THE DECEIVER

J.A. JACKSON

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual person, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

CHAPTER 3

Beware of the Mayan Clark Kent, Pink Cats, and Get away from the bar…

A half hour later the throngs of people seemed to multiply. The place started to smell of cigarette smoke. Carina and Eve stood by the hostess bar set up in the formal dining room and studied the people as they sipped their drinks. Carina could not help but notice the small petite woman of mixed race, who sat at the bar. She had good bone structure but she had to be at least forty, judging by the crow’s feet at the corner of her eyes. Her hair was a bronze shade of blond, and she wore a deep red short dress.

“Who are you staring at?” Eve asked and followed her best friend’s gaze.

The two friends watched as a man walked over and sat right next to the woman, in the red dress at the bar. He openly gazed at her with great interest. The man looked like a handsome Mayan Clark Kent.

The man pushed back his glasses to get a better look at the woman.

The woman in the provocative dress shifted and uncrossed her legs. Her hands slid gracefully inside her thigh. The invitation wasn’t lost on the man.

“Wow, that’s an unlikely pair,” Carina finally said. “Isn’t he someone we know?”

All at once it hit her. The Mayan Clark Kent was Quinn Rolandis. She had gone to school with him. He still looked the same. Carina tilted her head to the side. “Is that Quinn Rolandis, Eve?”

Eve sipped her drink. “Yeah, it sure is!”

“Hi Carina, Hi Eve,” Quinn said watching them checking him out. He looked back at them with naked lust.

Quinn Rolandis stood up and pulled the woman in the red dress close to him. He nuzzled her neck. It was obvious he felt the need to put on a display.

She scolded him lightly giggling softly. “Oh Quinn you are such a bad boy.”

Quinn reached out and cupped the woman’s buttocks. The woman moaned.

“God Quinn, why don’t you get a room?” Eve said.

“Quinn, ask her.” The woman in the red dress giggled.

Quinn’s eyes lit up with sensual fire. His voice chuckled raucously. “Say Eve, my girlfriend wants to know if you’re up for a threesome. She said the pleasure would be all hers if you’re interested.”

Eve’s brow rose with a flare of anger. “Why you little horny heathen bitch, I ought to kick your ass for that remark,” Eve scoffed. Quinn Rolandis chuckled rich and throaty. He closed the distance between him and Eve. He reached out his finger and ran it gently down Eve’s face. He whispered. “Eve…Eve…Eve darling, you remember how gentle I can be. Don’t fight over me. There is plenty of Quinn to go around. He chuckled softly. Besides, while I’m touching her, I’ll only be thinking of you.”

“Quinn you’re a rat bastard and no I don’t remember how gentle you can be. Because I never let you and your ratty paws touch me,” Eve hissed slapping his hand away.

“Eve do you want me to go call Xavier or someone,” Carina nervously asked.

Quinn took a step back nervously and pushed back his glasses. His manners held a pleading stance. “Relax Carina. I didn’t mean any harm.”

He turned back and looked at Eve. “Look Eve, Please accept my deepest apologizes. I’m sorry about that,” his expression was appealing. “You can’t blame a horny guy that finds you very attractive, for trying.”

Eve made a grunting noise. “I see you’re still a gentleman asshole Quinn,” she said pulling on Carina’s arm as they walked away. A few minutes later Carina pushed open the door to the great room. “Xavier must have invited over three hundred people here tonight.”

“Yes it looks like he did.”

Carina and Eve slowly made their way down the corridor. Carina said, “Eve do you think Hawke is here?”

“God I hope not! Hawke Deville has major ego problems just like Quinn Rolandis. Besides the way Hawke pops in and out of our lives is like he’s hiding something. Ever since when I was sixteen….” Eve hesitated and realized she was bringing up the past. The past she’d much preferred to stay hidden. “Anyway I really don’t want to be bothered with him tonight.”

“Eve, you do remember Hawke was sent to some kind of boarding school. Right after that night the two of you got caught having sex together.”

Eve abruptly stopped walking and turned to her friend. Her signature smile disappeared. “I don’t want to talk about that Carina. Not tonight or ever.”

“Sorry Eve. But anyway, I heard Hawke has moved back. In fact, I heard he’s been living here for well over a year somewhere.” Eve pretended to ignore Carina. But she heard every word she said. She continued walking. Carina followed close behind. The archway of the great room loomed in front of them. They entered.

Carina sighed heavily and pulled out her cell phone. Eve was starting to really get on her nerves. The light was blinking on her cell phone. She pushed the button. The caller ID said it was from Grant Godeau. She smiled seeing his name. Memories invaded her mind. She thought about the last time they’d been together. She thought about him a lot more than she let Eve know she did. She pressed the button and put the phone to her ear.

“Hello Grant, where are you? We’re in the great room,” Carina yelled into the phone.

