Flirting With Magick

by Bennett, Leigh

  “Hmm.” Di put on her thinking voice. “Maybe you should have just spoken to him—gotten it out of the way."

  Kate had thoughtfully kept me posted on how he was whenever she went along to the band’s performances as Nathan’s dutiful girlfriend. She missed having me along, though she understood why I didn’t go. She hadn’t seen him with any other girls at PeaSeas but admitted to having left earlier than he did, so she couldn't be sure nothing happened once she and Nathan had gone for the night. She offered to ask him, but as it wasn't any of my business anyway, I told her not to worry about it. Sean’s words echoed in my head. It was bad enough hearing about him ‘messing about with a girl,’ let alone seeing it with my own eyes, and I certainly didn't need any confirmation. Why did he have to say something? Couldn't he have just kept me in blissful oblivion? Of course not, Sean was being a nice, caring friend. Damn him!

  ***

  The Reckless Choice gig had been all Rachel could talk about that week. As much as I loved how she liked Kate and Dianne, I was getting sick to death of hearing how awesome the band was.

  “Abby.” I was relieved when Ray called me into his office and waved a brochure at me as I sat on the other side of his desk. “Bronwyn would normally be the one to explain this, but it appears it slipped her mind before she went away.” He took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, fixing me with his authoritative gaze. “Laura is going to be taking some time off for long service leave. Naturally, Pippa will be taking over her position, but Bronwyn and I were thinking it might be worthwhile getting you into accounts to help her out.” He pushed the brochure in front of me and took off his glasses, wiping them on a piece of cloth he retrieved from his drawer. “Pippa could probably train you in the accounting program we use but, because she’ll be backed up with Laura’s work as well, we thought it might be better if you take this course. If you could please book yourself in for next week, I’m sure Rachel can handle the reception and front office on her own. It should be fairly quiet with both Bronwyn and myself away.”

  I felt a trickle of excitement at the change of work scene. “Sure, thanks, Ray,” I said, standing up to leave.

  “Well, that’s that then. Thank you, Abby.” He took his time replacing the cloth neatly in his drawer and looked through the papers in front of him, straightening them perfectly with a loud tap on his desk before handing them to me. “Could you please give these to Rachel to type up for me? I would like you to spend as much time as you can in accounts this week, learning the ropes.”

  ***

  Besides seeing her at the weekly jaunt to the local pub, I didn’t really have a lot to do with Pippa. She was a couple of years older than me and lived with Carl, her on again, off again boyfriend of five years, who I understood was often away for work. Rachel had warned me when I first started at Avalon about how she could be a bitch, but I was yet to experience it firsthand. At work, her job was to take over the debtors and creditors, leaving Laura with the payroll and bookkeeping.

  She greeted me warmly when I knocked on the door of the tiny office she shared with Laura. “Take a seat.” She gestured towards the vacant chair. ”Laura’s just out finalising her trip overseas, lucky thing.”

  “Where’s she off to?” I sat down and gazed around me. The female- only accounts room rarely, if ever, had visitors of the business kind, as most meetings were carried out in the boardroom. This allowed them to give it the personal touch, which contrasted greatly with the extreme businesslike and practical look of the rest of the office. Family photos and children’s drawings dotted the wall above Laura’s desk while the divider above Pippa’s desk was covered with greeting cards, happy snap photos of Pippa and her friends, and wedding and party invitations.

  “All over,” Pippa answered. “She’s been planning it for the last year. She’s starting out in Asia then moving on to Africa, Europe, and America before coming home. Oh, hello.”

  Sean had stuck his head in the doorway. “Pipsy, Absy. How’s it all going?”

  “I only just got here,” I replied, cringing at my new nickname as Pippa winced at hers.

  “Just wanted to let you know I can’t make it to lunch today.” He directed his gaze at me and ignored Pippa’s curious stare as he leaned against the door jamb. “Fucking dickhead from Lennon’s cancelled Friday and shifted our meeting to today. How about tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, that’s cool,” I replied casually, opening my diary and scribbling out that day’s entry and rewriting it for the next.

