Sooooooo... Heya! personalescape here, this is a Danley story (even if doesn't seem like it at first) and obviously everything that you recognize (characters, song titles and quotes etc..) ain't mine. I hope you all like it and even if you don't leave a comment to tell me what you think.
I apologize already if there are any grammar mistakes (young, italian teenager, you know..)
Enjoy and keep shipping Daniel+Henley!

Chapter 1
6th November 2005, New York

21 years old Atlas walked in the pub like he owned it. It was a chilly night and he spent the last three hours sitting, analyzing the sea of girls who auditioned for the spot of his assistant. None of them was good enough though, which meant his legs got numb for nothing. Sure they were pretty, beautiful even, but not enough. Never enough. Most of them weren't even magicians. "Well, at least now I have a few more numbers to call in case I get bored... That Holly girl was pretty hot".
His thoughts went back to his shows again... Things weren't going how he wanted and he didn't like it one bit. He had planned things perfectly: starting with the 2 weeks of auditions in October, other 2 weeks of rehearsing and then his first show on an actual stage. Everything was planned to the point: when to wake up, have breakfast, take a break from the auditions, when and where he'd perform; he had decided what was to do every single waking moment from the start of October to the end of November. The only thing Daniel left out of his schedule was not being able to find the right assistant and he should have foreshadowed it since he was a perfectionist and he was never going to find the perfect girl in fifteen days only. And in fact he didn't find her and it was already November, meaning he had to postpone the Big Halloween Magic Show and transform it into a normal performance. Seeing how things were going he didn't know whether it was worse to do a mid November performance or wait another month and half and do a Christmas Magic Show. Saying it like that sounded silly, yes, but he had to make a big, unforgettable entrance. He just couldn't settle down for average.

He could have settled for a "normal" life, a regular job and a boring existence, but he didn't want to give up magic. It had been part of his life ever since he found out it helped him with his panic attacks at age 13. He started his magic shows a year and three months back, in 2004 on a summer night, he began with street performances all around New York. In the first months he did have a "real job", but he got fired in less then 6 weeks because of his bad behavior: too arrogant, too cocky, always talking back at the boss, not to mention people were really annoyed by his obsession with control. It wasn't the first time it happened. It was one of the reasons Daniel preferred much more working solo, it was easier to keep everything in check if he didn't have to worry about other people messing things up.
"So why look for an assistant?" you probably wonder.
Well, the answer is easy. It was difficult to do a lot money only out of street magic, he needed something better. No, he wanted something better. He has always been quite ambitious. The more amazing the stage shows were, the bigger was the audience, which meant the greater he was if he could fool them all. He knew he was the best at what he did, now Daniel needed everyone else to understand it too.

Yet here he was, after a performance in the streets of NYC, standing in the doorway looking for the "sort-of-friend" who "sort-of-invited" him to go out with some people, he barely knew the guy. He was pretty sure he got invited just out of courtesy and that the guy hoped he wouldn't actually show up. Nonetheless, he came; the night was young after all. He was supposed to "party", "drink", "socialize" and "befriend others", all verbs that didn't exactly fit with the name J. Daniel Atlas... Well, except maybe "drink".
He found himself looking at the girls around the room, analyzing them the way he did with the ones that showed up to the audition. But, honestly, right now an assistant was the last thing he wanted to think of. Right now he only wanted to get laid, it eased the tension as much as planning things and almost as magic itself and since he already did his show for the night, planned the two following days (including when to go to the bathroom), having sex was the only thing left to do.
Scanning the crowd, giving up on finding the "sort-of-friend", Daniel found his eyes falling upon a girl sitting at the bar with her back at him. She looked a bit short, but her curves made up for that, she was wearing a tight black dress and a pair of dark blue killer heels matching her bracelet and earrings.

He quickly made his way through the crowd and sat at the bar, not quite acknowledging the girl. Daniel ordered some whiskey on the rocks loudly enough to draw the young woman's attention to him. It worked and just like he hoped the girl started the conversation.
"Hey, have we met somewhere?" He internally chuckled at her words. Seriously, that was the oldest line ever. He turn to her anyway.
"I don't think so. Otherwise I'm sure I'd remember seeing such a pretty young woman." Daniel took in the beauty that was in front of him, from her flowing hair to her thin, kissable, red lips.
"Oh, thanks." the girl looked down and blushed, her chest and neck quickly became a light shade of pink. She raised her head again and looked him straight in the eyes. She looked around his age, but there was a glow in her eyes. A glow that didn't go along with the way she was dressed. A glow that he hadn't seen in his own eyes in a lot of time. Innocence.
"I'm serious, though. I've already seen you. I don't know where, but I'm sure I did" She remained quiet for a couple of seconds, her face confused at first then she smiled a warm, sweet smile.
"I've got it! You're the magician! My friend and I saw one of your shows a couple of days ago."

