The Warlock

So, by the time 7:30 rolled around, I was dressed in a very expensive, tailored Armani suit and travelling in a hired limousine. It was a very nice ride too, not one of those designed for hired parties with a phone number scrawled across the side. My driver for the night was a nice middle-aged gentleman named Vince who was slightly surprised when he drove through my estate to pick me up. This was mostly due to the fact that he didn't often pick up clients from places that didn't look like they'd been renovated since the blitz.

He'd been nice enough to only look somewhat taken aback and not to mention anything when he'd opened the door for me. Olivia dwelled within a nicer part of town in amongst a set of overpriced luxury flats. I pulled up outside her window and saw her face looking down into the parking lot to see if I was coming. There was a short minute in which she just stood there gawping at my means of transportation before her head disappeared and I awaited her arrival.

She stepped out of the door of the apartment and it was my turn to gawp. I'd seen her dressed like a whore, I'd seen her dressed like a professional, plain-clothes cop but this was the first time I'd seen her dressed to impress. She certainly managed it. The strings of a smooth, little, black silk dress rested over her bare shoulders as the material fell down to her mid thigh. I was treated to the sight of an enticing hint of cleavage as her petite breasts were clearly braless in that little number. Her long legs were left bare and she was wearing a classier pair of black open-toed high heels on her feet. A golden bracelet adorned her left wrist as the only jewellery she wore. That medium-length auburn hair was freshly combed and fell smoothly about her face, to which she had applied a light layer of make-up.

I definitely approved.

"Hi." I actually think I gulped somewhat audibly shortly after I said that.

"Hey. You got the contract?" She settled a hand on her hip, the silk of the dress moulded around her body in some wondrously distracting ways.

"Huh?" I was still looking shamelessly at her legs and it took a few moments for me to return from cloud nine. "Oh! Yeah, it's right here."

I opened my suit-jacket and pulled out the roll of paper that she'd signed two nights before. I opened it to show her that it was, in fact, hers.

She eyed the contract for about 30 seconds before her gaze lifted to look at me.

"How do I know this is for real? I don't feel any different." That challenging glint in her gaze infused her features with an antagonistic allure I found to be incredibly sexy.

"You wouldn't. I haven't used it for anything. If I did then you'd feel tired, depressed, and very distant for a week or so until it became so bad that you'd just kill yourself." The moment the words were out of my mouth I actually gritted my teeth. I was on a date and opening with suicide. I was not exactly the sharpest tool in the drawer when it came to those things back in those days.

"And you'd do that to people!?" Her voice raised a few notches.

"No," I lied. "That's not the best way to use a soul. It's just why you don't feel any different. Most people who can't use magic ever actually do feel any different." I hoped I was explaining myself better.

"Oh." She lowered her head and lifted her fingers to her temples. "God, this is so fucking insane."

"I suggest you don't think about it too much. Look, I rented this limo, you look amazing." Then, suddenly remembering something, I turned around and dipped my head back into the car before snagging what was on the leather seat and turning back to her. "And this is for you. So how about we go eat, dance and get a little drunk? Then you get your soul back and I get to remember the night I dated a sexy older woman."

What I'd grabbed from the back of the car was a freshly-wrapped red rose. This, along with my words, seemed to take her somewhat off guard and a lot of the anger and suspicion faded to a sort of reluctant acquiescence. She took the offered rose and looked at it to see if there was anything magical about it before lifting her head to look back at me.

"I'm thirty-two, I'm only the older woman here because you're, what? Nine?"

I rolled my eyes whilst allowing a smile to form on my lips.

"I'm eighteen."

"Great, then you can buy my drinks all night." She quipped as she walked around to the other side of the car and slipped inside.

I cursed myself for not holding the door open for her. Then, I slipped her contract back in my jacket and entered the car myself to find the woman looking the vehicle over before turning to look at me.

"Ok, so where did this come from?" She lifted her hands to gesture at the elegant splendour that surrounded her.

I glanced up toward the driver to make sure the partition was firmly up before reaching over for the champagne I had resting on ice in a bucket nearby.

"I can turn coal into diamonds," I explained whilst snatching up two champagne flutes and offering her one.

