I woke up with a groan and sat up. I had a splitting headache and I wasn't sure if it was from forcing myself to stay up so long or from the fumes from melting gold. I had the air exchanger on and that should have taken care of most of it; but, it could still be smelled. I got out of bed and stood up as I thought about putting the amulet back on. It wouldn't do anything for my headache, it would just clear the sleepy fog I was still in.
“I need coffee.” I grumbled out loud and left my bedroom. I walked down the little hallway as I scratched my butt cheek where my underwear had dug in and left a mark while I slept.
“Oh, my GOD!” A shrill voice yelled when I passed the living room and I froze solid for a moment.
I slowly turned to look and saw Jenny with an angry face, Kathy with a contemplative one, Susan with a 'I want that' expression, Lisa with a regretful look, and Diane with an appreciative look with her hand over her daughter's eyes.
“What... what are you all doing here?” I asked.
“I think someone forgot the little celebration party we had planned for Lisa.” Diane said. “We were just about to send Jenny in after you, since she's the safest one out of all of us.”
That's what you think. I thought.
“If you don't get showered and dressed in ten minutes, we have to leave without you.” Jenny said.
I looked down at the old jogging pants, which were the only things I had on. “I need coffee.”
“I'll get it!” Susan said and ran by me, slapped my butt as she passed, then she shook her head. “You wore underwear to bed?”
“Shower! Now!” Jenny said and pointed.
“All right, geez.” I turned around and walked quickly from the room. I ducked back into my bedroom and pulled off my clothes, then caught my reflection in the mirror. If I didn't know any better, that looked like a bit of lipstick. I rubbed my fingertip on it and it came off. I couldn't tell what shade of red it was, though.
I stepped into the shower and used nearly the whole ten minutes. I dried off and equipped a shirt and dress pants, a Clarity amulet and a few pieces of hidden equipment for some extra stats, then went back out to the living room.
“That's better.” Jenny said and Susan handed me a cup of coffee.
“I put something extra in it, just for you.” Susan whispered.
I pretended to take a sip, because I was pretty sure I shouldn't drink whatever it was that she had put in it. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.” Susan said and beamed a smile at me.
Yeah, definitely not drinking it. I thought and pretended to take another sip.
“Come on, everyone. Let's go.” Jenny said and everyone stood up.
“Hi, Uncle Damon!” Diane's daughter Crystal said and waved to me.
“Who is that? I can't tell!” I said and put my cup down as I pretended to look around for her. “She's so small I can't see her!”
Crystal giggled and ran over to me.
“There she is!” I said and scooped her up into my arms. “How's my little princess?”
Crystal wrapped her little arms around my neck and for the next few minutes while we all left the apartment and went down in the elevator, she told me everything that had happened since the last time I saw her. It was just a constant stream of words and I had to hold in my laughter as it went on and on. We left the elevator and walked over to the main conference hall and inside was everyone that had been invited to the party.
“Surprise!” A bunch of people said as Lisa went in first.
“Aww! Thank you, everyone!” Lisa said loudly and the endless greetings and small talk began.
To my surprise, Crystal didn't want to be let down and kept hold of my neck. I looked at Diane and she gave me a sympathetic smile, a kiss on the cheek, and abandoned me to go mingle.
“Thanks!” I said to her back and she waved nonchalantly at me. I chuckled and then spent the next two hours entertaining her daughter with 'magic' tricks by storing things into inventory and taking them out again. I had to admit I was a little reckless when I started popping the neat swan napkins away from tables and placed them on random people's heads that were within my range of about ten feet.
Crystal laughed and laughed as some people noticed and took them off in confusion, while some had no clue and walked around with them on. Even the people around them would keep the secret and would wink or wave at us when the other people weren't looking. It was difficult to not do more than that, because her laugh was so great to hear.
There were speeches by a few people, accolades heaped onto their best real estate agent, and then fond farewells and promises to keep in touch. After that, it was the best buffet that money could buy and everyone raved about the food. Diane finally pried Crystal off of me and they sat down to have something to eat.
Soon, Lisa and her fiance came over to whisper to me. “Damon, this... I don't even want to know how much all of this cost, do I?”
I wiggled my finger for her to come closer and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “Oh! It looks like you just paid for it all.”
Lisa gave me a stern look and her fiance laughed.
“I'm tempted to steal a kiss if it'll get me a party like this.” He said and held a hand out. “You don't know how grateful I am that you gave up on such a great woman.”
I smiled and shook his hand. “Believe me, I kick myself for being so stupid every time I see her smiling when she talks about you.”
