Trance (23 page)

Authors: Tabitha Levin

TWENTY FOUR

I joined the
hypnotized participants hands together with an imaginary gold rope, telling them it was tight and unbreakable. They were convinced it was real. My boyfriend, the up and coming stage hypnotist, Jason Green, tugged on the imaginary rope, pretending to have a tug-o-war with the people on the other end of the nothing. The crowd chuckled and giggled as they began to pull with all their might.

He winked at me and I placed the cushions behind them.

He pretended to let go, and predictably, the people fell backwards one by one like a set of dominos onto the cushions behind them. The audience hooted in laughter.

It was my turn next, pulling a real yellow rope out of thin air (behind my back) like magic.

Jason told them it was a snake and I stroked the rope like a small pet.

The group crouched and huddled together, terrified of the piece of rope I held in my hands, while the audience continued to laugh at their crazy
behavior.

I shook the rope, turning it into a lemon (hidden in my hair) and the crowd clapped.

I handed the lemon to one of the participants telling him it was a beautiful sweet orange. He bit into it, and instead of scrunching his face at the sour tartness, he moaned like it was the most delicious thing he’d ever eaten, shielding it from his fellow hypnotized friends who clamored for a taste.

Tonight’s
show was coming to a close. A click of his fingers and slowly, one by one, the participants were snapped out of their trance.

The crowd cheered us. Jason bowed and I curtsied as the red velvet curtain slid across the stage. I squeezed Jason’s hand as we listened to the crowd who were still applauding our show as we disappeared from their sight.

“Show your love for the most magical couple in the country, Jason Green and Scarlett Tinks,” the announcer’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. The curtain opened partway again and I borrowed my grandfather’s trick of pulling out a bunch of fake flowers filled with glitter, throwing it into the crowd as the glitter rained down over the those that were under its path. Finally, the curtains closed again and Jason kissed me passionately, not even waiting until our assistant had taken all of the hypnotized participants offstage.

“I could do a hundred more shows like this,” he said.

“We’ll probably have to. Have you seen the schedule for summer?”

Since we’d started performing together we’d become the hottest act around. Everyone wanted to see our act. The combination of magic and hypnotism was made for each other. A perfect match.

I pulled him closer feeling his body under his shirt. He still sent a thrill through me, even after all these months, perhaps even more so, now that we were so comfortable with each other. His tongue entered my mouth and his fingers teased the top of my costume.

“Get a room, why don’t you.” Lacey groaned as she walked on stage. “And don’t tell me, I don’t want to hear it.” She stuck her fingers in her ears pretending she couldn’t hear anything more we said. I grinned and reluctantly pulled away from Jason.

“Another brilliant costume, Miss Letterman. It totally made the show. I’m sure it would have been a total flop without this sequin right here.” I pointed to a random place on my corset and then held out my hand to formally shake hers like she was the hired help. It always drove her crazy.

She rolled her eyes and pushed my hand away, wrapping her arms around both Jason and me. “
Whatevs. Are you heading back yet, or going visiting tonight.”

“Visiting,” I said. “But I’ll be home in a few hours.”

“Sure you will.” She wagged her finger at Jason. “Drive safe young man. I don’t want any of you whipper snapper’s speeding or drink driving.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

She grinned, and gave me one last hug before disappearing offstage.

“Are you really visiting tonight?” asked Jason. “I was hoping to have you all to myself. I know this very handsome, rugged, rogue prince who wants to totally ravish his naked damsel.”

“Tsk tsk, Mr Green. There’s plenty of time. Come with me, then we can have a stopover at your house before you drop me back home.” My home being the one I shared with Lacey. I moved out of my grandparents two months ago with the promise that I’d get it back when, and if, I ever got married. Not that I was thinking that far ahead yet of course. No need to rush a good thing.

My grandmother, Rose Tinks, opened the door to us. Her hair was pulled back and her face looked fresh and relaxed.

“It’s not too late, is it?” I whispered.

“He’s still awake,” she said, ushering us both inside.

My grandfather, the former magician extraordinaire, Thomas
Tinks sat in his favorite armchair that had been pushed up to the kitchen table. His leg, now out of bandages, was propped up on a tiny footstool. His cane beside his chair for whenever he needed to walk anywhere. Not that my grandmother would let him walk too far away. She fussed over him just like she used to do to me when I was a child.

“Just in time for supper,” he said.

