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The Essence of Perfection Page 9
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Nicola sat back and sipped her water. “Okay. Give me his number.”
* * *
She waited until she was back in her office before giving Bobby a call. Her hands were slick. Her stomach clenched as if she were driving a hundred miles an hour down a busy highway. Heart pounding and breathless. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Bobby in years. He might not even remember her.
Except, Shonda said he’d asked about her. He did remember her. That didn’t mean he was still interested. A lot of time had passed. For all she knew, Bobby might still be married with kids by now.
He wouldn’t have given his number to Shonda or asked about you if he were married. Would he?
Only one way to find out. She dialed his number and hit send before she could think about it anymore. She’d already paced her office a dozen times.
“Hello?” A curious baritone came through the phone.
Her heart did a flip. Her stomach did, too. She wasn’t sure if it was excitement or nausea. “Hey, Bobby Bradford, this is Nicola King. I got your number from Shonda.”
Two seconds passed when Nicola wanted to drop through a hole to the center of the Earth before he spoke again.
“Nicola, hey girl! How have you been?”
Her shoulders relaxed. He remembered her. Good first step. She paced the room. “I’ve been good. Really good.”
“You still working in chemistry?”
Her cheeks hurt from her grin. “Yeah, still doing that. How about you?”
“I work quality control for a pesticide manufacturer. Still some chemistry, but mostly the boring administrative stuff.”
He spoke in a self-depreciating manner. Bobby had gotten awesome grades in school. If he was working in chemistry, she didn’t doubt he was leading up whatever section he worked in.
“Cool, sounds great.”
“Actually, it’s really boring.”
She let out a stiff laugh. “Okay, sounds terrible.” Could she get any worse at flirting?
He laughed as if he appreciated her silly joke. “It’s good to hear from you,” he said warmly. “I remember how much fun we’d have when we worked in chemistry lab together.”
“I know. All those late nights.” She cleared her throat. Now or never. “So, Bobby, are you seeing anyone?”
“Why?” he asked quickly.
“I was just curious,” she replied feeling defensive. Had she crossed the line too soon?
“There’s usually more than curiosity behind those types of questions. Tell the truth. Why did you ask?”
Nicola took a deep breath. Now or never. “Okay . . . I was wondering if you were free to hang out sometime.”
“Hang out? Like college?”
Why was he making this so hard? “No, like a . . . date.”
“Sure. When?”
There. She’d done it. Asked a guy out and the world still spun. Time ticked on. The sun kept shining. Her heart slowed down. She wanted to laugh and spin in a circle. This had been super easy. Why had she waited so long?
“How about this weekend?”
“What time?” He sounded excited.
Her confidence soared. She’d asked out a guy and he was excited about going out with her. “I’ve got to go to Aiken on Saturday to help my grandad, but we can meet for drinks or coffee on Sunday.”
“Drinks sounds great. Text me the place and I’ll meet you there.”
“Great. I’ll do that.” She did a hip shimmy and opened her mouth to let out a silent, jubilant scream. She was going out with Bobby Bradford!
“I can’t wait to see you.” His voiced dipped an octave.
Shivers went down her spine. “Same here.”
Their call ended and Nicola clapped her hands. This scratching things off her list thing was turning out to be a pretty damn good idea.
Chapter 11
Her grandfather’s excitement hadn’t diminished by the time Nicola arrived at his place on Saturday morning. He waved her in and pulled her into the living room. There, all of the items from his box upstairs were laid out on the couch and the coffee table.
“I got everything cleaned up and ready to go,” Jeremiah said. His dark eyes were bright as he examined all his props. “I wanted to make sure everything still looked good. Of course, if you think we need to get matching outfits or something. I thought maybe purple sequins or—”
“No matching outfits.” Nicola picked up his cape and sat on the couch. She spread the satin material out over her legs. “And no sequins.”
“Why not? Most two person acts try to match each other. What are you going to wear on stage?”
She honestly had not thought that far ahead, but she didn’t plan to wear matching outfits. When she’d mentioned the magic show to Stacie at Your Morning Wake-Up Call after telling her about Cancun, the producer had loved both ideas. Nicola had agreed to let her brief stint into the world of magic be filmed for prosperity, but that didn’t mean she had to get up there looking like a disco ball.
“I was thinking black pants and a button up white shirt. Simple and classic, without taking any of the attention away from you.”
Her grandfather frowned for several seconds before nodding. “I guess that’s fine. Though I liked the idea of us doing something snazzy. Since I’m coming out of retirement, I want to make sure I return to the stage with a big splash.”
“Have you already figured out what tricks you’re going to do.”
He held up a finger. “I don’t trick people. Magic isn’t about doing tricks. It’s about creating illusions. Making the mind see things that it can’t comprehend.”
“Oh, well excuse me, sir,” Nicola said raising a hand to her chest. “I didn’t mean to insult your work.”
He rolled his eyes. “Laugh all you want. When we finish, it’ll be to a standing ovation. I used to always bring people to their feet when I performed.”
