www.Cupid Page 3

  “She’s the love of your life, isn’t she?”

  Preston nodded. “Yes. She has been for years.”

  An officer opened the door. “Preston Carlyle, come with me please.”

  He glanced at Nathan, who gave him a thumbs up, and followed the officer down the hallway.

  “We got a new camera. We’re going to try taking your picture again.”

  Preston stood against the wall as he was told and waited. The officer fiddled with the focus until the other officer pushed him out of the way. The lens went in and out multiple times.

  “I don’t understand it,” the first officer said. He gestured to his partner. “Go stand in front of the camera.”

  The officer asked Preston to move and stood there. “Okay, you’re in focus. Put Carlyle back in front.”

  Preston resumed his place and waited. He watched as the officer bent to look through the eyepiece and then straighten up.

  “I just don’t get it. You were in focus, and I didn’t touch anything, and he’s so blurry you can’t see what he looks like.”

  “Well then, how’d they get him on camera at the arena, huh?”

  “How should I know? Take him back and I’ll tell the boss.”

  Nathan was still there when Preston got back. He sat down and leaned against the wall.

  “What happened?” Nathan asked.

  “They keep trying to take my picture and they can’t get a clear shot.” Preston looked at Nathan and grinned. “They can’t get my fingerprints either.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s a defense mechanism we in the magic world have. We don’t leave any physical evidence, if we know what’s about to happen. At the arena, they took me by surprise, and now my face is all over the internet, both here and probably back home. This really is a disaster.”

  “But the booking procedure?”

  Preston glanced at him. “That’s the one thing I can take care of, since I know what they’re trying to do.”

  “I think I get it. Well, while you’re here, tell me what to do to fix my marriage.”

  “For one thing, quit trying to drown your problems with alcohol. Face them head on. Let your wife help you. That’s the main thing. I can feel she doesn’t want to hurt you or leave you, but you’ve got to pull your own weight. She hasn’t told you how much stress she’s under. She wants to protect you.”

  “I feel like an ass.” Nathan held his head in his hands. “I don’t deserve her. She’s the absolute best.”

  Preston laid his hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “You need to tell her that. Good things are going to come your way. Just be patient. Trust your heart and trust your wife’s heart.”

  “Seriously?”

  “They don’t say ‘love conquers all’ for nothing. Just trust love this once. You’ll see.”

  The officer appeared again. “Preston Carlyle.”

  Preston stood, turning when Nathan called him. “Make sure you take your own advice, my friend.”

  “Will do,” he said, stepping out of the cell. He followed the officer down to get his things and took a deep breath when he saw Allie standing in the waiting room. Her anger he could deal with, but the disappointment in her eyes was more than he could bear. He would’ve given everything he owned at that point to take that look from her.

  “I—”

  “Save it,” she said, holding her hand up. “Do you have everything?”

  He nodded, holding his long coat tight. Anything he could say just didn’t feel right.

  “Then, let’s go.”

  He followed her out to her car and tossed his things in the back seat. “Is there anything I can say to tell you how sorry I am?”

  She slowly turned her head to look at him. “No. And if you utter one more word, I will leave you here and you can find your own way back home.”

  Preston clenched his teeth together and was silent the whole trip back.

  Chapter Four

  “Unbelievable.”

  Preston followed her back to her office. “Allie, I’m sorry.”

  Allison threw her coat on the chair in front of her desk. “All I asked of you was to complete three simple assignments while following rules put in place for your protection.” She stared hard at him. “You couldn’t even do that for me. Cupid is so mad he left the building, and that never happens this time of year. You are not the only agent I have to keep track of, but you are the only one who needs constant babysitting.

  “When Aphrodite heard about your little exploit, she almost backed out. Her financial advisors and the rest of her board of directors asked her not to do anything until tomorrow. This whole merger almost went down the tubes because of you, and it still might!”

  “They didn’t get my fingerprints or my picture,” he said. “At least I took care of that part.”

  “That is a very small consolation,” she snorted.

  “Is there anything I can do to make this up to you?”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. “Preston, you were arrested! By humans! There is no making this up. Now, we have to call in damage control to fix this mess.” He opened his mouth, and she held up her hand. “Not another word. You’re suspended pending an investigation. The outcome of the investigation will determine whether or not you can return. And if, by some miracle, you get off this time and get to come back, it won’t be in this department.”

  Preston stood there, not knowing what to say, not wanting to say anything. He finally nodded. “I understand.”

  “Go home. I’ll be taking over your assignments until after the holiday.”

  As soon as he shut the door behind him, Allison sat back. It was a great idea to have the couple appear on the giant screen as the pyrotechnics went off, but he’d made a critical error. He’d been too close to the canister when he set it off. Then, the biggest offense of all, he’d been seen by humans. A lot of humans.

  At first, she’d been angry, but when she saw the regret on his face, her stance softened. She’d had to steel her spine for the confrontation they just had. She’d had to let him know he went too far. At the same time, her heart hurt for him. He’d just wanted to make things special for that couple.

