Haunted

by Merrill, R. L.

  “Mage, I’m not going to push him away. I couldn’t even if I wanted to at this point. So don’t worry.” I could see that my words were not going to appease him.

  “I am worried. We’re just getting him back, thanks to you, and I don’t want to lose him again, thanks to you. So if you think about running, just remember how he looked the first time he saw you. That’s nothing compared to how messed up he’ll be if he loses you.”

  He turned to walk out of the kitchen and I called out to him. “Mage!”

  He turned back around with an eyebrow raised in challenge. “Yeah?”

  I blew my bangs out of my face. “I’m not going anywhere, ok?”

  He nodded, shook his head, and walked out of the kitchen. I took a deep breath and turned around to grab the counter for support. I didn’t dare get my hopes up, but I knew I couldn’t let Devon know how afraid I was. I couldn’t let that factor into any decisions he made.

  I finished up in the kitchen and was stepping out into the hall when I bumped into a guy I hadn’t seen before.

  “Hey! What are you doing in here?” The man turned around and stepped closer to me, backing me into the wall.

  “I’m looking for Jaylene Charles, is that you?”

  I was freaking out. He stepped closer and I felt my back against the wall. I knew I only had a minute before things went bad.

  “STAR!! MAGE!!!” I screamed and the guy started laughing.

  He was holding his stomach and backing up. Something seemed extremely familiar with that movement. Mage came running in with his fist pulled back.

  “Hey, what the fuck is going on here?” He grabbed the guy and slammed him against the wall. The guy never stopped laughing and soon Mage was laughing too.

  “That’s a great one, dude!”

  I took a closer look. Under the black leather jacket, the guy had on a white t-shirt. He was wearing a baseball cap, dark sunglasses, and had a moustache. But I knew that mouth.

  “STAR! You sonofabitch!” I pushed him and he held up his hands in surrender.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. But it worked!”

  Sherry had warned me that they were good at wearing disguises. “You scared the shit out of me! You’re lucky I didn’t use my self-defense training!”

  Mage pushed me in the shoulder. “Yeah, that training really helped you, ‘help me, help me!’”

  I pushed him back and grabbed a bottle of water off the bar and started throwing it at him.

  This time he was screaming. “That’s cold! That’s cold, Jaylene! Help, Jade!”

  Jade was at the top of the stairs laughing. “You deserve whatever you guys get! Go Jaylene!”

  After chasing Mage around the bar, he tackled me and we fell on the floor in a heap. We caught our breath and then I climbed off of him. We cleaned up the mess and then Star and I took off. With his mustache and glasses and straight clothes you couldn’t tell it was him. We walked down Ursuline to the French Market and made our way through the tourists and cheap souvenirs to a booth in the back.

  “These drawings are Mackenzie’s favorites! She discovered Clay a couple of months ago and bought some of his prints. They’re her favorite! Hey Clay!”

  The artist came over to greet us and asked what he could do for us.

  “Actually, do you remember my friend Mackenzie? I think she had blue hair when we came to see you? She bought some prints?”

  “How could I forget! ? Does she like them?”

  I assured him that they were her favorites.

  “She has wanted to come back and buy some more to hang in our shop. Would you be able to do a custom print? I was thinking maybe you could make a poppet of her putting a pin into this guy right here.”

  Clay looked at Star and there was a moment of recognition.

  “Holy shit! You’re Star from Maggie’s Bones!” Star shushed him with a smile and Clay got the hint. “Absolutely! Can you give me a couple of hours?”

  We told him we’d be back and we left to get a few more supplies for the weekend. First stop was the pharmacy to pick up my prescription. There was also a great shop nearby that sold handmade candles and bath products. I knew Mackenzie loved their stuff and I wanted to get some for my place. I thought I might have a use for candles tomorrow night.

  We grabbed some beignets at Cafe DuMonde for a snack and sat and people watched for a bit. I wiped some powdered sugar off Star’s cheek. “You don’t get to do this very often, do you? Just sit and people watch?”