He laughed. “I can't imagine ever breaking up with her. She's just too great to pass up, you know?”
“I am standing right here.” Lisa said and that made me and her fiance laugh.
“Sorry, Honey.” He said and gave her a kiss. “I'll let you talk to your ex for a bit while I go assault the lobster tray.”
Lisa shook her head as he left us alone. “He's far too trusting of you.”
I chuckled. “Who was the one that led a group of people into my living room to wait for me and didn't call first?”
“I plead the fifth.” Lisa said smugly and it was my turn to shake my head. “Are you sure you want me to give the spare key to Jenny? She already has one as the official building owner.”
“She has access to one from the building manager, she doesn't necessarily have one she can use.”
Lisa gave me an odd look. “You love her, don't you?”
“I plead the fifth.” I said with a smile. “Hey, can I rub your beach ball?”
Lisa laughed and waved at it. She had gotten a lot bigger and I gently touched it. We were in public, so I couldn't caress it like I wanted to.
“I'm going to miss doing this.” I said, barely above a whisper.
“Touching my belly?” Lisa asked, a little confused.
“No, having a friend like you around.” I said and moved my hand. I took hers and kissed the back of it. “We had a great time together and I'm going to cherish it in my memory until I'm old and grey.” I said and saw her face start to turn sad. “I'll also always remember the last time we had sex. Good lord, that was fun.”
Lisa's sad face became a happy one. “You want that to be our last memory together?”
“I wish. I offered to take you to the airport, remember?”
“You know you don't have to.” Lisa said and reached up to touch the amulet.
“You've been taking it off at night, haven't you?” I asked and she nodded.
“I can't sleep with it on and I need my sleep.” Lisa said.
“Make sure you hire a nice nanny to help you.” I said and looked at her husband. “A nice older lady, just so temptation won't strike a soon to be potentially dry penis.”
Lisa laughed and smacked my arm. “Don't be vulgar.”
“I assume you talked to the doctor about it?” I asked.
“Yes, and he said that as long as we're careful...”
“You know he loves your bump as much as I do.” I said and she nodded. “Don't be afraid to say no if you're tender or don't feel up to it.”
Lisa's face went serious. “Actually, I get the feeling that he'll be the one having to turn me down.”
I gave her a skeptical look and she lost the serious face as she grinned.
“Right. He won't ever say no if I ask.”
“Damn right.” I said and waved to him. “He's going to stick by you for the rest of your life.” I turned to look at her. “Just like you are going to stick by him.”
“I will.” Lisa said, determined to make the best home life for her family.
“Then you better save him.” I pointed. “If he keeps sucking up that melted butter, I'll have to call an ambulance.”
Lisa laughed and touched my arm, gave it a squeeze, and walked over to her fiance.
“I don't know how you can do that.” Jenny said as she walked over to me.
“What's that?” I asked, feigning ignorance.
“Being friends with your ex-girlfriends.”
I gave her a searching look and she shook her head.
“You thought you were so clever while trying to sneak around on me.” Jenny smiled. “The two of you were so obvious that it was hard for me to not laugh every time you 'went back to work' to go meet her.”
I opened my mouth to respond and sighed. “I didn't realize you knew.”
“Right from the start.” Jenny said. “Susan was only a little angry that Lisa got to you first.”
“Susan hasn't... and won't ever... get to me.” I said.
Jenny looked into my eyes and nodded.
“Besides, I slept with Diane first.”
“You WHAT?!?” Jenny yelled and drew everyone's attention.
“It's good to know that my little sister doesn't know everything.” I said with a smirk and walked over to Diane's table and sat down. Crystal crawled right up onto my lap and pointed to the two people that still had napkins on their heads. We both laughed.
A week later was the wedding and everyone and their dogs attended. It was a huge event and everyone had a great time. I paid for that, too. I didn't want them starting their new lives off in a new place after such a huge expense.
The next day, we were all inside a stretch limo as we went to the airport. Lisa had laughed at the joke when I showed up to pick her up in it, then she realized I was serious. She sat in stunned silence as her husband played with everything inside. Everyone talked and all Lisa did was stare at me from across the passenger compartment.
We pulled up to the passenger drop off area and to her surprise, we all got out and helped them bring all of their luggage into the airport. We went with them to the check in counter and over to the security station, then it was time for the tear filled goodbyes. Everyone took their turn giving them well wishes and saying good luck, then it came down to me and Lisa.
I held my hand out for her to shake. “Good luck.”
