The morning sun washed over the vast grounds of the Royal Mages Academy as I stood at its gates, my stomach doing anxious flips. The towering walls of the academy rose before me like some enchanted fortress, its white stone shimmering in the light as if alive with magic. Runes and vines—intricate and elegant—decorated the surface, pulsing faintly, as if they had secrets to whisper if I stared long enough. I adjusted my ba...
She liked the smell of jasmine, Though that was not her name. She stared at her reflection. Blotchy skin, eyes too pale to hold color. Her hair was too coarse and not pleasant to touch. She turned on the metronome and began her breathing exercises. First with the breath, then with warm-up stretches, then saluting the sun. Sweat glistened on her awkward body, as she turned on the shower water - cold. Letting it run, she sq...
I let out a sigh of relief as I closed the last of the POs the fools at the warehouse had messed up. “Can’t have one fucking day off,” I muttered for about the third time that morning. I signed out of the terminal and opened my email. Even though I’d thoroughly explained and shown the process to every single person I added to the To address bar, they obviously needed me to draw them a picture. I seriously considered print...
Finally, July was upon us and I was sitting in the living room of our house waiting for Nicola to finish her preparations for the afternoon and evening at Diane and James' house. While she did her ablutions and I waited, my eyes fell on the picture gallery on the wall. I looked at a picture of Nicola and Olivia, she was growing into the spitting image of her mother, only at fifteen, she was already a couple of inches tall...
In one of the hotels that I worked in during my early years working for Armstrong Hotels, I met a woman who studied yoga and meditation. It was after a particularly busy shift she offered to lead a meditation for anyone that was interested. I joined her and never looked back. Over the few months that I was there, she taught me several basics which I have built on since. Whether my workload is heavy or light, I had got int...
All the focus, it seemed, at home and work, was on summer celebrations, with all of the talk and questions from Jake and now the reminder from Nicola about her plans. I did enjoy them, maybe I was a stick in the mud though, because I felt they and the Christmas events could take the focus off of work that still needed to be done. The rest of my journey to work I was thinking about what I had to get done both that day and...
After breakfast was cleared away, Liv was the first to leave. A kiss on the cheek for each of us and she was out of the door and on her way to the bus stop. Just before I left Nicola reminded me that Diane and James were holding their summer barbecue at their house on the first week of July. Their barbecues were fun, although the same word could be used for my work events, it was a different type of fun. The ones for my f...
Before the film had finished, Nicola had fallen asleep with her head in my lap and after laughing to myself, I fell asleep stroking her hair. The only thing that was stiff when I woke up was my neck. The following morning over breakfast I told Nicola about the new employee. “Yes, he must be six-four, six-five and not skinny with it,” I told her. Nicola put on a mock swoon and said, “Sigh, if only my husband had managed an...
When Olivia walked in and dropped onto the sofa next to me, we started the film. The distributors’ logos had not finished rolling when she reached into the bowl of popcorn for a second handful. I already had my arm around Nicola and then Olivia pulled my other arm around her and rested her head on my shoulder. “What am I a bleeding leaning post?” “Hush old man!” Nicola said and fed me some popcorn. Olivia chuckled at that...
When I got in that evening, I knew something was wrong, Olivia gave me a look of concern and Nicola seemed on edge. Dinner was well into preparation which suggested Nicola had been home longer than I would normally have expected. Then when we were done and everything was cleared away, Olivia, gave us both a hug and excused herself to do her homework. As a family we were affectionate and not afraid to hug and kiss, this on...
As I walked Jake back to Mr Armstrong’s office, he asked, “These picnics that the boss has, are we expected to bring someone?” “No, there’s singles, unmarried couples and married both with and without kids. That said, kids aren’t invited to the Christmas do, but it’s not a picnic either. But no, everyone’s welcome.” “What goes on at the Christmas one that kids can’t go?” “It’s your typical office party, drinking, laughing...
“This is one of my favourite pictures of my wife.” I pulled out my phone and showed Jake the scan I had of us after her graduation ceremony. I was lifting her in the air and kissing her neck. She had run up to me after the awards and her father had captured the moment. Nicola had a look of sheer joy on her face but was also trying not to lose her mortarboard or drop her degree certificate. Jake laughed, “It reminds me a l...
“And this is our Head of Operations, David DeCosta,” my boss said as he introduced me to the new employee. “Dave, this is Jake, he’ll be starting with us at the start of next month as regional director for the south.” “Pleased to meet you, Jake," I said, offering my hand. “The pleasure is mine Mr DeCosta, I’m looking forward to the challenges this new job is offering.” “Dave, please. It’s only Mr DeCosta if you’ve screwed...