She stared at me as if to say 'Are you shitting me?' before she finally said, "Are you shitting me?"

"Nope." I put my glass down for a moment to roll the window down and pop the cork.

The loud noise of the cork bursting from the end of the bottle and flying out over the road made us both jump in our seats. The fizzy liquid bubbled up but didn't overflow until I filled her glass and then my own.

"See, now I can finally arrest you." She said with a deadly serious tone.

"What? Why?" I looked around for the drugs or the corpse hanging from the limo's roof.

"Littering," she filled in.

"Oh ha, ha. Cheers." I extended my glass to clink lightly against hers before I took my first drink of my champagne and realised I liked it.

She mirrored my action and put away the entire glass.

"Wow." I looked at the empty flute and then back to her.

"Hey, I'm going on a date with a warlock who owns my soul and has a tendency to play with fire. I need all the help I can get." She extended the flute for me to fill it up again. I chuckled as I poured the drink for her and then settled the bottle back in the ice.

"So, what the fuck else do you do when you're not swindling people out of their spirits?" I was starting to realise that she didn't just swear when she was angry or confused. The woman had quite the sailor's mouth on her.

"School. Books. That's it really. Just school, books, and magic."

"Shit, you're still in school?"

"A-Level. I start university later this year. Then..."

"World domination?"

"I'm considering it."

"Where'd you learn magic?" She took another daintier sip from her glass.

"A book I picked up."

"That's it? You read a book and now you can steal souls and raise the elements? Sounds easy."

"It's not. It takes a lot of effort and time." It suddenly struck me just how much effort and time I'd spent on it over the years.

"Don't you have friends?"

"No." I shook my head.

The simple admission seemed to strike her like she was suddenly looking at a lost puppy. It certainly took the snark out of her tone.

"What about your parents?"

"They don't pay attention to me. They see I do well in school, they fill out forms when I need them to. We barely speak to each other."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." I raised the tone from the mellow rut it had gotten into by offering a cheerful smirk.

"Why not?"

"Because I can do this." I lifted up my glass and narrowed my eyes on the sparkling liquid within.

She watched as the champagne began to bubble with a little more intensity and then from within the depths of the glass leapt a humanoid shape. I'd made it appear to look like a ballerina and we both watched as the liquid figure began to dance around the rim of my glass. She twirled and hopped on tip toe from one side of the glass to the other before gracefully leaping into the air and plopping back to join the rest of the champagne in the flute.

I lifted my attention from the rim of the glass to see that I had an enthralled audience. Olivia had her hands resting on the seat at either side of her and her body tilted toward me as she leaned in to look at the little display I'd just put on for her.

That was the first time I saw her smile. I was right. It was the kind of smile that makes a guy's knees feel like they're made of jelly.

I took another drink.

"This is just too fuckin' weird! So what's a soul then?" She flopped back against the seat and let her glass rest in her lap, its rim touching her bare thigh.

"Can't tell you that." I shrugged and mirrored her action. It felt good to lie back in amidst that cushioned leather whilst the limo rolled on through the city.

"Why not?"

"Because if word got out how valuable it was then I'd have a much harder time getting people to sell me theirs." It was a simple enough numbers game. "Besides, I want to know something about you now."

She shrugged her slender shoulders absently and I saw them slump a little as she broke eye contact to look out the window.

"What do you want to know?"

"What's it like pretending to be a hooker every night?"

That got her attention back to me quickly enough.

"I don't do it every night." Her lip curled with irritation.

"Sorry." I held up my hands for peace. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just figured it must be interesting. Seeing all the midnight crazies and all that."

The peace gesture settled her expression and she nodded in the affirmative.

"Yeah. There's plenty of that. I meant I'm not a cop who normally does that sort of thing. I'm normally a response officer."

"You mean you're the one that turns up when I dial nine-nine-nine?" This was interesting, what the hell was a response officer doing at the centre of a sting?

"Yeah, that's me. The guys in homicide are looking for someone who's murdered three prostitutes over the past year. They think he's a local around here and none of them fitted the creep's type. So they asked me if I wanted some overtime and before you know it I'm squeezing my ass into that skirt every night." She certainly didn't seem too happy about it.

