Magic's Mark

Chapter 8

"I need to get some emails out," I confirmed and grabbed my laptop from coffee table and slid it into my bag.

"Ready to go?" Taylor asked with a hopeful smile on his face.

I nodded in reply.

As we walked down the street towards The Royal Star, I casted a glance over at Taylor. He looked like he had been wearing those clothes for far too long.

"You look fresh as a daisy," the teasing words just slipped out and I couldn't help but smile at his frown.

"I have a change of clothes at the pub, so it's fine," he shot back.

"Oh, right. That's alright then."

A silence fell between us as we continued walking towards the pub, I could feel my stomach begging for toast and coffee.

"Why doesn't Matthew like me?" his curious eyes examined me for a moment before turning his gaze forward again.

"He wasn't exactly a fan of the last guy that I spent this much time with."

"So you're saying he thinks we're dating?" Taylor exclaimed.

"I would assume so," I shrugged my shoulders. "I haven't told him anything about this magic nonsense," I added in a hushed tone.

"Why not?" Taylor asked.

I gave him a black look, "Because I don't want to sound like I have lost my mind." I drew a deep breathe before adding, "Plus he'll probably be a lot safer if he doesn't know."

Taylor nodded in confirmation.

My eyes had to adjust for a moment, stepping into the semi dark pub from the bright morning light outside.

"Hey," Tanya waved from behind the bar.

"Hi," I smiled back at her.

"Do you want coffee?" she asked as I approached the bar.

"Yes please," I leant my upper body against its wooden structure and watched her pour me a cup.

My fingers felt the warmth radiate from the ceramic as I watched Taylor head to the staff room.

"So the two of you are hanging out a lot?" Tanya asked as she wiggled her eyebrows.

"I guess so," I replied, probably best to stick with that explanation rather than putting her at risk by talking about how there's warlock roaming around.

"I have to get to work," I said and pulled the laptop out of my bag.

"Sure, sure," she replied but the glint in her eyes told me that she was not dropping the topic that easily.

I settled into a corner table and started going the emails in my inbox, to my disappointment there where no requests for new jobs in there. I sighed for a moment, as a freelance photographer if the jobs didn't come to me I would have to find them myself. I clicked open another document, my eyes poured down a long list of bands that had album releases coming up in the next few months. If I reached out to the bands, maybe they were looking to take new press pictures and would be willing to use me.

"That was so lovely," I looked over at Taylor who had taken a break to hang out with me and have some breakfast.

"Thank you. I am a good cook," he smiled triumphantly.

I pushed the last piece of toast around the plate, scooping up the last pieces of mushrooms before shoving it into my mouth.

Taylor looked over at my laptop, "How's the emails coming along?"

"Good," I replied. I had spent the last few hours sending out emails and my eyes were telling me that I was done for the day. I could not take another minute staring at the screen.

As I closed down my laptop and shoved it into my bag, someone walked towards me. The first thing I saw was his shoes, a pair of worn boots that I would have recognised anywhere. I felt my heart freeze and my fingers shook as I pulled the zipper shut.

I lifted up my body and looked him straight in the face, "Hello Josh."

His tussled brown hair looked as familiar as his lips, now curled up in a cruel little smirk.

"Hello Cara," he replied.

I could tell he was itching to say something, it had taken him a good few weeks to stop messaging me after we broke up. A shiver ran across my back as I remember all those novel like texts where he called me cold and accused me of cutting him out of my life.

"So who's your guy?" he cocked his head in Taylor's direction.

"What are you doing here?" I countered.

"I'm here to pick up some stuff that I left behind," Josh replied nonchalantly. After we broke up, he had quit his job at The Royal Star. My guess was that he thought it would make me feel bad for him. But I knew he had other means of getting money, his not so legal side business was one of the reasons why we had broken up.

"Well, don't let me keep you," I grabbed my bag and got up from the table.

I brushed past Josh and headed straight for the door, my feet leading me away as quickly as possible. I just couldn't stand being around him, he hadn't changed in any way so why couldn't he just accept it. He always seemed to blame me for how things had ended, not taking into account that he was part of it too.

I turned the corner onto a quiet side street and stopped dead in my tracks. The back of my head felt cool against the wall of the house and I allowed my bag to slowly slip out of my grip and land softly on the concrete. Slowly the frozen feeling started to lift around my heart, the warmth that spread found its way to my tear canals and slowly a steady stream was trickling down my cheeks. For a moment, I allowed myself to close my eyes and loose myself in my feelings, a small storm of emotions brewing in my chest. The air around me shifted and a hum of energy rose up in my veins as I felt a hand grab around wrist.

Author's Note: I'm kind of struggling with this story. If you have any theories about how you think it will end and what you think will happen in the middle of the story - I would love to hear them. Also, what moments/scenes of the story do you enjoy the most? It would be so helpful to hear, as it hopefully will steer me in the right direction.

The song today is such a #TBT for me :) Love it so much <3

Song:  Tiesto - Knock you out feat. Emily Haines (Owen Westlake Remix)