasmine nodded, “Well, that is the answer to your question. You see, mortals see purple flowers, magical beings see them as orange, which is how you know you can get in.”
Abby shook her head, “Flowers? Really? This whole magical land is guarded by flowers?”
Jasmine laughed, “I know it sounds silly, but it is an easy way to distinguish magical beings and gods from ordinary mortals. But, I never said it was guarded by the flowers, they are just an indicator of what you are. The entrance is guarded by some very tough fairies that can smell the magic on you.”
Just as Abby was about to ask Jasmine another question, the bell on the door rang and a handful of customers walked in.
“Let’s have dinner tonight at my place Abby, I will answer more of your questions then. We do not want anyone to overhear us, even in a place like this” she said winking.
Abby nodded and just as Jasmine was walking away her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw that she had a text from Tom. Can you have lunch with me today? she read, smiling. She texted back to him, sure, usual time usual place? She closed her phone and waited for his reply while watching the customers look through the case of crystals, talking excitedly as they did.
Finally after a few seconds her phone buzzed again and she opened it up, yes, see you at 2. She was really starting to like having someone to date.
***
Later that afternoon she yelled at Jasmine that she was leaving for lunch and walked out of the store and was surprised to see Tom standing there waiting for her, looking nervous.
“Tom, what’s the matter? You look upset about something” She asked him.
Celtic Magic Page 4