Beautiful Illusion (8 page)

S
hortly after Angel
left the dressing room, I gathered all of my things and shoved them into a duffle bag. I headed for the parking lot, waving and giving my thanks to the staff that were left to clean up all the mess that was left behind.

I was feeling on top of the world after the performance. It went better than I expected—except for the moment where I almost died, of course—and everyone seemed to love it. I still had a long way to go if I were to ever be one of the top illusionists in the world, but I knew then that I could actually make it into a livable career.

And Angel—she did exactly as she promised and filled every seat at $120 a pop. I had never met a woman who was so driven to succeed and could pull in the results to back up her confidence.

What a woman.

And what a dress she was wearing that night. If I had seen her in that outfit at McMillan, I wouldn’t have considered her a cockblock at all. She was fucking hot, and Cobra was right that her business attire was making her look a lot less sexy than she actually was.

Her looks coupled with her intelligence? It was hard for me not to classify her as a 10. It made me feel a little better to know that I had gotten blown off by a 10, rather than an 7 or whatever I had judged her before.

But was she really as intelligent as she seemed? I mean, she said was going out with some guy she met from the internet. I get it… Online dating is a thing for the new ages, but she could do better than that. She could go out and get just about any guy if she wanted to. She didn’t need a website to do it for her.

I strolled out of the Event Center, bag in hand, out to the parking lot, and I had to stop a moment to look at my watch when I saw Angel was still outside, waiting on the far end of the parking lot, opposite to me. I figured she would’ve been gone already.

But she wasn’t alone; with her was a man. From afar, he looked like a youthful, yet older gentlemen. Was she into older guys? And something about the guy bothered me. I couldn’t pinpoint it, but there was something in his his body language and swagger that was unsettling and a bit too familiar to me. He almost looked like someone I knew but didn’t recognize—someone I had seen somewhere but couldn’t remember.

I paused a moment and watched as he led Angel by the hand around his big, black Cadillac. It was a nice car, but didn’t seem like something that a visitor from Miami would be driving unless they rented it from Rent-A-Wreck—which he just might have. They often had good deals on rentals for older model cars that the larger rental companies didn’t.

It was none of my business, though. I continued to my BMW 3-Series and hopped inside, then started making my way back home, thinking of ways that I could improve my magic show, how I could make the next one more spectacular than the last.

There was a card trick I had been working on but hadn’t quite perfected. It involved having someone shuffling the deck several times but making an ace appear as the top card no matter what they did. It involved a very fast sleight of hand, but I was sure I’d get my speed up to the required level within a couple months. And then there was the dream I had while I was fucking the brunette a few weeks back. Falling backwards off the top of a skyscraper? I couldn’t think of anything more than dramatic than that.

But how would I do it? Each illusion or stunt involved something… Whether it be a little help of technology, a sleight of hand, a distraction, knowledge of psychology or incredible physical training. They all had a rhyme or reason, and I wasn’t quite sure yet how I’d accomplish that one.

There was always the possibility that I might…

Wait…

Could that have been?

As I was thinking about magic, the other half of my mind suddenly finished processing the uneasy feeling I got when I was watching the man escort Angel into his car. As soon as I made it to a stop light, I pulled out my phone and began typing a search in my internet browser.

I clicked on the first result and my suspicions were confirmed.

You have got to be kidding me.

There he was on rickjackson.com, standing in a photo with his arms crossed and leaning against a vintage Cadillac. I hadn’t recognized him at first because the guy with Angel had dark hair and a clean shave, while every photo of Rick seemed to be blonde with a good bit of facial hair. But I was pretty certain it was the same guy. His walk and and body movements were the same as I had seen in Rick’s pickup videos. And how many people had that kind of car?

One thing was certain though: his tactics were working better than mine. Even if he was a sleazeball, the cockblock who had blown me off at McMillan threw on her ‘fuck me’ dress to meet up with him.

And Florida? The idea made me want to laugh. Rick was constantly gloating about how he was born in raised in California.

I had half the mind to drive my Beamer home and let Angel learn the hard way that she shouldn’t meet guys on the internet, not to blow off decent guys in the club only to hop in the creepy car of guys she had never met before.

Did she even know that he was in his 50s?

Fuck
.

As much as I wanted her to learn her lesson, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to live with myself if Rick did to her the kind of things that he was notorious for doing. The guy was a total douche. And after all, Angel helped me make my magic show a success, and I made a whole lot more money at her suggested price than I would have otherwise. Plus, she pretty much saved me from drowning during my stunt.

I pressed my foot onto the gas and immediately did a U-turn back towards the Event Center. I dialed Cobra and Ziv on the phone to ask if they were busy. They had left the Event Center to go clubbing as soon as my show ended. After explaining the situation to them, they were more than happy to help out.

