s*x Magick

Chapter 1

It was 2am Saturday morning in October, 2009—Halloween nearly one week away. Amber lay in bed with her stewing suspicions and growing frustration. For you see, Trista"s father had yet to come home. Surely he was with that other woman, or was out running wild like he did in early years. But it would take time to fully win him back. Amber understood this. She was fortunate enough to even have the man in her life.

Suddenly, the Blackberry on her nightstand silently buzzed. It was a text message from Trista"s father. “I"m here. Want to let me in?”

Wishing not to clue Trista in of the intimacy shared with him, Amber instructed Trista"s father to merely text when coming over late in the evening. She would go to the back door and quietly let him in.

Amber softly walked the darkened hallway, into the kitchen and over to the back door. In recent times she was sure to spray the door hinges with WD-40 lubricant aerosol to prevent any harsh squeaks from waking Trista.

There Trista"s father stood, appearing delighted to see Amber. But Amber was smart. She knew he was only acting and attempting to cover where he had been.

“Hey…” greeted Amber.

“Hey…” whispered and smiled Trista"s father in return.

The door was quietly closed behind them and the man was carefully escorted into the bedroom where Amber shut the door to prevent Trista from hearing.

Amber was already in her sleepwear. As for Trista"s father, he removed his coat and stripped down to his boxers before slipping under the covers. Immediately, Amber pulled close and laid her head at his breast.

The closeness and cuddling removed any and all frustration and doubt for Amber. This is what she wanted. This is the way it was supposed to be. The man she originally loved who helped create a child was to lay in bed with her. The house was to be a home, alive with the activities of a loving family. It would soon all materialize for Amber.

Trista"s father softly combed his fingers through Amber"s hair. He made it feel so real, like he loved her and had always been a part of her life. In fact, maybe he really did love her; just not realizing how much at the moment.

Don"t think for one second that this would be a moment of careless, casual s*x between friends. It was careless s*x that resulted in losing Trista"s father for so many years. There are plenty of ways to love without s*x. For now, the safest means of exchanging affection was allowed. It didn"t take long for Amber and Trista"s father to engage in nothing less than a steamy, late-night make out session. This lasted for a little over an hour until the flames settled down and both could lay close for some dreamy cuddling.

Unfortunately, however, Trista"s father might have to wake up before dawn upon an emergency call for his job. And Amber might not see him for a number of hours… even days. Still, for the moment, the man she loved lay beside her, hopefully receiving Amber"s dreams through some romantic, in-bed-together telepathic connection.

Some men deserve every bit of misfortune that comes their way. As luck would have it, by half-past four on Saturday morning, the outdated palm pilot styled phone buzzed a couple times on the nightstand next to Jim"s side of the bed. It awoke both him and Amber.

Amber softly exhaled and then whispered, “Another outage?”

Jim whispered in return, “Yeah, it would appear that way. Time to go to work.”

Amber watched as the man she loved get dressed and then look over to her. The look was a sign that he would surely return, not abandon her like years ago.

“Well, give me a call or text me.” whispered Amber.

“I will. Sorry I"ve got to go.”

How badly Amber wished to make her feelings known and receive some affirmation that Trista"s father felt the same. Sometimes the words nearly slipped out, “I love you.” But Amber bit her tongue and waited for the day when the two could finally speak this.

Yes, some men truly deserve every bit of misfortune. And perhaps it"s men like this who fall prey to an evil witch"s spells. Now free from Amber"s home and stepping out into the crisp, autumn air; Jim walked some distance down the street and stepped back into his utility cable truck. Jim was the lineman technician for Mapleview Cable. It wasn"t a rare occurrence for him to be awoken in the dead of night to answer some outage or failure in the town"s cable infrastructure. And this was the excuse Jim used to escape the confines of his own home where his wife, Kimberly, lay beside him and two children slept down the hall. In fact, his outdated palm pilot styled phone awoke him shortly before two in the morning.

At that moment; his wife, Kimberly, asked the same question Amber did over two hours later. “Another outage?”

And just like he would do with Amber two hours later, Jim whispered, “Yeah, it would appear that way. Time to go to work.”

Driving only seven doors down in his Mapleview Cable utility truck, Jim pulled into his own driveway and crept back into the house—as if not to awaken his wife Kimberly. He would be safe once in the shower where any scent of Amber could be washed away.