"Hm, that sounds like the wizard all right," Renee commented after Addison finished her retelling of her strange encounter the night before. The two sat on the edge of the docks, dangling their feet over the edge. A light fog hung low around them, chilly bursts of seawater nipping at their feet as the water sloshed about beneath them.
"Well what does it mean?" Addison asked. Renee had mentioned the wizard to her on their first meeting and had been the only person she could thing to ask. Renee had been easy enough to find, she had been fishing on the docks with a perfect view of Toby cleaning the windows of the lighthouse.
"The only person who knows what the wizard means is the wizard himself so you'll have to ask him."
Addison sighed, "I somehow doubt he would tell me directly, if he wanted to be direct he would have been last night. Besides I don't even know how to find him."
"You're really bothered for somebody who doesn't believe in wizards," Renee replies smugly.
"My beliefs have been challenged a lot recently," Addison replied. As she did Toby finished off the last window and began to gather his cleaning supplies.
"Well I suppose we could go by his home," Renee suggested, "I can't promise he will be there but we can try."
"Hey do you think you could help me with something?" Addison asked as the two walked back towards town from the docks.
Renee raised an eyebrow, "Another favor? For someone who barely knows me you ask a lot of favors.
Addison laughed, "I suppose you're right, but I hear you're an expert. Once all the renovations are done on my home I'll be wanting a few animals but honestly I don't know much about them at all. All we had at home was a cat."
Renee lit up instant, "Oh, why didn't you say so! Of course I can help with that. There is nothing I love more than animals."
"Even more than you love Toby?" Addison teased.
"This much more," Renee joked back, holding two fingers up with a tiny gap between them.
"Seriously though, have you ever just talked to him? Said hello even?"
Renee looked away, her cheeks flushing, "I couldn't do that."
"If you're so sure you two are meant to be what are you afraid of? Why not just go for it?"
"It isn't that easy," Renee replied, "I mean have tried. Tons of times. I just get so shy and flustered. One time I went into the fish market to try to say hello, as long as he asked what I wanted I got so flustered I just ran away. He probably thinks I'm some crazy person now."
"I doubt he thinks that. You really should try again, just watching him from afar isn't getting you very far."
"Look, here we are!" Renee exclaimed, the relief for a subject change obvious in her voice.
'What? Really?" Addison looked at the door before them confused, "I have to say I was expecting something more medieval looking or something. This just looks like all the other homes here."
Renee rolled her eyes, "You're a bit weird aren't you? You really think you wouldn't have noticed a creepy medieval house on the island yet?"
Addison grumbled under her breath and knocked on the door. The two stood in silence watching the door, which remained unanswered. Addison knocked again harder but the two were greeted only by more silence.
"That is odd, the wizard doesn't leave his home very often, I guess we will have to come back later," Renee started to leave but Addison grabbed the door handle and jiggled it slightly. To Addison's surprise she felt no resistance and the door opened. Renee watched her wide-eyed.
"What are you doing?" Renee hissed in a whisper, looking around anxiously.
"I just want to look around real quick, maybe he didn't hear us," Addison slipped inside the door. Renee looked around nervously again, turned to leave and then quickly turned around to follow Addison inside.
"Hello? Is anybody here?" Addison called out. Her voice echoed off the high ceiling but did not receive a reply. Although the house looked normal on the outside the inside was more of what Addison was expecting. The room they were standing in was devoid of normal furniture one would expect to find. The floor and walls were stone with purple carpets and drapery adding some color and preventing the room from looking like a castle dungeon. A couple candles were dimly burning on short whisks, it was obvious they had been lit hours ago. Wooden spiral stairs led to a second floor where Addison assumed the more practical rooms must be. But her eyes were drawn to the center of the room, which was slightly raised. There a small wooden table covered with a purple tablecloth stood with two chairs and upon it was a small, transparent crystal sphere.
"This cannot be real," Addison gasped.
"We shouldn't be here," Renee told Addison, looking over her shoulder.
"I will only be a moment, watch the door," Addison answered as she made her way to a large, wooden bookshelf lining the wall. Renee sighed and begrudgingly stood by the door, peering out the small crack she had left open.
