I set the outfit on the bed and sat next to them, staring. A small rush of excitement raced through my veins. Yes. I was going to do this.
And I wasn’t even going to iron them.
As I slid into the new clothes, I squelched any misgivings and worries that appeared. No one was going to think I wasn’t serious about my life simply because I wore jeans. No one was going to laugh at me, think I was a tramp, or that I had poor self-esteem. Those voices in my head had to go.
I’d been listening to them for so long, I thought the voices belonged to me. But now that I was defying them, they took on a different tone.
They sounded like my parents.
I shrugged off the feeling I was being judged and smoothed my new pink tee over my hips. I felt good. Comfortable.
This was okay.
I was okay.
With my Magic-Vac in hand and my sweater over it as camouflage, I left my room and went off to clean up the streets.
Chapter 10
Now that I had to be visible doing my job, I had to time things carefully. I grabbed a cup of tea at the cafe across from the fire station and sat at the same table where I’d met Vanessa. Since the feathers were fairly thick there due to being so close to the station, I kept the vacuum on and let the magic get sucked into the fresh bag I put on it.
The bag filled three times while I sat there. As I clipped the fourth bag into place, sirens went off across the street, and the shiny red trucks pulled out, followed by the ambulance. The garage doors came down, and the place looked empty.
I waited for a few minutes to see if there would be any more activity, drained my cup, tossed it in the trash, and crossed the street. Having already been inside, I walked around the building to the parking lot and entered through the side door.
“Hello?” I stepped quietly, listening for the sound of other people.
As I walked, the Magic-Vac 5000 whirred and hummed. Clouds of feathers gathered and ducked beneath my cardigan to the vacuum hidden underneath it.
The hallway was empty, though I could hear activity off toward the business side of things where the offices and dispatch area were. Around the corner, the rec room stood empty with the television on. I blinked in the dim light until I could see better. A small form sat curled on the sofa. After a moment, I realized it was Oliver.
He sat up. “Hi. Everybody went out on a call.”
I wasn’t sure what to do. “Oh. Well, I…uh…came to do some cleaning.”
Oliver watched me for a moment, then his gaze moved to my cardigan and his eyes grew wide. “What’s that?”
“What’s what?”
“Under your sweater. In your hand.” He pointed and nudged forward on the couch.
At that moment, the humming sound changed on the vacuum to let me know the bag was full. I pulled off the cardigan and shut off the machine.
Oliver had crafted the love bomb. He’d been able to see the magic spilling out of the toilet—otherwise why would he have looked so upset when we’d removed it? It stood to reason he could still see the magic, which meant he saw it all get sucked under my sweater.
I moved toward the couch and sat in a chair across from the kid. “You can see stuff, can’t you?” I was matter-of-fact as I unclipped the full bag and swapped it out with an empty one. I flipped the switch and let the vacuum on the table to do its collecting.
Oliver watched for a moment, then looked up at me. “You see it, too?”
I gave him a long look, then finally nodded. “Where’d you get the spell?”
His face went pale. “How did you…” He swallowed. “Please don’t tell my mom.”
“Cross my heart. This isn’t the kind of information we want to get out.” I leaned forward and held my hand out. I’d decided that being truthful with this kid might be my best chance at clearing all this up. “I’m Ellen. I’m a Cupid, and I was sent here to fix your spell.”
His eyebrows rose in surprise. “Like on Valentine’s day?”
I chuckled. “I work year round. But yes.”
“You don’t have any wings.” He looked me up and down as if unsure that I was telling the truth.
“I do, but a friend of mine took them for awhile. I was here yesterday with them on, which is why you didn’t see me. And why I know your name is Oliver.” I reached into my bag and pulled out my small bow and quiver of arrows to show him. “See? Just like on Valentine’s day.” I slid them back in the bag and closed the flap.
His expression was thoughtful as he mulled over this information. “You know, I didn’t mean for it to make so much magic.”
I nodded. “I know. Those recipes are actually meant to go wrong. Sort of. They’re not from my department. The people at the Chaos department make them up.”
