Some Kind of Magic

A white car with a sign attached to the roof slowly came to a halt in front of the house. The driver, a middle aged man with a baseball cap on bearing a white ‘NY’ symbol leaned back in the driver’s seat as his hand found his way to the horn. After applying a bit of pressure, letting the loud horn ring through the street, he took his hand off of it and quickly reached over into the console and pulled out a black cell phone. Face lit up by the screen, he yawned and glanced up at the house and noticed movement visible through the huge living room window.

“Dude, I still can’t believe she said yes!” Travis chuckled as his eyes met Zach’s that were annoyed and frantic. Sure, he’s taken girls out to dinner before, but for some reason this felt so much more important than just a friendly dinner. He felt that if he really messed this up, then every possibility would be crushed. This was like his big game, it was overtime, a shoot out even, it was his chance to shoot, and if he didn’t score than it would all be over.

A few seconds went by and the brunette decided the only logical thing to do was to start pacing. As he did this, his shoes slapping against the floor, hands entangled with his hair, his mind was starting to scream, causing a headache to appear behind his eyes. What if Vanessa realized what she said? What if she changed her mind? Alicia wasn’t the kind of person that would make Vanessa go out if she didn’t want to. Could that be why they were taking so long, Vanessa decided not to go?

The last bit of Zach’s sanity was starting to slip as the pacing across the living room window picked up. Not only was it in front of the huge bay window, but it was also in front of the huge flat screen TV, in which there was a movie playing, a movie Travis was trying to watch.

Mumbling something under his breath, the calm boy in the living room stood up and walked down the hall, calling his girlfriends name. When he reached the door he pounded his fist on it, and then sucked in a deep breath trying to his control his emotions. He did realize how much Zach liked Vanessa, and how nervous he was, but ‘Live free or Die Hard’ was one of his favorite movies and the constant back and forth of Zach across the screen was striking his last nerve.

“Alicia, I’m going to kill Zach!” Travis’s agitated voice rang through the master bedroom. The blonde girl giggled and informed her boyfriend that it would only be another two minutes; she was just finishing the last bit of Vanessa’s makeup. Sighing heavily, the boy behind the door disappeared and left the two girls in the room alone to continue their previous conversation.

Blue eyes meeting her best friends, the brunette pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and lightly shut her eyes realizing that if she squeezed them shut the freshly applied mascara would be all over her face. “I think I made a huge mistake”, Vanessa whispered as her eyes reopened and she looked across the room at her reflection in the mirror. “I mean, I don’t like him, why would I agree to go out on a date with him? This goes against everything I-“

“Shut up a minute”, Alicia said sternly and grabbed the brunette by the shoulders. Once their eyes were locked Alicia started speaking; “Listen to me alright, I know I’m not the brightest crayon in the box, and I get you’re the wealthy independent businesswomen, but for one goddamned time in your life go out and have some fun! You work too hard and too much. Zach’s a great guy, he really is. He’s not going to try anything, and once you get out and actually have a conversation with him you’ll see that he’s one of the nicest people on the planet. Alright?”

The brunette on the bed kept her blue orbs locked onto her friend standing over her. All of the words that had now filled her head made perfect sense, but there was still something deep in the pit of her stomach, a little pang o sickness that was twisting her intestines into knots. The minutes after she realized what she had agreed to with Zach, she told herself the same thing Alicia had told her, but after some time to think, she realized that stopping herself from showing that Zach had some kind of effect on her was going to be hard.

Nodding and letting out a deep breath, Vanessa blinked a few times and then looked over at Alicia who was standing by the door, left arm tightly crossed against her chest as her right hand caressed her chin. She whispered something at first that wasn’t loud enough for Vanessa to hear, and as the brunette questioned what her friend had said, she shushed her and quickly walked over to her dresser and rummaged through a few things until she pulled out a little clear bottle of liquid. “It’s the best perfume, I haven’t met a guy that hasn’t loved it”, ordering the brunette to close her eyes, she sprayed the sweet smelling liquid a few times over her, and once it was all settled, Vanessa’s eyes snapped open and she smiled.