Addison began picking books off the shelf and thumbing through them quickly. The books were heavy with leather bond covers, many wearing sheets of dust. As she skimmed over the contents she found herself not recognizing the language the majority were written in. The two English ones she found were a plant directory and a star chart, neither of which were what she was looking for. Disappointed with the books she wandered over to the table with the crystal. Beneath it were old, worn papers with tattered edges and a few more books. She sat in the chair and began shuffling through the papers. One was an old map of Castanet that showed a town that was a third of the size of the current town with odd bell symbols scattered throughout. Another contained haphazardly written lists that Addison could find no connections with and quickly dismissed. Her frustrations were quickly mounting, she wasn't sure what she had hoped to find but none of this was it. She was realizing now that the idea of the Wizards having specific, clearly labeled notes concerning her was an absurd one. An illustration in one of the books caught her eye and she pulled it toward her. Three large circles were displayed in the shape of a triangle, each circle containing a different symbol. Addison placed her finger on the bottom right symbol, something about it was oddly familiar to her. She shuffled through the pages but to her disappointment with book was written in another strange language she didn't know.
Her eyes left the page and looked up, glancing at the crystal sphere in the center. Curiosity overcame her as she stared at it, as much as she didn't believe in any of this and was somewhat creeped out by her surroundings the desire to investigate it further was overwhelming. She stood up and hovered her hand above it hesitantly, the air around it feeling oddly warm and dense. As her fingers made contact they felt hot and a dim glow began to emanate from the sphere.
"Addison! He is coming back – what the hell?" Renee's voice was a jumble of fear and confusion as she spun around and noticed the glow coming from the sphere.
"Shit, seriously?" Addison cursed. Looking around the room she realized she had made a critical mistake – not having an escape plan. She hurriedly grabbed the book with the symbols and randomly grabbed a bunch of the papers on the table. Then she called out to Renee and headed towards the stairs. Renee followed and they hurried up the steps as quick as possible without making too much noise.
"This is your plan?" Renee whispered as the two peered down from the top of the stairs as the Wizard entered his home. He noticed the door ajar and peered around the room suspiciously. The girls darted out of view and looked behind them. They found themselves staring down a hallway with two doors on the left, one on the right and large window at the end overlooking the roof.
"Oh no, no!" Renee protested as she noticed Addison's eyes resting on the window.
"You have any better ideas?" Addison asked, as she did they heard the sounds of footsteps on the stairs.
"I guess not," she replied and the two hurried toward the window, which creaked as they swung it open. Both winced at the sound and Addison stepped out first, carefully hugging the outside wall as to not fall down to the ground below. She held out her hand to help Renee out and the two shuffled to the side of the building just in time for the Wizard to peer out and look around. The two held their breaths until they heard the widow slam shut.
"That was the single most terrifying moment of my life," Renee said once she finally felt like she could speak.
"Mine too," Addison replied, sinking to her knees in relief, "But it was a little fun."
"What were you doing back there?" Renee asked, giving Addison a very cautious, unsure look.
"What do you mean? I was just trying to find information."
"No," Renee protested sternly, "You did something. The crystal ball was glowing, I saw it. How did you do that? What did you do?"
Even as she started to calm down her hands were still shaking and her knees weak as she answered, "I really don't know. All I did was touch it. It was probably just some trick, he probably left it plugged in or something."
"There is no plug." Renee snapped, "I have touched that thing plenty of times and it never reacted. And you took stuff!"
"I sort of did that without thinking, it was a panic response," Addison admitted, looking down at the book and papers she was clutching to her stomach.
"Excuse me," a timid voice called up to them, "What are you two doing hanging out on a roof?"
Addison and Renee both jumped in surprise. Addison peered below and sighed with relief when she saw Candice innocently staring up at them and an interesting looking man with long purple hair and an amused smile.
"We were just, uhm, well, you see," Renee stammered.
"We were chasing a cat," Addison lied, cutting off Renee before she could make them look anymore suspicious, "We ended up going a little further than we thought and now we aren't quite sure how to get down."
"Oh I see, you have to be careful with that. Luna used to chase cats too and now we have four. But I don't know about getting you down.."
"Jump down!" The young man beside Candice exclaimed.
Candice, Addison and Renee's eyes all widened in horror. "Julius really, the will be hurt!" Candice protested.
"I can catch them, it isn't that far," Julius said confidently. Renee and Addison exchanged weary looks.
"Are you sure you could catch them? If you missed, well I don't even want to think about that," Candice fretted, causing Julius to grin even more.
Addison sighed, "Well I don't really see another option."
"You have got to be kidding me!" Renee exclaimed, "We have never even met this guy and you are just fine with leaping off a roof into his arms?"
"Well, he is rather tall," Addison remarked as she looked at Julius. He was certainly the most eccentric person Addison had come across since moving to Castanet. His long purple hair with blonde and pink highlights made Addison wonder which team he was batting for. The outrageous purple cloak, flared red pants and ruffled gold scarf were quite a sight – though somehow he pulled the look off nicely. Though Addison did think the silver hoop earrings were a bit much. Still, he was lean and tall, tall enough to stand some chance of catching them.