  “Great! Love to stay and chat, but I’ve got shitloads of work to do. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Well, that works out well, because Laura and I were going to ask you to lunch to welcome you to the team today,” Pippa said after Sean left. She narrowed her eyes. “So are you and he...?”

  “No,” I stated firmly. “I knew you were going to ask. But no, we're not.”

  “Well, that’s good. I was going to say you seem to have the monopoly on the cute men at the moment.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, there was that gorgeous rock star guy at the pub who obviously has a thing for you. They were fabulous the other night by the way, and now Sean, whom we all know isn’t exactly hard on the eyes. And now Rachel tells me your ex wants you back."

  “Oh, God.” I said, sighing and pulling at my hair in frustration. “Okay, to get it all out in the open, I’m no longer seeing Scott, not that we were really dating anyway. Sean is just a workmate, and at this stage, I have no plans to get back with my ex. So it’s actually all pretty boring really.” I made a mental note to not leave Rachel alone with Dianne and Kate ever again.

  “Okay then.” She turned back to her file.

  “And he’s not a rock star yet, anyway. And he hasn’t got a thing for me,” I continued, facepalming. I really should learn to shut up sometimes.

  “Whatever.” Pippa, now bored, concentrated on the figures in the file in front of her and made some corrections before bringing it to me. “So,” she slapped it down in front of me. “Here are all the debtors. Your new job for today is to call them and find out where their money is.”

  After an hour, I was still having no luck with even a “cheque is in the mail’ lie from any of the debtors. Each time, the appropriate person to speak to was on the phone, away, or otherwise unavailable to talk.

  “Are they usually this hard to get a hold of?” I asked Pippa.

  “Yep,” she answered without looking up.

  “No wonder you’re handing this job over to me. Don’t worry, I’ll make it my goal to have as much in as I can before I hand it back,” I promised.

  “Good stuff!” Laura appeared in the door, looking relaxed, as though her holiday had already started. “Sounds like everything is perfectly under control! Are you ladies ready for lunch?”

  ***

  I didn’t realise how hungry I was until I smelt the cheesy aroma of the chicken parmigiana placed in front of me at the pub. I picked up a bunch of chips and shoved them into my mouth.

  “Ooh, Abby.“ Pippa waved her finger at me. “Maybe you should be careful with what you eat before your big lunch date with Sean tomorrow.” She smirked at me as Laura dropped her bag in surprise. I was beginning to understand what Rachel was talking about when it came to Pippa's bitchiness.

  “Lunch date?” Laura picked up her bag again and replaced the folder of travel documents she was going through. “With Sean?” She smiled at me questioningly.

  I glared at Pippa. “It’s nothing that exciting,” I explained to Laura, irritated at having to explain at all.

  “He’s a lovely guy.” Laura winked. “And very attractive. I should hope it gets exciting by the time I get back.”

  I rolled my eyes and concentrated on my meal. Sean was lovely. And attractive. I thought of how I was almost certain he was going to ask me out, and how I wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted him to—then the slight disappointment when he didn’t. Where did that come from? I felt my heart drop lower in
my chest when I thought of what he did say; that he had seen Scott with someone else. I quickly pushed the thought out of my head. It wasn't supposed to bother me now.

  ***

  Sean arrived punctually at the accounts room the following day to take me to lunch. To my surprise, rather than the local pub as I had expected, he parked in front of a restaurant famous for its snobby waiters and exorbitant prices, which were directly proportional to its minuscule servings.

  “Is this where we’re going?” I asked, bewildered, as we got out of the car.

  “My shout,” he confirmed, holding the glass door open for me.

  “Gosh, this is nice.” I looked around as we were seated at a table by the wall, and the waiter (who incidentally wasn’t particularly rude or snotty at all) poured water into our glasses and placed the serviettes on our laps. “When you said we would go out to lunch, I was kind of expecting just the usual pub meal,” I confessed. “I’ve never been here.” I tried not to appear too awestruck as I took in the abundance of white and gold. The lunchtime crowd appeared to be mainly sophisticated suits, perhaps carrying out and winning business deals through the subconscious bribery of a high priced lunch.