Lisa glared at the hand and I laughed.
“Just kidding.” I said and took her into a hug, careful of her bump, and whispered. “I left you something special in your pocket, so wait until you're up in the air to see what it is.”
Lisa let me go to reach for it and stopped.
I let her go as well and stepped back. “Don't forget to call if you need anything.”
Lisa nodded and her husband took her hand. “Goodbye.” She said and looked at us all. “Goodbye, everyone.”
We stood there and watched them go through security, then waved as our friend left us to make a new life for herself and her family.
*
Lisa sat in an aisle seat and waited for the plane to take off before she reached into her pocket. She didn't find anything and started to search frantically, because he hadn't told her which pocket it was in. She never could figure out his magic tricks. Her hand touched a velvet cloth bag in her inside jacket pocket and pulled it out.
“What's that?” Her husband asked.
“It's something from Damon.” Lisa said and pulled the draw string. She gasped when she saw what was inside.
“What is it?” Her husband asked. He was a little nervous about what it could be, because her old lover was rich and didn't mind flaunting it. At least he's not an asshole about it. He thought and then saw his wife dump out five gold pendants on chains and a piece of paper.
Lisa opened the note and held back her tears. “Dear Lisa. Please accept these humble gifts as a sign of my love for you and your family. I want nothing more than to keep you all safe, so these blessed pendants will keep you safe in my stead.”
“Well, damn. That's pretty classy.” Her husband said, impressed. “Hold on. Why are there five?”
Lisa shrugged and folded the note and saw a bit of writing on it. She gave one of the pendants to her husband and while he put it on, she turned the note around and didn't show it to her husband.
You're going to need the fifth one about a year from now, because your husband can't keep his hands off of you or resist your advances. You're just too damn hot. Lisa smiled and folded the note to hide the extra words and put on her pendant. She felt a warm fuzzy feeling settle into her bones and turned to look at the man she loved and whispered. “Do you want to join the mile high club?”
Her husband looked surprised for a moment, then he let a huge smile spread across his face. The two of them scrambled out of their seats and made their way to the closest bathroom.
“Sorry! Pregnant woman coming through. Bathroom! Sorry!” Her husband said and everyone had sympathetic faces as Lisa waddled down the aisle behind him. The two of them ducked into the bathroom and locked the door.
I woke up with a groan and sat up. I had a splitting headache and I wasn't sure if it was from forcing myself to stay up so long or from the fumes from melting gold. I had the air exchanger on and that should have taken care of most of it; but, it could still be smelled. I got out of bed and stood up as I thought about putting the amulet back on. It wouldn't do anything for my headache, it would just clear the sleepy fog I was still in.
“I need coffee.” I grumbled out loud and left my bedroom. I walked down the little hallway as I scratched my butt cheek where my underwear had dug in and left a mark while I slept.
“Oh, my GOD!” A shrill voice yelled when I passed the living room and I froze solid for a moment.
I slowly turned to look and saw Jenny with an angry face, Kathy with a contemplative one, Susan with a 'I want that' expression, Lisa with a regretful look, and Diane with an appreciative look with her hand over her daughter's eyes.
“What... what are you all doing here?” I asked.
“I think someone forgot the little celebration party we had planned for Lisa.” Diane said. “We were just about to send Jenny in after you, since she's the safest one out of all of us.”
That's what you think. I thought.
“If you don't get showered and dressed in ten minutes, we have to leave without you.” Jenny said.
I looked down at the old jogging pants, which were the only things I had on. “I need coffee.”
“I'll get it!” Susan said and ran by me, slapped my butt as she passed, then she shook her head. “You wore underwear to bed?”
“Shower! Now!” Jenny said and pointed.
“All right, geez.” I turned around and walked quickly from the room. I ducked back into my bedroom and pulled off my clothes, then caught my reflection in the mirror. If I didn't know any better, that looked like a bit of lipstick. I rubbed my fingertip on it and it came off. I couldn't tell what shade of red it was, though.
I stepped into the shower and used nearly the whole ten minutes. I dried off and equipped a shirt and dress pants, a Clarity amulet and a few pieces of hidden equipment for some extra stats, then went back out to the living room.
“That's better.” Jenny said and Susan handed me a cup of coffee.
“I put something extra in it, just for you.” Susan whispered.
I pretended to take a sip, because I was pretty sure I shouldn't drink whatever it was that she had put in it. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.” Susan said and beamed a smile at me.
Yeah, definitely not drinking it. I thought and pretended to take another sip.
“Come on, everyone. Let's go.” Jenny said and everyone stood up.