"You go first. I can't jump into the arms of a stranger without seeing what I'm working with," Renee commanded Addison. Addison inched toward the edge, her nerves still frazzled from their narrow getaway. Before jumping she threw her book down which Candice caught and clutched tightly with anxiety as Addison leapt off the side toward Julius. Her body slammed into his and true to his word he caught her. The impact slightly stunned her but he held steady and set her down on the ground safely.
"Your turn now, I'm safe and sound in one piece," Addison called up to Renee. Renee gulped and walked toward the edge. She looked down at the three, closed her eyes and jumped, yelling as she plummeted into Julius' arms. Renee opened her eyes and sighed with relief to feel both of her feet on the ground.
"How about we never do that again," Renee said, "I have to be going to take care of the animals. Thank you Julius, I'll see you around Candice. And Addison – next time I see you I hope it will be a little more low key."
"Yes, thank you very much. I know this isn't the usual order of introductions, usually I like to give a guy my name before I throw myself at him but I'm Addison," Addison outstretched her hand and Julius took it, shaking it vigorously.
"I know who you are, I read about you in the paper," Julius replied as he let her hand go.
Addison's eyes went wide, "Excuse me? What are you talking about?"
"Oh you didn't see? When they covered the Ferry Festival you and Gill were on the front page," Candice replied cheerfully. Addison's stomach knotted at the thought. She hadn't made a habit of reading the paper like most people on Castanet did, Addison usually got her news through her phone while sipping her morning coffee. A few people on the island had phones but they weren't as popular here as they were back home and the ones who did had mostly basic phones and not smartphones. That wasn't surprising though, the service on the island was patchy at best. Addison hadn't been able to talk to her brother much because of it and had to settle for text messages most of the time since the dropped calls had gotten too frustrating. Maybe she would drop a hint to Gill that improving cell service should be part of his running platform.
"You wouldn't happen to have a copy of that still would you?" Addison asked.
"Actually yes, they interviewed my Grandmother too so we have a copy in the shop. We were heading that way if you would like to join us," Candice replied. Addison accepted her offer and the trio headed toward the tailor shop. On the way Candice explained that Julius was a fashion student who was interning at their shop for the semester. She told Addison how excited they were to have a student interested in their shop and how the shop was so out of the way that their interns were far and few between but always thoroughly enjoyed.
A bell sounded as they opened the door into the shop. Luna was standing on a circular platform in front of a three way mirror as Shelley circled her with a tape measure taking multiple measurements.
"Hello you two, Addison," Shelley greeted them as she looped the measuring tape around Luna's waist.
"Grandmother you really should be resting," Candice said disapprovingly to her, "You will never get well if you don't rest."
"Oh hush, I'm fine. Besides we are far too busy right now for me to the leave the shop in the hands of you three," she replied, giving Luna a sharp look that went unnoticed.
"You're impossible," Candice said in exasperation, "Anyway I need to grab something for Addison. Julius can you step in for my Grandmother please?"
Shelley reluctantly surrendered her tape measure to Julius and sat down at a sewing machine to continue working on a dress. Luna's displeasure at Julius replacing her Grandmother was not lost on Addison although Luna's displeasure was becoming a common theme so she thought little of it. Candice returned quickly with the paper and handed it to Addison. Her stomach sunk as she saw herself and Gill right there on the front cover underneath a headline that read 'Jensen Heiress Endorses Mayor's Son in Board Race'.
"Why in the world does anybody care who I endorse? And does posing for a picture really mean I endorse anything? I thought it was just a photo!" Addison exclaimed after reading the article, which touched on her father's history on the board, and her sudden return.
"That is politics my dear," Shelley replied, "If there is one thing I have learned it is that any little thing you do will be taken as a political statement once you've stepped into the spotlight. And once you're in getting out is darn near impossible. Luna dear could you please bring me some ribbons?"
Suddenly Addison was unsure of what the night before had meant. Had Gill's speech been genuine or was it a political statement as well, an attempt to gain pity and exaggerate their relationship? Sure not many people had been there but she was sure the ones who would wouldn't keep quiet about it. Word spread like wildfire on this small island. And what of the kiss? Addison found herself not feeling good about it and questioning Gill's motives behind everything. The timing of her return was rather convenient and he had been the one who facilitated it and fought for her to stay.