  “How do you like Accounts?” He sipped his beer and leaned back.

  “Fine,” I replied, gazing at his deep blue eyes and observing that he was looking at me in a way I hadn’t noticed before. We always had fun together at work, but today he was taking on a more serious demeanour.

  “How’s Pippa? Is she making you feel welcome?”

  “She’s okay. What is it with her? Rachel warned me about her when I started, but I haven’t really noticed anything to worry about.” I paused before continuing. “Although she did make a snide remark about us having lunch today.”

  “She’s nice, but she can say things to cause trouble sometimes,” he explained. “She’s probably just bored while Carl’s away.”

  “Yeah. It’s not like I’m going to divulge any deep, dark secrets to her.“

  “Maybe not.“ He laughed, the Sean I knew at work was gradually returning. “She doesn’t mind a bit of gossip. Don’t be surprised if the whole office has us married off when we get back, but don't worry, everyone knows what she's like.”

  "Good to know." We carried on our lunch with our usual banter. I also found my huge pasta dish contrary to the rumours.

  “I can’t eat any more.” I groaned, pushing the plate away and rubbing my stomach.

  “Wuss,” he teased. “You left a prawn.” He stabbed it with his fork, quickly eating it before I could object, then pushed the remaining penne around my plate in search of more. He licked his lips in mock ecstasy and offered me his rather empty plate of chicken risotto.

  "You idiot!" I giggled unashamedly, enjoying the familiarity we had acquired.

  ***

  Back in the car, headed towards work, Sean’s subdued behaviour returned, and he seemed deep in thought. At a slow set of traffic lights, I opened my mouth to ask what was wrong when something, or rather someone, caught my eye, and my heart jumped into my throat. Josh was walking along the shopping strip with a guy I recognised from his old job—Mick, I was sure his name was. Josh’s light brown hair was slightly longer than I remembered, and my chest surprisingly ached with a strange longing as I gazed at his fit, broad-shouldered frame gesturing at a table outside a trendy café. As I wasn’t sure whether Josh was working, I assumed he could be trying to get his old job back. I watched Mick's blonde head shake with laughter as he flirted with a waitress; Josh merely looked bored as the waitress turned her attention to him. I was thankful that he didn’t have a euphoric look about him, as though he had received a phone call from someone like, say, Jemma. Maybe she didn’t call. Or maybe she did, and he wasn’t interested. The lights changed, and Sean drove off, oblivious to what I had just seen. A knot formed in my stomach as I realised the very reason I'd been avoiding any face to face contact with Josh; his hold on me had not waned as I had hoped, and a part of me still cared for him. I guessed some of it was due to lack of closure—it all happened so suddenly. I inadvertently let out a despondent sigh as Sean rolled into the carpark below our office.

  “Are you alright?” He spoke for the first time since we left the restaurant.

  “I was going to ask you the same thing. You’ve been very quiet.”

  “Just work stuff,” he revealed, pulling to a stop in his usual spot. He kept his eyes downcast, in thought once more. I reached towards the door handle. “Actually, Abby...” He placed his hand on mine to slow my exit. “There’s something I was thinking about.” He gazed intently into my eyes and leaned towards me slowly. I sat motionless as he brushed my cheek softly with his thumb and placed a tender kiss on my lips.

  I forced Josh's image away, refused to let Scott’s enter, and closed my eyes, enjoying the moment, allowing my burgeoning attraction towards Sean to dictate my response to the feel of his soft, warm lips and the light tickle of his stubble against my chin. I couldn’t think of a thing to say when we broke apart, and I opened my eyes.

  “So...” Red-faced, he moved away from me and bashfully fiddled with the buttons on the dashboard “Are you doing anything Friday night?”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “RACHEL WILL BE HAPPY about this.” I sat back in Sean’s dark leather couch, careful not to spill my glass of wine as we wound down from the week on Friday evening. “Did you know she’s been trying to set us up since I started at Avalon?”

