Just a Little Magic

JUST A LITTLE MAGIC Chapter 6

Please remember that this is a Mind Control story - and that it is NOT meant to be taken seriously. Thanks for the positive comments.

If you would like to discuss my literary/writing failings, please send me a personal message. I will gladly explain why I use dashes and quotation marks the way I do. Unfortunately, I don't know how to respond to anonymous comments or criticism, however well-intentioned.

*****

Danielle was perfect for me. She was undemanding, and supportive of my burgeoning career as a magician, even when it took me away for short periods. Janine and I did shows in Kitchener, London (Ontario), St Catharines, Kingston, and Niagara Falls.

I kept odd hours, and wasn't always available when Danielle might have preferred. She never complained.

We didn't have to go out on the town; she was perfectly happy to stay in, order a pizza, and watch a movie - after which she was invariably ready for some loving. I was aware of how good I had it.

- "Dude." said Sammy. "She's the perfect woman. How did you get so lucky?"

- "Are you going to be calling me 'Dude' when we're 65?" I asked him. But he was right: I

felt

lucky.

Danielle made me feel great. And in March, she went out of her way to make me happy. She and Sammy cooked it up for me, together.

-"Surprise!"

I'd thought that I was going home to see my folks for a family dinner, only to find a surprise party in honour of my 21st birthday. It was a small gathering - more of a barbecue than anything else.

Mom and Bill were there, of course. So were Sammy and Danielle, and Sammy's parents, too; they'd always treated me like a member of their family.

And Lillian and Janine. Danielle had asked Sammy's advice on who to invite. 'Just his closest friends', she said.

- "Happy birthday, Peter." said Lillian. She kissed me on the cheek. "I should have put something in your mailbox, for old times' sake."

Janine was dressed to the nines. She looked fantastic.

- "You never mentioned that you had a

girlfriend,

Pete. She seems ... sweet."

Uh-oh.

Sammy's Mom wanted to hug me, and hold my hand. She thanked me about eleven times for getting Sammy a job, and for being his roommate.

Mom and Danielle seemed to be getting along really well. Mom kept reaching out to touch my girlfriend's hand, or her arm, as if to make sure that she was real.

I helped Bill grill steaks (meaning I stood beside him while he worked, and got him a fresh beer when he drained the first one - or was it the second?).

Sammy and I got a chance to talk, in the corner of the backyard.

- "Dude - Janine is hot. I mean, otherworldly. And you know I'll never forget Prom. But I think Danielle might be even better for you."

- "I'm crazy about her." I admitted.

- "Nice." said Sammy.

That was when I realized that Mom was now talking to Lillian, and that I couldn't see Danielle. Or Janine.

Oh, shit.

- "Be right back." I said to Sammy. I hustled into the house.

I had just missed the end of their conversation. Janine had that patented quarter smile expression on her face; Danielle looked like she was about to spit nails.

They'd had words. That much was obvious - the air in the kitchen still crackled with residual electricity. Danielle avoided eye contact with me, and slipped by, headed for the backyard.

I looked at Janine, who simply looked back, as if to say: '

What

?'

Danielle kept her shit together for the rest of the BBQ. Only after everyone was finished eating did she let me know that she was going to leave.

- "I'll drive you home." I said.

- "No - you should stay, Pete. You're the reason they're here. Stay with your parents."

- "Are you okay?"

- "Don't worry about me. Can you come over tomorrow? 5:30 or so?"

- "Of course."

- "Happy birthday." she said, just before she kissed me. "Hope I didn't spoil it."

***

Danielle had ordered enough egg rolls and chow mein for four people. We ate, and talked.

- "I'm sorry." she said. "I didn't mean to spoil your party."

- "You didn't."

Danielle took a deep breath. "I know that she's your partner - your business partner. And I know that you've been friends for a while."

- "Yes."

- "And maybe more than that ...?"

- "Janine was my prom date. We had sex afterwards." I said. That was ... misleading. I wasn't trying to lie to Danielle - I just didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"Janine was ... my first."

- "I understand." said Danielle. She actually winced. "I'm sorry, Pete. But ... she doesn't like me. And I don't care for her."

I tried to be diplomatic. "Janine can be difficult. She takes some getting used to."

