A Fiery Dalliance

II

Perrie huffed in frustration at how easily her father had been fooled by the toad in his study. Whatever business it was, she hoped it was concluded quickly so that Joe could scurry back to wherever it was that he had come from.

She supposed all she could do was hope that she endured the time it took while retaining all of her hair. She would watch out for him should he ever be holding scissors again.

Perrie turned around and nearly bumped her nose into Joe's chest. She pushed him out of her way as aggressively as she could, but he moved for her, which caused her to stumble. Joe went to catch her, to offer her support, but Perrie managed to steady herself and slap his hands away.

"Touch me and I will cut you," she hissed.

Joe merely smirked as Perrie stormed back towards the open study door. Perrie did not close it behind her purely to make Joe have to go close it himself.

As she stomped back down the hallways, she smiled with petty satisfaction at hearing the study door close, but she quickly learned that Joe had come out into the hallway behind her.

"Little Imp!" he called after her.

Perrie stopped immediately and froze on the spot. It wasn't until after she turned around that she realised that she had responded to that damned pet name.

It suddenly occurred to her why her mother seemed so concerned that she might still set someone on fire. And how she was tempted.

"Stop calling me that!" Perrie snapped.

"No," Joe retorted simply, closing the distance between them swiftly with his long strides. He stopped some five feet from her and stood with his hands behind his back. To meet her eyes, he needed to look down, and at far to acute of an angle for Perrie's liking. His brown eyes were inquisitive and calculating, and his tensed jaw looked like it needed a good smacking. "I had wondered if you would have grown up at all since I have been away, but it is clear to see that no amount of growing has happened at all."

Perrie resisted telling him that she was sixty inches tall now. That would have also been a lie as she was fifty-nine and a half inches, but there was no measuring tool present to confirm her falsehood.

"You have grown," Perrie replied sharply. "The space on your forehead looks like it is at least two or three inches bigger. Your hair cannot escape your head quickly enough."

"No, it hasn't," Joe retorted coolly. "You will have to do better than that, Imp."

He was right, annoyingly so. His hair was still just as thick, wavy, and blond, as it always had been. If it were smart, however, it would escape his head.

Perrie's eyes narrowed. "I don't know what spell you have put on my father but know that I will convince him to make you leave."

Joe rolled his eyes. "You always were an annoying brat, but I won't have you spoiling this for me, Little Imp. You know that whatever you do, I will do back to you ten-fold. I am better at this game then you are."

Perrie scoffed. "Of all places, why here? If I am so annoying, why would you choose to darken my doorway?" she demanded to know.

"Well, thankfully you haven't been here the last few months, so it has been extraordinarily peaceful," Joe replied. "Your sister is sweet and charming. She's nothing at all like you."

Months? How many letters had she received from her parents in that time, and all the while Joe Parish had been ingratiating himself into their lives? What on earth was he playing at? What on earth were they playing at?

"I told your father that I would come out here and make peace with you," Joe continued apathetically. "If you can go and be an insufferable imp elsewhere, I would greatly appreciate it. I have actual business to attend to." He smiled facetiously and bowed his head, as though he was dismissing her from her own hallway.