  Allison had wanted to hold him and tell him it would be all right, but she couldn’t. Yes, what they’d had in the past was special, but they were adults now with responsible positions. There was no room in the corporate world for shenanigans like the ones he’d been pulling lately. She saw his face in her mind again and wanted to cry. When he’d started in her department, she’d wanted him to succeed so much. But with his record, and now this situation, things were bad. They were beyond bad. They were nuclear explosion level, horrible.

  Sometimes being a responsible employee wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

  Sarah knocked and came in. “Allison?”

  She turned and cleared her throat. “Yes?”

  “Are you all right?”

  She nodded. “For now. I don’t know how I’m going to get through the next two days. This is one year I’ll be glad when the holiday is over.”

  “Preston just wants to impress you. That’s all,” Sarah said.

  “He doesn’t need to impress me. I’ve always known how good he is, if he would just straighten out.”

  Sarah smiled. “I don’t think he’s the kind of guy that ‘straightens out’, if you know what I mean.”

  “He wasn’t like this when we were in college. He was so unbending.”

  “I think he finally let his inner rebel out.”

  Allison frowned. “Was that all?”

  “Cupid wants a report. He came back about ten minutes ago. He wants your decision on whether or not you want to keep Preston on staff.”

  Standing up and straightening her suit, she steeled herself for the big confrontation with her boss. “All right. Time to beard the lion in his den.”

  She walked to Cupid’s office and knocked on the door, entering when he called, and stood in front of his desk. H
er boss stared hard at her, making her wonder if he was ever going to say anything.

  Cupid looked nothing like the pictures and statues through the centuries. In place of the usual image of a cherub with tiny wings and chubby cheeks was a tall, thin man with blonde hair and bright, blue eyes. There was no diaper, no bow and arrow anywhere to be seen, just an impeccably dressed business man in a handmade suit, from the custom tie knotted perfectly at his throat to the tips of his highly polished designer loafers. Everyone he personally hired were told they needed to follow the rules of the company, and he left no doubt what the dire consequences would be for those who didn’t.

  His expansive office was meant to intimidate people. Sunlight from the floor to ceiling windows shined on the glass coffee table casting sparkling reflections on the black leather couch. The silver white carpet glittered in the afternoon light. Allison stood before the large, mahogany desk, forcing herself not to tremble in front of her boss. Her gaze roamed the office, but the scarcity of pictures or shelves gave her nowhere to focus. She finally lifted her gaze to Cupid.

  “Allison, you’re a good supervisor, but I’m beginning to re-think having you in charge of the Romance and Proposals Department.”

  “With all due respect, sir, the only one causing trouble is Preston Carlyle. I’ve placed him on suspension until I determine exactly what happened at the arena.”

  Cupid leaned back in his chair. “I’d think it was obvious. He damaged company property, was seen by humans, and then arrested by human law enforcement. Dealing with the police is going to be challenging enough. The cost in repairing what was destroyed is going to be large.”

  “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know what to say. We could take the cost out of his paycheck.”

  Cupid leaned forward. “I’m tempted to take it out of yours.”

  Allison nodded and stood quiet. Knowing the type of equipment that was damaged, all she heard when Cupid spoke was cha-ching. She’d be paying it off for the rest of her life.

  “I need to discuss this with other department heads. Preston has a reputation. Every supervisor already knows about this incident. It’s going to be hard to transfer him.”

  “I know, sir,” she mumbled.

  Cupid turned to his computer. “That’s all, Allison.”

  Allison shuffled back to her office and flopped in her chair. If only Preston would do his job the company way and not his own way. An idea struck and she sat up. Maybe there was a way. She booted up her computer and sent an email to Cronos. The head of time owed her a favor. Maybe she could let Preston know in advance what he would do wrong so he could avoid blowing it again.

  The big problem was he’d damaged his gear and was seen. All he’d had to do was stay off the stage and everything should have been fine. Her computer pinged and when she opened the new email, read that Cronos would see her the next morning. He was a little busy at the moment.

  She confirmed the appointment and sat back. She could help Preston, and no one would ever know she was involved. Cronos was the soul of discretion. He had to be. He saw everyone’s secrets.

  ****

  Preston grabbed a few things from his desk as people called out greetings. He waved back on his way out the door. When he got to the parking lot, he stopped and watched the sun begin its afternoon descent right as Will walked up and stood next to him.

  “That was some spectacle you made.”

  Preston glanced at him. “Thanks,” he said, not bothering to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

  Will pulled out his cell phone. “It’s all over the humans’ internet, and it made its way onto ours. Look.”

  Watching the video, Preston cringed when he materialized on the stage to everyone. As he beat the flames out of his coat, the look on his face was what might be considered priceless at the moment he realized everyone could see him. “Turn it off.”

  “I guess Allison wasn’t too happy about it, huh?”

  He shook his head. “Neither was Cupid. I’ve been suspended.”

  “I’m really not surprised. But you’re one of the better agents in the department. Everything is going to work out, Preston.”

  “I hope you’re right. Somehow, this time, I don’t think so,” he said as they got into their own cars.