She hoped he didn’t get his hopes up too high. Nicola loved a good magic show as much as the next person. If she could remember attending a magic show. She had seen them on television before, and they always seemed fun. But those shows were put on by famous and skilled magicians. People who’d worked on their illusions for years. Her grandfather hadn’t done a single magic trick in thirty years. She doubted they’d be booed off the stage at a senior center show, but that didn’t mean they would also get a standing ovation either.
“What illusions have you put together?” she asked instead. Focusing on the show instead of her grandfather’s visions of fame.
“I found my old notebook.” He picked up a composition notebook. The pages were yellowed with age. “It’s got some of my oldies but goodies in here. I was also going to check out YouTube.”
“YouTube?”
“Yeah, your sister told me that you can find instructions on how to do anything on YouTube. She’s right. I even fixed my dishwasher last month thanks to that site.”
“Grandpa, why are you fixing your dishwasher? You can get someone to help you with that.”
“I can also do things myself. What do you want me to do? Sit up in this house twiddling my thumbs?”
She didn’t want him fiddling around with heavy appliances or cutting his grass in ninety-degree heat. He was right about needing something to keep him busy, but the last thing their family needed was for him to get hurt doing things around the house that would strain him.
“You’re not twiddling your thumbs. You’re focusing on a magic show. The best magic show ever, therefore, the next time something needs to be done around here you should call me or Mom. We’ll help you figure out how to get it fixed.”
“I’m not too old to take care of myself.”
“No one said you were. Now, can we get back to the show? Tell me more about what you found online.”
That took the disgruntled look off his face. He shifted over to sit next to her on the couch and opened his notebook. “First, let’s go through some of my basic illusions.”
He smiled and told her stories about wher
e he’d first performed some of his illusions when he was younger. He’d started off doing magic for birthday parties and eventually, thanks to the jokes he’d tell, did shows at business and other corporate events. They went through posters he’d saved announcing his shows and even a few pictures of him on stage.
“Man, Grandpa, I still can’t believe it.” Nicola held up one of the polaroid pictures of her grandfather. He wore the cape and a black and white tuxedo. In his hand he held cards as he performed one of his card tricks. A huge smile creased his younger face. The joy in what he was doing was apparent even in the still shot.
“Why not?”
“Because, this was obviously a big part of your life at one time. You never once mentioned it.”
He shrugged. “The kids weren’t interested in my magic. Your mom and her brother and sisters were embarrassed. They couldn’t stand it when I tried to entertain their friends who came to the house.”
“Why didn’t you show me and my cousins when we came along?”
“I figured you wouldn’t be interested either.” He took the picture from her hand and studied it. “By then magic was just a distant memory.”
“How about I invite everyone to the show,” Nicola said. The idea striking her instantly.
“Everyone like who?” he asked suspiciously.
“Mom, Auntie and Uncle, Quinn and my cousins. The entire family. Let’s invite them to your reintroduction into the world of entertainment. Let’s show the family how brilliant you are.”
“You haven’t even seen me perform. How do you know I’m brilliant?”
She squeezed his arm. “Because I’m brilliant, and I am descended from you.”
“Silly girl.” He brushed her hand away and stood, but not before Nicola caught the smile on his lips. “Want something to eat?”
“Sure.”
Jeremiah headed toward the kitchen. Nicola picked up the few scattered pictures and programs from his past. He stopped at the door. “You can let them know about the show, but don’t make it a big deal. I don’t want the family to feel obligated to show up.”
“I won’t.”
He nodded. “Good. Not like I need all of y’all there getting in the way anyway. I like my privacy.” He went into the kitchen grumbling the entire time about how family always showed up and made things complicated.
Nicola grinned and shook her head. Looks like her family would get an up close and personal seat at her public debut. She didn’t care. She’d also get her mom and Quinn to bug everyone to show up for the show. Looks like the family she was going to spend more time with was going to expand.
Chapter 12
The next morning, Nicola woke up and started her normal routine. She showered, dressed, checked emails, and thought about what project she was going to work on in the lab that morning. She’d lost an entire working day on Saturday with her grandfather.
Not that she regretted it in the least. He’d tried to act annoyed as she’d called Quinn and her mom to get them on board with inviting the rest of the family to his show. Yet, she’d caught the gleam of joy in his eye whenever he didn’t think she was looking.
For all the fun she’d had yesterday, she really needed to get caught up today. Especially since she was meeting Bobby later that night for drinks. She’d mentioned the date to Stacie, who asked about bringing cameras. Nicola expected Bobby to say no, or even cancel when she’d called to confirm the date and mentioned the cameras. Instead, he’d seemed excited about the idea of being on television. She was officially excited.
She scanned her kitchen for her keys. The quicker she got to the lab the quicker she could get back here and prep for her date. Her keys lay on the kitchen counter in a perfect ray of sun shining through the window. Nicola picked them up. The warmth of the sun warmed the back of her hand even through the window.
