Whistle While You Work #2

Grand Master Hennessy, who enspelled the MoMaMo and ended the war of Falling Suns, stared down from his window at the soft yellow line of light which came from Tomas’ work room. He shook his head and sighed.

“What is wrong?”

Hennessy turned toward his bed. “I am worried about Tomas.”

“Why?”

Leaving the window, he crawled under the blanket. “He is very skilled, but he is not familiar with the process. He is so focused on the result that he does not see the process. I fear that he will strive to excel beyond reasonability.”

The blankets covering the empty side of the bed rose into the air as if someone were blowing into a tight sack. The lumpy form continued to fill until it came to resemble the shape of a woman. Hennessy smiled as the air in that empty space shimmered and solidified into smooth dark skin. The head of his companion came into being with a long mane of shining white hair. Her back was turned toward him, so he reached up and placed a fingertip on one delicate shoulder.

Hennessy’s bedmate rolled over and looked at him with a wide smile. She winked both of her left eyes at him and said, “Is that one touch supposed to satisfy me for the eveing?”

“Oh no,” he said, the corner of his mouth lifting in a smirk. “I would not dream of calling the Mistress of the Smoke to my room for so little reward.” Hennessy placed his finger tip on the center of her throat and began to whistle. He moved his finger over her skin, tracing patterns that left a glowing streak on her skin as he went along. He moved, and her breathing sped up. His song got louder, and her eyes became heavy.

When he stopped whistling and began to sing, she arched her back and moaned. His voice was deep and rich, vibrating in the air so that it looked like steam was rising from his bed. Hennessy put his hand flat on her stomach, then pushed below the blanket as he dropped his voice to a whisper.

Her eyes closed and the entire bed lifted off the floor, shuddering in the air as she shuddered beneath his touch. She gasped and went slack. The bed fell and he laughed. “Is Lady JoTaugh satisfied with my humble, human efforts?”

The demoness pushed Hennessy onto his back before moving her hair behind her ears. “Will you risk me showing you my opinion of your magic?”

The Magus nodded, letting the magic of her song and its hummed notes wash away his worry and stress.

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Whistle while you work

I think this is a serial, but I don’t know exactly where it is headed. We will find out together.

L. E. White

Whistle while you work

Tomas ran his hand down the long, heavy wooden rod, feeling the symbols that had been carved into it. Each symbol had been cut with his knife, yet they were no more familiar than the language of the birds.

“A wonderful piece.”

Tomas turned toward the old man, bowing his head as he did so. “Thank You Master.”

The old man took the rod from Tomas and began to inspect it. He whistled and his breath changed. First it became visible, like steam spraying out of a tea kettle. Then it changed colors, going from white to blue to green as the magic took form. Tomas watched, his mouth hanging open, as the swirling spellsong wrapped around the rod like ribbons around a May pole.

One of the bands began to change, moving from blue to a light purple. When it turned red, the whistling changed, focused on a single, shrill note. The other ribbons faded away until only the red one remained, wrapping itself around a spot on the stick.

When he stopped whistling, the old wizard handed it back to the carpenter with a smile. “Only one spot left in two tries. That is amazing.”

Tomas took it back with a frown. “I am sorry Master Hennessy. It will be ready first thing in the morning.”

The wizard laughed and shook his head. “No. Take your time. Eat with your family and sleep with your wife.” He took the rod away and sat it on the bench. “You do not understand. This is usually a very slow process. In years past, I have waited months for a specimen as fine as what you made in two weeks.”

Tomas tried to hide his shock, but Hennessy’s laughter made it clear that he had not succeeded.

“Relax,” the wizard said again. “We have time.”

Office Politics

Faye stomped her heel on the ground with a sharp click. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

I had no idea she was behind me, so when it happened I jumped. I looked back over my shoulder, trying to keep my eyes on hers instead of staring at her cleavage. I have never understood why a woman who was that anti-social would always wear clothing that drew your attention. “Ummm…”

“That isn’t much of an answer. Want to try again?”

Most days, I would have just grinned and tried again. I am usually very mild mannered. After spending the weekend fighting with my in-laws, todays wasn’t most days.

“Sure,” I said, spinning around in my chair and standing up so that I towered over her. “What the hell I think I am doing is my job. I am trying to fix the code,” I made air quotes for that word, “that your development group gave m since is doesn’t actually work. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Her mouth dropped open. She stared at me like she had just been slapped.

