Soul Mates Kiss (2 page)

And hell would freeze over before she let
herself be observed.

Lola walked up to the entrance of the
restaurant. She did not recall having eaten there previously. The
outside was elegant and modern, the interiors looked intimate and
homey, and the smells emanating from the place were delicious. She
could see through the windows that almost all the tables were
occupied.

So how come she had never heard of this
restaurant until now?

It didn't seem to be a family-oriented place
though, since there were no children in sight. The patrons that
were already seated and eating their dinner had their faces up and
turned towards... her?

She was bemused. They all seem to be looking at
her, watching her.

The hostess escorted her to where her table was
located. They entered a hallway and they stopped in front of one of
the private dining- room doors.

As soon as the hostess opened the door, Lola
immediately recognized her dinner companion.

"Mom!" she exclaimed.

Her mother gave her a welcoming smile. "Hello,
darling!"

Sable, as beautiful as a swan gathering herself
up to fly, stood up from her seat. She smiled at her daughter as
she kissed her. Then they hugged each other and Lola couldn't help
but close her eyes as she smelled her mother's favorite
perfume.

She always loved that smell. It reminded her of
the time when she was a child, playing in the grass while her
parents flirted with each other. She did not yet understand what
they were doing and what it meant. However, she did understand a
lot of things in the world as a five-year-old. She was not inclined
to talk about it with the adults because
they
would not understand.

"What are you doing here? I thought this was a
business dinner," Lola asked when they were seated.

"Well, it is, of a sort," Sable answered. "One
moment, darling. I've already ordered you a glass of their amazing
red wine."

Almost immediately, a glass of wine appeared in
front of her along with a menu. Lola gasped in surprise, then
laughed in delight.

Sable was smiling as she watched her daughter.
"I've just been looking at their menu. The food here is impeccable
and you're going to love it. Order whatever you want, darling. It's
my treat."

Lola stared at her mother. "This is a restaurant
for the Magickals?!" she exclaimed in a whisper. "So that's why
they're staring at me. I... I don't belong."

Although she stood by her choices, and she would
never admit it, but Lola would sometimes feel guilty about them. It
was not like she rejected the Magickals when she chose to live a
human life. But she felt she would serve a better purpose being
with the humans; aside from the other reason. She thought about
that again as she gazed at her mother. Sable, at least, had her
magical world and a calling. Her father knew best to function as
the head of the family. He could not be a husband anymore, and he
had let go of that as honorably as he could. But he still needed
family to take care of, and luckily she filled that position.
Sometimes she wondered if her mother knew how much she'd lost to
follow her heart.

Her mother reached out and took Lola's hands in
hers without knowing what she was thinking about. "Not that you
don't belong, sweetheart, but you're not seen often and they were
curious. You are my daughter, anyway, and I'm kind of famous with
the Magickals for some reason," she said as she preened a
little.

Lola laughed, knowing she only did it for show.
Sable was always perky and joyful whenever they were together.

They started eating when the waiter arrived with
their food. Her mother inquired about her work. She knew Lola loved
talking about what she did for a living.

"You sound as if you're really enjoying
yourself, darling! I'm so proud of you! Now, I must ask. How's your
father doing?"

"He's good," Lola answered, smiling. "You know,
you could always ask him yourself, since he's always asked about
you, too."

"Oh dear," her mother said. "Yes, I suppose I
could always ask him. But it's better that he and I don't
communicate unless it's absolutely necessary." Her mother blushed.
"It doesn't mean that I don't care about your father. But we just
can't really talk like friends, you know? How could I tell him
things I do without him getting bothered about my safety. You know
how he is. Next thing I know I'll be thinking his way and not mine,
and that's drastic to my work. I know better how to take care of
myself." Sable sighed. "But of course that doesn't mean I don't
love him. There are just truths that has more weight than... than
emotions."

"And you had the divorce because you felt he
deserved to find someone better?" she asked in a quiet voice.
"Except he hasn't found anyone ever."

Sable was blushing, but she was not denying the
fact by not speaking, and by just looking at her with eyes that
carried the burden of past decisions . That's what's good about
her. She was always strong enough to not complicate things with
falsehoods, or her version of right and wrong. Truth was truth, no
matter what.

"No, Mother. Father's old enough to understand
tough choices. You know he's that kind of person. Even if it will
hurt him, whatever will make him happy is when he knew he's done
right for the person." At the stricken look on her mother's face,
she backed out. "But it's none of my business. And besides, I do
know he's still so in love with you... there's hope in the future
for a happily-ever-after." Before Sable could reprimand her about
that, she quickly changed the subject. "So, what are you really
doing here?" Lola asked.

Sable paused to sip her wine before replying.
Lola knew what that meant. It was either she was recovering from
the former topic, or she was stalling because she was going to tell
her something that was going to irritate her. A lot.

Which meant that it was about the Council.

The Council for Magickal Beings had been after
her since she turned eighteen. They wanted to acknowledge her
birthright as a Magickal. But Lola knew what that would
entail-service to the Council, and her life being literally run by
other people. She did not begrudge her mother's choice; Sable loved
working for the Magickals and loved being sent on secret missions
by the Council.

But she was different from her mother. She
wanted total control of her own life.

And it was a really good thing that she could
choose whether to live or not to live like a Magickal for having a
human father who was a brilliant lawyer and knew about his own
rights to his daughter.

"Of course, it's almost time for your birthday
and I wanted to spend some time with you. But there is another
reason as well. There's no way to say this except to just say it.
So... the-"

"Council sent you," Lola finished for her.