“Hi, Uncle Damon!” Diane's daughter Crystal said and waved to me.
“Who is that? I can't tell!” I said and put my cup down as I pretended to look around for her. “She's so small I can't see her!”
Crystal giggled and ran over to me.
“There she is!” I said and scooped her up into my arms. “How's my little princess?”
Crystal wrapped her little arms around my neck and for the next few minutes while we all left the apartment and went down in the elevator, she told me everything that had happened since the last time I saw her. It was just a constant stream of words and I had to hold in my laughter as it went on and on. We left the elevator and walked over to the main conference hall and inside was everyone that had been invited to the party.
“Surprise!” A bunch of people said as Lisa went in first.
“Aww! Thank you, everyone!” Lisa said loudly and the endless greetings and small talk began.
To my surprise, Crystal didn't want to be let down and kept hold of my neck. I looked at Diane and she gave me a sympathetic smile, a kiss on the cheek, and abandoned me to go mingle.
“Thanks!” I said to her back and she waved nonchalantly at me. I chuckled and then spent the next two hours entertaining her daughter with 'magic' tricks by storing things into inventory and taking them out again. I had to admit I was a little reckless when I started popping the neat swan napkins away from tables and placed them on random people's heads that were within my range of about ten feet.
Crystal laughed and laughed as some people noticed and took them off in confusion, while some had no clue and walked around with them on. Even the people around them would keep the secret and would wink or wave at us when the other people weren't looking. It was difficult to not do more than that, because her laugh was so great to hear.
There were speeches by a few people, accolades heaped onto their best real estate agent, and then fond farewells and promises to keep in touch. After that, it was the best buffet that money could buy and everyone raved about the food. Diane finally pried Crystal off of me and they sat down to have something to eat.
Soon, Lisa and her fiance came over to whisper to me. “Damon, this... I don't even want to know how much all of this cost, do I?”
I wiggled my finger for her to come closer and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “Oh! It looks like you just paid for it all.”
Lisa gave me a stern look and her fiance laughed.
“I'm tempted to steal a kiss if it'll get me a party like this.” He said and held a hand out. “You don't know how grateful I am that you gave up on such a great woman.”
I smiled and shook his hand. “Believe me, I kick myself for being so stupid every time I see her smiling when she talks about you.”
He laughed. “I can't imagine ever breaking up with her. She's just too great to pass up, you know?”
“I am standing right here.” Lisa said and that made me and her fiance laugh.
“Sorry, Honey.” He said and gave her a kiss. “I'll let you talk to your ex for a bit while I go assault the lobster tray.”
Lisa shook her head as he left us alone. “He's far too trusting of you.”
I chuckled. “Who was the one that led a group of people into my living room to wait for me and didn't call first?”
“I plead the fifth.” Lisa said smugly and it was my turn to shake my head. “Are you sure you want me to give the spare key to Jenny? She already has one as the official building owner.”
“She has access to one from the building manager, she doesn't necessarily have one she can use.”
Lisa gave me an odd look. “You love her, don't you?”
“I plead the fifth.” I said with a smile. “Hey, can I rub your beach ball?”
Lisa laughed and waved at it. She had gotten a lot bigger and I gently touched it. We were in public, so I couldn't caress it like I wanted to.
“I'm going to miss doing this.” I said, barely above a whisper.
“Touching my belly?” Lisa asked, a little confused.
“No, having a friend like you around.” I said and moved my hand. I took hers and kissed the back of it. “We had a great time together and I'm going to cherish it in my memory until I'm old and grey.” I said and saw her face start to turn sad. “I'll also always remember the last time we had sex. Good lord, that was fun.”
Lisa's sad face became a happy one. “You want that to be our last memory together?”
“I wish. I offered to take you to the airport, remember?”
“You know you don't have to.” Lisa said and reached up to touch the amulet.
“You've been taking it off at night, haven't you?” I asked and she nodded.
“I can't sleep with it on and I need my sleep.” Lisa said.
“Make sure you hire a nice nanny to help you.” I said and looked at her husband. “A nice older lady, just so temptation won't strike a soon to be potentially dry penis.”
Lisa laughed and smacked my arm. “Don't be vulgar.”
“I assume you talked to the doctor about it?” I asked.
“Yes, and he said that as long as we're careful...”
“You know he loves your bump as much as I do.” I said and she nodded. “Don't be afraid to say no if you're tender or don't feel up to it.”
Lisa's face went serious. “Actually, I get the feeling that he'll be the one having to turn me down.”
