SWNOVELS Chapter CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
SITTING OUTSIDE AT ONE OF THE tables under the red Cornelia Street Café sign with white lettering, Lauren waited for Michael to show up. She was impatient and couldn’t wait to grab onto him and maybe never let go. After being apart from him, Lauren hoped they could take their relationship to another level. He had a pleasant scent, and she wanted to appreciate it again. Although she continued to be affected by almost dying in that awful coffin, she survived, and it was time to get beyond it.
Lauren looked right toward Bleecker Street and then left towards W4th Street. She glanced at her Bulova watch and wasn’t impressed with the time elapsed. Her beautiful gray-blue eyes scanned the area, stopping at the Little Havana restaurant across the street, where about a dozen people were entering simultaneously. Discovering that he had been searching for her in New York, she finally got word to Michael and waited impatiently for his arrival. Love’s pull was more potent than the most powerful magnet.
“Come on, Michael, hurry up.”
Because whatever wizard had taken her remained out there somewhere, it made her nervous. However, he had gotten his hands on her, and she assumed it was a HIM, but it continued to be a blank. She hadn’t a clue how she had ended up in that coffin; that was particularly worrying as she gave everyone in the area the once over. Being vulnerable wasn’t a good feeling. What would she do if she encountered that damn wizard? Should she fight or flee?
“Come on, Michael.” Lauren sat in one of the green chairs and had an opened bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne beside her on the table, drinking directly from the bottle. She was happy to be alive and would be delighted to look at Michael’s face. Lauren attempted to call Michael but got no answer. She could imagine many things, but it would only be her imagination at work and nothing factual. The day was getting heavier, and she hoped for lighter moments before it ended.
“Don’t tell me that you’ve been kidnapped as well.” The statement meant nothing until it came out, frightening her. What if whoever had had her trapped in that coffin took Michael just to get at her. It wasn’t an entirely bizarre thing to consider. It made sense. Oh, how she wished she hadn’t said it, hadn’t thought it, hadn’t felt it. He could be used as bait to lure the sheriff back into the wizard’s magical hands, and as she considered it, she realized that it would probably work. The level of anxiousness was rising, and nothing would lower it except for Michael.
She pictured him in a coffin, and it tore at the fabric of her heart.
When Michael was officially an hour late, Lauren felt like pulling her swords off her back and slicing something; she couldn’t do it, but she visualized it. She tried to take a deep breath and relax, but it didn’t work. A young black couple crossed the street, both so attractive that they looked as if they had jumped off the cover of a glamour magazine. The kids that they would produce would undoubtedly be exceptional. Once on the sidewalk, they kissed, and she wanted to split them in two. Not really, but they did annoy her. Finally, they made their way down the street and eventually out of sight.
Tick tock, tick tock.
Another disturbing scenario entered her mind. It had been a near-death experience for her, so what if she was experiencing some emotional problems? Not a mental breakdown per se, but there could be aftereffects that she would have to work through. Lauren was one tough lady, but everyone had their breaking points. She faced death and conquered it, but there could be repercussions. What if that horse hadn’t been there?
Lauren would work through it. It would be better when Michael arrived. Michael’s face would comfort her. Michael’s presence would soothe her soul. But what if Michael didn’t show up?
Again the red sheriff glanced at her watch.
Lauren couldn’t get the law involved as Michael had only been missing an hour and a half. That wasn’t really missing at all; he was delayed. Delayed like a train that had been derailed? Was Michael now trapped in a coffin waiting for her to rescue him? That didn’t even make a smidgeon of sense, or did it? Worrying about something that wasn’t factual was asinine. Stress was rubbed out of her forehead but quickly returned. She couldn’t search the entire city for him. She simply had to wait. He sounded anxious to see her on the phone, so where was he?
Tick tock. Tick tock. Time had slowed to the pace of a three-toed sloth.
Her mind drifted back to the coffin. Whoever had entrapped her was still out there, and that was worrying on multiple levels. She would have to seek out another wizard to see if she could track down the bastard. Telling herself not to look at her watch was maddening. That watch was becoming the enemy. Lauren felt a little stupid at how she was overreacting. She was sure he was on the way, but he should have been there by now. The street was examined in both directions, but still no sign of him. Picking up the bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne, she downed the rest, got up, and started to pace.
“Michael, where are you?” Lauren was now getting looks from a senior couple at a nearby table; she noticed it but didn’t care. Perhaps she was acting a little irrational, talking to herself. Against her judgment, she rechecked her watch, and now almost two hours had passed. What if she never heard from him again? Never knowing his fate would forever haunt her.
Michael was at a Men’s Warehouse trying on new suits. He had the choice down to two but had lost the connection with time.