“Good morning. Thanks Betsy.” He says as he sits down and digs into his breakfast. Aunt Betsy replies with a smile and proceeds to clean the dishes. When breakfast is finished we all settle down in the living room with a hot drink and discuss what to do with the items we brought back from Clarabelle’s hide away last night.
“We obviously need to go through them and see what we have, but April’s surprise birthday party is today and I haven’t started organising anything yet.” I say as I think of the work load I have ahead of me.
“We will help you sort everything out so don’t worry. Has Duncan picked up that thing yet?” Asks Aunt Betsy referring to the present I had asked April’s boyfriend Duncan to pick up for me. I had called him the other day on my lunch break and told him what it was he was going to retrieve and bring straight back to Aunt Betsy’s.
“He drove down this morning to pick it up for me, he should be here soon.” I reply as I watch Caleb stand and walk out of the room. A minute later he returns and stands in the doorway with the bag from last night slung over his shoulder.
“Im gonna take this up to the attic for now until after everyone has left and we have had a chance to go through it.” He says before heading off up the stairs. We haven’t spoken about anything personal since our date night and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous as to where we stood with each other now. What I have decided though is to leave it to him and not worry myself about if’s and maybe’s.
“Im going to start setting things up, people are going to start arriving between four and five pm.” I tell Aunt Betsy.
“Ok well we better get cracking then if we hope to finish on time.” She replies. On second thoughts, I decide to send Aunt Betsy out to pick up the birthday cake and other bits and pieces. I had told Caleb I wanted to put up the Christmas decorations to surprise Aunt Betsy, to which he thought, was a good idea and volunteered to help. Caleb returns just as aunt Betsy leaves and I fill him in on the plan. For the next two hours we work together, moving furniture and putting up decorations. Caleb finishes up adding the little touches in the main room while I bring out the food and place it on the dining room table. Aunt Betsy arrives with the cake and places it in the only spot left on the table, in the centre as the master piece.
Finally everything is finished, all the decorations are up and all that is missing now are the guests and Duncan with my gift for April. Caleb motions for me to follow him to the door.
“I don’t think she has noticed yet.” He whispers in my ear. Shivers wrack my body for a split second before I get control of myself. Luckily Aunt Betsy doesn’t look as though she noticed anything. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for Caleb as he walks away smirking. I scowl at him when he glances at me and his smirk becomes a full blown grin before disappearing into the other room. Aunt Betsy following him, I smile shyly to myself and follow the others.
“Oh my goodness!” I hear Aunt Betsy exclaim as I enter the main room. Caleb stands off to one side as she takes in the decorations with a smile on her face. I stand next to Caleb just as the front door opens and Duncan walks in carrying my package. Aunt Betsy and I rush over to fuss over how beautiful it is, as Caleb brings over a piece of ribbon and ties a bow.
I thank Caleb before turning to Duncan and thanking him too for going out of his way to pick up my present for April. I take it from him and sit on the couch.
Aunt Betsy sits next to me and hands me a white box with a pink sash tied around the middle. Four holes have been placed near the top of the box for air circulation so I place my little bundle in the box and place the lid back on top, tying another pink sash across the top into a bow. Happy with my purchase, I take it up stairs and leave it in the guest bedroom I stayed in last night with the window open on latch to let fresh air circulate the room.
As I head back down stairs the doorbell rings and Aunt Betsy rushes out to let in the guests. I greet the first wave of people that come through the door with Aunt Betsy before going upstairs to get changed into something a little more party wear. I glance over my shoulder at the sound of footsteps on the stairs behind me to find Caleb taking them two at a time and a bag in his hand.
“You’re not the only one who needs to get changed princess.” He says mockingly as he over takes me. The scowl I aim at his back loses its effect when he doesn’t turn around to even acknowledge it, so I turn my attention to other attributes that are far more appealing than his front…Of course he would turn around in time to see me appraising his ass!
Red heat seeps into my cheeks as he laughs and I quickly enter my chosen bedroom. I mutter angry thoughts to myself; I always seem to embarrass myself around him. I decide to put Caleb out of my mind for the rest of the day. Duncan should have left by now to pick up April as the last of the guests arrive. With my watermelon maxi dress on, make-up and hair done, I make my way downstairs to where the party has begun.