SABLE STARED at her. "How did you-"

"Mother..." she replied, a little exasperated.
"All the secrecy? Making sure people at work and at home think I'm
going to be meeting a writer as part of my work? This is
cloak-and-dagger Council stuff. Are they still interested in
recruiting me?"

Sable smiled indulgently at her daughter.
"Darling, even though you don't like to acknowledge your powers,
you do have them. You have an obligation to your people. Surely,
you can't deny that."

"Well, I just wish I could be a normal person
far longer," Lola grumbled. She knew she sounded like a child but
she could not help it. She still could not understand why she had
to help the Magickals - they already possessed magick. Why couldn't
she use her power in service of helpless humans, even if they
didn't know it? "I went to live with Dad because I'd like to have
that chance. The Council has always been trying to turn that
upside-down for me recently."

"I assure you that's not true, darling." Her
mother flashed a dimple at her. "Your life isn't normal, Lola, even
when you pretend that it is."

"What do you mean, Mother?" she asked.

"How many times in a day do you flick your
finger to change the color of your pen? You do that without
thinking so I'm not sure you even notice. You arrange the hair of a
nerdy colleague just by thinking about it. How about the times you
wanted the rain out of your way? Or to calm down bickering office
mates? Or to give a friend enough courage to pursue a romantic
liaison-"

"I didn't push them at each other. They're in love
and being stupid-like other people
I
know. They're married and have kids now and are happy,
Mother. Okay?" Lola mumbled, her face hot like when she's infront
of a fireplace with the fire blazing. She was always honest to her
mother whenever she asked about her magick. She knew that it was
something she could only share with her, even if she knew it might
sometimes get her in trouble, or a reprimanding-or
exasperating-look.

"But this is something that you must do. There's
no choice."

"There's always a choice!" she protested. "I
will ask Dad. Besides-"

"Not this time, Lola." Her mother's voice became
the adult voice-not playful or teasing, but cool and serious. It
was the kind of voice Lola would use in meetings or with her staff
so she would be taken seriously. It was obvious that that was what
her mother intended. "This is a responsibility bestowed on Magickal
adults, an obligation that you must share. You're half Magickal,
after all."

She looked at her mother helplessly. Now that
she was invoking the magical side that happened to come from her,
Lola could not say anything because it might hurt her feelings.

"Besides, you're the best person who can do this
job because of your ability," Sable said in a gentler tone. "Now,
here's what you've been charged with doing. There's a man that you
need to find and bring before the Council."

"Why? What did this man do to them?" Lola asked
with a frown on her face.

"He didn't do anything, darling," her mother
explained with a roll of her eyes. "Why do you always think that
when someone is being brought to the Council, he's going to be
punished?"

"Oh, I don't know. Magickal historical
books?"

Something passed on her mother's face and was
quickly gone. "Those were times when Soulmate Kings and Queens were
not reigning, and we have none of that for a long time that the
Council was created to control cruelty of reigning non-soulmate
royalty."

She's heard about
that
myth. It was so like human myths about soul mates that she
could not believe it as something true, more like a fairy tale
story she had outgrown for a long time already.

"The thing is, he's a warlock and he has no idea
about it. They want to be able to ease him into it, so to
speak."

Lola snorted when she heard that. "He didn't
know? Really? How old is he now? He couldn't possibly not know that
something's different about him. If he's more than fourteen, his
powers would have started manifesting."

"Hmm... the Council did not divulge his age.
Just that he needed to be found. There was a power surge felt in
New Orleans, and that's how they were able to know. Someone like
you can go there and find out. You know how accurate your power is
when it comes to tracking down potentials."

Lola sighed. She couldn't deny that. But she did
not use her power to track down potential magicals. She used it to
sense potential special talents humans manifested, talents that
could be developed into remarkable skills. That was how she was
able to find writers with great raw talent for the company where
she worked.

But acknowledging how her power worked did not
mean accepting the job. "Mom, who do you think you're talking
about? That bunch never eases anyone into anything. What I'm sure
of is that your Council wanted something from this man and that's
the reason they're interested in him. So, what would that be?"

Her mother suddenly looked a little
distant.
Ah
, Lola
thought,
the
dutiful secret witch agent
. "All I know is that they said they want to help him
adjust to his powers. Who am I to question them?" Sable said rather
haughtily.

"Mother...!" she hissed. "I don't understand why
I have to be the one to go find him."

"They also didn't explain that to me, either,
but it's understandable. You have a way with strangers. You have a
way of sensing their personalities. I was told to deliver the
message that if you don't want to do it, they'll summon you and
direct you in person to do this. You know this, Lola. It's up to
you."

The Council irritated her, but her mother was
right. Lola could not totally ignore them when she was being
summoned. The Council was the government of the Magickals. If she
ignored them, it would be similar to ignoring the federal
government. And she was using her magick. That made her a magical,
albeit a reluctant one. "Mother, I can't just take off from work
like this," she complained for the last time.

"Of course you can!" Sable exclaimed as she
waved her hand dismissively. "I know that you love your job, but
you don't actually need it."

"Maybe I do need it," Lola said defensively. "It
may be one of the few things in my life that keeps me sane."

Her mother laughed. The teasing was back again.
"Hah! Like being my daughter makes you sane?"

She closed her eyes as she groaned. Whoever had
said her mother was cool and elegant had never seen her behind a
closed door with her only daughter.

"Pay attention, Lola," her mother commanded, and
she abruptly opened her eyes. "I need to give you a few details
about this man so that you'll know who you're looking for. His name
is Marcus Swan, and he lives in Louisiana."