It was a slow and quiet morning. The kind of mornings that Molly loved. She'd wake up, make a pot of coffee, warm herself up some leftover pastries from the nearby bakery, and maybe do the crossword. That was, in fact, exactly what she was doing this particular morning. She figured she'd take a nice bath after this and then get to work drafting in her home office, until the knock came at her door. Visitors at 9am? Who the hell would be here now? She groaned, pushed herself up from her breakfast nook in the kitchen and headed to the front door, which she opened to find, of all people, Zoe standing there with a few bags.
"...I need help," Zoe said, "I need to hide." "Hide from what?" Molly asked as Zoe exhaled. "My folks," she said. Now that, Molly felt, was relatable. She let her in without a single hesitation. Zoe set her things down in the living room, then walked into the kitchen and sat at the table as Molly poured her a cup of coffee and warmed her up a pastry as well, setting both down in front of her before seating herself once more. "Everything okay?" Molly asked as she sipped her coffee. "I woke up to my mom folding my underwear, does that answer your question?" Zoe asked. "Oddly enough, yes," Molly replied. "I can't be around them," Zoe said, "I just...I had to bail and fast, and you were the only place I could think of to go to. I couldn't go to Allie's." "Why not?" Zoe didn't want to admit it, but she had thought about going to Allie's first, actually. At least until she remembered Nick was back in the picture. These days it seemed as if all of Allie's spare time was taken up by her relationship. And she felt uncomfortable going to Effie, asking if she could stay with her for a while. Sure they'd been together for over 6 months now, but it still made her feel icky. Zoe sighed and ran her hands over her face. "thanks for letting me in," she mumbled. "I have a guest bedroom," Molly said, "You're welcome to stay as long as you want. I'm happy for the company." Zoe smiled. Perhaps, despite not actually being her first choice, Molly really was the best alternative after all. *** Truth be told, Allie wouldn't have answered the door anyway if Zoe had gone there, because that morning in particular, she was on her back in bed, with Nick on top of her, thrusting away like there was no tomorrow. After they were finished, Allie lay there and stared at the ceiling, feeling better than she had in ages. During their brief time apart, she'd forgotten how good he was in bed, and she was grateful to be reminded now. Allie grabbed her cigarettes from the bedside table and lit one, taking a few puffs as Nick was in the bathroom, combing his hair and brushing his teeth. "Was there anything else besides me you wanted to do today?" Allie asked, making him laugh. "Actually," he said, "I was hoping to go check out this antique shop. I'm trying to redo my apartment, and I'm tired of living in essentially a college boys dorm. I wanna be more like a classy older man, you know, the kind of guy who drinks scotch and reads russian novels and collects things from the 20s." "Oh okay, you wanna be a stereotype, I got it," Allie said, making him laugh again as he pulled on his shirt over his head and entered the bedroom. Allie sat up, still naked, still smoking. He sat on the bed and pulled her in, kissing her. She didn't hesitate for a second. She was, if anything, extremely happy to see him be this romantic towards her. Maybe, she thought, getting her life together was for the best after all, especially if it meant he wanted to be with her again. "You're gonna come with me, right?" he asked. "Of course, why wouldn't I?" "I don't know, I don't know when your practice days are or anything," Nick said. "Ah, we're not practicing lately. We're just doing the same show for a while," Allie said, "lemme get dressed and we can go, so long as we can get tacos while we're out." Nick watched as she started to stand up, then he jumped back on the bed and held her down, kissing her neck, making her laugh. "Well," he said, "maybe you don't have to get dressed just yet. Antique shop's not closing at 10 in the morning after all." "You're a tiger," she said, "but, you know, the kind I'd like be mauled by." Nick threw his head back and laughed. Allie's dark sense of humor was always one of his favorite qualities about her. So they stayed in the bedroom for another hour, before showering together and finally going out antique shopping. The place Nick wanted to go was called Cleopatras Closet, and it was on a somewhat abandoned drag in Vegas. In fact, the only other places opened on the same street were a Pho shop and a dirty bookstore. This was my kind of neighborhood, Allie thought, as they headed inside. Trinkets and tchotchkes galore lined the shelves inside; old magazines, marionettes, vintage lamps. Whatever it was you were in the market for, there was a good likelihood that Cleopatras Closet had it. Allie was impressed at their selection, as she strolled along and looked at all the various items. Nick was apparently looking for things that were western themed, as he'd long since been a fan of the genre, so Allie kept her eyes peeled for anything of the sort; horses, cowboys, etc. As she turned a corner, she bumped into someone and immediately apologized, before realizing it was her