I know everyone here as April and I hung out with pretty much the same people, so I mingle and enjoy myself. Everyone has dressed to impress, as you do at a party and are helping themselves to food and drinks. Keeping the alcohol down to a minimum, Aunt Betsy thought a cocktail punch would be the better option than having empty bottles clustered around the room. Of course that means there will be empty cups to cluster instead. I keep that thought to myself as Aunt Betsy walks up to me, already started on that cocktail.
“Amber you look beautiful dear.” She compliments me on my dress before moving her gaze behind me. I turn around to see who she is admiring to find Caleb walking towards us, his eyes glued to mine. My lips part on a sigh as I take in the ruggedness of his outfit. Simple jeans and short sleeved shirt on Caleb make him look like he just stepped off the front of a magazine! His hair is still damp from the shower which just adds to the effect. He stands in front of me and everyone else including Aunt Betsy fade into the background.
“You look stunning.” He says in that gruff manly voice that makes my skin break out in goose bumps and my lips tingle for a kiss. In the background I can hear soft music playing as Caleb takes my hands in his and pulls me gently into his embrace and swaying to the rhythm of the melody. Lost in the moment I do not hear my ringtone or the vibrating buzz of my mobile phone as Duncan texts me, letting me know they are pulling into the driveway. Luckily Caleb does notice and pulls my attention back from the dream and back into reality.
“Everyone April is here!” I try to whisper shout and turn off the music. Caleb and I go around the house telling people to hide. We make it back to the sitting room seconds before the front door opens and in comes a confused and slightly irritated April.
“I thought we were going to dinning Duncan, why are we at Amber’s aunties house.” I hear April ask Duncan. Duncan murmurs something about being patient before walking away from her and into the kitchen. I can see from my hiding place Duncan signalling for us to jump out on the count of three. One, two, three…
“SURPRISE!”
As April jumps the rest of us laugh. April joins in laughing as Duncan joins his blushing birthday girl and Aunt Betsy goes over to wish her happy birthday, soon followed by the rest of the guests. Caleb and I are last to go over and so miss the rush of bodies.
“I cannot believe you guys did this. Seriously thank you.” She says with a smile and a big hug. Caleb excuses himself as April and I catch up on some girl gossip. April then goes off to find Duncan leaving me by myself, which is fine with me.
“Who is that with Caleb?” Aunt Betsy asks from beside me just a second before an electric zing races down my arms and into my fingertips. With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I turn around slowly. And sure enough staring right back is Jaxon. He grins and waves but the sincerity does not reach his eyes, they are cold and calculating as Caleb leads him over to Aunt Betsy and me.
“I hope you do not mind me inviting one extra person Amber?” Says Caleb and without waiting for my response, not that he would have paid attention to it since it seems whenever Jaxon is around Caleb’s
attention is focused solely on him, Caleb introduces Jaxon to Aunt Betsy who seems just as concerned as I am, thankfully. Caleb and Jaxon move on leaving Aunt Betsy and I to discuss Jaxon.
“I see what you mean about getting negative vibes from that Jaxon fellow.” She comments watching his retreating back.
“Every time he comes close or touches me in some way, I get zapped. Like a magical zap or tingling. This time it went down my arms and into my fingers.” I say still mulling over the events.
“Have you spoken to Caleb about your opinion of Jaxon?” Aunt Betsy asks.
“I have thought about it, but without evidence I didn’t think it would do much good. Plus he has known Jaxon for a very long time and would probably be offended if I started accusing his friend of something less than honourable.” I say as I turn my attention back to her.
“I am not entirely convinced he is as honourable as he is making out to be dear. Things do not seem to be adding up for me.” She says and I look to her curiously waiting for her to continue.
“In all the years I have known Caleb, I have never known him to act the way he is now.” She says while watching the pair. I look over to see Caleb attention purely on Jaxon. Jaxon isn’t paying attention to whatever is being said though, no his full attention is on me…again. I frown at the annoying man but little good that does as he grins back at me. Something about the way he grins at me is creepy and as I catch people watching, the expressions on their faces are the same as mine.
I decide to have a word with Caleb as soon as I can get him alone. Hopefully at the end of the night after everyone leaves. I try to put Jaxon and Caleb out of my thoughts for the rest of the evening and enjoy myself. It seems the guys have other plans though as Caleb informs me that he and Jaxon are taking off to do their own thing. I take this opportunity to ask Caleb to speak with me in private.
