290
“Your secret is safe with me,” he said equally serious, and she looked at him in surprise.
“Secret?”
“That you have goddess lips.” He slipped forward and nibbled her bottom lip with his. She squeaked and gently pushed him back.
“You are incorrigible!” she moaned, then engaged her glamor. With a smile she couldn’t hide slipping onto her lips, she let herself out of the bathroom and closed the door. He dropped his glamor as it was the only way to dry off properly.
He heard the door behind him open, and he glanced back.
“Croo?”
“Ah…”
The twins weren’t taking stop for an answer this time.
>>>>>
Dayshia was pacing in her living room, and Michelle Beaumont was reading her book in her favorite chair in the corner. She looked up to see the dark beauty staring at her phone.
“Are you expecting the phone to call him for you?” she asked gently.
Dayshia glanced at her roommate in frustration. Michelle sighed.
“Call him! You’re wearing a groove in the rug.”
“Fine!” Dayshia gasped and pressed Henry’s contact entry on her cell.
It rang three times, and she was about to hang up when he answered. “Hi, Dayshia!”
“Henry! Hi! How are you?”
There was the slightest pause. “I’m good! You?”
“Great! Couldn’t be better! How was your day?”
She could hear the smile in his voice. “It was a really good day. I went to Mahati’s, and the Kings came over so Eleanor and I could heal Kali’s injuries. She looks a lot better. We couldn’t remove the oldest scarring as that would have been more traumatic than leaving them. When we were done, she felt so much better. She’ll have to see a counselor for the emotional toll her imprisonment took, but Mahati is excellent support for her.”
Dayshia was shocked. “What? Kali was abused in prison? We heard she was missing, but no one said she was in prison!”
“No, no! She was captured during the Skyfall Event when her glamor failed. She was chained up in the basement of a torture club with other Hidden Races who’d also lost their glamors. The club was run by a demon. I used a spell to find her, then I freed her and brought her home.”
“Oh my god! That’s awful!” Dayshia said.
“Yeah,” Henry agreed. “But she’ll get better with help from her friends and family.”
“Speaking of family,” Dayshia winced at her clumsy redirection, and Michelle covered her mouth to quiet her giggles. Dayshia waved her hand to silence her amused roommate. “I was invited to dinner tonight at my sister’s. She asked me to bring you along. Are you available? I know it’s really short notice, and as she’s in Chicago, we’d need to use that Magic Door thing you used from the Capitol building… you know what, just saying it out loud, I can tell it’s a bad idea-”
“Dayshia! It’s fine. I’d like to meet them!” he exclaimed, interrupting her.
She blinked. “Really? It’s okay?”
“Of course, what time?” he asked.
“Could we be there at eight?” she asked.
“I’ll pick you up at your place at two minutes to,” Henry replied.
Dayshia giggled sweetly.
“Was that a giggle? So adorable!” Henry said with a grin in his voice.
“Shut up!” Dayshia squeaked and hung up. She stared in shock at Michelle. “Oh my god! I just hung up on him! I gotta call him back and apologize!”
“I seriously don’t believe Henry will be upset,” Michelle chuckled. “If it makes you feel better, you can apologize when he gets here.”
Dayshia nodded as she bit her lip. “What am I going to wear?” she shrieked and rushed off to her room as Michelle watched with a grin.Content is property © NôvelDrama.Org.
-=-
Henry was standing outside Michelle and Dayshia’s unit just before eight. He was wearing a body-hugging black turtleneck sweater under a grey dinner jacket and slacks with black leather shoes. Tish picked the outfit from an ad she saw online. She’d clued him in on the importance of making a good impression on this date.
He had to admit that he hadn’t picked up on the event’s significance and originally had a more casual outfit picked out. Tish straightened that out immediately.
The door pulled open, and Dayshia stood before him in a boldly striped gold and black silk dress. Her hair was once more a huge mane of dense curls calling out for his hands to go exploring.
“Dayshia, you look del-amazing!” he gushed.
“What were you going to say there?” she asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.
His face warmed up. “Delicious. I was going to say delicious.”
She burst into giggles, and her eyes told him she was very pleased. Those lovely eyes swept down his body as well. “You look pretty damn delicious yourself,” she grinned.
They stood there smiling at each other until Henry realized it was almost eight. “Should we go?”
“Oh! Right!” she blurted. “How do we do this?”