  ****

  Thinking about how he screwed everything up made the drive to his apartment feel shorter than usual. He changed out of his work clothes and sat on the couch, thinking about the day and how it ended. He didn’t want to lose his job, but he didn’t see any way to save it. Getting fired would mean being away from Allie.

  He’d admired her for years. He loved everything about her—her dedication to her job, even her fiery temper and the fact she put up with him. He wondered if she’d been a redhead in another life. She was always professional and dressed the part. However, those straight lined business suits couldn’t hide her curves or those long legs. She’d been pretty in college, but now she was beautiful, the epitome of business executive gorgeous.

  It had taken a lot of string pulling to get into her department, but he’d made it, and he’d thrown it all away on one stupid stunt. He shook his head.

  When the doorbell rang, he looked at the door, not sure if he wanted company tonight.

  It rang again, and he thought, what the heck, might as well see who was there. He opened the door, taking a step back when he saw Allison.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Can we talk?”

  “I’m sorry. Come in.” He opened the door wider. “What do you want to talk about?”

  She sat on the couch. “What happened with your assignment? I didn’t exactly let you tell your side. Would you like to tell me? Please?”

  He sat at the other end of the couch and told her everything, even the pieces that would let her know how many of her precious rules he’d thrown out. He watched her take notes, only looking up when he stopped speaking. He concluded with the part where she came to get him out of jail, and then he waited to hear what she had to say.

  She stared at the notepad on her lap. “If it wasn’t for that incident at the end, everything else was forgivable. How could you make such a rookie mistake?”

  He shrugged. “I got caught up in the moment, I guess. Did Cupid do anything to you because of me?”

  “He’s still deciding what punishment to inflict.” She paused. “I think he’s going to transfer you.”

  Preston slid closer to her. “Do you want him to transfer me?”

  “I don’t know. I like having you in my department, but you make me so crazy.”

  He finally smiled. “It’s about time you admitted that to me. I didn’t think you cared about me like that anymore.”

  She leaned toward him. “I don’t,” she whispered.

  “I think you do, Allie. We were good together in college. I know you still have feelings for me. I think maybe you need to break a couple of rules so we can be good together now.”

  “I-I—”

  He caressed her face and slowly lowered his mouth, intending to kiss her. Allison jumped to her feet and stuffed her notepad in her purse.

  “I’ve got to go. You had a lot of assignments for tomorrow. Since I’m taking over while you’re on suspension, I’d better get some rest.”

  Preston knew better than to try to stop her as she fled from the apartment. He opened his laptop and began typing, then he hit send. That was the beginning of the first change of many he’d be making in his life after tonight. He stared at the door. The first change he’d have to adjust to was the fact he probably wouldn’t see Allie again.

  Chapter Five

  What was wrong with her? Preston wasn’t good for her. Oh sure, the first time they met, she thought he was handsome and smart, but when she started working with him, she found out what the meaning of “loose cannon” meant. Now, she’d finally made it up the corporate ladder to executive. It was against the rules for her to fraternize with her agents.

  On the other hand, she almost was i
n as much trouble as he, so what did it matter? After she saw Cronos in the morning, she’d have a better idea of whether or not her plan would work. If Preston was transferred or fired how would she feel about that? The thought of not seeing him around the office made a strange loneliness settle over her.

  She got in her car and put the key in the ignition. Good grief! What was wrong with her? She would get over him not being there. He was just an agent. But would his replacement have his smile. Would he have the twinkle that always seemed to be in Preston’s eyes?

  “I need some sleep,” she said. “That’s it. I’m way over-tired.”

  But you’re trying to fix his situation, a small voice inside her said. Why do you care so much? “Because I can,” she said a little too loudly. Sometimes, her inner voice said really uncomfortable things.

  ****

  Allison’s alarm went off at six the next morning. The hot water from the shower turned her skin bright pink. A dark business suit with subtle lines, and one skipped breakfast later, she was out the door, after calling Sarah and telling her to let Cupid know she had a meeting outside the office and would be there as soon as she was done.

  She drove across town and arrived at Cronos’s building sooner than she expected. She walked up to the receptionist’s desk. “I have an appointment with Cronos this morning.”

  The woman nodded. “He told me you’d be coming, Ms. McCall. Go on up.”

  Allison walked up the short staircase to her right and stood in a large waiting room. There was a light blue couch along the wall behind her and various chairs placed around the room. Magazines lay scattered around on the tables by the furniture. Lamps were on the lowest setting, not adding much light to the already bright office. Metal wall sculptures hung on the walls. She gave them a quicker glance than she did the chairs. Pacing was much more preferable to just sitting, so it was back and forth, back and forth, until Cronos walked out of his office.

  The keeper of time was a tall, distinguished man with salt and pepper hair and a large ring on the middle finger of his right hand, the onyx stone glittering in the office light. The navy blue suit he wore looked tailor made and complemented his dark complexion. Like with most of the inhabitants of the magical world, his age was indeterminate as his skin looked like it was just beginning to wrinkle but he moved with a natural agility and grace of a younger man.