The bell rang again and Addison turned to see who it was. As if on cue Gill strolled through the door, his face lighting up when he saw Addison. He reached out for her hand as he greeted her but she kept her hands in her pocket, all of her uncertainties churning inside her. Despite her resistant her purse did quicken, all of the unanswered questions from the night before bubbled up again and the memory of how nervous and excited she had felt the night before was incredibly vivid.
"I'm so glad you're here, I was going to look for you at the bar after I came by here but now you've saved me a trip. Good morning Mrs. Rhodes," Gill said politely, a slight flush in his cheeks coupled with a slight confusion to Addison's hesitance toward him. He shrugged it off, assuming it was the result of their moment the night before.
"I'm so glad you're here Gill, come over this way. I will have Julius take your measurements," Shelley said as she stood up and took Gill by the arm, guiding him over to the platform Luna had previously been standing on. Addison followed and sat in one of the large, comfortable chairs in front of the platform.
"Why were you looking for me?" Addison asked, attempting to sound nonchalant as Julius began taking Gill's measurements.
"I wanted to ask you to be my date for the upcoming Gala," Gill replied. Before Addison could say a word a loud crash made both of them jump. The bucket of ribbons Luna had been carrying was on the ground, spools of ribbon rolling all across the floor. She had a stunned look that slightly resembled horror, her gaze locked not on the scattering ribbons but on Gill.
"Luna, honestly, you must be more careful," Shelley replied, bending down to grab a spool of pink ribbon.
"And you do too, really Grandmother!" Candice said exasperated, snatching the ribbons up and guiding her Grandmother back to the chair. Julius stopped taking the measurements to help Candice and Luna pick up the ribbons.
"This Gala wouldn't happen to be related to the board race would it?" Addison asked suspiciously.
"It would, is that a problem?"
"Why would you want me to go? I don't know anything about this race and probably won't know anybody there."
"Well Addison," he said as he stepped off the platform and stepped in front of her, taking both of her hands, "I really want to see you all dressed up. I want to walk in there with you on my arm, and sip champagne with you and twirl you around the dance floor. The board part of this is just a formality, doesn't mean we couldn't have a wonderful time."
All of Addison's protests melted away as Gill's words reached her. Despite her fears and concerns she was swept up in the romantic notion. She had never been the girl boys talked to like that, she was never invited to dances or dates and never set foot on a dance floor, let alone been twirled on one. Blood rushed to her cheeks and she gripped Gill's hands back. "Well if that is your reasoning I would love to go with you."
Gill beamed down at her and leaned down to kiss her forehead, "Wonderful, thank you Addison." Luna let out a small squeak of surprise and Shelley clapped her hands together excitedly, "Well then Addison you're next! Goodness I'm going to be even more busy than I thought, I hope I will have time to finish my own dress."
"I'm so glad you will be joining us, the more the merrier," Candice said as she sat beside Addison, "The Gala is actually quite enjoyable, it is one of my favorite part of the board races. Isn't this wonderful Luna?"
"Yup. Just wonderful," Luna replied bitterly as she picked up the last spool of ribbon.
"Will you be joining us too Julius?" Addison asked as Gill sat down and she was pulled up to be measured.
"No he will not," Luna answered before he could, "Interns aren't invited. The Gala is for family of the candidates, even bringing dates is quite unorthodox." Luna's stab wasn't lost on Addison but she brushed it off.
Once her measurements were done Shelley drew up a sketch of a dress she thought would look good on Addison and they decided on a deep crimson color. Since they would be attending together she designed Gill's outfit for the evening in the same color. Luna remained brooding the entire time and made no efforts to help.
Eventually Addison had to leave to begin her shift at the bar so she thanked the Rhodes for their help and left. Gill followed her out and walked beside her, and awkward silence hanging around them.
"So, are we going to talk about it at all?" Gill finally asked, breaking the silence between them. His words magnified the tension between them.
"Talk about what?" Addison asked even though she was sure she already knew.
"Us. What are we?" Gill asked. "Are we friends? More?"
Addison stopped and turned to face him, "Look Gill, I'm enjoying my time with you, I really am. I'm open to seeing where this is going but I'm really not ready for formal labels yet. One of the reasons I moved here was to do my own thing, my own way. I have never been able to just be alone and do my own thing. So for now, can we just leave it as it is and see how it goes? Can we leave that question unanswered for a while? Because I have a lot of questions I need to answer myself before I can answer that one."
Gill nodded solemnly, "I can respect that, and I appreciate the honesty. How about I just hold your hand and walk you back?"
Addison smiled and intertwined her fingers with his, "That sounds wonderful."