I gave her a skeptical look and she lost the serious face as she grinned.
“Right. He won't ever say no if I ask.”
“Damn right.” I said and waved to him. “He's going to stick by you for the rest of your life.” I turned to look at her. “Just like you are going to stick by him.”
“I will.” Lisa said, determined to make the best home life for her family.
“Then you better save him.” I pointed. “If he keeps sucking up that melted butter, I'll have to call an ambulance.”
Lisa laughed and touched my arm, gave it a squeeze, and walked over to her fiance.
“I don't know how you can do that.” Jenny said as she walked over to me.
“What's that?” I asked, feigning ignorance.
“Being friends with your ex-girlfriends.”
I gave her a searching look and she shook her head.
“You thought you were so clever while trying to sneak around on me.” Jenny smiled. “The two of you were so obvious that it was hard for me to not laugh every time you 'went back to work' to go meet her.”
I opened my mouth to respond and sighed. “I didn't realize you knew.”
“Right from the start.” Jenny said. “Susan was only a little angry that Lisa got to you first.”
“Susan hasn't... and won't ever... get to me.” I said.
Jenny looked into my eyes and nodded.
“Besides, I slept with Diane first.”
“You WHAT?!?” Jenny yelled and drew everyone's attention.
“It's good to know that my little sister doesn't know everything.” I said with a smirk and walked over to Diane's table and sat down. Crystal crawled right up onto my lap and pointed to the two people that still had napkins on their heads. We both laughed.
A week later was the wedding and everyone and their dogs attended. It was a huge event and everyone had a great time. I paid for that, too. I didn't want them starting their new lives off in a new place after such a huge expense.
The next day, we were all inside a stretch limo as we went to the airport. Lisa had laughed at the joke when I showed up to pick her up in it, then she realized I was serious. She sat in stunned silence as her husband played with everything inside. Everyone talked and all Lisa did was stare at me from across the passenger compartment.
We pulled up to the passenger drop off area and to her surprise, we all got out and helped them bring all of their luggage into the airport. We went with them to the check in counter and over to the security station, then it was time for the tear filled goodbyes. Everyone took their turn giving them well wishes and saying good luck, then it came down to me and Lisa.
I held my hand out for her to shake. “Good luck.”
Lisa glared at the hand and I laughed.
“Just kidding.” I said and took her into a hug, careful of her bump, and whispered. “I left you something special in your pocket, so wait until you're up in the air to see what it is.”
Lisa let me go to reach for it and stopped.
I let her go as well and stepped back. “Don't forget to call if you need anything.”
Lisa nodded and her husband took her hand. “Goodbye.” She said and looked at us all. “Goodbye, everyone.”
We stood there and watched them go through security, then waved as our friend left us to make a new life for herself and her family.
*
Lisa sat in an aisle seat and waited for the plane to take off before she reached into her pocket. She didn't find anything and started to search frantically, because he hadn't told her which pocket it was in. She never could figure out his magic tricks. Her hand touched a velvet cloth bag in her inside jacket pocket and pulled it out.
“What's that?” Her husband asked.
“It's something from Damon.” Lisa said and pulled the draw string. She gasped when she saw what was inside.
“What is it?” Her husband asked. He was a little nervous about what it could be, because her old lover was rich and didn't mind flaunting it. At least he's not an asshole about it. He thought and then saw his wife dump out five gold pendants on chains and a piece of paper.
Lisa opened the note and held back her tears. “Dear Lisa. Please accept these humble gifts as a sign of my love for you and your family. I want nothing more than to keep you all safe, so these blessed pendants will keep you safe in my stead.”
“Well, damn. That's pretty classy.” Her husband said, impressed. “Hold on. Why are there five?”
Lisa shrugged and folded the note and saw a bit of writing on it. She gave one of the pendants to her husband and while he put it on, she turned the note around and didn't show it to her husband.
You're going to need the fifth one about a year from now, because your husband can't keep his hands off of you or resist your advances. You're just too damn hot. Lisa smiled and folded the note to hide the extra words and put on her pendant. She felt a warm fuzzy feeling settle into her bones and turned to look at the man she loved and whispered. “Do you want to join the mile high club?”
Her husband looked surprised for a moment, then he let a huge smile spread across his face. The two of them scrambled out of their seats and made their way to the closest bathroom.
“Sorry! Pregnant woman coming through. Bathroom! Sorry!” Her husband said and everyone had sympathetic faces as Lisa waddled down the aisle behind him. The two of them ducked into the bathroom and locked the door.