  “I had a feeling that was what was going on when she first tried to get me to the pub.” Sean took a sip of his drink and resumed chopping chicken. He had changed out of his work clothes into a casual T-shirt and jeans. The fitness of his body was more evident when out of his formal shirt and tie, and watching him in the comfort of his executive apartment, he had a cool, relaxed air about him. His cocky salesman pretentiousness was missing, which made him sexier than usual. Sean’s neat, expensively furnished, one bedroom apartment on the eleventh floor of a secured, inner city block, was the complete opposite of Scott and Luke’s cluttered, seventies-built bungalow.

  When he first opened the door, I had felt somewhat overdressed in my strappy silver heels and cleavage enhancing cami top, which I had underhandedly brought to the accounting course and secretly changed into in my car, letting my hair loose before I drove to Sean’s. The lacy pink silk under my jacket felt exquisite against my bare skin, as opposed to the stiff collared cream shirt I had been wearing earlier.

  “Why don’t you wear tops like that to work?” were the first words out of his mouth.

  “And give Ray a heart attack?” I answered before he kissed me softly. I found myself again enjoying his lips on mine, although admittedly still more out of politeness than passion.

  “God, I’ve been waiting to do that all day.” He led me inside and offered me a drink. "I got that wine you said you like."

  I watched him add some herbs to the chicken before placing it in the oven and wondered why on earth it was taking me so long to look at him as more than a colleague. The kissing was lovely, but there was something missing. Maybe I was still a bit hung up on Scott. I didn’t think it had helped seeing Josh the other day, either. “Can I help you with anything?” I got up, allowing the silver heels their full advantage under the charcoal trousers and especially loving the extra height they gave me as I stood next to him in the kitchen.

  “Nope. All done,” he answered, leading me by the hand back to the couch. “Sit. So how did the course go? Did you wear this?” He fingered the lacework along the collar of my top, lightly tickling my collarbone.

  “No.” I laughed, swatting his hand away playfully. “It was alright. Just learning an accounting program. Got me out of the office at least.”

  “I missed you,” he said soberly.

  “You did not!” I teased back.

  “Nah, you’re right. Stupid tender document was doing my head in. Actually, it was probably a good thing you weren’t there. Pippa kept dropping hints about you to m
e whenever anyone else was in earshot. Poor Rachel looked as though she would fall off her chair. I'm glad the bosses are both away.” He placed his hand meaningfully on my knee. “You don’t mind keeping this quiet for now, do you?”

  “Not at all.” I had just drained my glass and rejected his offer of another when the buzzing oven timer interrupted the rest of the conversation. I was glad to keep our relationship to myself for a while.

  After praising him on his cooking prowess, dinner conversation inevitably turned to the subject of past lovers.

  “There was someone, not long before you arrived at Avalon.” He confessed. “But that’s over now... obviously. And you?”

  “Nothing worth talking about,” I replied, eager to get both Scott and Josh out of my head and try to concentrate on the here and now with Sean, even though I wasn’t in the least bit curious about his last girlfriend. The problem was that the more I tried, the harder it was. During the formality of the candlelit dinner, the romantic mood music, and Sean’s lovely and thoughtful attempts at being the perfect host, I found myself yearning for the easy beer and pizza nights in front of the TV—the ones I had with Josh as well as those which came so easily with Scott. Don’t get me wrong; I loved romance. Josh, especially, had a trick of surprising me on a Friday afternoon with a bunch of flowers at the office, then whisking me off to a bed and breakfast in the mountains or by the sea. Other times he would surprise me with a homemade, gourmet meal when I arrived home from working late or from a shopping trip with the girls. Even Scott going out for muffins for breakfast had a tender mood to it. Tonight, as sweet as Sean’s efforts were, the romantic atmosphere felt forced; he was trying too hard. I went over and over in my head what I found attractive about him.