Daniel was pleasantly surprised. He knew, after over a year, that people around New York knew him, but it was the first time something like this happened. Most of the times girls approached him after a show, he never met one who knew him, not by chance at least. He vaguely remember her writing something down. They started talking, soon they were joking and laughing.
Unusual for him, the "one night stand guy", but he didn't mind. Somewhere during the conversation they started talking about magic and somehow he started showing her a couple of his card tricks, she'd laugh at the end of every single one, giving up on trying to understand how, her eyes glowing brighter as he fooled her into believing in magic.
Suddenly she asked him if she could try.
He wasn't new to this, either. At one point or another they all wanted to try ... most of them failed, but he handed her a spare deck of cards he hid in his pocket anyway. She told him to look straight in her eyes as she shuffled the cards. She split the deck in two and told him to take the card on top of the second one. It was weird to be at the other end and, as he wondered which of the many tricks she would try on him, he couldn't fight a little smile off his face. He looked down at the card, The King of Hearts, "How fitting..." he thought, then he placed the card in the middle again. She shuffled again and showed him the deck. The King of Hearts was at the bottom ; she then showed him the rest of the cards: black and red, spades, flowers, diamonds and hearts. She turned over the deck and tapped on it with her perfectly manicured nails. She showed him the cards again. King of Hearts. All of them. By now Daniel was grinning, none of the girls he met before ever succeed. The girl turned the deck and tapped on it again, when she turned it over it was back to normal.
"Haha, I must admit: I'm impressed. Very." He smirked as she handed the deck back to him. Once again she blushed, it made her look younger.
"Don't be silly, Daniel. You already know how this trick works, don't you?."
"Yes, but it's the first time I've seen a beautiful girl do it. Just tell me, how did you learn?" She shrugged like it was no big deal.
"An old friend in high school was totally in love with magic, she taught me some stuff."

He put down the now empty glass of whiskey, the ice melted long before. He didn't realize he was still holding it. It was what? the second? maybe the third glass...He couldn't remember. He ordered another one, the girl ordered a Sex on the Beach. That made him raise an eyebrow, she hadn't ordered a drink ever since they started talking.
"Are you sure you're old enough to drink?" She stuck her tongue at him.
"I am or maybe I'm not..."
"In that case how did you get a drink ?"
"Well, my ID does say I'm twenty-one..." She said leaning toward him. His eyebrow cocking up again.
"How old are you again? It wouldn't be gross if we-" She laughed, her head thrown back and her hair shining under the dim lights of the pub.
"Yes yes, don't worry. Turning twenty-one this December."

Her phone rang, no personalized ring tone, just that same old tingling jingle every mobile had.
He couldn't hear the voice on the other end of the phone, but he was pretty certain it was a female the one he heard.
"Hello?- Oh, shoot! I forgot... I'm so sorry, I swear- No seriously I'm such a shitty person- No, don't worry, I'm fine. I just got caught up" She looked at him and gave him and small smile. "Sorry, gotta go" she mouthed. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little upset when she said it, he just nodded and waved as she smiled one last time heading for the door still talking to the phone. Before she stepped out the pub she looke back and mouthed "See you, Daniel!" and then he realized that even if she knew his name he didn't know hers. He spent the whole night with her, but he had been so caught up he never realized he forgot to ask her name or for her number.

Daniel quickly ran out side, it had started raining. He saw her standing at the edge of the sidewalk, her blond hair glistening because of the droplets of water and the city lights. She was craning her neck trying to find an empty cab.
"Hey! You never told me your name..." She turned to him and smiled. God, she smiled a lot. Not that he was complaining.
"It's not like you asked."
"Well, it's only fair. After all you do know mine." He gave her his best lopsided smile, the one girls couldn't resist to. She giggled, her arm still in the air to get the cabs attention. She opened her mouth talk, but her taxi arrived.
"Okay, I guess this is my ride." She reached in her pocket and gave him a neatly folded piece of paper. "It was nice meeting you. Call me, I hope to see you again." And like that she was gone.

When he got home he added her number in his phone contacts. Just like the past few days things weren't going as he thought. He wanted to have another one night stand with a pretty face among many, yet it was still early for his standards and he was layingin bed staring at a piece of paper. Staring at a name on a piece of paper.
Isabell.

I hope you liked it, please hit the review button below. That would make me very happy :) See you next chapter,
much love, personalescape