cousin Megan. "Oh, hi," Allie said flatly. "What are you doing here?" Megan asked. "Shopping with my boyfriend, wherever he is now," Allie said, "What about you?" "Shopping for a friends birthday," Megan said, as they continued to walk down the aisle together; she brushed her hair out of her face and continued, "but I'm just not good at birthday shopping. You remember, all the awful gifts I gave you over the years." "No, I don't, cause I returned them for better ones," Allie said, making Megan laugh. They stopped and she started flipping through a scattered collection of old black and white framed photos. "So I hear you're doing really well, you have a big marquee at the new casino and everything," Megan said. "It's been good, yeah," Allie replied, "Zoe's been a great teammate honestly, and I've stopped drinking and taking pills, and...I mean, I occasionally have a drink and I do take painkillers if I have a headache but, I'm doing much better. I'm nowhere near as messed up as I was even just a year ago, and it feels good, it feels good to be sober and in control. It's like, you never realize-" Allie just noticed Megan was crying. She reached out and put her hand on Megan's shoulder. "Uh, you okay there, champ?" she asked. "Jeff is cheating on me," she said quietly. "What??" "Yeah," Megan said, nodding, "He, uh, he doesn't know that I know, but I do know. I don't know what to do about it. Do I confront him, do I just leave, and then there's Lane and how would she react? Do I do what a lot parents do and stay together for the kid? I just...I never thought this sort of thing would happen to me. Jeff was always the best, he was always so supportive and romantic and..." They heard a cluttering sound and looked down the aisle to see Nick and a little boy playing with old metal trucks together and laughing. Allie and Megan couldn't help but smile. "...Nick's a good guy, Allie," Megan said, "Don't lose him this time. Do whatever it takes to make it work. Um, I'm free a lot of nights now, if you wanna maybe catch up and get some dinner or something. I miss you." Allie leaned in and hugged her cousin tightly. "I miss you too," she replied. After Megan walked away to purchase her items, Allie couldn't help but think about how things had turned around so much. Just a year ago or so, she was the one with the relationship problems. She was the one who was breaking down. Now everything was topsy turvey and Allie was on top of the world, with the best boyfriend one could hope for. Maybe she'd invite Megan to do magic with her and Zoe some time, for old times sake. She heard the sound of metal beside her and looked over to see Nick there, holding a old toy firetruck. "What happened to the whole western theme?" she asked. "I mean, I still like it, but firetrucks are cool," Nick replied. "You know you shouldn't just play with other peoples children like that," Allie said, "You're a guy, it looks weird." "I'll try to remember that next time I'm about to abduct a child," Nick said, making her laugh. *** Molly's home office was lovely. It was filled to the brim with plant life and books about architecture and, of course, her multiple drafting tables and equipment. All of it was set in front of a large bay window, and when the sun hit at just the right time of day, yes, it was the nicest room in the house and Zoe felt lucky to see it. Standing there, looking through the bookshelf while Molly did a little work at her table, she couldn't help but notice the only photograph, framed even, sitting on the shelf in front of the books. Zoe picked it up and looked at it; a teenage Molly with, presumably, her parents. "These your folks?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder. "Yep," Molly said, not even looking back. "You not on good terms with your parents either?" Zoe asked. "I..." Molly started, then turned around in her chair and looked at Zoe, "uh...not particularly. Um. I was sexually assaulted when I was in high school, and when I told them, they blamed me for some reason, even though that was like the first relationship I'd ever had. Anyway, I got a scholarship to a college here, moved away and we haven't really spoken much since. My mother has since sort of backed away from the whole religious conservative mindset that soured them, but my father's a whole different story entirely. If anything he's only gotten worse with age. My mother has apologized to me, but everything is still on shaky grounds." "I'm sorry, I didn't know," Zoe said, "my parents think I'm a criminal, for what it's worth. Not that they're far off...the problem is, they act as if the things they've said or done have been justifiable, and aren't even remotely aware of how their actions have hurt me, so I've just avoided them. Been living with my sister for years now." "It hurts. Not having family," Molly said, playing with loose threads on the knees of her jeans, "I mean, it's good to not be around that much toxicity, but to not have family it makes the world feel a little smaller, a little colder. Makes holidays less enjoyable. You realize what so many others have that you don't and you feel a weird combination of jealousy and anger and regret, even though you know you're better off without them. It's...it's hard." "It is, but that's why it's important to have found family, like Allie and