Chapter 28
Alexis opened the door to her suite and smiled. “Hey, Liz, come on in.”
Liz walked into the room and sat down on the couch. “I’m not early, am I?’
“No, right on time,” Alexis said, studying her daughter. “Okay, what happened? Why do you look so happy?”
“Happy?” she asked, grinning. “I didn’t realize I looked happy.”
“Well, you do, so out with it. Its this about Lucky?”
Liz blushed and nodded. “Yeah, we went out last night, just as friends, but it was really great. He took me to his father’s blues club, and we played pool all night.”
“Oooh, he let you in his secret back room, huh?” she teased, impressed. “Who won?’
“I wiped the floor with him!” she replied proudly.
“Why am I not surprised? Did you win fairly, or did you have a little help?”
Liz chuckled and held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, so I cheated a little. I just didn’t want to have to listen to him gloat for days if he won. This way, I get to gloat. It’s much more fun that way!”
Alexis smiled and shook her head, happy to see Liz smiling again. “Well, I’m glad you had fun. Should we head downstairs for breakfast? I wanted to go over some stuff about the wedding today.”
“Sure,” Liz said, standing up. “Let’s go.”
~*~
Lucky stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Morning,” he mumbled.
“Hey, cowboy,” Luke greeted cheerfully. “Long night?”
Lucky rolled his eyes as he sat down at the table. “Funny, dad. You were there, you know we were just playing pool. I got to bed late, that’s all.”
“Uh-huh,” Luke said with a smirk. “How long did it take to drive her home?”
“Don’t go getting any ideas, dad. I just dropped her off, then came back here, that’s all. I told you, we’re just friends now. It’s too risky to get involved with her, she might find out I’m a witch.”
“Sure, just friends. Then why did you have that goofy grin on your face last night? I mean, the girl beat you at pool, yet you still looked happy. If I remember correctly, us Spencers are sore losers, especially to women!”
Lucky shook his head. “Forget it, dad, I’m not getting into this. Elizabeth and I are friends, that’s all, end of story.”
The door opened and Nikolas came in. “Good morning.”
Luke sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Great, now my morning is complete. Hey, shouldn’t you be in your coffin right now? That sun’s a killer, you know.”
Nikolas rolled his eyes and pulled out a chair next to Lucky, ignoring Luke. “What happened to you?”
“Nothing, what do you mean?” Lucky asked, taking a bite of his bagel.
Nikolas shrugged and grabbed a banana from the bowl in the middle of the table. “You just look like hell, that’s all. Didn’t you sleep last night?”
“Not enough. I got in late, that’s all.” He turned to look at Luke, who was getting ready to say something. “And don’t even think about it. I don’t need your jokes right now!”
Nikolas smiled and looked back at his brother. “You and Liz alone in Luke’s pool room, huh? No wonder you didn’t sleep!”
Lucky glared at him for a moment, then looked at Luke. “You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?’
Luke put his hands up in the air. “What? How am I supposed to help it if he reads my thoughts? I didn’t say anything, did I?”
“No, but you know perfectly well by now that he can tell what you’re thinking. You made sure he heard that, so don’t deny it!” He turned to his brother and frowned. “And you shouldn’t keep doing that. I would have told you later, anyway.”
Nikolas smiled, amused at his brother’s anger. “Hey, it’s not like I do it all the time. Trust me, I try to avoid reading his thoughts as much as possible. In case you hadn’t figured it out by now, Luke’s mind is a pretty scary place!”
Luke chuckled as Lucky pushed back his chair, standing up from the table. “Whatever. I’m going to go take a shower.” he stormed out of the room, leaving Luke and Nikolas alone.
“Why does he always have to do that?” Luke groaned, looking at Nikolas in disgust. “I don’t want to be left alone with you!”
Nikolas smirked at him. “Yeah, well, I’m not exactly thrilled about it either. I just came to see my mother.”
“She’s upstairs with Lulu, why don’t you go find her?”
Nikolas stood up and headed for the door. “Don’t mind if I do. Later, Darren!”
Luke grimaced at the nickname, which he hated. “How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?”
“The more you say it, the more I’ll call you Darren, haven’t you figured that out yet?” Nikolas asked with a laugh.
Luke folded his arms across his chest and glared at him. “Well, I dare you to read what I’m thinking now.”
Nikolas looked at him for a moment, then frowned. “Oh, real nice, Luke,” he said, then pushed open the door and left the kitchen. Luke chuckled and went over to the counter to refill his coffee.
~*~
After having breakfast, Alexis returned to her suite to go over some case files, and Liz headed out of the hotel. On her way through the lobby, she accidentally bumped into a young woman, knocking a very expensive-looking vase out of her hands.
“Oh no!” she said, instinctively reaching for it, but stopped when she realized it had frozen in mid-air. She looked up fearfully, afraid that she had somehow done it, even though that sort of thing was Alexis’s specialty, not hers.
The woman she had bumped into and her two companions looked back at her in shock. “You...” one of them started to say.
Liz looked around her, trying to think of an excuse, then realized that everything in the room was frozen, not just the vase. She looked back at the three women, more confused than ever. One of them reached out and grabbed the vase, holding it protectively.
“You’re a witch,” she said quietly.
Liz swallowed hard, not sure how to respond. “Um...I’m...”
“Wait, she didn’t mean to scare you,” the third woman said gently. “We’re witches, too.”
“You are?” Liz asked, feeling a surge of relief wash over her. “So then one of you did this?”
“That would be me,” the woman who had dropped the vase said. She then turned to the one who was currently holding it. “I told you not to give that to me. You know I’m clumsy!”
“Yeah, but I also know that you can freeze time if you do drop it!” she retorted, then looked back at Liz and smiled. “I’m sorry, we’re being rude. I’m Pru Halliwell, and these are my sisters, Piper and Phoebe,” she said, extending her hand.
Liz smiled and shook her hand. “I’m Liz Davis. It’s nice to meet you, and I’m sorry about running into you just now.”
Piper shook her head. “Forget about it. No harm done. Um, I better unfreeze these people before someone walks in. That would be pretty hard to explain.” She waved her hand, and everyone began to move again. Liz just stood there, shaking her head in amazement.
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