She looked outside. The morning was bright and clear. Few clouds in the sky. Birds flying around. If she went out there, she’d hear the sound of someone’s lawn mower going. See her neighbors sitting on their porches drinking coffee.
A perfect Sunday morning. How many times had she told herself she would take off work and go to the Sunday morning farmers market? Just as many times as she’d talked herself out of going because there was work to do. Or an event to attend. Or she’d decided not to go because Quinn didn’t “do” farmers markets, or Shonda had her kids and didn’t want to bring them with her.
Not today. She didn’t want to go to work. She didn’t want to spend this beautiful Sunday morning hanging out in a lab. Making things that smelled like flowers, nature, and tropical vacations. She would do something different today.
She wasn’t even going to call Quinn or Shonda for backup. She was a grown woman and could go to the farmer’s market on her own. She clutched the keys and strode out the door with purpose.
She was proud of herself until she had to find a parking space. Never venturing to the market meant she hadn’t realized how crowded this place could get. She eventually found a parking space, then had to walk too many blocks from her car to the market for the black flats she’d planned to wear to the office. Her sneakers were at work, the only place she’d needed comfortable shoes so far.
The beautiful rays of sunshine that had driven her out in the first place felt like burning laser beams as she walked. Sweat beaded on her skin until her blouse stuck to her back. She needed something to drink and settled for an overpriced bottle of water from one of the food vendors.
She sucked down the lukewarm water. What the hell had she been thinking? Obviously, not how miserable the farmers market could be on a hot Sunday in Georgia.
Taking a deep breath, she decided to try to make the best of things and enjoy the day. She strolled through the vendors. Admiring in the craft jewelry, locally sourced food, fruits, and vegetables. Though she tried to be optimistic about her jaunt out to do something different, she couldn’t ignore the growing discomfort in her feet. The sweat continuing to trickle down her back. How long the lines were to purchase any of the items she was interested in. The market was crowded with people everywhere.
Hot and tired, Nicola was ready to go back to her car when a painting of a bright sunflower in a store window behind a bowl she recognized as Damien’s pottery caught her attention. She walked toward the store window. The name Sienna Sun Gallery and Lounge was painted in bright orange letters on the door. Intrigued, Nicola wandered inside. The air conditioning in the gallery hit her sweat-slicked skin and sent a wonderful chill over her. A welcome relief after her trek through the Sunday farmers market. The lights were bright and highlighted the happy and colorful paintings on the walls. Shelves with decorated wine glasses, books, handmade crafts, and pottery filled the space.
“Good morning!” the young woman behind the counter called to her. “Let me know if you need help finding anything.”
“Thank you, I will,” Nicola replied.
There was a door to a large space connected to the gallery. A stage was on the far end, round tables in the center, and couches along the wall. More artwork hung in that space.
“We have music and dinner in there every night on the weekends,” the woman said from the counter. “You should come back and check out one of our shows.”
“Maybe I will.” She mentally added that to her list. Maybe this would be a good date spot if things worked out with Bobby.
No maybe—this would be a good spot. He’d always seen her in class or in a lab. They talked chemistry and occasionally movies or television. He needed to see her in a more laid-back setting.
“What time is the show tonight?” she asked.
“We start at eight.”
Nicola wandered away from the show room and over to the display of Damien’s pottery. His classic pieces with the signature blue-grey and marbled orange glaze.
“Those are great, aren’t they?” the woman said. “We’re the only local gallery allowed to sell his pottery.”
“It is beautiful. I’m actually taking
the class at his studio right now.”
“Oh, that’s dope! How do you like it?”
She looked forward to the next class and had thought a lot about what she would work on next. This time she would surrender to whatever her mind wanted to create while working with the clay as she did when she first started making scents. For all her scoffing about Fran’s comment that they would find themselves with the clay, she was doing just that.
“I’m really enjoying it.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” a caramel-smooth male voice answered.
She spun around. Her purse bumped into a podium and the vase on it wobbled. She and Damien both lunged forward to stop the catastrophe. The tips of their fingers brushed as they steadied the stand. The touch rattled her just as much as she’d rattled the podium.
“You’re really good at sneaking up on me,” she said.
Damien’s smile was a flash of white teeth against his brown skin. The beginnings of a beard darkened his square jawline. She didn’t like beards, typically, but she liked the way his facial hair framed his lips. “You’re really good at getting lost in your thoughts and tuning out the rest of the world.”
“What are you doing in here?”
He pointed over his shoulder to the lounge area. “Visiting with the owner. He’s a friend of mine. Another friend is playing in the show tonight.”
She wasn’t surprised to find out he had friends here, considering this was one of the only places to purchase his pottery away from his gallery. “Are you coming back for the show?”
He shrugged. The thin material of his black t-shirt strained with the casual movement. One thick silver chain rested around his neck. “Thinking about it. You?”
“Thinking about it,” she replied.
He scratched his chin and nodded. “Now tell me. What are you doing in here?”