A familiar laugh sounded behind her. “Well if you two aren’t the hardest ladies to find in a house full of people.” Carina recognized the rich resonant voice of Grant Godeau immediately. Her body tingled at the sound of his voice. She turned around immediately and looked up at him. She played with her hair.

“Carina stop playing with your hair,” Eve whispered.

Grant Godeau stood over six feet tall. His olive complexion and dark hair made him the stuff of what movie legends were made of. He wore black. Black leather jacket, black jeans and a V-neck black sweater. He held a drink in one hand and smiled revealing a dazzling smile.

“Hi Grant, you look great as usual,” Carina said staring at him thought the lingering fog of her mind. Grant gazed back at her. His gaze quickly took in her face and then lingered on his lips before he pulled her into his embrace. “God, you two are hopeless,” Eve said lifting her wine glass and moving a short distance away.

Carina pulled out of the embrace. Her heart quickened a beat as she stared back at his handsome face and attractive grey eyes. Distracted by the way the light hit her hair, a devilish smile curled on his lips. “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy lately.” Relief flooded Carina. “I thought you didn’t want to go out with me,” she said linking arms with him.

“I’d be crazy if I didn’t,” he smiled admiring the glint in her eyes.

“The noise level in this place is getting out of hand. Looks like folks are starting to make this room a dance floor. ” Carina said. “I almost can’t hear you.”

Grant cleared his throat. “Come have a dance with me, Carina.”

Carina quickly looked around for her best friend. “Eve, you don’t have a dance partner.”

Eve rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Go on kid and enjoy yourself on the dance floor. Don’t worry about me. I heard there was some jazz playing out on the patio,” she grinned. “I’m going to go check out the rest of the party.”

Eve turned and headed for the door. Just as she walked through she collided with a man. She reached her hand out to steady herself. Her eyes stared up into the face of a man that looked as handsome as an angel or a prince. She loved the way his soft mustache was lined above his lip. And the way his chiseled beard gave him a commanding presence. The man had to be over six feet tall she guessed.

“You should watch where you are going,” Eve said trying to pull off a dignified act of pretending she didn’t notice how handsome the man was. She pushed past him and kept walking.

A few minutes later, with a fresh drink in hand. Eve walked across into the marble patio. Her tall patent leather pumps clicked softly on the gleaming marble floor. Live jazz music filled the air. The music drew her closer into the room.

Eve felt her head sway a little and her eyelids droop. She tried to count how many drinks she had had. All at once her feet hurt. She felt like she was losing her balance.

“Young lady you need to sit down. Come on let me help you to the table,” a woman’s smooth voice said.

The stranger led Eve to a table in a corner. “There now,” she said softly. “It’s a good thing they put a pitcher of water on every table. Here you have a drink,” the woman smiled pouring Eve a glass of water. The water felt good going down Eve thought as she took another gulp of water and looked back at the woman. The woman had a kindly face. Her eyes glistened. She looked familiar, Eve thought.

“Thank you,” Eve smiled. “I guess I was just a little parched.”

“Or you had too much to drink,” the woman’s soft blue eyes sparkled. “Hi I’m Glenda D’Goodwrench-Jackson, of North Oakland California.”

“Hi Glenda, I’m Eve, nice to meet you.”

“Same here darling,” Glenda replied.

Eve chuckled softly. “You know for a moment your name almost sounded like Glenda the Good Witch of North Oakland. You know like in the kid’s movie.”

Glenda’s face didn’t move a muscle.

Eve chuckled louder. “You should see the expression on your face. What? You don’t believe in that hocus pocus nonsense do you?”

“I believe ladies should not stand too close to the bar for too long,” Glenda laughed out. “Anyway child you know ancient ways of old can exist even on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland California, if you know where to look.”

In a lighting motion Glenda waved a hand with a large ruby red ring on it. Instantly a black cat materialized out of thin air and sat in the middle of the table.

Eve stared back at the cat. She watched it as it changed colors right before her eyes. First the cat’s color was a black. Then it turned to a blue green before changing to a deep purple. When Eve looked again the cat was a pretty pink.

The cat opened its mouth and yawned and then changed to snow white. It looked back at Eve, purred loudly, and then smiled and with a springy step bounced off the table.

Eve was speechless. Her face was transfixed on Glenda’s.

“I think pinky likes you,” Glenda’s eyes sparkled with a strange iridescent light. A slow secret smile grew on her face. “So Eve are you a virgin?”

“Excuse me?”

“No Eve, I meant a virgin in the sense that this is the first time you’ve seen a cat that can change colors.”

“Yeah….Yeah I guess I am,” Eve said watching Glenda with a keen fascination.

Glenda chuckled with amusement. “Aren’t you curious about me?”

“Yeah, I guess I am. What kind of witch are you? A good witch or a bad witch?” Eve asked.

