Celtic Magic (8 page)

She sighed as he pulled her closer to him,
wrapping his arms around her and moaning in his sleep. She enjoyed
the feeling of his arms wrapped around her and was finally able to
fall asleep in his arms.

***

The next few days went by way too fast, in a
whirl wind of dates with Tom, with Abby trying unsuccessfully to
forget about what she had seen in his dreams. They had spent one
night at her apartment, but after sharing such a large bed, her
small full sized bed seemed much too cramped for them, so they
slept at Tom’s apartment the rest of the week. Finally it was
Saturday, and she woke up nervous about meeting Tom’s father, who
he described as stuck up, snobby, and a pain in his ass.

She didn’t know what to expect at the party,
but was terrified that he wouldn’t like her, and that it would put
a cramp in their relationship. She hadn’t ever been in one before,
but it seemed to be going really well, and she didn’t want anything
to spoil it.

In keeping with trying not to spoil things,
she made it a point to never go into one of Tom’s dreams again, not
wanting to feel as awkward with him as she had after she had gone
into his dream before.

She woke up before Tom and decided to make
him breakfast in bed with some of the food they had bought
together, but just as the bacon started to sizzle, he woke up. She
looked over and saw him sitting up in the bed watching her cook
wearing only her underwear and one of his large t-shirts.

“Are you hungry?” she asked him.

He nodded and slowly dragged himself out of
bed, and sat at the small table he had set up next to the
kitchen.

“Why are you up so early?” he asked her.

She shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know,
couldn’t sleep I guess, maybe I’m just nervous about tonight, I’ve
never met a guy’s family before” she told him, blushing.

He smiled up at her, “You sure do blush a
lot, but it’s okay because your cute when you blush. Don’t be
nervous about tonight, my family will love you, how could they
not?” he said.

She opened her mouth to say something, but
changed her mind and turned back to the stove, putting the
finishing touches on his breakfast. She had almost asked him if he
loved her, but it was way too soon to start throwing around
questions like that. Besides, she was almost afraid of what he
would say.

“Where are we going?” Abby asked, as Tom
drove into a section of downtown that she had never seen
before.

“It’s a surprise, you will have to wait and
see” he replied.

Abby shrugged her shoulders, she knew how
stubborn he could be, and if he wasn’t ready to tell her where they
were going, he wouldn’t say a thing. She looked out the window as
they pulled into a shopping center with a very prestigious salon on
the corner.

She looked over at him, “Are we going to
this salon?” she asked, thinking about how much she really needed a
haircut.

He nodded and smiled, “I think you need to
be pampered. Besides, I am making you meet my family, the least I
can do is have you relaxed when you walk in.”

Abby smiled at him, he really could be very
sweet, and she felt lucky to have met him. As soon as they walked
into the salon, she was once again ushered into a VIP area and
experienced what life was like for the rich and famous. They sat
her in a huge cushioned chair that vibrated and massaged her. She
sat there feeling pure bliss while one woman started to give her a
pedicure, another woman started up a manicure, and a very colorful
man got to work on her hair.

He had bright red hair, and he was wearing a
rainbow shirt and yellow pants, but he really knew his way around
hair. He started by putting, what he called low lights, into her
already ice blonde hair. By the time they finished pampering her,
and giving her champagne to drink, and strawberries to munch on,
she really felt like one of the VIP people. Once she was finished,
she walked around the salon, thanking everyone who had helped her
in some way, then slid into Tom’s car as he pulled up outside.

“Wow, you look great Abby” he told
her,leaning in for a kiss before he pulled away from the salon.

“Thanks, they did a wonderful job, thank you
so much for taking me there” she told him, sitting back to enjoy
the short ride back to his loft.

When they got back to Tom’s place she
disappeared into his bathroom to get ready. She didn’t want him to
see her until she was completely dressed and as she walked out of
his bathroom with her dress on, her shoes on, her jewelry on, and
her hair and makeup done by the salon, she anticipated that first
look. Tom was standing near his bed with his back turned toward
her, so she cleared her throat and he turned around. The look on
his face when he saw her was priceless, and it was even better than
she had hoped for. His eyes got wide as he looked her up and
down.