“It smells pretty good, don’t you think it’s a little strong?” A cough made its way up Vanessa’s throat. As her best friend shook her head, she nodded and took a deep breath. Fingers laced together, she walked over to the blonde by the door and waited for her to open it. Heart beat erratic, Vanessa started cracking her knuckles and chewing on her bottom lip. What if Zach wasn’t impressed?

Wait, why would I care if he’s impressed? Vanessa whispered in her mind. There were a few seconds of silence in her mind as her heels clicked through the hallway. As she entered the living room, the brunette boy stopped pacing right in front of the TV and looked at Vanessa his brown orbs glittering in the dim light of the living room. The boy on the couch slapped his palm against his forehead and muttered something to the sound of ‘I can’t win’, then looked back up at the brunette in front of the TV and huffed. Glancing at the boy, Zach chuckled and quickly took a step away from the TV and walked over to Vanessa as the sickness in her stomach grew.

’Because you love him, that’s why’ A frown quickly flashed on Vanessa’s face before she could stop it, but as Zach stopped inches in front of her, and his cologne found its way to Vanessa’s nose, she smiled a little and pulled her hands apart. Unsure what to do, she pressed her hands down her dress, and then when they reached the hem, she pulled it down a little. Sucking in a deep breath and looking over Alicia who looked like a mother staring at her daughter going to her first prom, Vanessa flashed a smile and watched as Alicia nodded and quickly walked over to Travis on the couch and plopped on his lap.

“Ready to go, the cab is outside?” Zach’s voice shook a little as he grabbed his wallet off of the table pressed into the back of the couch and slipped it into his pocket. As the blue eyed girl nodded and adjusted the bag on her shoulder, Zach calmly took a step ahead of her and opened the door. As they both entered the chilly New Jersey air, Zach’s arm snaked its way over Vanessa’s shoulders as they silently walked down the driveway to the white car.

When they reached the car Zach quickly opened the door for her and smiled as she got in and slid all the way over to the seat behind the driver. As Zach got in he leaned over and smiled brightly at the driver, after rambling off the name of a very expensive restaurant name, he pressed his back into the seat and looked over at Vanessa as the car started up and started to slowly roll away from the house.

Sickness quickly washing over her, Vanessa looked out of the window to try to calm her nerves but as her eyes caught on to the passing houses reminding her that she was moving further from a comfort zone and out into the world with someone she only found to be comfortable around when she was crying, her eyes darted back down to her shoes. After a small sigh escaped from her parted lips, she straightened her back and pressed it into the black leather of the backseat.

Noticing Vanessa’s fidgeting and nervousness Zach sighed and pressed his fingers into his eyes. What did I get myself into? He thought to himself as the car paused at a red light. There was no doubt in his mind that he wasn’t in love with this girl, but was this going to be the whole night, sitting in awkward silence? Because if it was, there was a good chance Zach would find a way to ruin it and have one of his previous thoughts come true, her leaving him in the middle of the restaurant.

Halfway through the ride, the silence was just about to become so unbearable that the only way they could resolve it was to scream, and Zach was just about to do that. Sitting there, he had officially realized that this was a bad idea, and as the silence ate away at him, he wanted to just tell the cab driver to turn around. But right as Zach was about to speak, Vanessa turned to him and caught his eyes with hers. “Thanks”, her smooth voice soaked up the silence allowing Zach to let out a breath he felt he was holding in since they entered the car. “You didn’t have to invite me out or anything, especially after…”, her blue eyes drifted down and then back up to his, a small smile lit up on her face, “After I was such a complete dick to you.”

Zach looked over at the brunette, shock dripping from his features. Vanessa Cooke had just spoken to him, without him saying a word first. Not only was it a full sentence, but she was relaxed, smiling, like they were two friends, not two people in constant conflict like the previous conversations. “Listen”, she moved so her body was facing his, “I was thinking about some things people had told me today, and I just want to put our past behind us. I apologize for everything and… I just want to…”, her teeth chomped down on her lip and she looked up at the ceiling, wishing that the correct words would appear on the black fabric of the ceiling. “have some… fun” the words sounded foreign to her, and she wasn’t the only one that agreed. Zach’s brown orbs studied hers for a second, and then after a moment, he smiled and nodded.