  He shook his head and wiped some powdered sugar off my shoulder. “Nope, and I miss doing that. That’s why we came up with the disguises. We didn’t want to give up being able to go out so we had to dress up.”

  “What’s the worst thing that ever happened when you guys were out?”

  He thought for a minute, taking a long drink of his cafe au lait. “I guess it would have to have been in Florida. Maggie tried to take us to Disney World because we’d never been. We wore hats and tried to cover up with geeky clothes, but it was hard to cover all our tattoos by that point. A group of kids recognized us and before long we had a crowd of about 200 people. Park security was getting nervous because there were little kids around and these fans were all trying to get closer to us to get our autographs. A mom was trying to get through the crowd with her little girl when some guys knocked into her and the little girl fell and got stepped on. She was ok, but we felt awful. We took care of everything but that poor little girl was so scared.”

  I hadn’t thought of how crazy people could be but I knew a thing or two about mob mentality. “Have you guys ever gotten hurt?” He laughed.

  “Only Marcus. Outside a club one night, some chicks ran up to him and tried to tear his shirt off him. One of their boyfriends came up and sucker punched him before dragging his girlfriend off. He sported that black eye like a medal though. He wasn’t fazed at all. He walked into the club shirtless with a shiner and still went home with three women.” He shook his head and finished his beignets.

  By that time we needed to go back to see Clay and head over to meet Rudy to go back to my place. The drawing was perfect! He definitely remembered Mackenzie. He had her poppet all done up in her usual femme fatale dress. She had one hand on her hip and the other holding out a pin. He drew Star's poppet on one knee holding his shirt open and the pin was pointing toward his heart. Star loved it, said it was perfect, and he paid Clay handsomely for it. He even autographed a second copy Clay had done for himself.

  Star tucked the drawing under his arm and we hurried back to St. Germaine. When we got there, Rudy was waiting for us so I ran upstairs and grabbed my duffle and my work bag. I left my table because I had a nicer one at the shop. I was bringing home my laundry to do as well. I knew I’d have time tonight.

  The trip back to the shop only took a few minutes and when we pulled up out front, Mackenzie ran out to greet us. She hugged me tight and gave Star a quick kiss on the cheek, turning him absolutely crimson. I couldn’t believe this was the partying, lady killer, rock star guy. He was so not like that around Mackenzie.

  Mage and Jade helped me carry my stuff inside and said their goodbyes. “We’ll see you Monday, Jaylene,” Jade said as he hugged and kissed me.

  Mage gave me a pointed look and I made sure to answer, “I promise. Be good! I’ll see you both Monday.”

  He nodded and they climbed back in the Hummer with Rudy just as a few passersby noticed them, covered their mouths and started to squeal. Luckily Rudy was able to pull away before they climbed onto the running boards of the Hummer! I was glad Star was already inside and in disguise. When I turned around, Mackenzie was playing with his moustache and he was trying to keep it from falling off.

  I walked over to Troy and we shook hands. The shop was clean and orderly. I had to take a moment to breathe it all in. I’d missed my shop! I told everyone I’d be down in a while. I wanted to get my laundry going, so I trudged up the back steps.

  All I had the energy to do was throw a load in the washer a
nd fall on the bed. I was out in seconds.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I heard knocking on my door hours later. When I rolled over to get up, the stiffness in my back had me hold in place and I had to catch my breath for a minute. Damn. That couch had been a bad idea.

  “I’ll be right there,” I called out.

  I heard Mackenzie’s voice. “JayLENE! If you don’t answer this door right now I am going to use my key!”

  I got my feet under me and shuffled over to the door. I opened it to see Mackenzie with her hands on her hips and Star standing shyly behind her.

  “What time is it?”

  Mackenzie’s frown got deeper. “It’s after 8:00! You never came back down so I came to check on you.”

  I opened the door and motioned for them to come in while I hobbled over to a cabinet in my kitchenette that held ibuprofen and grabbed a glass of water.

  “What the hell happened to you?”