“Wow, Abby you look really great” he said to
her.

“You don’t look to bad either you know, you
clean up pretty well” She said back to him nearly laughing at how
odd she felt all dressed up.

He walked over to her and pulled her into a
hug and gently kissed her, making sure not to smudge her
lipstick.

“You really do look beautiful” he said to
her while looking in her eyes.

She blushed, “thank you” She mumbled
out.

He grabbed her hand, “Are you ready?” he
asked her.

She nodded and they made their way to the
car for what she was sure was going to be an awkward but very
interesting evening.

Chapter
1
4

As they pulled up to the front on the hotel,
there was a person waiting there to open her door for her, and as
he helped her out of the car she looked around at all of the people
standing around the entrance to the hotel.

There was a red carpet set up that extended
from the front door of the hotel, to the end of the sidewalk, right
where she was standing. She looked over to the side and saw a mass
of photographers behind a velvet rope, all taking pictures of her.
She had to look away because the lights from the cameras were
making her feel a little dizzy.

Tom walked around the car, giving the man
who helped her out of the car the keys to park it for him. When he
made it to her, he put his arm around her waist and leaned in and
whispered in her ear.

“These are paparazzi, and we have to give
them a show, so we stand in front of them and pose, smiling. Then,
we give them a little kiss and walk into the hotel, okay?”

She looked at him and nodded, then they
walked right to the middle of the red carpet and faced the
photographers and she smiled as he kept hold of her waist. Finally
after what seemed like forever, he leaned in and kissed her softly
on the mouth as the cameras went wild. Once he pulled away from
her, he waved to all of the photographers and they turned and
walked into the hotel.

The inside of the hotel was even more
impressive than she imagined. The lobby was huge, with a large pond
in one corner that had a waterfall, and as she looked up noticed
that the water came in at the very top of the room, which was at
least two stories high.

She looked over to her left and noticed that
there were people that were just as dressed up as they were waiting
for an elevator that had another velvet rope in front of it, with a
sign that read, Party Guests Only, with a man checking invitations
before anyone could go into the elevator.

She looked at Tom, ready to ask him why they
were walking toward the right, while all of the other guests were
walking to the left when he answered her question without her
asking.

“Those people are guests of the party, but
since my family owns the hotel I don’t need an invitation” he
explained.

She nodded as they reached a small elevator
that had gold shiny doors, and nearly rolled her eyes as she saw a
small plaque that read VIP next to it. Tom punched a code into the
keypad under the sign and the door popped open.

As they walked in and turned around she
looked for buttons, but there were none in there. Tom must have
seen the confused look on her face because he laughed.

“My family has the top two floors as our
living suites, and this elevator takes us right to them without
stopping. The main elevators are usually locked, and unable to open
there, but for the party they have unlocked that one elevator for
guests. They also blocked it off on every floor so that there
aren’t hotel guests accidently getting into the party.”

She shrugged her shoulders, she didn’t
understand how all this worked, and didn’t really care at this
moment. What she mostly cared about was meeting Tom’s parents, and
the tiny butterflies that had settled into her stomach as the
elevator continued to climb.

When the elevator door opened, Abby’s
stomach lurched, and she nearly puked right there on the floor she
was so nervous. But, she knew it was time to meet the parents, and
then hopefully she would be able to relax. Tom pulled her out of
the elevator into a large crowd of people standing around and
drinking champagne.

“Relax, it’s going to be okay, you’ll see”
he told her, squeezing her hand in reassurance.

She forced a smile, but didn’t trust herself
to say anything, for fear she would hurl all over the place as soon
as she opened her mouth. Finally they reached a couple who she had
no doubt were his parents. The man looked to be an older carbon
copy of Tom. He had the same curly brown hair, with just a hint of
gray near his temples, and as he turned to look their way, noticed
he had the same light blue eyes.

