Street Magic

"Hurry up Emily you're going to be late for the interview!", Emily's mother called that morning. Emily sat bolt upright in her bed, she had been stressing over the interview all night and she hadn't managed to get a wink of sleep. As she climbed out of bed and tripped over into the mirror, she gazed at herself for a while her long tussled crimson hair all messy and last nights m******e had began to run down her cheeks. Time for a shower she thought and she walked dreamily to the bathroom. As the water began to pour down she reminisced about the dream she was having of a dark and mysterious character who had taken her by the hand as she stepped out onto a crowded ballroom floor in a full length sky blue ballgown with little embroided white flowers covering the skirt. The warmth and comfort she felt being in his arms. She had, had this dream for many nights now. As she went to her bedroom she threw on the clothes she had put out the night before ready for the interview, a white fitted silk blouse, a flowing black skirt and black slingback high heels. As she headed to the kitchen she picked up her pocketbook bag and stroked her black cat Luna who was perched on the arm of the sofa as she walked to the door. It was a lovely summers day as Emily walked along the sidewalk of the river Thames. the hustle and bustle of the city and fresh salty air of the Thames made her feel home. The street performers were out in full force that day, a man in a suit of gold stood like a statue smiling at those who passed by. Just as she was about to cross the busy main road her phone alerted her with a message. She looked down and began searching her bag for it, not concentrating on the road ahead when suddenly she felt a push from behind as she was thrown out into road a car swerved nearly hitting her, a young dark and mysterious stranger jumped out in front of her and shielded her from the oncoming vehicle. The vehicle came to a halt as the stranger threw out his arms as if yielding it to a stand still. Emily sat up stunned. She couldn't believe what had just happened. The stranger in front of her in his ripped jeans, a black hoody and a denim jacket with the hood of his hoody covering the back of his head she could not see his face only the back of him. He turned to her and knelt down to the ground to help her up to her feet. "Are you OK?" he spoke softly. Still in shock she struggled to respond, he lifted her up and carried her over to a nearby park bench. "That was quite a scare you gave everyone" he continued to speak, as he reached into his pocket he pulled out a handful of rainbow coloured handkerchief connected to another just like the magicians use on TV for their act. He held the handkerchief to her bleeding knee. Emily looked deep into his piercing blue eyes as she analysed his face, his blonde hair poked out the brim of his hood. He was illuminating to look at. She felt herself quiver at his touch. "Thank you" she blurted out, "I mean thank you for saving me" she blushed. "What's your name?" he asked with a smile. "Emily ... Emily Prescott" she spoke in a trance as she continued to gaze deeply into his eyes. "Emily Prescott aye? Well that's a pretty name it suits you. I'm Darian Raven, say Emily where were you headed to? fancy grabbing a bite to eat? Can't very well send you on your way in shock can I?" he spoke in a joking sort of way. "Oh no where in particular... A bite to eat sounds fab!" she responded still in a daze. Darian stood up and lifted Emily up onto her feet. She felt a warm tingling sensation in her tummy being around him, it gave her butterflies. Darian linked his arm with Emily's and they headed off down the street. They walked along Portobello Road, until they reached a small French style patisserie which had the most pleasant smell of baked bread and coffee. Sitting down at the table surrounded by floral display of roses and carnations, Emily realised she had a tear in her skirt from the accident. She tried her best to cover it up, Darian looked down and she blushed. He took off his jacket and leant forward and tied it around her waist making her quiver as his face came towards hers. Emily felt herself drifting into a daze as she stared into Darians eyes she felt like she was in a love scene in a romantic film. She couldn't help but wonder how quickly Darian got to her side and stopped the traffic from nearly causing her potential fatality. Darian sipped his coffee and said, "how's your knee feeling?" she responded, "Oh it will heal in time" as she looked down to her knee she could see no bleeding, not even a scar from where she had injured it during the accident, it was like magic, it had fully healed. "hey, that's so strange ... um it's healed?" she said astonished. Darian sat with a cheeky grin across his face as he sipped the edge of his coffee cup. It was as if he knew more then what he was letting on. Emily was shocked, she excused herself from the table to go and use the restroom. Emily gazed into the mirror of the restroom, there was a crack down one side of the glass. She traced it with her finger and thought to herself could Darian be as nice as he appeared, what if he had an alterative motive? Maybe he was planning on using her? And then, flashback. She was sitting in the back seat of a car aged 12, she had no idea how she got here or whose car it was. She remember the stale smell of tobacco and car seats stained with alcohol stench. She remembered looking in the mirror of the car and seeing that man he must have been about 30 years old, his greasy hair and sunglasses. His voice .. her abductor. She started having a panic attack as she clutched at her chest. She fell to the floor and reached for her handbag, she pulled out the prescription bottle, her medicine that help her during times like these. She put the pill on her tongue and sat on the bathroom floor and waited for the relaxation to kick in. Her phone alerted her to a voice mail message and 12 missed calls, it was her mum she played the message back, "Darling, are you OK? Just wondering how your interview went and that you made it OK? Please can you ring me back when you get this message. OK poppet speak to you later". She threw her hand up to her forehead, how could she be so stupid, the interview, she had missed it. She knew her mother would be panicking if she wasn't home by noon. She gathered her things and headed back to the table, thinking what was she going to say to Darian. She didn't want their time to end, but she couldn't help but worry about who he was. One way or another she knew she needed to get home soon.