"Wow. So last night when I offered you the hundred..."

"I couldn't say no in front of those two. They'd know I wasn't on the level if I started turning down a free hundred for signing a sheet of paper. Then I had to call it a night early because I made my damn quota."

"You have a quota?" That didn't sound right.

"No, but I told them earlier if I had a fifty I'd go home to bed. I didn't think some idiot would come up and hand me a hundred. I couldn't just turn around after you gave me that and say 'oh well, back to the salt mines' could I? They'd know I was bullshitting them."

"Oh, sorry about that then." I felt a little bit sheepish.

"You damn well should be. I got yelled at by my boss for a full half hour this morning."

"Well, maybe I could help you get the murderer?" I offered.

"What's the price? My soul, again?"

"Nah, when I gave you the hundred I thought I was doing something nice for you. If I've landed you in hot water then I should fix it."

"You have a very strange view of right and wrong, don' you?" She quirked a brow.

"I'm pretty strange across the board."

"Well what could you do to help? Have a degree in criminal psychology or something?"

"No, but I can trade in souls and conjure up fire so give me the benefit of the doubt. Bring the file or whatever it is you have instead of a file to my house if you want me to take a swing at it."

She seemed slightly conflicted with my offer and remained silent about it, choosing instead to look out of her window at the passing store fronts. I conceded the silence and turned to watch the world go by through the car's tinted windows. It didn't take long after that before the vehicle came to a halt outside the restaurant I'd picked for our date.

"Wow, classy. Wonder if they do chicken wings." My companion was definitely not versed in fine dining.

The restaurant I'd chosen was indeed quite the classy place. Most of the starters sold for the same as a three course meal in lesser establishments. I'd always wanted to check it out but I knew I'd be eating alone. Not to mention I'd had other things to keep me occupied.

Vince stopped the car and opened the door for us to take our leave. We left the glasses inside and stepped out onto the flagstones of the pavement. Olivia's high heels clicked along lightly as I arose from the limo and offered her my arm. She hesitated only slightly before taking it and we walked together to the fine dining establishment.

Getting a table in a place like that without a reservation isn't the easiest thing in the world. I managed to get us a cosy little table for two in front of the window by putting a thousand pounds in the head waiter's open palm. They usually keep a few tables empty in case any VIP's show up and so we got bumped to the classier section of what was already a very luxurious place.

I remembered to pull the seat out for Olivia who rolled her eyes at me before planting her ass. It didn't matter, I enjoyed the gesture even if she didn't. I settled myself in the seat across from her and the waiter offered us the menu.

"This is in French." Olivia pointed out the obvious.

"I know. It's a French restaurant." I gazed over the words and saw a few things that caught my eye.

"I don't speak French," she huffed.

"I do. Are you allergic to anything?"

"No, but..."

"Then trust me." I settled the menu down and she did the same.

The waiter returned moments after we settled down our menu's and I ordered in fluent French, then once I was finished the man nodded to us both politely and took his leave.

"I've been waiting years for a chance to use that." I picked up my glass of water and took a drink.

Olivia smirked at me whilst crossing her legs beneath the table and settling that peachy bum of hers into a more comfortable position.

"So how am I doing so far?" I put the glass down and looked over to her.

"Well you impressed me with the French, the limo and the fancy place. On my salary, I couldn't afford to sneeze in the direction of somewhere like this." She looked over her lavish surroundings before turning her attention back to me. "I'm not really into the whole complete gentleman thing though. I don't like it when guys hold doors open for me and pull out chairs. Makes me feel weird."

"So noted. For the rest of the night you can open all the doors you want and pull my chair out for me." I settled one of my arms on the table and glanced out of the window. We had a magnificent view of the city lights beneath us.

"Thanks." She offered a crooked smile as she shook her head. "Also, it's not usually nice to get a lady to go out with you through threats of eternal damnation."

"Whoever said anything about that?" I looked back at her.

"Well that's what a soul's for isn't it? To keep you going after you die?"