I. I can't imagine not having her in my life," Zoe said, "Growing up I was such a fan, and now I'm her partner in magic, like, that's mind blowing to me, you know? You're our friend too, that's why I came here, cause I trusted you." Molly smiled. "Well, thank you," Molly said, "I appreciate being your friend, and I'm glad you know how I feel about family. I'm glad we're on the same page there at least." "What are you designing?" Zoe asked, walking towards the table. "Nothing official. I design homes for fun," Molly said, "I think I got into architecture because I came from a broken home. In my off time, I design some of them for fun, places I'd love to live but could never afford to build. But it helps seeing the dream on paper, you know? Makes it feel tangible, if nothing else." Zoe nodded as she pulled up a seat and watched. Magic was good and all, but she liked seeing someone else make something out of nothing. *** "Anything?" Agent Tropper asked as he approached Siskel's desk. She had feet up and was sucking down noodles from a chinese takeout box while her phone tucked under her chin. She shook her head and he groaned, sitting down. After a minute, she thanked the person on the phone, then hung up. "I don't get it, this guy is the son of the governor, but nobody knows what happened to him?" Agent Tropper asked, "How's that even possible? How does a governors son just up and disappear?" "I don't know man, but we're getting nowhere," Agent Siskel said, "All I do know is that he and Claire were mutual benefactors. Hell, he probably supplied a good portion of the people in this city. What we need to do is get access to his apartment, you know? Get a warrant and get in there, see if he left any kind of paper trail." Agent Tropper leaned back in his seat and sighed. "And what do we do about Driscoll?" he asked. "Eventually she's gonna have something else for us," Agent Siskel said, "Especially if she wants to not get the death penalty. If she wants to work out some kind of deal, she's gonna have to work with us on this. I think she knows more than she's letting on." "Why would she hide it if she did?" "Loyalty? I don't know. Running a cult can create a kind of mindset that you can trick anyone into doing anything. It's like a magic trick, you know? You create an illusion out of nothing. She got these people to believe in something just by being charming enough, and a magician never reveals their secrets." "You're a dweeb," Agent Tropper said, making the both of them laugh; he groaned, stood up and sighed, "Welp, guess I'll try and get that warrant. Otherwise we have no leads and it's gonna go cold before it even started." With that, each agent went back to their respective work, each not knowing where it all would eventually lead. In the end, it would turn out that Agent Siskel was far more accurate in her comparison than they could've ever anticipated. *** "I like it," Allie said, admiring the firetruck now sitting on Nick's mantel in his apartment. She was holding a glass of wine, as he came into the room, holding his own. "It's okay if you drink wine, right?" he asked. "Hard liquor is my issue, but yes, a glass or two is okay," Allie said, "I'm capable of restraining myself...can I ask you a question?" "Certainly," Nick said, sitting on the couch as Allie paced in front of him. "Do you see any kind of future?" Allie asked. "You asking if I'm a seer, or?" "No, idiot," she said, laughing, "No, I mean, like...what do you see for yourself, maybe, 5 years from now, you know? Do you see yourself ever owning a home, ever having a family, ever...ever having a wife? Does that sort of stuff ever cross your mind?" "Yeah, I mean occasionally," Nick said, leaning forward, "...why, does it cross yours?" "I like things the way they are right now," Allie said, setting their wine glasses on the table by the couch and climbing into Nick's lap, "but I can't say I'm not open to change. It just all depends. I just wanted to see what your head was at about it all." Nick kissed her and then kissed down her neck to her collarbones, making her breath heavily. "Let's just take it one day at a time," he said softly, and she nodded in agreement. Seeing Megan so upset messed her up, and had gotten her thinking about her own future. Whether she'd ever want children. Whether she'd ever want to be married. And if so, could she see herself having those things with Nick? Megan wasn't wrong in calling him a good guy. Nick was, in fact, a good guy. He was the best guy she'd ever dated, and she was so happy to know him and to have him. But she couldn't help but think about the future. Things had changed so drastically in the past year that it made her think that maybe change wasn't all that bad after all. Of course, by the end of this year, she'd go back to believing change was awful. But like Nick had said, best to take it one day at a time.
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ABOUT
Allie Meers is what she dreamed of being since she was a little girl...a successful Vegas magician. The only problem now is she can't make all her problems disappear; Allie grapples with her strained relationship, crippling addictions and FBI agents on her tail, all while trying to stay at the top of her career. Archives
December 2023
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