"Where are we?" Nick asked once they were back on solid ground.
"We are as close to the lake as I can get us without being spotted," Charm answered and began pulling him towards a dock.
"Huh?"
"Don't you think it would be a little weird if we all of a sudden just showed up? People would get suspicious and that's the last thing I need."
Nick looked at the girl that was dragging him near the water. "What's your name again? Charlmane?" he repeated.
She looked back at him and straight into his blue eyes with her own purple ones. "Charlamane," she confirmed his attempt at saying her name right. "You can call me Charli if it's easier."
"I'd rather call you Charm. That's really pretty. I've met a lot of people, but I don't think I've ever come across a girl named Charm."
"How'd you... my sister was yelling it. That's where you heard it, huh?"
Nick nodded. "I like it... a lot," he took her hand and began walking in a different direction. "I'd rather sit in the sand, if that's all right with you?"
"It's fine," Charm's voice cracked. She blushed a brilliant shade of pink right then, and was very grateful Nick didn't see. They both sat down next to each other in the sand. The beach along the shoreline of the lake was fairly empty, so she really didn't have to worry about being spotted. She leaned back using her arms behind her for support.
"Aren't you hot?"
"Excuse me?" Charm looked over at Nick who was letting the sand sift through his long fingers. He brushed the grains of sand off of his hands and then turned to her.
"You're wearing black leather," he felt the material on her stomach. Charm could feel the heat rising through her body again had to do something to counteract the feelings she was having. "You're so cold," Nick noticed her skin turning paler.
"It's ok. I did it myself. I was feeling a little hot... like you said," she covered.
"Oh... So, you're a witch?"
"We prefer the term 'Sorceress', but basically."
They sat in silence for a couple of minutes just watching the waves along the clear water. Charm didn't know what she was doing. They never told anyone who or what they were. Never, and here she was just spilling her guts to a complete stranger. For some strange reason she couldn't bring herself to lie to him, like she had done to many others. There was something about him that made her tell him the truth.
"So, is your sister a sorceress, too?" Nick asked and looked at Charms' face. She seemed to be deep in thought.
"Yeah, both of my sisters are," Charm shook her head to clear the thoughts she was having.
"You have another one?"
"The girl you saw your friend Brian with is my sister, Contessa," she said looked up at the sky.
"How'd you know his name?"
"I picked it up," she smiled and decided it was time he saw some of what she could do.
"Oh, I forgot. You can read thoughts, can't you?"
"Mmmm hmmm," she answered without forming real words. "Are you hot, too?"
A puzzled look crossed Nick's face. She kept changing subjects so quickly. "A little, but I'm used to it. It's typical Florida weather."
"Have you ever seen it snow?"
"I've seen snow... but never here. Why?"
Charm smiled knowingly. "Then watch, and learn," she said and she closed her eyes. When they opened again, they were that familiar white opal color. Nick's breath caught in his throat when he saw it happen. One of Charm's hands lifted in front of her and then slowly came back down. A cool wind blew across Nick's face, and he looked up, only to see a snowflake fall on his nose.
Charm giggled. "Cute," she said and laughed a little harder as the snowflakes fell in bunches from above.
Nick was in awe. He'd never seen anything like it. It wasn't possible. But... she somehow managed to do it. He was quite intrigued by all of this. "Wow," he said under his breath, barely audible enough to hear. "You're for real aren't you?"
"As real as it gets," she stood up and twirled around like a kid. "C'mon," she held out her hands for his. "We should get back. Your friends will start to wonder where you are."
Actually, the thought hadn't even crossed Brian's or AJ's minds yet. They were a tad bit preoccupied.
"You're probably right," Nick said and stood up, taking her hands. "Can we stay in this a little longer?"
Charm smiled warmly and looked down. "If you want to," she was looking at their intertwined fingers. "It's ok with me."
"Good. Then let's walk around... I wonder what the people out on the water are thinking," he said and looked out at the boats.
"They're thinking that its a fluke," she giggled when he looked at her surprised. He noticed her eyes were back to normal. "What? Do have something on my face?" she rubbed her nose, just as a snowflake fell on her cheek.
"Actually, you do," Nick said and cupped her face in one hand and brushed the snowflake of with his thumb. Charm felt her face heat up and the snow stopped and all of a sudden it got warm again. Nick looked at her soft eyes that were the color of orchids in the spring. "Did I make you do that?" he breathed the words out carefully.
Charm nodded and looked away. "Sorry to stop your snow."
"It's ok," Nick laughed to himself at the whole idea of him making her nervous. He should be the one who's afraid. "Let's go back now," he said and released her cheek from the palm of his hand.
"Ok," Charm pulled him behind
a tree and just as fast as they had gotten there, they were gone.
"They look better on you than they would on me," he said in all honesty.
Tazia shrugged and turned back around to the sunglasses stand. As she was looking through the many different pairs she felt a pair of arms slink their way around her waist and pull her body close. She could feel the breaths from whoever it was on the back of her neck. She peeked down only to see the tattooed set of arms. She let out an almost relieved sigh and felt her body get pulled closer to AJ's.
"Who did you think it was?" AJ whispered in her ear as he buried his face in the crook of her neck.
"You could've been any psycho maniac trying to rape me," Tazia smiled and placed her arms on top of his, rubbing them gently.
AJ kissed the back of Tazia's neck lightly a few times. "What makes you think I won't?" he said confidently.