I took a very deep breath to try and steady my nerves before leaning down a bit to look her in the eye. “While I admit that I normally ignore your stomping in here to complain; today isn’t normal. So, unless you want to get into a screaming match here, you need to politely ask whatever it is you came in here to ask.”

She wet her lips and backed up a step. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

I was stunned. I figured she would take an attitude with me. I hadn’t been prepared for her to be polite. “Thank you.”

We had our discussion, I demonstrated the code problems and she took notes. To my amazement, Faye even smiled as she left.

The e-mail arrived so that I was reading it on my way to my car. I sighed, cursed, and then turned around to walk back into the office. One elevator and half a mile of hallways later, I’m at Faye’s door.

I should have knocked before walking in, but I didn’t. She was inside, sitting behind her desk. Two members of security and one lady from HR were all seated around her.

When she looked at me, she smiled, and it looked frosty enough to make her skin turn blue. “Oh good,” she said. “We have a lot to discuss.”

Now, as I watch her pull into her garage, I look at the gun in the passenger seat and decide that this time, I will be the one who stomps on the floor when she doesn’t know someone is behind her.

Culinary Science

This is a long one, coming in at just under 1500 words. I hope you enjoy it.

L. E. White

Culinary Science

Sandy turned around in a tight circle. Her hands fluttered just above her waist as her eyes darted over the counters.

“Stop.”

She froze like a deer with oncoming headlights.

“Straight out in front of your left hand.”

“Thank you,” she said as she grabbed a bowl of sea salt. Sandy added a large pinch to the pan and then stirred the vegetables with her left and the soup with her right. “Renee, you are a god send.”

“That’s what my husband says right after I start …”

“La, la, la, la.”

Renee laughed as she flipped her crepe onto a plate. The pair worked on opposite sides of the kitchen, each one focusing on their part while a tall, slender chef made notes on his clipboard.

“And that is time,” he said. “Please set your plates onto the serving boards.”

The girls cracked open bottles of water and waited. The school was small, so they could hear as each of the other teams were being graded.

“How did you get these spots on the plate,” Chef Anderson asked as he examined their work.

“I used an essential oil atomizer to spray garlic oil on the dish,” Renee said.

“Clever. Now, which of you made the filling for these crepes?”

“I did,” Sandy said.

“Good use of color.”

“I think the filling is under cooked,” Chef Morrison said as he cut into the dish. “I also think the crepe is over cooked. It doesn’t balance each other out ladies.”

Sandy looked at the floor with a slight blush while Renee glared at the rotund instructor until they moved on to the next group.

“How do you think we did,” Sandy asked.

“Shhh,” Renee whispered. “We aren’t supposed to talk during grading.”

One of the instructors, Chef Anderson coughed loudly. Neither of the women said anything else, even though it was obvious that Sandy wanted to, until class was over.

#

“I can’t believe we got a B+,” Renee ranted as they walked out of the building. “That crepe was not over cooked”

“Don’t sweat it, we got the second highest grade in the room,” Sandy said as she danced along beside her friend. “That class is over, the term is over and I am ready to celebrate. Let’s drink.”

The bar wasn’t busy, but it didn’t surprise either of them. Thursday night and the regular university term wouldn’t end for another week. The undergrads would all be studying tonight and the culinary school class couldn’t have filled the place if they had all come here together.

Renee frowned at the bottom of Sandy’s glass as she tilted it up to get the last drops. “How much celebrating do you plan to do tonight?”

Sandy smiled as she waved her arm at the waitress. “All of it. I am done with having my food critiqued for at least two weeks.”

“Don’t you have to work tomorrow?”

“I don’t care.”

Renee took her time and nursed a pair of drinks with water staggered between them while Sandy put away glass after glass. A few bar flies tried to strike up conversation by sending drinks over, but Renee made sure they realized this wasn’t going anywhere.

“Hello ladies.”

She started to roll her eyes at Sandy, but was stopped by the hungry, slack jawed awe that her friend was staring at the new comer with. She turned around and had to remind herself to breath as she let her eyes crawl over the man. He was tall, solid and dressed nice. Nothing exception or over the top, but it was still obvious that he took time on his appearance. “Hi.”

He smiled, and Renee’s breath caught at his dazzling smile. He opened his mouth to say something, but Sandy interrupted him. “Oh my god you are gorgeous.”