I decide the attic would be the best place for this discussion as I lead him away from Jaxon. Caleb follows without a word as I open the attic door and close it behind us. Music can be heard in the background as we sit on the chase lounger at the far end of the room. Not coming up with a good way to get this conversation started I jump straight to the main point, rushing my words to get my confession like speech over with.
“I wanted to talk to you about Jaxon. He creeps me out, I don’t trust his intentions Caleb and to be honest I don’t really like you when he is around. It’s like you become a different person.” I say and pause to see his reaction, but Caleb as usual keeps his blank face firmly in place, keeping me guessing as to whether he is an actual human being with feelings or a robot sent to make my life miserly.
“What are you talking about Amber? I am the same person I have always been and Jaxon is an old friend that I haven’t seen in a really long time, so yes I have been making the effort to spend more time with someone else that is in the same predicament as me and understands what it’s like to be cursed and have no hope for the future, until now that is.” He replies which makes me feel a little guilty about bring any of this up, until I remember the look Jaxon gets in his eyes whenever he looks at me. Firming my belief that something more is going on, I try another way to persuading Caleb to listen and take me seriously.
“Ok then how do you explain the zap of energy I got from him that first night I met him and he shook my hand?” Thinking this is a valid point I am deeply wounded when Caleb is far too casual about it. Even though I haven’t told him about any of this before now, I still thought he would take my side.
“Was probably just a static shock or something.” He says impatiently. A little shocked and hurt I listen as he crushes my rose tinted view of him further into the ground.
“Look Amber, Jaxon is a cursed man just like me, who has had to do things he probably isn’t proud of just to get by and not lose his sanity in the process. So while you may think he is a creep and isn’t worth the gum scraped off the sole of your shoe, just remember that he is a very old friend of mine, one who has been through hell and back and who deserves a hell of a lot more respect than what you are giving him right now.” He says as I sit speechless. Caleb stands up and walks towards the door. As he reaches to pull the handle he turns around with disappointment lacing his features.
“I think it would be best if im not around for a while Amber, at least until we find some answers on how to deal with the curse.” With those parting words, Caleb opens the door and disappears downstairs.
I sit for a couple minutes before jumping up and running to the door, down the hallway to the banister and lean over the side, looking for Caleb. I spot him just as the front door opens and leaves, Jaxon following close on his heels. At the very last minute Jaxon looks back, straight at me and smirks as he too walks through the doorway, closing it behind him with a final click.
Dread settles over my head as a sinking feeling in my stomach makes itself known. I take my eyes off the front door and look for Aunt Betsy. Hovering near the entrance to the kitchen she looks to me with sadness and worry shadowing her eyes, no doubt mirroring my own.
I guess Caleb will have to watch his own back where Jaxon is concerned for the moment and I will watch mine. Jaxon on the other hand had better be prepared for all his secrets to be revealed, because there is no way I am going to rest until I find out what his real motives are and what they have to do with Caleb.
I turn around, putting Caleb from my mind for the time being. April still has her gifts to open so I find the birthday girl and sit her in the chair, with everyone surround her with their gifts. I watch as one by one a bag, pair of shoes, a coat etc. are all piled on the floor next to her.
Finally it’s my turn just as Duncan brings the box we wrapped earlier, I take the box from him and walk up to April, sitting the precious gift onto her lap. I watch as curiosity lights up her features when she unwraps the bow from the lid and lifts off the top. Gasps from the women and chuckles from the men resounds throughout the room, but April has my full attention as she stares dumbfounded at the contents, as a tiny fury head pops out of the box and takes in the surrounding people. Looking down at the tiny kitten in her lap April’s eyes begin to tear up. I rush over to give her a hug before pulling away, taking the box with me and leaving the little female Savannah kitten behind. April mouths thank you before directing her full attention to the tiny bundle of fur exploring everywhere she can reach.
These are the moments life is worth living for. The people who make you feel complete, whether bonded to you by blood or something stronger like the friendship I share with April. I silently vow to myself to find out what is going on with Caleb and to find a way to break his curse. But for right this moment, I enjoy watching my best friend bask in the love of the people around her and join in teasing our newest addition to the family with a piece of string.
THE END
The Celestial Curse Page 16