"I wouldn't know anything about that." I played coy. "And if I hadn't threatened to keep your soul then you wouldn't have come out tonight. You can't argue with results."

She didn't quite know how to argue against that so she leaned over to rest her arm on the table and changed the subject instead.

"Well, what's the plan for the rest of this date?" She lifted her fingers to trace plum-coloured nails across the rim of her glass.

"After we eat then we're going to a bar nearby. Then, after a few drinks we're going to go dancing. Once all that's finished and it's the end of the night I'm going to give you your soul back and invite you up to the hotel room I've booked for us."

"Hey slow down there, kid. I said I'd go on a date with you. Sex wasn't part of the deal." Her upper body bolted suddenly upright at the suggestion.

"Oh, no. It's not part of the deal. It's just something for me to aim for."

"Well sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm not a lady who gives it all up on the first night out with a guy. Not to mention that I told you I was seeing someone." I watched her shoulders relax somewhat as she settled back into a more comfortable pose.

"I know, but you don't really like him all that much. He just makes you less lonely." I was blissfully ignorant of certain social dos and don'ts back then.

She looked at me like I'd slapped her. I immediately realised my mistake.

"How do you...?" She left the question hanging between us.

"I know because I've seen into your soul. You're determined. You like your job. You like to help people. The thing is, you're not very good at talking to them. We have that in common, I suppose. You've met a few men, but none of them really impressed you. The one you're seeing now doesn't make you feel very much. You just don't have many friends and it's nice to have someone to talk to. I don't really blame you."

She blinked a few times at me, her lips remained parted slightly as she realised I knew much more about her than she would have liked to admit.

"The thing is, you're gorgeous. Really. I know you don't think you are, but that doesn't change anything. So part of the reason for me breaking the bank tonight was to show you that you're worth it. Oh, and when it's all over and I destroy your contract then if you don't want to come up to the room with me then that's alright."

She obviously didn't quite know what to make of all this and decided to close her mouth and settle back into her chair. I saw her cheeks flush with a hint of colour before she met my gaze again and flashed a brilliant white smile my way.

"You really think you're such hot shit, don't you?"

I grinned back at her and was about to reply when our food came along. The waiter settled the plates in front of us and I watched Olivia's face form into an expression of pleasant surprise. Once the man had left us to eat we tucked in and I happily watched as the woman opposite me closed her eyes and let out a husky little moan when she placed her fork into her mouth.

"Holy crap, this tastes amazing," she approvingly remarked as she took up another fork full and slowly savoured every bite.

"I hoped you'd like it."

We ate our way through three courses and for someone so slender the woman sure knew how to put away her food. I ordered us up some wine to go with the meal and once dessert had been cleared away we looked at each other over half filled glasses.

I can't tell you just how much I enjoyed looking into those eyes of hers.

"So this has been nicer than I expected," she conceded.

"What were you expecting?"

"I'm not really sure. Maybe a night out with your friends so you could brag about the cop you managed to swindle."

"You really don't have a lot of success with men, do you?" I put my glass down.

"Not even a little bit." She mirrored the action.

"Well that's sure as hell a nice dress considering what you thought you were in for." I admired all I could see. The silky material formed nicely around the gentle curves of her body. Her body had an interesting tone of lean yet strong slopes and curves. I guessed she must have spent a lot of time in the gym.

"Hey, eyes up here." When I lifted my gaze I found her own eyes glimmering with amusement. "I wore it because you said to wear something nice and it's the only thing I have that isn't a suit or a set of sweats."

"Well I'm very glad you did wear it. It's definitely making my night. Are we done here?" I reached back for my wallet.

"I think so." She pulled her chair back and stood.

I allowed my eyes to wander over her long, bare legs as I fished another set of twenties out of my wallet and settled them on the table. As we left I waved to the waiter to let him know we were leaving. He immediately rushed over and offered a little bow before thanking us and requesting we visited again in the near future.

As we departed, I reached over and placed my hand on Olivia's lower back. She was a few inches shorter than my six feet and two inches. I was a little surprised when I didn't feel her flinch or move away from my hand. I guessed it was progress and didn't get a chance to test my luck for we soon emerged to find Vince holding the limo door open for us.