Free War-N-Wit, Inc. - The Witch by Gail Roughton Page A

clear it was noticeable to him, was at least a sixteenth of
an inch wide, edging out towards an eighth.
    "Welcome, precious. To
the world of magic ."

 
 

 
 
    Chapter Fifteen

 
    He tried to cajole me into taking the day
off Monday, but I knew I had too much going on at the office. I kissed him
good-by and watched him drive off. First order of business when I entered the
office would be the infamous two-week notice. According to the chain of
command, that should first be given to the Office Manager, but I'd never paid much
attention to the chain of command even in my most conservative days and
anything about me remotely resembling conservative had irretrievably waved
bye-bye.
    The first order of business actually turned
out to be surviving the ecstatic hugs of my sister, waiting for me by her car,
and her oohs and aahs over the Marquis solitaire that still scared the living
shit out of me.
    "I told you to come over yesterday
afternoon," I scolded. "It would have been fine , he wants to meet you as
much as you want to meet him."
    "Yeah, well, not y'all's first
weekend, three would have still been a crowd."
    We parted at the lobby and went down our
separate halls, my hand self-consciously turned inward. I couldn't shake the
feeling there was a glaring headlight announcing my imminent arrival, but
nobody noticed.
    First stop was Anderson's office.
    "Well, is that you?" came the
usual jovial greeting. "I had the greatest weekend, we ate at the Oyster
Bar and walked on the beach, and it's just fun to have fun! A little work, a
little play, not that I could do this without you here keeping the
office—"
    "Sure you could, Anderson. You will. I quit."
    Dead silence.
    "You what?"
    "I quit. Two weeks'
notice. You're the first to know, couldn't not tell you first, could
I?"
    "You're going to another firm ?"
    "No. I'm getting married. And changing careers, too."
    "You and Scott got back together? But
what's that got to do with your quitting? You weren't going to quit— "
    "Am now. Too long a commute, sorry. And I would have gotten back together
with Scott when hell froze over, no, he's out of the
equation."
    "But—but—you only broke up with him
two weeks ago! You can't go and marry somebody you just met, Ariel, be
sensible!"
    "Now, Anderson. What's that you're always saying? 'It's so much fun to have fun!' Along with, 'life's too short not to enjoy it' , as I recall. Anyway, I didn't
just meet him, met him last October."
    He was beginning to get his bearings, and
his gaze sharpened.
    "Too long a commute? From where?"
    "Quitman. Remember your PI who located and corralled your witness in
something under three hours?"
    "You're joking."
    "Nope."
    "You don't know a thing about him! PIs
are shady characters, always out at all hours, no
steady income, good one week and bad the next—"
    He broke off as I held my hand out.
    "His business stays pretty good. That
happens a lot when you're the best there is at what you do, don't you think?
Now, don't worry about a thing, all the cases are in good shape and I'll be
sure nothing's hanging when I leave. Everything's going to be
fine, Anderson."
    I walked out of his office and over to
Ash's to repeat my performance and by the time I left his and headed to Mark's,
I knew damn well the tsunami was all over the office and I wouldn't need to
make any further explanations. Corrections, yes, there'd be plenty of room for
them by the time the storytelling was done, were I inclined to offer any
corrections, but actually, I didn't really care what anybody thought about any
of it. I hadn't known there was this kind of freedom in the world. Or that it
felt so good. I looked down at the sparkling diamond. "Love you, Magic
Man!" I whispered, and rubbed a finger lightly over its surface. A warm
glow settled in my stomach and moved a tad lower. And the diamond winked at me. I swear.

 
    * * *
               
    By ten o'clock I was automatically throwing
my hand out from the keyboard for ease