- "No." said Danielle. "Just ... no. That's what I'm trying to tell you. I don't want to get used to her. I don't want to get to know her at all. It's probably best if you just keep us apart."

"I'm sorry if this makes things difficult for you. But I really don't want to see her again."

- "You feel that strongly about it?"

- "

Yes

."

- "What did she say to you, Danielle? What happened?"

- "It doesn't matter." said my girlfriend. "We just don't mix. Oil and water."

We didn't make love that night. Danielle let me hold her - but that was all.

***

- "What did you say to her?" I asked Janine.

- "Nothing. I just asked her about you. She was

very

defensive."

- "What?"

- "I don't know, Pete. The girl has some issues, you know. About you and me."

- "What are you saying? You think she's jealous?"

- "Hey - I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have been so forthright with her. I'll call her - I'll apologize. Will that help?"

I was confused. Danielle didn't seem at all surprised to learn that Janine and I had been ... intimate. So what had actually passed between them?

Danielle was my girlfriend. But Janine was my show partner, my business partner, and still my tutor, to a certain extent. She was also the person whose life I was trying to save.

I had to be able to get along with both of them. So I didn't press the issue.

It wasn't that hard to keep them apart. Janine was getting more gigs for us, and she and Lillian continued to work me hard four days a week. I only played in one poker tournament that spring.

Danielle and I didn't go out all that often; once in a while with Sammy, or with her friends from school. Most of the time, I went over to her apartment, or she came to mine, if Sammy was going to be out. We'd watch a movie, have something to eat, and have sex.

I was just so grateful that my girlfriend wanted sex as much as I did (which was all of the time). She seemed to enjoy it just as much as I did, too.

Some days, her hair was a mess, after one of her classmates had botched the job. Sometimes, Danielle herself liked the way it looked - and I would agree, just to be diplomatic.

My girlfriend wasn't much of a fashion plate, either. Her clothes were still mostly of the frumpy, bulky variety. Her bras and panties were strictly utilitarian, well-worn and frequently washed. She did have one pair of lacy panties, and the lingerie she'd bought for Christmas, but that was about it.

That was hardly the end of the end of the world, when she was so ready to get naked with me. Even if her was hair sometimes a disaster, I loved her cute face. I could have spent eternity playing with her breasts, or her ass, and her clean-shaven pussy.

Danielle was delighted with how often I went down on her. In that sense, Janine had trained me well - and my girlfriend was the beneficiary. I didn't tell her so, though.

***

Sammy ran our webpage, and sifted through the comments, some of which he would answer himself. Others he would pass on to Janine and me, so that we could reply more personally.

- "People are sick." he said to me one night, as we sat in our apartment.

- "What do you mean?"

- "You don't want to know."

- "Bad?"

- "Here - look at this." He showed me one comment.

You suck. You're tricks are juvenile. You're hole act is pathetic. You should give up magic and go back to sucking cocks behind the gas station for 25 cents.

- "Wow."

- "There are worse ones."

- "Thank you for not showing me those. Does Janine get this kind of stuff, too?"

- "About three times as much as you do. I don't show it to her, either. I'm tellin' you: people are

sick

. Then again, she gets three times as much positive stuff as you do."

Thank goodness for Sammy filtering out the hate mail. I couldn't understand why people felt that I needed to know how bad I was, or how fake my tricks were.

There were offers to help me invest my money, or to manage my business, requests for a loan - even an offer of marriage.

- "No way that's her real picture, Dude." said Sammy.

But the positive comments were more numerous by far, and very encouraging. Sammy posted a schedule of our upcoming shows; people let us know that they would be there, and how much they were looking forward to it.

***

I sat for my third set of final exams, and cheated my way to an almost respectable grade point average. I graduated with a three year certificate, bringing tears of joy (or relief?) to my Mother's eyes.

She knew, by now, that I was going to pursue a career in magic. As much at it pained her, she was willing to let me try (and fail), now that I had 'something solid to fall back on'.

Danielle had finished her program as well. She was about to begin apprenticeship with a beauty salon.

- "Finally - a chance to make a few bucks." she said.

- "I didn't think you cared that much about money." I remarked.

- "Doesn't mean I wouldn't like to buy some decent clothes. Or maybe get a better apartment."

- "I

like

your apartment."