With a short inhale, the boy picked his arm up and with little hesitation; Vanessa shifted over the seats and leaned into Zach, her head resting perfectly on his shoulder as his arm kept her bare shoulders warm. As Vanessa shut her eyes, all of the sickness that was twisting in her stomach while she was trying to speak washed away. For the first time in a long time, she felt comfortable, she felt like she could smile, she felt like she could be herself, her real self, and not have someone to criticize her. She didn’t feel like Businesswomen Vanessa Cooke, she felt like her old Music loving, Artist, easy going self.

The rest of the drive was short. After a few turns, the cab rolled into the parking lot and as Vanessa shifted out of the car, Zach walked over to the driver’s side window and quickly paid the man. Walking back over to Vanessa, shoving his cash back into his wallet, he put his arm around her waist and quickly looked at her with huge eyes, waiting for her to push him off, but instead she took a small step closer to him so his arm didn’t have to stretch and started walking toward the door, a tiny smile placed on her lips.

The time in the restaurant seemed to fly by. From the second they sat down, they started talking. Instead of Zach doing all of the talking, it was even. Something Zach would say would trigger something in Vanessa’s memory and after her story, Zach would have another story to tell. As they spoke, they laughed and looked into each other’s eyes, letting the dim light of the restaurant hide the deep red blanket on their cheeks.

The waitress had come over and taken their orders. Both of them were on their second drink. Zach had ordered a small glass of vodka and some seltzer first and now moved onto a glass of wine, and Vanessa was sipping on her second glass of wine herself. Because of the red liquid, both of them had lost every tied up emotion. Now sipping on their glasses of wine staring at the other across the table they smiled.

“You look amazing tonight too”, Zach said out of the blue as he put his fingers around the wine glass and moved it a little watching the red liquid swish to either side. “Alicia did a killer job on your make-up”, Zach’s brown orbs rose from the glass and met Vanessa’s piercing blue eyes. The smile was off of her face and as she looked blankly back at Zach, his heart beat started racing. What did he say, what was she going to day? Everything has been going so well, everything was perfect. “Vanessa?” The urgency in Zach’s voice tore Vanessa’s eyes off of the man sitting across the room from her.

When her attention fell back onto Zach, she smiled. “Sorry, I zoned”, pushing her bangs up and running her left hand through her hair, she glanced quickly at the boy and sighed heavily. “I think I need some more wine”, with a chuckle she smirked and looked back up at Zach, his face now relaxed and smiling. “Come on; pour me a little more, s'il vous plait?”

Zach’s eyes grew as he grabbed the bottle and looked over at the girl, her blue eyes playful, and her bottom lip between her teeth. After a small giggle escaped her mouth, Zach smiled and poured some more red liquid into her glass. “I’m not going to lose you right”, Zach said furrowing his eyebrow as he picked up his own glass and took a sip from it. With an audible laugh Vanessa straightened her back and shook her head. “And you know French?”

“A little delayed, no?” Her eyes met Zach’s and they both fell into a moment of silence. The smirk on Vanessa’s face was driving Zach absolutely mad, and because Vanessa had loosened up on her emotions, Zach’s innocent smile was stirring the butterflies in her stomach that have been dormant for what felt to her like years. “I know a little French, whatever I can remember from High School”, her blue eyes quickly glanced back to the boy across the room and as they went to dart back to Zach’s the boy she had been eyeing caught her.

A huge wave of sickness crashed over Vanessa. Her hand started to shake and as her eyes slowly dropped back to Zach, her heart rate started to beat erratically making it impossible for her to take a deep breath and calm herself. Now all she could do is sit at the table, keep talking to Zach, and hope that the boy didn’t walk over.

Unfortunately, because of the loose emotions, Vanessa was having a hard time covering up her fright and after a few more minutes, Zach caught on. Leaning over the table and putting his hand on her cheek, he directed her eyes into his. “What’s wrong?” His eyes narrowed trying to read what was going through the blue pools across from him, but just as Vanessa’s hand met his on her face, another body appeared at the table, and it wasn’t the waitress.

“Hello Vanessa”, a shiver rocked her body as the familiar voice filled her head. “Hello Sir”, Vanessa’s eyes wouldn’t move further than the familiar large belt buckle. “I’m Matt, pleasure to meet you”, her eyes darted to their hands meeting in the center of the table. The hand with the gold chain moved quickly over to her, and for some odd reason she flinched.

