บท 26: Magic Trick

I forgot. Alexi is also a star. It makes sense that he's with the same agency as his sister.

"Good morning, Alexi. To answer your question, I work here now."

"They signed you?"

"No, I'm Will's assistant."

"That's such a shame. With your talent you should be with the agency as a talent."

"The world disagrees. I'd love to risk it all on talent alone but unfortunately my money tree died and I can no longer afford to do that."

"Very funny."

"What can I say? Most people took spanish as a second language. I took sarcasm."

"Do you have time? Can we grab a cup of coffee and talk? Please."

"I'm busy."

"I didn't say when."

"Oh. My bad. When?"

"Are you free now?"

"Sorry, I'm busy."

"When are you free?"

"I don't know. I'm at Will's beck and call 24/7."

"Why?"

"I'm his new assistant."

"So you're going to be with him 24 hours, 7 days a week?"

"Not 24 hours but 5 days a week of his choosing."

For some reason Alexi looks upset when I say this.

"Can I see your phone for a second?"

"Why?"

"Just let me see it."

"I set the binders down and unlock my phone for him."

He puts his number in my contacts and then calls himself from my phone.

"Listen, this is my number. Please call me anytime, day or night, ok?"

"I'll think about it."

"That's all I ask."

"I really have to go, Alexi."

"I'll see you later then."

I walk away leaving no promise. While riding the elevator down, my mind wanders to the night that we met.

"Well Alexi, the clock starts now."

Reaching into his pocket, he grabs a deck of cards?

"Ok, as you can see, this is a normal deck of cards right?"

"Yes."

He then shuffled the deck several times and then slowly started to rifle through the cards face down.

"Say when."

"When."

"Very funny. Now pay attention. This is your card. Take a moment to look at it and remember it." It's the king of hearts.

"I know my card."

"Now I'm going to start going through cards, and I will pick your card from this deck."

He started flipping cards face up methodically going through the deck. He put down the king of hearts and then kept going. Haha, what an idiot. He tried his best though, I'll give him that. After flipping a few more cards he stopped going through the deck with a dramatic pause.

"The next card I touch is your card."

Poor guy, should I lie? I don't want to hurt his feelings.

Instead of reaching for the deck of cards he went to the cards he placed face up. What is he doing? He picked up the king of hearts and held it in the air.

"Is this your card?"

I can't believe it. He actually did it!

"How did you know? The card was hidden the whole time!"

"A good magician never reveals their secret. For you though I'll make an exception, but it will come at a price."

"Very well, name your price."

"Let me kiss your hand."

"That's an odd request. Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Absolutely."

"Alrighty then."

I held out my hand for him and he took it on his own. His hand is warm. I like the feeling of it. He presses his lips to it softly. I felt a blush creep up my face. He then looked up into my eyes and I saw passion in his. As I stared into his emerald eyes, they reminded me of a panther. How enchanting.

Hearing a ding, I realize the doors for the elevator are opening.

As I head back to the garage, I see Jezebel at the desk and she gives me a sneer. I tell her to have a blessed day and walk into the garage. Oh yeah, the garage. I want to call Ella, but she's working right now and I don't want her to get in trouble. I jog to my car and do my usual routine. Look under the car, look in the car, make sure my surroundings are clear, get in the car and lock the doors. I gasp for air once I get in the car. I need to remember to breathe. I look up the directions and go to the studio they're filming at. It's only a 15-minute drive from the agency, so at least there's that. Once I get to the set, I see that security is tight. I'm about to call Will, when I see him standing by the doors. He's wearing a navy blue leather jacket with a black t-shirt, jeans, and aviators. I'm floored by how good looking he is while being so casual. He waves me over.

"Morning, Astra."

"Morning, Will."

I remember the food and pull it out for him.

"I brought breakfast."

"What is it?"

"Ham and cheese kolache. They're kind of popular where I'm from."

"I'm sure I'll enjoy them."

Biting into one he quietly moans but says nothing else. I guess he likes them.

"Come on, we need to get you your badge and introduce you to the cast and crew so they don't think you're a sasaeng."

"I'm sorry, a what?"

"A stalker. The last one was a complete psycho."

"Noted."

As I'm being introduced to the cast and crew, we go to his trailer to get hair and makeup done.

"Which scene is happening today?"

"It'll be the fight scene between me and the hydra. If we have time we'll try to shoot the scene with the child as well."

"I haven't had time to look over the script yet. Do you need me to go over the lines with you?"

"There aren't many lines today; it will mainly be stunts."

"You do your own stunts?"

"Of course."

I leave the trailer while he changes. I use the time to look over the script. Will plays Theo Vasilios. An abandoned son of an unknown god. He works with a government agency called the "Guild of Gods" run by Chiron. They're job is to get rid of the monsters in this world and make sure the titans don't rise again. I hear the door swing open, and turn around to get back to work.