T'was Arranged

♆Incendium♆

"I want to be next to you while your covering, covering is soft. And I try to crawl up next to you; your covering becomes leather." ~ Skin Graph, Silversun Pickups

Incendium

Just call him, I thought, tossing my cell phone back and forth in my hands.

Convincing Lilac to hand it over to its rightful owner had been one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. She'd refused giving it to me for a good hour and half. The argument for the phone went on for another thirty minutes when she found out who I was going to call. She finally gave it to me ten minutes ago, and I've been trying to gain the courage to actually call since. Honestly, Lilac acted as if I wanted to speak to him. But once I saw the 250+ left over voice mails and text messages, I knew I had to call him back.

I clicked his name in my contacts and pressed the phone to my ear. Wrapping an arm around my abdomen, I paced the length of my bedroom.

The ringing stopped, and I'm pretty sure my heart stopped with it.

"Hello," a deep, old voice answered, shocking me.

"Oh, um, hey...is this Logan's phone? I might have the wrong number." I pulled the phone away from my ear and glanced at the caller ID. Should be him.

"Yes, yes," the man said, shuffling around on the other side. "Madam Sage, I am Joseph Kingsley. The butler you met a while ago?"

I knew his voice sounded familiar. I snapped my fingers, nodding my head even though I was aware he couldn't see me. I replied, "Oh, of course. I just didn't recognize your voice. Is something wrong with Logan?"

"No, ma'am. He's just a tad busy at the moment."

I sighed, closed my eyes. My heart accelerated and prepared for the drop. "Busy with Celine?"

His answer was immediate and indescribably relieving, "No, no, no. No, it appears that he is overly intoxicated - hammered as you kids would say."

My eye brows furrowed. "Oh."

"He's been drinking excessively since the night you left. After watching him call you forty times in one sitting, I confiscated his phone." I could hear Joseph walking. He explained, "I'd figured I should stop him from further embarrassing himself."

I chuckled, darkly. "Well, I haven't gotten the chance to listen to them just yet. What is he doing right now?"

A creaking and shutting sound alerted me Joseph stepped into a new room. This supposed environment was louder than the other. Shouts of excitement and laughter seeped through our line, along with the sound of glass breaking.

"He has a group of fellow witches over consisting of his guy friends," Joseph had shout of the rowdy noises in the background. "Oh, how I wish you were here, Madam Sage! His friends have been here for weeks. It is quite frustrating and taxing having to clean up their messes."

"Really?" I smiled and glanced down at the carpet. I toed my boot in the shape of the patterns. Swallowing, "Can you do a couple things for me then?"

"Of course. What do you need?"

"First, kick all of his friend's out. If he questions your position, tell him I ordered you to. If that doesn't work, call his father. I'm sure the king would not be pleased with his current behavior." I took a deep breathe. "Second, I need you to find all the liquor in the house. Every. Single. Bottle. Lock it in an empty room with magic - he can't use his. And lastly, tell him he's invited to the Spring Festival this Thursday. Make sure he's there, please?"

There was a moment of silence where I figured he'd either been processing my orders or nodding his head just like I had. "Yes, ma'am. I'll get right on that, thank you."