“Oh.” He smiled as if he understood what I was telling him. “What about…” his smile disappeared. “Never mind.”
“No. Tell me. You must’ve set it off for a reason.” The bag was full again, so I pulled it off and replaced it. When I was done, I glanced at Oliver. He still hadn’t answer my question. “Look. If you can’t tell a Cupid what your love wish is, you can’t tell anybody.”
He bit his lip. “You want a drink?” He hopped off the couch and went to the kitchen area.
“Sure. Thanks.”
He came back with two cans, handed me one, and popped open one for himself. “So, those feather things are the magic, right?”
“Yes.” I pulled the tab on my can and took a sip. “And they’re matching up all the wrong people. It’s pretty messy.”
He gave me a sad expression. “I’m sorry.”
“The spell wasn’t for you, was it?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“You and your mom live alone?”
He nodded and sipped his Coke. “Yeah.”
“I see.” I moved the vacuum to face another direction. The feathers in the room were growing scarce. “I’ll tell you what, Oliver. Let me clean up the magic and undo the bad matches it caused. Then I’ll see what I can do for your mom before I leave town. Okay?”
He brightened. “Okay.”
“And you know we keep it all a secret, right?”
He crossed his heart. “Nobody would believe me anyway.”
“True. And that’s the way we want to keep it.” I exchanged the vacuum bag. “This is working really well. I think one or two more bags may do the trick.”
“You need bigger bags.” He took a swig, then belched.
“Out of the mouths of babes.” I rose with the vac in my hand and moved around the station. I’d been wrong. It took three more bags to get it all.
As I finished with the last corner, the garage door rumbled to life. I looked at Oliver with alarm, waved at him, and headed toward the side door. At the last second, I bolted back and jotted my number on a slip of paper.
“Call me if you need me, okay?” I ruffled his hair, which he probably hated, and ran out the door where I’d come in. Straight into the rock-hard abs of a delicious smelling small-appliance repairman.
“Whoa, what’s the hurry?” He held a box aloft in one hand. The other hand rested on my shoulder after I’d bounced off of him and nearly fell on the ground.
“I’m so sorry. You were just leaving. I mean, I was. I was just leaving.”
“It’s you. The tiny woman with the tiny vacuum.”
For a moment, I closed my eyes and prayed the gods would smite me or turn me into a warthog or something. I opened my eyes again, and he was still there.
“It’s me!” Then I giggled. It was a weird, high-pitched, awkward giggle that made me curse the gods who had refused to smite me a moment earlier. I held up the Magic-Vac 5000. “Just finishing up some cleaning.”
He took a step back. “Oh. You got it working.”
“When I charged it, it came back to life.”
“I see.” He scratched his jaw. “Well, I did order parts for it, so if you have trouble, you should bring it back.”
I smiled up at h
im while dolphins did tailspins in my stomach. “I’ll be sure to do that. Thank you.”
“No. You know what?” He frowned and set his box on the ground. A toaster, a hairdryer, and what looked to be a waffle iron sat inside. He reached into his wallet and pulled out a card. He flipped it over and wrote something on it with a pen he scrounged from the box, then handed the card to me. “Call me if it conks out on you. My, uh, private number is on the back, just in case.” He grinned at me.
“In case…I have a small-appliance emergency?” I read the card. His handwriting was messy and difficult to read, but I could make out the numbers.
“Yeah. Or, you know.” He stopped and rubbed the back of his neck. “In case you want to catch a movie or get a drink. Or something.” He grabbed his box and walked off toward the building.
I watched him, my eyes narrowed into suspicious slits. I didn’t see any feathers attached to him. Why would he act like that? My goodness, his backside looked good in those jeans.
The short walk to the hotel was a blur. I crossed the lobby in a daze, barely noticing the woman at the front desk, or the two elderly people making out in the elevator. I probably should have, in hindsight. They might have been there on vacation or their honeymoon, or they might have been covered in feathers that needed to be removed.
