Chapter 2 #2
“Sascha?” The man called again, and this time Janice was certain it had been him.
Only made more evident when Sascha pushed past her to basically run to the man with her head bowed and shoulders hunched.
He obviously hadn’t expected her to rush him as she had, because at the last minute he raised his arms out of the way like he half expected her to run through him.
Janice frowned as she watched her best friend wrap herself around this strange man. He bowed his head to the woman as he brought his arms down around her and they stood like that for a while, talking quietly between themselves.
She could see in the man’s posture that the conversation they were having was serious, because almost as soon as they began talking, he tightened his arms around her and cast a dangerous look at the crowd, before Sascha started shaking her head adamantly, drawing his attention back to her.
Janice started picking her way back through the crowd, her skin felt electric and alive and she was almost certain that it was because this man was the key to everything that was happening.
This must be Sascha’s new boyfriend. He was a total cutie, but Janice did feel a bit hurt that Sascha had yet to even mention the man if their relationship were going so well.
He stood a bit straighter, his head tilted as he smiled warmly down at her friend. And for an instant, Janice wished there was someone who would smile at her like that. With such open love and adoration. It made her heart ache…
Because she knew she would never have that with another person. Her secrets were too big… too strong…
Janice watched as that long felt longing settled deep in her chest, quieting the electric hum of her body to almost nothing.
She could still feel it, like the fragile warmth of a pilot light, it was there, but it depressed in time with her mood as she watched Sascha’s new boyfriend rub loving circles into the back of her hip.
She watched as Sascha gripped the man’s collar and pulled him down, as though to share a secret. Apparently, whatever she’d told him was great news because the man was practically glowing when he finally stood and looked past her to ask, “Are you going to introduce me to everyone?”
His eyes found Janice first, before skipping around the group.
Janice knew what would come next. A plethora of “who’s he?
” and “where did you meet?” But being a merciful woman, she wouldn’t let Sascha’s new boyfriend’s first interaction with this side of her life be twenty-questions by twenty people.
So instead, Janice slid into the man’s line of vision, cutting him off from the rest of the group with a smooth, “Maybe just directly to me.” She offered him a hand and a discerning smile.
“I take it, you’re the source of why our girl looks so dogged, tired all the time? ”
She watched Sascha’s face flame with embarrassment out of the corner of her eye, but said nothing of it, her attention focused solely on the man before her.
Normally, she could get a read on those she came into contact with, either by the way their energy felt or by their aura…
But she couldn’t read this man. When she touched him with her magick, she felt nothing and if she tried to catch a glimpse of his aura, she only saw a muted, muddled out line.
She could tell there were colors in it, she knew it…
but she couldn’t tell what they were or even how bright or dark they were.
The only thing she could use to tell anything about this man was his body language.
The man laughed good humoredly, snatching her hand up in a firm shake that immediately bred respect in her.
It wasn’t often she got a true handshake from anyone and it made her think that she could actually get along with this man.
“I take it, you’re Janice.” He chuckled, shaking his head lightly, making his bangs wave fluidly around his dark, shapely brows. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Janice continued to smile, but turned an accusing gaze on Sascha. “And yet, I’ve heard nothing about you.” She watched as her friend rolled her eyes and looked everywhere else, but directly at or behind Janice herself.
“Well. . . you know. . . impermanence. . . and whatnot. . .” The other woman swallowed hard.
Janice rolled her eyes at that. They’d known each other for almost ten years now. Sascha had never had a problem regaling her of any other relationship she’d been in. What was it that made this one so special?
Okay, well, she supposed in the grand scheme of things, if her friend actually had chosen a guy to get jiggy with, that would be a pretty special relationship.
Sascha had told Janice about every kind of relationship she’d had, except romantic entanglements.
And when Janice had asked her why she’d never bothered to date or do the major-do, Sascha had told her that it was because she was waiting for The One. Her perfect partner in every way.