And then I dialed Kim. She had given me her number earlier in the week, so she could give me updates while Flutterfly organized and promoted the magic show.

“Enigma?” she answered. Her voice seemed pleased that I was calling, and I had a feeling from her tone and the way she always flirted with me that maybe she had been hoping for a call about something other than her friend.

“Kim, do you know where Angel is?”

“No, I have no idea. She’s probably at home watching TV by now.”

“Okay. That’s what I thought you’d say. Listen. I need you to do exactly as I ask…”

D
ante drove
us to a nice restaurant I had never seen before called Lobster House. It was a brick building with a picture of a large lobster dangling on the front of the door, but once we were inside it looked a lot classier with all the white tablecloths on the tables. It looked like the kind of place where you’d need to be dressed up to visit, but there were several other patrons inside who were wearing casual clothes.

We choose a booth seat, and I ordered a salad while Dante ordered a full seafood plate.

“I’ve never really understood why girls only order salad while they’re on a date.”

I shrugged. “I’m not feeling super hungry.”

“Well, if you change your mind you can have some of mine. I ordered plenty for the both of us.”

I nodded slightly.

“Oh, c’mon… Loosen up, Angel” he said. “Wine?”

“Yeah, wine sounds good.”

I needed it too. Dante seemed like a really nice guy, but the fact that he lied about his age on his Dateme profile was eating away at me. I wanted to just come out and ask him how old he really was, but I didn’t want to be rude. And, I had invested so much time getting to know him online that part of me didn’t want it to end on a dime.

Dante ordered a bottle of some sort of dry, red wine. I didn’t catch the name of it—not that it would’ve mattered; all red wine tastes pretty much the same to me, and the waiter poured us both a glass.

I chugged down the first glass and poured myself some more. I needed a buzz. I needed to relax and quit thinking so much.

“So I heard in the next season of
Game of Thrones
, they actually knock down the wall that holds the Wildlings out.”

I smiled.
Still the same guy I talked to online,
I thought to myself.

“I don’t really think that’s going to happen. That would throw a wrench in the—“

I heard my phone buzzing in my purse and pulled it out.

Kim.

I tried to ignore it and kick back into my spiel of how the idea of breaking down the wall would ruin the whole concept of the story, but my phone kept ringing and ringing.

“Sorry, let me take this,” I apologized. “It must be important.”

I looked across the restaurant and headed for the restroom when I saw the ladies sign. As soon as I was inside, I picked up my still ringing phone.

“Yeah? What’s up?” I answered.

“Angel, where are you?” she asked hastily.

“What do you mean? Where do you think I am, dummy?”

“Angel don’t lie to me. I know you’re with some guy.”

“What?” I stuttered. My heart jumped a little bit. I hadn’t planned on telling Kim about Dante yet, and I wasn’t sure how she got that knowledge. “What do you mean I’m with some guy?”

“Look, I saw you leave the parking lot of the Event Center with someone.”

“You what? You left the Event Center long before I did.”

“Angel, stop,” she barked. “I don’t care who you’re with or what the circumstance is. Just tell me where you are in case something happens to you, okay? You’re my best friend, and I’ll worry all night if I know you’re out with someone and don’t know where you are.”

I sighed. “Okay, yeah I am with someone, okay. We’re at Lobster House at Anaheim. Don’t worry, okay? Everything is under control.”

“Yeah, definitely under control. Going on dates without telling your best friend? We’ve got a lot to talk about next time I see you.”

“Yeah, okay. But for now I’ve got to get back to my table. I’ll call you when I’m home.”

I clicked my phone off and shook my head as I headed back to our table. I had no idea how Kim could have seen me get in the car with Dante. I was almost certain I saw her leave before I had even changed into my date clothes. But it was Kim, and knowing her, she could have been making out with one of the staff members in the parking lot. You never know with that girl.

Still, it did make me feel like a bit of weight was off my shoulders now that she knew I was out and with someone. Kim was a good friend.

“Sorry about that,” I said as I sat back down at the table.

“No problem,” Dante replied.

Almost as soon I got back to the table, our food arrived and I started eating my salad.

“So, I was thinking,” Dante voiced. “Now that we’ve met, maybe I should move out here to California so we can see each other more often.”

That comment almost made me choke on my food. “What? Move?” I asked as I swallowed down the food that I almost coughed up.

“We don’t have to see each other every night. Just maybe weekends I can come over we can share in some festivities.”

Festivities? What the hell was he getting at?

I looked up at his face and my eyes locked into his again. There were those amazing pupils. Indescribable eyes that suddenly made everything seem okay.

“I guess that wouldn’t be bad.” I wasn’t sure where that came from, but my mind wasn’t even trying to process it.

“Have some more wine,” Dante insisted, waving his hand to my half-full glass.