- "'Course you do." she said, with a smile. "And we both know why, don't we? Something about all the memories we've created in there ...?"

***

Janine had booked us to do a dozen shows in the U.S. over a three-week period. We'd be in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, for the most part. In order to make this work, we'd decided to splurge on a van, for getting around with our costumes and props.

We also decided to invite Sammy to come along. He was thrilled.

- "Road trip! Yeah, baby!"

Danielle was pleased to hear that little bit of information, too. "So ... you'll probably need more than one room, then, wherever you stay."

I hadn't thought about that much - but now that I did, it seemed like a very good idea. I had every intention of remaining faithful to Danielle. I just wasn't sure that I could have survived three weeks of sharing a room with Janine.

- "Of course. Sammy and I will share, and she can have her own room. It won't cost that much more. It's not like we'll be staying at the Hilton, or anything."

She seemed relieved to hear it. And I caught enough of her surface thoughts to understand why.

- "Sweetheart," I said, "Janine and me was before you. And it's long over. I don't need anybody else. I don't

want

anybody else. Just you."

- "I believe you." she said. "You'll always tell me the truth, won't you?"

- "Of course I will." For the next few years, I would. After that, things might get more problematic. 2028 was getting closer all the time.

Danielle had me clear my schedule for an entire weekend before the beginning of the American tour. I was going to spend the whole time in her apartment.

She didn't even bother with the pretense of a movie. We were in each other's arms the moment I came through the door. We knocked over some of her furniture in our eagerness to get to her couch.

She let me undress her, to reveal that she'd splurged and bought herself a matching new bra and panties.

- "Like them?" she asked (while chewing on my earlobe).

In a masterful demonstration of restraint and self-control, I managed to silently count to three before I grunted 'Yes!' and pulled them off her.

We fucked something like 7 times in the first 24 hours. To be more precise, we probably fucked 4 times, and made love three times. How did we do it? Simple: we didn't sleep.

We cuddled, and snogged, showered and bathed together. We even remembered to eat. But we'd made a serious mistake, as we discovered on the second day. Danielle was just too sore to continue.

We switched to oral, which didn't hurt her at all. By the third time, though, she was upset that she couldn't make love with me.

- "

You're incredible

." I whispered. "Do you not realize that we had sex 7 times yesterday? That has to be some kind of record."

- "Only six." she said. "The 7th was after midnight."

I laughed. I couldn't stop laughing, in fact, even when she punched me repeatedly.

"It's not funny. My plan was to drain you completely, so that you wouldn't even think of sex for a week. And then I'd let you know that when you come back, we would repeat this - or maybe even improve on it."

She was serious.

- "Danielle ... believe me. I don't want anyone but you."

We ate, and watched a film (I slept through most of it). Then Danielle made love to me again, swearing that it didn't hurt.

I was well and truly worn when we set out on the road trip.

***

- "Batman ... or Green Lantern?"

- "C'mon, Sammy." I said. "I'm not going to do this if you can't stay serious."

- "Fine. Batman ... or Iron Man?"

- "That's better." I said. "Iron Man is much cooler in the movies than he ever was in the comics. Batman, though."

- "What are you two nerds on about now?" said Janine. It was more of a complaint than a question.

- "Batman." said Sammy. He was driving for this stretch of upstate New York. "You match Batman against any other superhero -

any

other superhero - and try to figure out who would win. For example, Batman ... and Iron Man."

- "Someone shoot me now." said Janine.

It was my turn to come up with a challenge.

- "Batman ... or the Mighty Thor?"

- "Ooh ... good one." said Sammy.

- "Thor's pretty hot." said Janine.

- "It's not about hotness." said our driver. "Thor is a God, and he has a magical hammer. But Batman would win."

- "What? A guy in a cape would beat a God? And a sexy God, on top of that?" Janine was indignant. "How do you figure that?"

- "Because Batman

always

wins. He always finds a way."

- "What about that guy with the mask? Bane? Didn't he kick the shit out of Batman?" said Janine. "I saw that movie - part of it, anyway."

- "You don't know how to play this game." said Sammy. Then he sulked for the next 50 kilometers.

Our shows in the States were to modest audiences - between 100 and 300, usually - but they were extremely well-received. All of our practicing and rehearsal was paying off. Janine was still reeling them in, and our passes were smoother than ever before.