  Star cleared his throat. “It’s our fault, Mackenzie. We all kind of slept on her last night. Well, not me, I just stole her pillow. It was mostly Jade.” He had his hands tucked in his back pockets looking quite guilty.

  When her eyes shot back to mine, I held up my hands. “We fell asleep watching a movie and when we woke up, we were all tangled. My back got a kink in it and then Jade stepped on me when he was getting up. I’m just a little stiff and sore.”

  Mackenzie narrowed her eyes at me once more.

  “Alright. Star, will you be a dear and grab the extra table from downstairs and bring it up? It’s in the back room.” He nodded and jogged down the stairs. She turned on me next. “You, strip! I’m just going next door to grab my oils and then you are getting some Mackenzie medicine.”

  I sighed sleepily. “You really are the best friend a girl could ever have.”

  She rolled her eyes and stomped off. “I know, I know,” she called over her shoulder.

  I went into the bathroom and took off my clothes and donned a short robe. I went out into the kitchenette and did a laundry switch in my stackable set and was just folding the last of my clothes when Star came in with the table.

  “Where do you want me to set this up?”

  I pointed to a spot in front of the window.

  “That’s about the only place big enough.”

  It was dark out and I could hear music from across the street. Star set up the table quickly and then peeked through my sheers to look down on Frenchmen street.

  “Man, you guys have a sweet location here. You can listen to the music and watch the people. This is great!”

  “We fell in love with this spot immediately. It was perfect for us. Daryl knew Troy, who needed to get rid of the building quickly, and Mackenzie and I pooled our meager savings together to put a down payment on it. It’s been a struggle, but we’re finally in the black, so all’s good.”

  Mackenzie came back in dressed in yoga pants and a cropped halter with a series of strings holding up the top. Star’s eyes bugged when he saw her and he licked his lips. I liked the effect she had on him.

  “Alright you, disrobe and get on up here.” Star cleared his throat, a nervous habit I’d discovered.

  “Uh, you guys want me to get lost?” I shook my head.

  “Nah, just avert your eyes for a moment if you will.”

  He plopped down on the couch and put a pillow over his face. “This good enough?”

  Mackenzie and I both laughed.

  “Yeah, and no peeking.”

  He grumbled. “Hell no! I’m not going to peek! You think I want my best friend to kick my ass?”

  Mackenzie giggled. “Well, I’ll be sure to tell him how good you were, especially considering you had a chance to watch two chicks go at it.”

  He coughed but kept the pillow over his face. “Aw, chère. Don’t say things like that! I’m trying to be good over here!”

  She moaned a couple of times, but still he kept up his pillow, just fidgeted a little. By the time she started to pant, I was already on the table with a blanket over me.

  Star groaned again. “You gotta be kidding me, Kenzie!”

  She giggled and then said, “You can look now, silly.”

  That pillow dropped in a hurry and he was looking with one eye open. Then he sighed. “Whew. You are a dangerous woman, you know that?”

  She purred at him, “You have no idea, baby.”

  He fell over on the couch and flung an arm over his eyes. “You are so going to be the death of me.”

  I turned to face him and rolled my eyes. “Oh, relax over there, Star. You can have her when she’s done with me. You want to watch something?”

  He laughed. “I am watching something. I’m watching how fucking good she is with her hands.”

  We all laughed at that. I closed my eyes and tried to let Mackenzie’s movements loosen all the stiffness I’d built up. I couldn’t blame it all on my wacky sleeping arrangements.

  “This feels great, Kenz. Thank you. I’m sorry you still have to work after being on your feet all day.”

  She tsked me. “This is never work for me. I like working on you! Now tell me what has you really worked up, other than how you slept last night. Cause I know you and no matter how many guys slept on you last night, all this? Ain’t just from that.”

  I exhaled a deep breath. “Where should I begin, Dr. McGowan?”

  She laughed. “How about with that tall drink of water, Devon? When’s he getting here?”

  I groaned. “Tomorrow, and I miss him already.”