I let myself into my room, humming quietly. The vacuum bag needed to be changed, so I swapped it out, then plugged it into the charger. I’d given it quite the workout. I was betting Wyatt worked out a lot. He’d have to for those abs to be so solid.
“Why are you grinning?” Vanessa sat in the chair by the bed.
I jumped. “What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you to get here so we can play dress-up. But apparently, you started without me.”
“What?” I looked down at my outfit. “Oh. Yeah. Well, I needed the sweater as camouflage, and the rest sort of spiraled out of control.”
She snorted. “Jeans and a T-shirt. Sure. You are out of control.” She tilted her head and gave me a strange, curious look. “What have you been up to?”
“Cleaning.” I shrugged and turned away.
“What’s that?”
“What’s what?” I dug in my messenger bag and pulled out the bags of feathers to line them up on the table. I’d need to dissolve the magic before I could use the bags again. I was running out of empty ones.
Vanessa moved like a wind goddess and blew across the room before I realized she’d even twitched. She swiped the business card from my back pocket and took it to the window where there was more light.
“You little tree nymph! Is this the Wyatt who took your vacuum?”
I nodded. “Please don’t lose that. I might need it.”
“Oh, sure. For your vacuum, right?” She laughed. “Gods, I love the randomness of the world.”
I frowned. “That’s not random at all. He’s a repairman. He thinks I have a malfunctioning machine. He gave me the card because he wants my business.”
She snickered. “He wants your business alright.”
I ignored her. The weird, giddy feeling I’d had when I walked in was fading. As much as I resented it, I was also grateful. I needed to bring myself back to earth. I wasn’t some schoolgirl with a crush. I was a Cupid with a job to do.
And a date. A sensible, suitable date.
I sighed. “Okay. I suppose we should get this over with. What should I wear tonight?”
Vanessa grinned and cracked her knuckles. “Excellent question.”
Chapter 11
Stuart came to my room to pick me up. When I opened the door, his eyes grew wide and he had to clear his throat. “You look lovely.”
I smiled. “Thank you. You look very dapper.”
He did, too. He wore dark blue slacks, a light blue short-sleeved shirt, and a blue and yellow knitted sweater vest. His shoes were brown loafers. All very sensible.
“Shall we?” He held out his elbow, and we made our way to the elevator. “I made reservations in the hotel restaurant. Since I’m an employee, I get a fifteen percent discount. Plus, they know me, so we’ll probably get free cheese sticks. Do you like cheese sticks?”
“Yes, of course.” I leaned against the wall as the elevator doors closed. “Who doesn’t like cheese sticks?”
He pressed the button for the lobby. “Well, not everyone. Some people are lactose intolerant, you know. I wouldn’t want to cause you any gastro-intestinal distress. We could just as easily get free nachos, I suppose.”
I wondered if I should point out there was cheese on nachos, but decided the entire subject needed to be forgotten. “Dallas seems to be a very nice city. Have you lived here long?”
The doors opened and he led me down the hall to the restaurant. It was dimly lit, with several tall tables with tall stools by the bar, and booths lining the walls.
“Stuart!” A grinning brunette with freckles spattered across her nose stood at the hostess podium. She glanced at me, then looked away. “Are you here for dinner, Stuart? Table for two?”
“Yes, please.” He turned to me. “Ellen, this is Michelle. Michelle, Ellen.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” I contemplated holding my hand out to shake it, but decided this probably wasn’t the moment for that particular gesture. Especially with the look of distaste Michelle had on her face.
Instead, I wiped my sweaty hand on the leg of my jeans and followed her to a booth in the back. As I slid into my seat, she gave me another calculating once-over. I felt stupid in the high heels Vanessa had made me wear, and naked in the purple tank. Seriously, the only thing holding my shirt on me was a few strings. I might as well be wearing one of my camisoles out in public.
As I took the menu from her, I decided Michelle was a horrible person. I’d felt pretty and confident before I’d left my hotel room. Now I wanted to climb under the table and hide.