Tazia could feel her breath quicken as soon as those words escaped his lips. She then realized what she was getting herself into. AJ didn't remind her of anyone in her passion filled past and the thought excited her as much as it made her nervous. Normally, she would've shot back with something along the lines of "Well, what's stopping you?" but the tingly, electric feeling coursing and pumping like adrenaline through her veins told her to do otherwise.
"You move fast don't you?" she asked softly and turned around in his embrace. "Why don't we take this one step at a time and see where it leads us?"
"I can handle that," AJ said and pouted slightly. "Can't I have one?"
"One what?" Tazia cocked an eyebrow and almost couldn't stop herself from stealing a kiss from his tantalizing lips.
AJ leaned in so close that their lips were almost touching. "One of these," he said and brought a hand up to run it through her long, brown hair. "Just one."
Tazia bit her bottom lip and worked a little magic of her own. She gently brushed her lips against AJ's and could feel his body tremble as the sensation gave way through his body. She hyped up his senses just enough to make him feel like his body was on fire.
"Now..." she backed out of his arms. "How about this pair?" she picked up another pair of sunglasses quickly and placed them on his face. "Those are phat," AJ's face was still in a state of shock. "AJ?... If you don't like them you can tell me," she giggled because she knew why he was so silent. She was also laughing for other reasons.
"Huh?..." he shook his head. "Uh, no. These are cool, Zia. I think I'll get them," AJ said without realizing what was on his face. Tazia broke out into a fit of laughter.
"Ummm... AJ... maybe you should look in the mirror," she said and laughed harder when he did. She had put a pair of movie star glasses with a red, lips print on them, on his face.
"I think I'll still get them," AJ said taking them off.
"Why in god's name would you want those tacky things?" she calmed her breathing down enough to where she could talk and you could understand her.
"Because they'll be a constant reminder of our first kiss," he said so sweetly Tazia could feel her knees go weak. She blushed and he pulled her into a hug.
"You are too much," she buried her face in his shoulder.
"I know," he sighed and breathed in the scent of her hair. "I could get used to this," he held onto her body tightly, almost afraid to let go.
"So could I, AJ," she whispered and clung to him. "So could I."
Brian and Countess came out of the storage room giggling like two school children. They both saw AJ and Tazia wrapped up in each others arms and quieted instantly.
"Think we interrupted something?" Brian asked still smiling.
"Maybe... maybe not," Countess couldn't help but put herself in that situation.
"C'mon, let's go back," Brian said and took a hold of her fingers. He pulled Countess back into the storage room and sat her down on a box. "I just thought of something... Where's Nick?"
"I'm right here, Frick. Wassup?" he said as he walked past the storage room door with Charm right behind him.
"We'll be watching TV until Tazia and AJ break apart," she added and followed Nick into the back where they both flopped down on the couch. The topic of conversation was way over that of 'What's happening on Young and the Restless?' though.
"Where did they come from?" Brian asked and Countess just shrugged. "You're not in the mood to talk are ya, Tessa?"
She shook her head with a slight smile on her face.
"So, what do you wanna do?"
Countess shrugged and looked up with the movement of her shoulders.
Brian came and sat down next to her on the box. "You're absolutely no help."
"Why, thank you," she said out loud without knowing it.
"HA! You talked!" Brian said and tickled her sides.
Countess squealed and got up. She ran over to a another stack of boxes and hid behind them. Brian got up and followed her. When he reached out for her she backed up, so they ended up inching backward, step by step, until Countess had her back to the wall completely.
"Are you gonna talk again?" Brian asked nicely and placed his arms on the wall around her body so she was trapped.
Countess didn't know what to do, so she simply shook her head no. It was the wrong answer. Brian attacked her little body in a fit of tickles. Countess screamed and Brian stopped almost instantly. She had surprised herself too, and looked into his eyes, before erupting into rolls of laughter. Brian couldn't help but stare back into her eyes and when she laughed he did too.
"What's wrong?" Tazia said, running into the storage room with AJ trailing right behind her.
"Yeah, what's all the ruckus for?" Nick yelled from the couch he was sprawled on with Charm.
"Nothing... uh, guys maybe we should be going. We've been in here for 3 hours," Brian said looking at his watch.
"All right," Nick yelled back. AJ nodded and pulled Tazia back up to the store and to the counter. "I wanna pay for these," he said twirling the sunglasses.
"Don't worry about it. They're on me," she smiled and wrote down something on a piece of paper. "Call me sometime, ok?" she said as she slipped the paper into his front pocket.
"I will," he said just as the other 4 came into view. "Ready?"
"Yeah," Nick said and squeezed Charm's hand. "I'll get your number from AJ," he thought and Charm heard him loud and clear.
"Definitely," she said out loud. "Bye," she said and went back into the back room.
"Bye," Nick thought, and Charm heard him once again, and smiled.
Countess gave Brian a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She waved and turned to walk away but he grabbed her arm and made her turn back around. "Are you gonna talk to me at all?"
"Oh, sorry. It was nice meeting you Brian. You'll be seeing me again. Don't worry," and with that she joined her sister in the back.
"C'mon. Ok, Rok?" Nick encouraged and pulled his friend out the door.
"I'll see you later," AJ said now that he and Tazia were alone again. She wrapped herself up in his arms and kissed his cheek. AJ felt that same heat wave flow over him.
"Bye," she whispered in his ear and then backed out of his arms. He smiled faintly before turing to the door. The bell rang as he walked out and Tazia leaned against it. She flipped the "closed" sign over, and sighed. A hand fell lightly on her shoulder and she turned around to see both of her sisters.
"You guys..." Charm said and felt a breeze pulsate through her body. "The winds are changing."