Opening the wedding invitation that evening was like a stab in the heart, even though I had suspected this was coming. I sat down on my bed and heaved a huge part-sigh and part-sob. Vicky had chosen Pete over me, so that was that. It was easy to see why she might think he was the better choice; he’d always been more successful and manly than I was. In business he was doing extremely well, on the path to becoming a young executive, whereas I was never going to be executive material; I didn’t have much of a head for business. And Pete did seem like a nice enough guy, at least compared to some of the losers Vicky had seen in the past. Even though he was my rival I’d always almost liked him.

No, Nathan wasn’t crazy. To say he was WOULD be crazy. He was a very well adjusted man.

He was just frantically scouring the internet for any evidence of magic being real.

The part of him that still wanted to be rational was thinking “of course magic isn’t real, that’s ridiculous, you’re being ridiculous”. And he was being ridiculous, magic was not something that existed in the real world, and it certainly wasn’t something that sensible, level-headed adults believed in.

Chapter 3

Abigail appraised my movements and told me to take shorter steps with my feet trying to follow a straight line. Then I had to lose my slouch that the weight of the breasts were forcing on me. We worked on all of these until I walked correctly, with my head high and my shoulders back. That was a whole new feeling.

Boys can dream, can’t they?.

Bryce and Paul were boyhood friends. Many Saturday afternoons had been spent horizontal on sofas watching sports on the TV. As the years went by the cans of cola were replaced by beer, razors were in each bathroom and their voices had broken, of course. Commercial breaks were now occupied by discussions of the attractiveness (or otherwise) of various girls of their mutual acquaintance and the ruses needed to get them wearing as little as possible, as quickly as possible.

Rose mingles with the people at the banquet. She keeps Sasha in sight, so she can talk to her. As for Ciarán, something about him was rubbing her the wrong way. It was a good thing she came prepared. She walks close to Ciarán and gently drops a small GPS tracker into his side pocket. She also scans his cell phone with hers.

While she is close to Ciarán, she listens in on what he is saying to some guy. They were talking about investments and the newest CEO of some company. Nothing that matters to her. She wasn’t into acquiring or having lots of money like her family.

CHAPTER 43
I didn’t sleep that well that night, and probably came across as a little grumpy over breakfast. Chad and Maryam were off quickly, Kul and I following a little later. The drive into work was a bit tense at first, as Kul clearly picked up on my mood.

“I never met her, Mike. Wish I could have”

“Sorry?”

“Me being silly. If I had been given the chance to meet her, you would never have ended up in Sheffield, so we’d never have met, us two that is, and well, yeah. You’re thinking betrayal, aren’t you?”

Nancy recommended a couple of hangover cures, which required ingredients the dining hall didn’t have, but I made up a makeshift with orange juice and hot sauce, which took my mind off the hangover if it didn’t cure it.

Part Fifteen

Amy just smiled.

“No need to wait,” she said, “Won’t it be more fun to see if Sadie recognizes her when we’re done?”

“Hmm, true! I’m not sure I would have known it was Chris–sorry, Chrissy–if you hadn’t told me right away,” Julia replied. She opened the box and took out something round-ish that Chris didn’t immediately recognize, “Sorry, they’re not quite her color.”

“That’s okay!” Amy exclaimed, “It’s all make-up safe, right?”

Being Samantha Masters

an homage-prequel to Being Christina Chase

Like You

“Wakey wakey, sunshine,” giggled a voice, coupled with a gentle shake to Sammy’s shoulder.  He wasn’t in bed.  He was on something… not quite hard.  Something smelled weird.  He started, suddenly full awake.

April 22nd, 3040