“In answer to your question,” Stuart said, opening his menu, “I’ve always lived here. When my parents decided to move to the suburbs, I took over the apartment we’d been living in. So, I’m living in the same place I’ve lived since I was born.” He closed his menu and leaned forward with a conspiratorial whisper. “It’s rent controlled.”
“Oh.” I had no idea how to react to that. “How nice.” I scanned the menu. It was the usual mixture of steak, seafood, and pasta. I contemplated the salmon, but it was pricey, and I had a feeling Stuart would be happier if I went for something cheaper.
“See anything you like?” He peered over my menu. “The penne pasta in vodka sauce is very good.”
Just as I thought. Okay, but that was fine, wasn’t it? It was good for a guy to be frugal. It showed self-control and depth of character. He planned for the future. “That sounds nice. I’ll have that, then.”
A woman appeared wearing black pants and shirt with a black apron around her waist. “Hi Stuart. It’s good to see you tonight. We missed you yesterday.” She slid two glasses of ice water in front of us, then smiled at me. “I’m Sherry, and I’ll be taking care of you tonight.” She winked at me. “Don’t let Stuart get too rowdy, okay?”
Stuart looked appalled at the idea, and I accidentally snorted. I couldn’t imagine him getting rowdy if he won the lottery.
“Sherry, don’t be ridiculous.” His face turned pink. He held up his menu. “We’re going to start with the cheese sticks, if you don’t mind.” He gave her a sideways look and she nodded.
Apparently, we were getting those free cheese sticks after all. How exciting.
I glanced past Sherry and saw Michelle at her station watching us with a sour look.
“And what can I get you to drink?” Sherry had a pen out with a small pad of paper.
“We’ll just start with water, thanks.” Stuart took a sip of his, I supposed to be sure it was what he wanted. He didn’t bother to ask me. “And we’re ready to order the entree, as well.”
“Excellent.” Sherry glanced at me for my order, but I didn’t get the chance.
“Elle
n will have the penne pasta. Annnd…” He drew out the word as if not quite decided. “I’ll have the salmon.” He handed her his menu, then reached for mine and handed it over, too.
Sherry jotted down our order and left without another word.
“Now.” Stuart folded his hands on the table. “Where were we? Oh, right. My apartment. You should come see it before you leave town. You’d like it. It’s what they call retro. That means it imitates a style from the recent past. Except it doesn’t imitate it. It is from the past. I’ve managed to keep all the furniture from when I was a kid in great shape.”
He droned on about his brown couch, his leather recliner, and his genuine Formica kitchen table until the cheese sticks arrived. They were a little soggy, but they were still fried cheese, and they gave us something else to talk about other than his beige velour beanbag chair.
“You know.” Stuart took a bite of cheese stick and pulled, trailing a gloopy string that sagged until it hit his plate. “Mozzarella is a very young cheese. It’s not aged and it’s not cured. So the protein structures in it are very stretchy. That’s why it does this.” He pulled the cheese apart, arm length, for emphasis.
“How interesting.” I bit into the hot cheese and chewed. “Do you know a lot about cheese?” Why did I ask that? I shoved the rest of the cheese in my mouth in a panic. I’d given him a new topic. And it wasn’t any more interesting than the previous one.
I was certain I was in Tartarus being tortured for my life’s mistakes.
If he’d had an extensive knowledge of cheese making, that might’ve been interesting. No. He wanted to share with me that there were roughly two thousand types of cheese, and he’d memorized all their names. Alphabetically.
By the time my pasta arrived, he was on gorgonzola and only paused because Sherry had put food in front of him.
She held up a plastic box with a hand crank. “Would you like some freshly grated parmesan on your pasta?”
“Oh, please, no.” I worried I’d never be able to eat cheese again.
I didn’t remember much of the rest of the date. At some point, he asked if I’d like to share a piece of cheesecake with him, but I declined, both on principal and on the idea that it was more cheese. I didn’t want a lecture on how cream cheese was made.
Dallas Fire & Rescue: Emergency Cupid (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Mt. Olympus Employment Agency: Cupid Book 1) Page 5