He smiled wider and Renee wished that either she or Sandy could just fall in a hole.

“Thank you. My name is Jerry. I was wondering if I could join you.”

“Yes,” the said together.

The girls glared at each other as Jerry laughed and sat down.

#

They walked arm in arm, Jerry in the middle, as they headed towards the parking garage. Renee had drunk more after Jerry had started buying, but she thought she was fine to drive. There was no way Sandy was driving herself home, but Renee wondered if she would be able to keep her friend out of the guys car.

She also wondered about being able to get him into hers.

“You know,” he said as they entered the stairwell. “I am not sure any of us are really in any condition to drive.”

“That’s okay,” Sandy said. “We could all just crawl into the back of Renee’s car together.”

Renee felt her face flush and she dropped her eyes to the stairs. “Sandy …”

Jerry interrupted her by putting his finger under her chin and lifting her eyes so that she could see him. He stared at her, and she felt like she was swimming. “I like that idea,” he whispered.

“So do I.”

#

The girls were side by side against the car. Jerry stood with one leg between each of theirs. He had them pressed together, one hand no each, his head between them as he turned from one to the other. He kissed Sandy on the neck, turned his head to kiss Renee, and then repeated the process.

The girl’s hands fought for position as they tried to rub Jerry through his clothes. She must have had more to drink than she thought because Renee felt like she was drowning. The world spun and twisted, moving around her despite her not being able to move because Jerry was in the way. She pulled his shirt out of his pants and ran her hand up his side before dragging her nails down his back.

It was her turn again, and when she felt his lips on her neck, she groaned. “Me,” Sandy said, and as Renee opened her mouth to tell her to wait her turn, a sharp pain in her neck brought the world back into focus.

She didn’t say anything, trying to make out why something that had just felt good had turned painful. Sandy whined, “My turn,” and Jerry pulled away, turning to Sandy. Renee tilted her head and out of the corner of her eye, saw his mouth.

His lip and chin were covered in blood. His teeth, stained pink, were long and jagged. The dazzling white line was replaced by a set of wild fangs that she realized had just torn a whole in the side of her neck. His smile looked like a tiger shark.

She jerked and tensed up, shifting her hands to push away. It didn’t work. Jerry pressed his leg forward, pinning her hips to the car with his thigh. He reached up and covered her mouth before pulling away from kissing Sandy’s neck.

“I am not finished with you.” His voice cracked and ground out each word in a way that reminded Renee of a spice grinder. “So be patient and wait your turn.”

This time, Jerry didn’t lean in so much as strike. His head snapped forward, and she felt Sandy’s body jerk from the sudden pain. Sandy cried out, but the sound was feeble. After a second, Renee felt her friend begin shaking.

She slapped and clawed at his back and it wasn’t doing any good. She realized that she needed a weapon. Her hands just weren’t going to hurt him. She reached into her purse, and felt a small bottle.

“Fuck,” she mumbled the word into Jerry’s hand when she realized that it wasn’t her pepper spray. It was all she had, so she slammed it into his side anyway.

The cap came off on the first hit. The bottle sprayed its contents onto his side with the next swing.

Jerry twisted away from Renee, ripping his head away from Sandy’s neck with a sickening sound. He hissed and pulled his shirt up to reveal an angry looking blister above his hip. “What the fuck do you have?”

When he looked at her, Renee trigged her atomizer of garlic oil again. Jerry screamed as his face began to sizzle. He spun in a tight circle, clawing at his face, and Renee triggered the bottle twice more before he charged away. He lunged, trying to put distance between them, and smacked into the side of an SUV, crumpling the door and triggering the alarm.

Renee stepped up to spray him again, but Jerry rolled under the SUV. She didn’t move, there was no way she was going to squat down and go after him, so she stood there with the atomizer pointed at the spot where he had disappeared. Twice more, she heard alarms when Jerry ran into cars, before she finally turned around to look at Sandy.

Then she fainted.

Proven Wrong

She watched the leaf wiggle as the breeze pushed against it, seeming to shiver as it fought to hold onto its place in the world.

“What do you mean you’re leaving?”

She turned to face him, and the breeze played with loose hair. “I mean that I will be gone in the morning.”

His fists tightened and veins stood out from his neck. He narrowed his eyes as a red veil slid over his face. “I won’t let you leave.”

“You can’t stop me.”

He wrapped his hands around her neck and proved her wrong, with tears in his eyes.