My concentration was better than ever. Sometimes, though, just for effect, I would hesitate, or delay - as if I was I was having trouble figuring out which cards my volunteer had chosen.

We tried out a new routine, which we called 'The Poker Table'. Four volunteers sat around a table, where Janine dealt each player 5 cards. She then explained to them that they could draw up to four cards - but suggested that they should take my advice.

Meanwhile, I was seated on a stool near the front of the stage. I held a pad of paper, and a black marker.

- "What should Jerry do?" asked Janine.

I quickly wrote on my pad, with the marker, and then held it up, so that audience could see - but the 'players' couldn't.

Keep the sevens - toss the Jack, six and three.

I tore that page from my pad, as Janine came to collect my 'advice'.

All four players received the benefit of my expert advice. Janine delivered my written suggestions to each one of them. Then she had them discard - carefully placing the rejected cards face-down in front of them. Finally, Janine dealt new cards: two to Antonella, three to Jerry, and so on ...

At this point, I gave each player betting advice. Jerry had another seven, and a King - I suggested that he check. Antonella had miraculously hit a flush; I advised her to go all in.

I advised Jerry to fold, but he thought that his three sevens were good. What the heck; he wasn't playing with his own money.

When Janine revealed the players' cards,

and

their discards, audience members could see for themselves that I'd known exactly which five cards they had - and that I'd given them the best advice possible.

It was a routine that worked really well with smaller crowds (that weren't too drunk).

For the rowdier groups, we concentrated more on Janine, as she pilfered various items from the volunteers, and then skilfully passed them to me, so that I could later drop them, or 'accidentally' produce them while I was supposed to be looking for something else.

The first three shows went well. After the shows, we answered questions and chatted with people. I passed on the groupies - of which there were a few, most every time.

- "We should go out and party." said Janine.

- "I should probably call Danielle."

- "Just a couple of drinks. Sammy deserves a treat."

- "C'mon, Dude. You can call her later. Or tomorrow."

Sammy was just out for a good time. Janine, though ...

- "What happens in Pennsylvania stays in Pennsylvania." she said.

We had a couple of beers at the bar in the Sheraton (or the Best Western - I forget) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. To my surprise, two of the fans from our show were there. They were both female, both reasonably attractive, and both - when I read their minds - eager to have sex with me.

Katy was a pretty brunette with a vacant expression. She was ready to have sex with me, or me and Sammy, or me and Janine. The latter possibility was probably her preference.

Poor Sammy was salivating. I excused myself, and went back to my room early. When Sammy finally came in, he was three sheets to the wind.

The next morning, at breakfast, I apologized to my teammates for bailing out early. But I also explained why I'd done so.

- "I'm not going to cheat on Danielle." I said. "I hope that you two will have a good time. But I'm going to err on the side of caution. I'm not going to put myself in a situation where ... well, you understand what I mean."

- "Totally, Dude."

- "Of course." said Janine.

***

In Lancaster, we had a great show. Sammy videotaped some of it, and we all agreed that it would look great on our website. We went to a local hotspot, after the show.

Sammy and I had a couple of beers. Janine, meanwhile, had somehow found two girls who just wanted to 'party'. For some reason I couldn't quite understand, they came back to our hotel with us - in the same taxi.

Amanda (I think that was her name) sat on my lap for the short drive. Her friend sat on Sammy's lap, and giggled all the way. I wasn't quite sure, but it looked like he was getting a free lap dance. I was, too.

The party was quickly set up in our room. Janine produced a bottle of vodka, while Sammy and the other girl went for ice.

- "You guys have fun." I said. "I'm exhausted. Janine - can I use your room?"

I excused myself. I took a shower in Janine's room - a cold shower. I was still drying off when there was a knock on the door.

I made the mistake of opening it. I was wearing a towel, and there was Amanda, high as a kite, with her tits spilling out of the top of her dress.

- "Hey!" she said. "We really miss you, over here. You should come and join us."

- "Sorry, Amanda." I said. "Major headache. You have a good time, though." Then I closed the door in her face.

Once I had dried off, and resumed normal breathing, I called my girlfriend. It was past midnight, but she didn't complain

- "Hey babe." she said. "How was your show?"

- "Great. One of our best yet."

- "That's awesome!"