Janice remembered how she had smiled sadly, longing for the same thing. But she was well aware that they didn’t exist. There was no such thing as a “Perfect Partner”; but rather than disillusion her naive, beautiful friend, she said honestly, “I hope you find him.”
So she supposed her friend had finally managed to find him. That “Perfect Partner” she’d always wanted. She was happy for her.
“We’ve only just decided to move from a more. . .” Janice looked back to him when he began speaking, carefully sidestepping things that Janice noticed but couldn’t guess at. “Professional relationship. . . Up until recently, there was nothing to share.”
Janice was just about to ask what he meant by that when an alluring scent snagged her attention. Almost as though it were begging.
Trying not to appear too obvious about it, she sniffed lightly at the air, attempting to find its origin.
When Sascha’s nervous “What?” sounded, she opened her eyes.
The smell was coming from her best friend.
A sweet, slightly musky scent that begged for attention and brought up that ever strange desire for Janice to kiss the other woman and hold her close.
It made her want to perch Sascha on a chair and kiss down her body.
She heard the way her voice dropped with her arousal and curiosity.
“What perfume are you wearing? It smells-”
Janice only just managed to stop herself from yelping as she jumped.
When she’d removed her hand from the man’s, he’d shocked her.
Like lightning striking her middle finger.
She took a moment to shake out the pain, before staring down at her hand dumbfounded.
She’d never been electrocuted by another person before. What the hell was up with this guy?
When she finally looked up at the guy to see if he’d been shocked by her as well or if it was just a unilateral electrocution, she was just in time to see horror cross his face before his entire expression shut down.
His eyes tightening as his lips formed a smile she was quite sure she herself used often on others when they were getting on her nerves and wouldn’t leave her alone.
His reply was curt, cutting, just shy of being rude. “A gift I made her recently.”
Janice wasn’t sure what she’d done to suddenly inspire such enmity in the man, but she was verging on being fed up with his ambiguousness, and since she wasn’t standing behind a teller desk, she saw no reason she should have to put up with his blatant hostility.
She had just taken a breath to say as much when Sascha stepped between them, saving the man from a hand print on his face. “Um… I don’t know about you guys, but I would really like to get something to eat before lunch break is over.”
That‘s when Addie stepped in, all charming and welcoming to the bastard. She offered her hand and he took it, but he didn’t meet the woman’s gaze.
He kept his gaze locked on Janice’s, as though they were in an all out standoff.
And in a way, she supposed they were, because if she got her hand’s on him, she wasn’t just going to be leaving a physical mark on his skin.
“Hi, I’m Addie. Sascha’s boss. They’ve got an extended lunch break today, so you’re free to join us if you want.” She hit him with a light, playful little elbow and an exaggerated wink before chirping. “And maybe you can give us a little hint on dear old Sascha’s secret…”
In that moment, Janice knew exactly what she’d tell Sascha when she got the chance. He was the wrong one. That man was not meant for her. Sascha deserved someone honest and kind, not some two-faced dick-wad, with a stick up his ass.
Sascha was the one to break their silent deadlock, with soft pleading, as she tugged the man’s hand from Addie’s. “Ansell, I’m feeling a bit faint. Will you walk me to the counter so I can order?”
At those words, Janice immediately felt a rush of shame. She’d known Sascha was hungry earlier, but the whole debacle of the new boyfriend— no, she wouldn’t allow him that title in her mind— had thrown her off her plan.
She’d planned for them to sit down their bags, before taking her friend to the counter to order something to eat. But now, looking at the other woman, Janice could plainly see how pale she’d gotten. And that was her fault.
Before she could apologize and urge Sascha along to the counter, the man, Ansell apparently, crowded her out, getting all up in Sascha’s space and blocking Janice’s view of the other woman.
“You’re pale.” He said, a bit harshly to her ear. “When was the last time you ate?”
“This morning around seven.”
Janice was about to grab his arm and swing him around to stab a finger in his chest when Addie grabbed her arm and pulled her a couple steps away. “Let them handle this. It’s their relationship, Janie.”