As soon as Zach picked up on her flinch, every muscle in his body tightened. His mind started going a mile a minute, but instead of making a huge scene, he dug his nails into his thighs and kept all of the anger off of his face, and instead let it run through his veins, making his whole body warm. Zach quickly looked over at Matt and Vanessa; he noticed how her body was tense as his hand caressed her bare shoulder and as he continued the urge to stand up and punch him right between the eyes grew stronger and stronger.

“Glad to see you moved on Vanessa”, the way he said her name caused the blue eyed girl to look down, blinking hard to keep the tears out of sight. She was stronger than that, she didn’t have to deal with him anymore, this was going to be the last time he ever spoke to her, all she had to do was look up at the man across the table from her and she would be fine. “I’ll see you around, love”

As the last word hung in the air not leaving with the man, both of the people sitting down at the table stayed completely silent. Zach’s fingers released from the death grip on his thighs and as his eyes traced over Vanessa’s limp frame, they softened and all of the anger in his blood drained out. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He whispered softly. He stretched his hand out to touch her cheek again. As she caught a glimpse of it her body jerked back. Once his hand was back by his side, Vanessa’s sad blue eyes rose peered at Zach.

Shaking her head she whispered a small apology. Nodding, Zach bit down on his tongue and let out a deep breath. As both of them were consumed in silence, the waitress came back over with their orders and set them down on the table. As the steam came off of Vanessa’s pasta and Zach’s steak, they both looked at each other at a loss for words. The conversations that had once come so easy were now thrown away. A wall that had been knocked down half way through the cab ride was up again, and this time Vanessa showed absolutely no sign of breaking it down. Instead she grabbed her fork and quietly started picking at her food.

With a heavy sigh Zach put his left hand on the table and picked the fork up with his right. Taking a forkful of mashed potatoes, he brought the fork to his mouth and sighed heavily as he swallowed the little food in his mouth. Going back for more, he glanced over at Vanessa. Her eyebrows were about to meet in the center of her forehead, and as her fork sat on her plate; she sighed heavily and glanced over at the table. Taking her glass of wine in her right hand, she stretched her left hand out and placed it right on top of Zach’s.

Finishing the red liquid in her glass, Vanessa looked back over at Zach’s shocked face and gave him a small smile. “I’m sorry”, her eyes dropped from his and landed back on her plate. “I have an idea”, the butterflies from earlier in the night started to beat against the walls of her stomach. Although the felling didn’t mix well with food, she took a strong liking to the feeling anyway. “How about when we’re done we take a walk, like a little stroll around a park”, her crystal blue eyes met Zach’s and after a second, she flashed him a smile. “It’s up to you”, she finished and peeled her hand off of Zach’s hand and grabbed the bottle of wine that maybe had enough left for two more glasses, hers being one.

Setting the fork down Zach watched as the red liquid fell into the round glass and slowly moved up until it was half filled. Without much thought on the actual subject of walking around in a park with her, he jerked his eyes back to hers and smiled widely. “That sounds like a marvelous idea”, he furrowed his eyebrows as he downed the last sip in his glass and grabbed the bottle from her.

Filling his glass with the rest of the intoxicating liquid in the bottle, he put the cork back into the now empty bottle and set it at the edge of the table. With a small chuckle, he looked back at Vanessa and shook his head. “We just finished a whole entire bottle of wine”, his eyes widened as he said ‘whole’ and to this Vanessa let out a small laugh.

“Well then I hope this doesn’t work to anyone’s advantage too much”, their eyes quickly darted to the others, and as the words settled into the air, they both smiled at each other and started laughing. Shaking her head Vanessa looked back down at her food and felt her stomach start to do back flips over and over again, examining how much she had eaten, she took a deep breath and placed her fork down.

As her eyes wandered back over to Zach, she felt her heart start to race uncontrollably. His brown eyes were glazed over, shimmering in the little light available. His skin looked smooth to the touch, and his lips were twisted up in a small smile pulled to the side of his face bearing a few teeth. The smirk that he had conjured up sent Vanessa into cardiac arrest, and as she kept staring at him, she realized that these feelings that she was hiding from him earlier weren’t going to be able to hide much longer, especially after a half of a bottle of red wine.