“I usually don’t drink while I’m eating my food. I’m a before and after kind of girl.”

“It won’t hurt you,” he said, and again, he looked into my eyes.

My hand almost moved on its own, and I took several big gulps of my wine. After I sat my glass down, I started in on my salad again, and Dante dug into his shrimp.

There was a bit of heaviness on my eyes—probably just from drinking so much wine—and as I let off a slow yawn, my phone began ringing again.

Kim again. What the hell?

I would’ve probably ignored it, but she sent me a text while the phone was ringing that said
Answer Now! Extremely Important!

“Sorry again,” I told Dante as I stretched my arms out and stood slowly. I waddled back to ladies’ restroom, feeling myself growing more and more drowsy as I took each step. What the hell was going on? I hadn’t drunk
that
much wine.

I made it to the ladies’ restroom, and leaned my weight on the door. As soon as I stepped inside, I was greeted with a jolting shock.

“Enigma?”

“You’re coming with me,” he said and grabbed me forcefully be the wrist. “And didn’t I tell you to call me Nick?”

“What are you doing, Nick?” I wanted to protest, but something in me just told me to go with whatever he said.

“I’m getting you out of here.” He started pulling back through the bathroom door.

“Out of here? Okay… Let’s go.” I’m not even sure where those words were coming from or why I was being compliant. I had totally lost control. Anywhere he wanted to take me, I’d go.

I only made it two more steps out the door before I completely blacked out.

T
hank
god I had Kim’s number and she was willing to trust me enough to do what I asked. I told her to call Angel and get her whereabouts no matter what she said. There was a risk that Angel would be pissed that I told Kim that she was out on a date with a man, but it was worth stirring up a little bit of trouble if it meant saving her from a potentially bad situation, and when I told Kim that there was a threat of danger, she was more than happy to help.

I didn’t want her to tell Angel that we were coming or say anything that raised suspicions, just in case Rick got word and changed locations before we arrived.

The second call was ordered once we arrived at the restaurant, and Ziv, Cobra, and I all headed for the ladies’ restroom. I had them wait outside in the shadows while I waited inside of the door. Thank goodness no other women walked in on me.

I took my two wings just in case Rick decided to get physical. I highly doubted that he would—I was bigger and in way better shape than him—but you never know what kind of dirty tricks a guy like him had up his sleeves. It turns out my two friends were more than handy now that I was walking around with a sack of potatoes.

“Take her to my car,” I said as I handed off the half-conscious Angel to Ziv and Cobra. She was still standing, barely, but she was clearly out of her normal state of mind. The fucker must have drugged her shortly before we arrived. Or maybe he had some crazy, new hypnotizing spells? He was a renowned hypnotist.

As the boys walked Angel out of one of the restaurant’s side doors, trying their best not to draw attention to anyone in the restaurant, I headed for Rick’s table. He was lifting a piece of jumbo shrimp to his mouth when he noticed me walking his way.

He set the shrimp down and began wiping his hands on his napkin as I moved closer. “Well, if it isn’t the infamous Enigma.” He gave off a smile so large that it reminded me of the Joker from Batman.

“Look, Rick. I don’t want any trouble, but Angel is leaving with me. She’s already out of the restaurant.”

“What?” He said, his brow pinching tight. “Where is she?” He stood from his chair and looked around.

“Angel is my friend. I can’t let you run your dirty game on her, and the fact that she’s…. I don’t know what you did to her but—“

“Your friend?” he interrupted. “I thought it was pretty funny when I saw the video of you at McMillan. The same girl that told you to fuck off is the same girl who’s been begging to suck my cock for the past 6 months.”

I clenched my teeth. I wanted to jump over the table and punch the rat’s lights out right there.

“We didn’t know each other at the time, but now we’re friends. And you lied to her.”

Rick took a deep breath and tilted his head down slightly, placing his fingertips on his forehead. “You’re something else, Enigma. You call yourself a pickup artist, but here you are trying to save a girl from me? A girl who fucked your career up?”

“I know how to get women, but that’s not my career. My career is as an illusionist.”

“More like a delusionist. Or just a fucking white knight! Haven’t you heard of the man code? Bros before hoes? I’ve been working on that bitch for months now.”

“Look Rick. You’ve got plenty of girls, right? Just leave this one alone, okay?”

Just then Cobra strolled up beside me and crossed his arms defiantly. A few of the restaurant’s staff were looking on in case a fight broke out.

Rick shook his head and smiled comically, looking back and forth to me and Cobra. “Alright… Go ahead and take her. I’ll make sure that everyone in the community knows what team Enigma and his little henchmen are playing on.”

“Go ahead,” I said and turned to walk away. “And nice to meet you too, Rick.”

“Fuck off,” he barked as I headed for the door.