Stolen Kisses
by: Ismira Daugéne
Chapter 2: All That Is Beautiful
"Blow out candles Sarah!" Toby shouted from his booster seat.
Sarah smiled and did as requested, however one candle stayed lit persistently. She frowned at it before directing a puff of air in its direction. Toby clapped and Karen and her father smiled at her. "Congrats kiddo! How's it feel to be eighteen?" her father asked wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"Not much different than seventeen truth be told," Sarah smiled back.
He laughed, "Yeah, they all start to feel like that the older you get."
Karen cut the cake and Sarah dished out large scoops of ice cream to accompany the slices of sugar-frosted goodness. After cake and ice cream, Sarah was led into the living room where there were three presents for her to open, one from Toby, one from her father and Karen, and an unmarked one. Sarah sat in the recliner while Toby hovered over the presents, anxious for her to open them. Karen and her father settled themselves on the loveseat. Once they were seated, Sarah picked up Toby's present first. She tore off the wrapping paper to find a framed picture of a Toby Original. There were three large colorful blobs that she supposed were suppose to represent people of some sort and a small blob next to a grayish blob. "See! That's you, mom, and dad, and that's me and Merlin!" he exclaimed pointing out the individual blobs.
Sarah smiled at him, "Thanks Tobes! This is great!"
She gave him a hug before moving on to the next present from Karen and her father. She pulled the ribbon holding the gift bag's handles together and opened it up to pull out the tissue paper. Inside was set of keys on a keychain. Sarah stared at them for a moment before turning to her father and stepmother. "You – you guys… no way!"
Karen laughed and Robert smiled. "It's sitting in the driveway."
Sarah nearly jumped from her chair and ran to the front door to find a dark blue Volkswagen Rabbit with a large red bow on top. Sarah let out a high pitch squeal of delight and turned to rush back to her parents to give each a hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She said hugging each in turn.
"You're welcome, Sarah. But it comes with responsibilities, we put the car and insurance in your name and you're going to have to pay the insurance in a monthly bill," her father said.
"No problem daddy! I make plenty at work to do that!" she said referencing her part time job as a waitress. "EEEEEEEH! I can't believe I have my own car! I'm gonna go call Kathy!"
"Sarah," Karen called out to her as she ran from the room. She skidded to a halt and poked her head back in the room. "You have one more present dear," Karen said pointing to the unmarked black velvet covered box still sitting on the table.
Curious, Sarah came back into the living room to open the box. She carefully pried open the lid, setting it on the table and pulled out an apple sized crystal sphere with a red Austrian rose in full bloom trapped inside. Her mouth dropped open as she gingerly held the crystal. "Oh my, that is beautiful!" Karen complimented rising from the loveseat to stand next to Sarah and observe the crystal. "Who's it from?"
Sarah slowly shook her head. She had an idea, but she wasn't about to share it with her parents. "I don't know."
Karen picked up the box to look inside for a note, but there was none. "Perhaps you have a secret admirer?" she smiled conspiratorially.
Sarah glanced up at her and shrugged. "I'm going up to my room to put this away and hang Toby's picture."
"Okay, Sar, we'll be up later to say goodnight," her father said as Sarah took the velvet box from Karen and headed up the stairs to her room.
Once the door to her room was firmly shut, she turned to sit at her desk, the presents from her friends in the Labyrinth that she'd already opened lying on it. She'd gotten a box of tea from Hoggle (his own recipe), a bracelet of different colored flowers woven together from Sir Didymus, and a smooth geode cracked in half to see the purple crystals inside from Ludo. Sarah paid no attention to these now though as she held the crystallized flower in her hand, simply staring at it. She wasn't quite sure what to make of this gift; she hadn't heard from the Goblin King since that night three years ago. And this most certainly was a gift from him, besides the crystal being a kind of calling card of his; the soft velvet box spoke of wealth and royalty not to mention the significance of the red rose. Sarah knew roses meant love, but not much beyond that.
"Do you like it, my dear?" a soft voice came from just behind her ear.