Baked goods ranging from biscuits to little bite sized cakes filled the table. I could smell cinnamon mixed with nutmeg. I missed these aromas. Lacey never cooked anything like this, preferring healthier fare. She didn’t know what she was missing.

My grandmother poured us both tea into her
favorite bone china teacups, the ones she only bought out when she had company.

“Expecting someone important?” I asked.

“Indeed, every week,” said my grandfather grinning. “Every week.”

I leaned over so he could kiss me on the cheek and then sat down taking a sip of my tea.

“So how did the show go tonight? Did you wow them like always?” he asked.

“Best show we’ve ever done,” I said. “I’ve been
practicing the floating light bulb trick too. I’ll need a bit more practice but I think I can nail it. And we can say it’s a fairy or perhaps an idea and have people stand under it? That might be funny - we’ll make it something that will get us a laugh anyway. I’m sure it’ll get a huge response.”

“Yes.” He leaned his hand across the table and patted mine. “Definitely do that one.”

Jason walked over and shook my grandfather’s hand before sitting down. He grabbed a biscuit and took a bite. My mouth watered just watching him devour its sugary delights and I grabbed my own.

“And what about you?” asked my grandfather to Jason. “Going to make my granddaughter a respectable woman yet?”

I coughed, nearly spluttering out my tea. “We’ve only been going out six months!”

Jason laughed. “We’ll see.”

“You won’t find a finer woman than my Scarlett,” said my grandfather.

Jason smiled at me. “That’s for sure.”

“Well if you ever decide to, I’ve got the perfect gift. This house.”

I looked around. My old home. It’d be strange to live in it one day with Jason by my side. “There’s plenty of time for that,” I said.

“That’s right, Mr Tinks,” Jason added. “Plenty of time.“ He winked at my grandfather conspiratorially like they had some secret between them. I shook my head, they had better not be planning anything.

I narrowed my eyes watching their interaction, but they gave nothing more away. That was just as well, I wasn’t ready to make any more changes to my life. I had just turned
twenty-five, had a new career, a new place to live, and a new life. I wanted to enjoy this moment for as long as possible.

After supper was finished and belts expanded, we said our goodbyes. It still felt strange staying goodbye to them at the home I lived most of my life in. The home that would one day be my own.

I slid into the passenger seat and Jason walked around to the driver’s side. He put the key in the ignition. “I’m not taking you home yet. Some star gazing first,” he said.

“You’re going to look at yourself in the mirror?” I grinned, knowing exactly where he really wanted to go.

We hadn’t been back to his
favorite spot in months. Tonight’s light breeze and warm spring temperature would be a good excuse to visit again so we could cuddle up together and look out over the whole town. I always liked going back there, since it was the first place we’d made love, and the moment he’d captured a piece of my heart. Even if I didn’t know it at the time.

I picked up my phone, lazily scrolling through the messages. “
Oooh, we got a new review. Want me to read it out?” I clicked on the link that took me to a website and laughed. “Ha! She likes you, but she doesn’t like me. Because I’ve got red hair - is she mad?”

“Probably,” said Jason. “Not everyone can have as good taste as we do.”

I smiled. Reviews didn’t bother me anymore, at least not like they used to. The whole internet wasn’t so scary either. It was easier to shield yourself from other people’s opinions if you knew that nothing was real and no one, except those that truly loved you, knew who you really were. I even had my own blog now. I could write, ponder life, publish photos, whatever I liked. It was exhilarating to be able to interact with fans directly. I’d built up quite a following.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. How did my life get so perfect? Luck, I guessed. I had two wonderful grandparents, a brilliant best friend, and the career I’ve always wanted.
And of course the best boyfriend in the world, not to mention he was the most talented, gorgeous, sexy man I’d ever met, who loved me for me.

I opened my eyes and looked across at him thinking how lucky I was. Life couldn’t get any better. Could it?

Thanks for reading

Thank you for taking the time to read
Trance
. I hope you enjoyed reading it, as much as I did writing it. Consider leaving a review – it helps me learn what you like, and helps other readers find books they enjoy.

For new releases and more books I have written, visit my website at
http://tabithalevin.com

Happy Reading,

Tabitha :)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

All my books can be found at Amazon:

http://amazon.com/author/tabithalevin

ROMANCE

Novels

Trance

Novellas (under 25,000 words)

In His Sails

The Brute