“I’m not a witch at all. You don’t have to have power to be a witch. But I guess folks like you must think that’s what I am. My mother was hoodoo high priestess from New Orleans Louisiana,” she said narrowing her eyes at her. “But I’m not a high priestess either. I come by my talents and skills naturally. I was born into them. But I guess if you had to ask was I a good witch or a bad witch, in the sense of being a good person or a bad person. I’d have to say I’m a good witch, I guess,” Glenda said shaking her head. “I specialize in love potions you know.”

“Love potions. Are you serious?”

“Yeah, and I’m good at it. You know I have a specialty. A drink that I designed, it has a powerful effect in awakening the desires of the heart of whoever drinks it. It’s guaranteed to get you married, if that is what you desire.”

Eve sighed. “Really? I have a friend who could really use it.”

“Oh not yourself?”

Eve shook her head. “No, I don’t believe all that hocus pocus nonsense.”

Glenda looked quietly at her. “Why not?”

Eve shrugged. “Well I guess because…. Look Glenda, I don’t have an answer, okay.”

Glenda’s voice was reassuring. “Okay let’s go back to talking about your friend. Does your friend have the most important elements needed for a good marriage to survive? Such as loyalty, honesty, compassion and passion for the man she wants to marry?”

Eve breathed out slowly. “I think she does. How much does something like that cost?”

Glenda glanced around making sure the coast was clear.

All at once twinkling bells carried around the wind.

Startle, Eve looked around her. “Did you hear that?”

Glenda shrugged. “Hear what?”

“It sounded like wind chimes or something.”

“I didn’t hear a thing,” Glenda said. “Give me your hand,” she said, pulling out a small bottle.

Eve gasped at the sight of the beautiful translucent crystal bottle placed in her hand. “It’s lovely, look how clear the liquid is.” Eve stared closer. Something was inside the bottle. “Do I see my reflection? What is it?”

Glenda grinned. “Sometimes a person sees what they cannot live without.”

Smoke swirled around the small bottle. The clear liquid quickly changed colors. Just as the cat had done earlier, the clear liquid slowly turned pink. The bottle was cold to the touch.

Eve could feel something strange happen. “Glenda, you know how I said I didn’t believe in hocus pocus earlier?” “Yes.”

“Does that cloud of smoke say anything about me?” She looked closer at the small bottle in her hand. The smoke clouded and changed. She thought she saw a face. “I mean what’s happening? What is that?”

Glenda blinked as if she saw her thoughts. Slowly she glanced around again, then leaned over and whispered. “Eve I know you can be a skeptic but there’s something you should know,” she leaned forward and studied the smoke. “Love is in the smoke. True love, but Eve there is danger, conflict and jealousy. You will face them all before you find the man who belongs only to you,” she paused. “But in the end, true love will conquer through the conflict.”

“Does it say the same for my friend Carina? What does it tell for her?” Eve asked.

Glenda smiled quietly. “Make sure you put a drop of the liquid in your friend’s drink and the drink of the man she wants to marry.” Glenda rose. “Now go and if for any reason you need me just go to the Bart Station off Shattuck in Berkley and call my name three times,” she said walking away into the shadow. She stopped abruptly and turned and stared back at her and murmured. “Oh Eve, you must remember to first close your eyes before you say my name three times, you understand?”

Eve nodded.

“Now please go,” Glenda said softly moving further into the shadows until she was well hidden.

Eve clasped the small bottle in her hand and stared hard at it. Then she placed it in her evening bag, stood and walked back the way she had come earlier.

Glenda lingered in the dark shadows and waited and watched Eve walk away. She smiled and chuckled softly. She walked back into the light. She turned around.

A gorgeous man appeared out of nowhere. He was dressed in a classic black double breasted blazer and turtleneck. Glenda looked up at him. She saw the glitter in his dark green eyes. “You were watching. I could feel your eyes on us the whole time. Well what do you want?”

His lips curved into a devilish smile. “Let’s just say humans are creatures of want.”

Glenda’s laughter filled the air. “There are many things in this world and most think they are human. But I will agree with you. Humans are creatures of want,” she said. “Now I ask again. What is it that you want?” she asked sternly looking up at the man. She raised an eyebrow. For once she was speechless. The smile on Glenda’s face faded. She waived her hand. “No! Don’t tell me. I already know.”

The sardonic good looks of the man were starting to rattle her nerves. “Oh merciful heavenly father, I’m going to need patience with this one.”

“I didn’t know hoodoo high priestesses daughters prayed.” The man said.

“I’m a good catholic daughter I am,” Glenda shrugged. “Just a little twisted in my beliefs just like most of the world,” she said. “You wouldn’t by chance be willing to give me a name?”

The attractive man ran his fingers through his dark curly hair. His dark green eyes glistened as he shook his head.

“I thought not,” Glenda said.