Sarah jumped and nearly dropped the crystal. She knew who was behind her without turning or looking up into the mirror, but she looked up anyway to see a man with a wealth of pale blond hair and crystal blue eyes smiling at her, his pointed teeth gleaming. She simply stared at him for a moment, her brain too confused to comprehend that she should answer or perhaps move away from him as quickly as possible. "Well? Do you?" he asked again.
"Do I what?" she asked, not breaking eye contact.
"Do you like my gift, my dear girl?" he asked, sounding almost like he was laughing at her.
"Yes, it's lovely."
Jareth's smirk grew broader. He held out a hand to her and pulled her to her feet when she accepted it after a moment's hesitation. "Happy birthday, dear Sarah."
"Thank you."
"May I ask for a dance from the birthday girl?" he queried holding out a hand.
"In here?" Sarah asked glancing around her bedroom. "There really isn't that much room for dancing in here."
Jareth merely smiled again, "We shall make-do."
Sarah raised an eyebrow, but carefully put the crystal sphere back in its box and accepted Jareth's outstretched hand. He drew her in close, one hand at the small of her back, the other holding hers. He led, slowly turning, not breaking eye contact from her. "Isn't this a bit silly? Dancing with no music?" Sarah asked blushing.
"Hmm, I knew there was something missing," he commented and not a moment later soft music was emitting from nowhere and everywhere. It was low enough to not draw her parent's attention from downstairs, but still loud enough for them to dance to. "That's better, wouldn't you say?"
She nodded, afraid to speak. Jareth leaned his head down closer to hers and Sarah felt her breathing hitch. "Do you know the meaning of the flower in that crystal over there?" he whispered in her ear. She shook her head. "That my dear is an Austrian rose. A red Austrian rose in full bloom means the gifter is telling the giftee 'You are all that is beautiful'. And if I do say so myself, its message is quite apt."
Sarah blushed a deep red and looked away from his eyes. "Thank you," she mumbled.
She felt Jareth stop dancing and remove his hand from hers. It came to pull her chin up so she was looking at him again. "Don't hide your eyes from me, precious. They're too lovely and cruel to conceal."
Sarah looked back up at him in time to see his face move towards hers. His mouth made contact with hers, a soft brush that quickly turned to more. He applied pressure and melded his lips with hers, only pausing to nip at her lower lip. She gasped and he took the advantage to enter her mouth with his tongue. It slid over her teeth and gums before exploring the roof of her mouth. When Jareth broke away, it was to a small moan of protestation. He smiled at her reaction and pulled away from her a bit.
Just then a knocking came from Sarah's door. "Hang on!" she cried out.
"I'm afraid I must bid you adieu anyway, my dear."
She looked at him with pleading eyes. "You can't stay?"
Jareth smiled, "Alas, I do have a kingdom to run. I promise I shall return though. Is that acceptable?"
"Yes, I suppose."
"Then good night, dearest Sarah," he said bowing toward her.
The knock came again and Sarah turned toward the door, "Just a second!"
She turned back to find a fine shower of glitter floating gently to the floor where moments ago, a Goblin King had stood. Her eyes widened and she snapped her mouth closed. "Sarah?" her father's voice called from the other side of the door.
"Yeah?"
His head popped in the door, "Just wanted to say good night."
"Okay, night dad!" she said going to hug him.
He hugged her back then moved out of the doorway and closed it again. Sarah turned back to her now empty room and let out a sigh. She hesitantly peered inside the velvet box, making sure the crystal was still there, as though she was afraid that it had disappeared with its original owner. However she had nothing to worry about. It sat gleaming, the Austrian rose looking like it had been picked only minutes ago. She silently lifted it out of the box and carried it to her nightstand, placing it carefully so it wouldn't roll. Then she got ready for bed and ducked under the covers, closing her eyes while her mind replayed the gentle melody she'd just danced to with Jareth.
o O o O o O o
Thanks for continuing to read! I hope you are enjoying this series of short ficlets. I'd appreciate hearing from you though; did you like it? If so, what did you like, or maybe you disliked something? I'd like to hear either way!
Thanks again!
Labyrinth (c) Henson, Froud, & Lucas