Bewitching You(8)

Sofia smiled back. “Of course. It’s the best conversation I’ve had all year.”

“That’s my girl,” Laura said, and disappeared into the kitchen.

Sofia followed. She was hungry, after all, and what better time to talk about Mr. Lawrence’s latest issue?

Her mother sat at the table-for-two next to the bay window. She seemed in deep thought as she nibbled on her bagel and drank her juice.

Sofia grabbed a cup of coffee and poured a couple scoops of her mother’s fake sugar in, stirred it, and took a long, slurpy sip. Mmmm. Boy, did it hit the spot.

Now to find something decent for breakfast in this soy abundant, high fiber, low fat kitchen...

She opened the fridge and was overjoyed to see the pizza box from the other night still stuffed on the very bottom shelf, way back, where she’d left it. One piece of veggie pizza, extra cheese with jalapenos, sat inside. Yum!

She grabbed the piece and sat at the table, ignoring the way her mother eyed her choice of breakfast.

Living with her mother at the age of twenty-four wasn’t something she was proud of. Nor was it something she planned to do for much longer. It was just… Her mom needed her. Sofia had found that out the hard way when she’d been admitted into a prestigious art school in New York after high school. Her freedom had lasted a year before she received a call from her crying mother, deeply depressed and heartbroken over a devastating breakup. The relationship had lasted two years, and he’d been the first man Laura had let into her life since Sofia’s dad left.

She’d never heard her mom sound so hopeless, rejected again for something she couldn’t control. Her psychic abilities were a part of her, and if men couldn’t get that, she didn’t want any part of them.

Long story short, Sofia left school to look after her mom. No matter the tough façade Laura Good tried to portray, Sofia knew how important it had been to help her through that break-up.

There hadn’t been another man since, and Sofia hadn’t had the heart to move out. What could you do? She missed school and being with people her own age who shared the same interests. But…her mom was more important.

“How old is that pizza?”

“A couple days. It’s still good.” Sofia picked at a jalapeno and changed the subject. “Herbert wants you to knock it off. Again.”

Her mother smirked. “What the hell did I do this time to anger the uptight ass?”

Sofia caught herself rolling her eyes and stopped. It was a bad habit she’d been trying to break.

“I swear, that man doesn’t like anything I do. Is this not my house to do with what I want?”

“It’s yours, Mom.” No point in pushing the subject. She’d relayed Herbert’s message and now it was time to duck out before her mother got any angrier. For what reason, Sofia didn’t know. With anyone other than Herbert Lawrence, she was a reasonable woman...for the most part.

Laura dropped her half-eaten bagel on her plate and blew out a breath. “You look tired.”

“Kind of am.” Sofia swallowed the bite of stale pizza crust she’d been chewing on. “Had another dream about that airplane again.”

“With all the dead people?”

“Yep, and I don’t have a clue what to do about it. It’s not giving me much to work with.”

“Well, you’re not God, Sofia. You know that.”

“Yes, I know, but if I can find out what the airline and flight number are, then I can do something to keep it from going up in the air.” Sofia’s shoulders tightened and burned, so she stretched her neck to release some of the tension. Tension she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in, but what did she expect?

She dreamed about dead people night after night and now she’d lost her job.

And Gray, the only man she’d ever envisioned loving, was an arrogant jerk.

“You worry too much.” Laura frowned. “You can’t save the world and yourself at the same time.”

“Well, I can try at least.” Sofia set the pizza down, not quite as hungry anymore.

“What about that man you’ve been dreaming about?” Her mother grinned but avoided eye contact, a telltale sign that Nana had told her about Gray. Great. In less than twenty-four hours the news had already spread.

“I met him last night at the restaurant. He’s engaged to be married to someone else.”

“And?”

“And he’s kind of mean.” Sofia didn’t want to get her mother riled. Men were the enemy as far as Laura Good was concerned.

“Well, of course. Testosterone can do that to a person, but was he good looking?”

Sofia stared at her mother, shocked. “Uh, yeah, you could say that.”

“Then go get him.”

“What?”

“Sweetheart.” Her mother grabbed for Sofia’s hand across the table. “You’re a twenty-four-year-old virgin.” She whispered the last part as if it were some sort of crime.

“You don’t know that.”

Her brow rose. “Really. If this man from your dreams is the only man you’ll ever feel comfortable giving yourself to, then for God’s sake, go rape him if you have to.”

“Mom. Just stop.” Sofia pulled her hand away. This was not what she’d expected to hear.

“Okay, maybe rape is too strong of a word. Seduce him. You can’t let these dreams rule your future. Why not take charge? Why not use it to your own advantage for once?”

“What if it’s not that easy? What if he doesn’t like me?” Just as the question left Sofia’s mouth, she realized how absurd it was. At some point in the future, Gray would love her. It was only a matter of time.

“How often have your dreams been wrong?”

“They’ve always come true. Every one of them.” Unless she prevented them from happening, like the anticipated murder of the elderly woman a few months back. Sofia was able to give enough information to the police to let them know it was going to happen, anonymously, of course.

Nana had told Sofia about what had happened to their ancestors when their gifts had been discovered. They were deemed witches and then executed. Times had changed, thank goodness, but society still wasn’t quite ready to accept the types of gifts Sofia and her female family members possessed.

“Well, there you go,” her mother said, breaking her thoughts. “Go get yourself laid. But be sure to be back by suppertime. I’m making a new recipe I found in Woman’s Day.” She gave Sofia a quick nod, stood, and put her dish in the sink. “If you need me, I’ll be repainting the side of the house. What do you think of a tree full of plump, juicy purple plums? I heard through the grapevine those are pretty popular in this neighborhood.”

This time Sofia allowed herself a full eye roll. Obviously Herbert Lawrence had some sort of objection to plums.

“What? You think you’re the only artist in the family?”

Before Sofia could argue, her mother was on her way out the front door. The woman wasn’t going to stop until Herbert had a full head of grey hair, but Sofia wasn’t going to concern herself with that today. She had other things to worry about.

Maybe her mom had a point. What would be the harm in hunting her dream man down to speed things up a bit? Well, other than Sofia getting her feelings hurt, big time. How long would he be a jerk? And for what reason?

There’s only one way to find out, Sofe.

Without another thought, she threw away the rest of the pizza, rinsed out her coffee cup and headed to the laptop she shared with her mother. It sat on the large, dark walnut desk in the den, where the readings took place.

She settled into the black leather chair in front of the desk. A cold breeze ran up her spine. Her skin prickled, and she sat paralyzed for a moment. She’d never get used to that feeling—knowing a spirit was in the room with her. Sensing their presence happened quite often, since the ability to conjure up spirits was one of her mother’s gifts. What better place for them to hang out and wait for their turn?

Thank goodness Sofia didn’t have that particular talent. She’d seen enough of the deceased in her sleep.

Warmth returned to her body and the hairs on the back of her neck finally settled, so she continued with the task at hand—finding Gray.

Grayson Phillips, she typed in the search bar and hit enter. A vast list of websites popped up, but the very first one answered her question.

Linden Advertising, it said and underneath it read Grayson Phillips, Creative Department.

“Well, that was easy,” Sofia said, wondering why she hadn’t thought to do this before. “I found you, Mr. Phillips.”

~ * ~

Gray switched on the lights to his office and maneuvered his foam poster boards through the door. All of his work for Bud B’s Burger Restaurant’s new “healthy food line” ad was carefully attached. One week’s work, after Linden had shot down the PowerPoint presentation, saying that’s not how they did things around here.