  Star laughed. “I’m sure wherever he is, he’s feeling the same way. Babe, these two have been inseparable this past week. My boy’s got it so bad for her! I ain’t never seen him this affected.”

  I couldn’t help it. Star’s words had me smiling. I turned my head so I could look at him. He was laid out on my couch tapping his feet in the air along to some up-tempo blues playing across the street. Just then his phone buzzed and he pulled it out, a sly smile spreading across his face.

  “Dude! Where the fuck are you? You’re missing a great show! Yeah, I’m at her place. She’s naked and you should see Mackenzie going to work on her it is amaz...of course she’s not, dickhead! She’s getting a massage! I guess our little menage a quatre last night had her kinked up…What? She didn’t tell you?”

  By this time I was trying to cover myself. I scrambled for the phone. Mackenzie walked over, snatched it out of his hands, and gave him a swat on the ass. He was cracking up on the couch as she handed me the phone. I could hear Devon’s deep voice yelling on the other end.

  “Devon it’s me.”

  I heard him sigh on the other end and his voice got really soft. “Hey, beautiful. I miss you.”

  My cheeks were hurting from smiling so wide and I was able to tune out Mackenzie’s haranguing of Star just by picturing his delectable lips close to his phone.

  “I miss you, too. Where are you?”

  I heard voices on the other end and he spoke to one for a minute.

  When he came back on he said, “Sorry. I’m still at Daryl’s. So what’s this about a menage a quatre? Was I wrong to leave you alone with my boys?” His voice was playful so I knew he wasn’t mad.

  “Well, I kind of slept with them all. Is that going to be a problem?”

  He sighed. “If you mean sleeping in the true definition of the word, then no. If you mean the figurative translation, then I might have to kill them all and hide the bodies.”

  I giggled at that. “It was only sleep and not very good sleep. We watched ‘Rock n Roll High School’ and the last thing I remembered was you and me in the shower with your guitar. The next thing I know, Jade’s feet are tangled in my hair, mine were in his, he was squishing me, and I almost suffocated face down on the couch...I can’t even describe what a mess it was. So my bestie here is taking care of my twisted back for me until I can see you and you can do that thing where you kiss me and I go boneless.”

  That soft chuckle of his on the other end almost had me liquid on
the table.

  Mackenzie laughed and said, “Whatever you just did, Devon, it's making my job easier.”

  He laughed again and I sighed.

  “Everything ok over there,” I asked him.

  He cleared his throat. “Well, it’s a start. We’ve agreed I won’t dismember him and he’s confessed to being an enormous jackass. He's planning on groveling for your forgiveness. He flew out to L.A. this afternoon to see Sherry and he’ll be back Sunday night.” He sounded better but still tense.

  I hoped they had really made progress on healing their relationship. I’m not sure if their friendship could survive another blow up like this one.

  “I’m glad you talked and I’m glad everyone is getting away for a bit this weekend. Speaking of...”

  He answered, “Mmmm speaking of...I was thinking about that window you mentioned earlier. Just what is the likelihood of that window being open around 12:01?”

  A jolt went through me and Mackenzie smacked my ass.

  “Quit tensing up! Devon, you’re doing it wrong! I need relaxed.”

  He laughed and that sent me back on the path to liquid.

  “I think I could agree to that window. I had quite a long nap this afternoon, so I think I should be quite agreeable to that window.” I peeked over at Star and he looked confused. I winked at him and he just shook his head.

  “Perfect. I’ll see you at 12:01 on the nose. I can’t wait, chère.” His voice was so low and husky I felt myself getting warm all over.

  “Me too. Hurry.”

  I handed the phone to Mackenzie, who threw it to Star. He caught it and stepped outside to continue their dude conversation.

  “Wow, there’s a lot of physiological response going on here. Shall I assume that he’s as good as he sounds?”

  I chuckled. “Well, I think I’m about to find out.” I was excited and nervous and thrilled all at the same time.

  Mackenzie’s hands stilled for a moment. “He’s your first, isn’t he Jaylene.”