“I’ve never been there, so we’re going to have to rely on your memory of their front door. I’m pretty sure this will work. Step out into the hall with me.” He noticed Michelle in the room waving at him. “Hi, Michelle! Have a good night!”
“You as well!” Michelle called back.
Dayshia waved to her roommate and stepped into the hall, closing the door behind her.
“Picture the front door and concentrate on it as hard as you can. This is super important. I don’t know what would happen if the Magic Door spell activated with no destination so let’s not try that.” Dayshia gave him a nervous stare. “When you have the door fixed in your mind, touch the door. I’ll activate the spell and touch the back of your hand on the door. Then we’ll knock. If Michelle opens the door, it didn’t work and well have to go with method two, Google Street View.”
Dayshia giggled nervously. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated. After a moment, Henry saw her reach out to the door, so he activated the spell but left the destination empty. He touched the back of Dayshia’s hand and felt the spell engage. He lifted his hand, and Dayshia did too as she opened her eyes.
“It’s still my condo door!” she said.
Henry smiled. “Yes, the door on this side doesn’t change.” He gestured for her to knock, so she did.
Seconds later, the door pulled open, and a taller, slimmer, and slightly older version of Dayshia was standing before them, staring back at them in shock. He noted her hair was brushed and tied back and became a large orb of hair just behind her head. There was a man behind the woman who was also struck speechless. Henry glanced at Dayshia and smiled as he watched her squirming. No one was saying anything.
“Hi, I’m Henry. Dayshia’s boyfriend.” It was how Tish told him to introduce himself. He held out a hand, and Beth suddenly snapped out of her paralysis.
“Oh my! Hello! I’m Beth, and this is my husband, Chris.” She shook his hand and moved to the side, and the man reached forward to clasp his hand in a too-firm grip.
“Ooo! Strong hands you have there.”
“S-sorry!” Chris said and released Henry’s hand. “Is-is that a hallway in New York?”
“New Jersey, actually,” Henry corrected gently.
“Where is our street? My storm door!” Chris exclaimed.
Henry smiled. “They’re still there. Just as Dayshia’s condo is still behind the door for us.”
Three faces poked around their parent’s bodies and stared at the hallway in wonder.
“This is my son, Danny, my daughter, Emily, and my youngest boy, Tommy,” Beth said.
“Hi! Would you like to step from Boston to Jersey City?” Henry offered to the kids, and suddenly five people were stepping through the doorway. Henry and Dayshia had to move back to give them room. They looked around, but they were just standing in the building’s interior hallway, not too spectacular. They looked back at their home inside the door.
“That is too strange,” Chris muttered.
“Shall we go back to Boston?” Dayshia asked.
“Ah! Yes!” Beth said and shepherded her children and husband back through the door. Dayshia followed them with Henry at the back. He closed the door and released the spell. When he opened it again, they saw their front porch and the walkway leading to the street through the storm door’s glass.
“Magic!” Danny shouted. Tommy echoed his older brother.
Henry smiled and nodded. He closed the door again. He adjusted his glamor to switch his leather shoes to soft leather slippers, but the change was so subtle no one noticed.
Beth rushed back to the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready. Chris, please show them to the dining room.”
Henry looked around at the cozy home the Nelsons lived in and felt a warmth in his chest. There were pictures of family on the walls and Christmas decorations everywhere he looked. They really went all out for the holiday!
They took seats around the table, which had a few festive Christmas designs like the table cloth and napkin rings. Likely made by the kids but sweet as hell! Henry found himself seated next to Dayshia, facing the three kids across the table. They were staring at him excitedly.
“Elbows off the table,” Chris said, and Danny sat back in his chair after glancing at his father. Tommy leaned back too.
Emily’s eyes were almost shining with happiness as she looked between Dayshia and Henry. “Are you really Auntie Dayshia’s boyfriend?” she asked sweetly.
Chris frowned at the impertinent question, but Henry nodded vigorously, which made the young girl burst into giggles. Henry glanced at Dayshia, who was looking pretty happy with the answer too.
Beth returned with a large serving dish she placed on trivets on the center of the table. When she lifted the cover, Henry saw a bow tie pasta dish with spinach and some kind of tomato and meat sauce. His nose picked up the scent of spice too.
“You made your spicy sausage and spinach dish?” Dayshia asked her sister in surprise, glancing at Henry cautiously.
He returned the look. How spicy was it?