The woman had long blonde hair that was
curled into perfection, just hitting the middle of her back in
waves of blonde beauty. Tom’s father noticed them first, and when
he did he smiled broadly, showing off his perfect white teeth.

Tom let go of Abby’s hand as he gave his
father a short hug, and then turned to his mother, who had noticed
him by this point and kissed her on the cheek. Finally, they turned
their attention to Abby.

“Mom, Dad, this is Abby. Abby this is my
mother, B.B., and this is my father, Thomas.”

Abby smiled and shook his father’s hand,
“Thomas? Do you two share the same name?”

Tom chucked, “I’m a junior, I guess I forgot
to mention that part” He told her smiling.

Tom’s father laughed, “He never did get over
the fact that I gave him my name, and he’s always hated it.”

Abby smiled, “I think Thomas is a beautiful
name” she told him.

Tom’s father smiled and patted Tom on the
back, “You’ve got you a good one there son, she’s smart, and knows
how to suck up” he said laughing.

Abby started to relax as she turned to his
mother and held out her hand, ready to shake his mother’s hand, but
his mother pulled her into a hug instead.

“A friend of Tom’s is a friend of mine, it
is so nice to finally meet you sweetie, we have heard so much
already. He just can’t stop talking about you” she said, winking at
Abby when Tom wasn’t looking.

She must have known Tom would be embarrassed
by that statement because she laughed as he sighed.

“Mom, you aren’t supposed to tell her
that.”

Abby laughed, “You are so cute when you
blush, and finally it’s not me blushing for once.”

Tom pulled her into a side hug, “Yeah, Abby
here blushes over every little thing it seems.”

She smiled and felt the heat tinting her
cheeks and Tom started to laugh.

“See what I mean?” he teased.

Abby punched him on the shoulder and turned
back to his mother.

“So is B.B. a nick name? People always ask
me what Abby is short for, and they are always surprised when I
tell them my name is just Abby, short for nothing.”

Tom’s mother smiled, “Well, my parents
decided that they wanted to give me a name that nobody could even
pronounce, and once I was old enough to realize how awful my name
was, I insisted everyone call me B.B. and surprisingly they
listened. Maybe they regretted the horrible name they gave me once
they signed the birth certificate, I don’t know” she told her.

Abby shrugged, “I don’t think having an
exotic name is so bad, mine is so simple that I sometimes wish it
was a bit more exotic” she said.

B.B. nodded, “Yes, I don’t mind it as much
now as when I was younger, but B.B. just stuck so I kept using
it.”

Abby noticed Tom taking two champagne
glasses off of a waiter’s tray and as he turned, he handed her one
smiling. He leaned in close to her ear.

“Are you having a good time? My parents love
you, I can tell” he whispered to her.

Abby nodded and smiled, thinking that this
was going even better than she had hoped for.

After the party ended, they headed back to
Tom’s apartment where Abby realized that she was still a bit tipsy.
The entire ride home Tom held her hand as she leaned back against
the seat, taking in the sight of the city at night; she had always
loved seeing all of the building lit up against the dark sky.

Once they reached his apartment, the first
thing she did was take off her shoes. She wasn’t used to wearing
high heels and she felt like her feet were going to explode. She
sat on Tom’s couch as she started to take off all of her jewelry
and put them back into the small boxes she had left on his coffee
table.

She looked over at Tom and watched as he
took off his tie and coat, feeling a little giddy about how great
the night had gone. She had been so nervous about meeting his
parents, but there really wasn’t anything to be scared of, his
parents were great, and she spent the whole night with his mother,
talking as if they were old girl friends.

Abby sighed, “I wish we could start this
night back over, I had so much fun, I didn’t want it to end” she
said.

Tom smiled, “I’m really happy you had such a
good time, and I know my parents really liked you, or they would
have ignored you all night.”