The next day was slightly trying, as the man they had hired to put a third suite on was hammering and sawing above their heads all day.  Alice winced as customers made faces at the noise.

“Sorry, we’ve got renovations going on upstairs. Should be done by tonight.” She looked up as the back door bumped shut. Gabriel gave her a little wave.

“Hey, I came down to get away from the racket. I’m making tea. Want some?”

            “That would be great, thanks. It is noisy up there, but luckily it will be done in a day, which is pretty impressive, even with magic. Then you’ll have your own little place.”

            Gabriel gave her a playful bow. “For which I am extraordinarily grateful.”

            Alice grinned as he retreated to the back room and there came the sound of the whistling kettle and the clinking of tea cups on saucers.

                “Excuse me.” A little blonde girl was standing in front of the counter peering up at Alice.

            “Oh hello.” Alice put both elbows on the counter top and leaned down to speak to her. “What can I do for you?”

            “I’m looking for the CD release for Alexie Ambrose. It’s supposed to be on this street today.”   Alice noticed the girl clutched a colourful gossip magazine in one hand.  Instead of saying          “People” across the front it read “Witches” and there was a handsome man with very white teeth on the front.

            “I’m sorry -  I don’t actually know where it is. There’s a little music shop down the street. They might be having a release there.”

            “Thanks.” 

            “Is that him…on the magazine?” Alice took a closer look as the little girl held it up proudly.

            “That’s Alexie. Isn’t he handsome?”

            “He certainly is.” Alice didn’t just say it for the little girl’s benefit. The man on the front cover was smoulderingly gorgeous. He had curly black hair and dark, promising eyes.

            “He’s dreamy,” the little girl said.

            “That’s what I keep hearing. Have fun at the CD release.”

            “Thanks.” The little girl smiled, revealing a mouth full of gleaming white, razor sharp teeth.  Alice froze, but luckily the girl was already turning away and didn’t see the horrified look on her face. The bell rang as she went out.  Only then did Alice get her breath back.

“Holy crap!”

            “What?” Gabriel walked into the front room, balancing a cup and saucer of steaming tea in each hand.

            “That little girl looked perfectly normal and then she smiled. She had about a million pointy teeth!” Alice hissed. She looked around to make sure the customers browsing the shelves couldn’t hear. “It was like being smiled at by a shark!”

            Gabriel laughed, setting one of the cups down on the desk. “You just met a Harpy.”

            “She was so cute and innocent looking.” Alice couldn’t contain her astonishment. “I can’t believe it.”

            “Wait till you meet a fully grown Harpy,” Gabriel told her. “The women are drop dead gorgeous, very seductive, but man, they’ll rip your throat out faster than you can blink.”

            Alice’s eyes were huge, and Gabriel laughed. “Don’t worry.  They only do it to men - Harpies hate men. They think we’re only good for making them children, and then our usefulness is over. The only thing worse than Harpies are Succubus’ and at least they have their own men.”

            “There are no Harpy men?”

            “Nope.” Gabriel shrugged. “A man born of a Harpy woman is just a man, nothing special about him.”  He shuddered.  “Not that I call having a mouthful of shark teeth special exactly.”

            “So, have you met a Succubus before?” Alice thought they sounded sort of exciting…and scary, of course. “They control men, right?”

            “Er…I guess you would call sucking out your soul a bit a time ‘controlling’, so yes.”

Her eyes grew even wider. “They can do that?”

            “Yup.  And their men are called Incubus - they do the same. Make sure to steer clear of them.”

            “How can you tell?”

            “The tail usually gives it away.”

Alice took a minute to absorb that bit of information. “Wow, okay. So, have you heard about this Alexie Ambrose person the Harpy girl was talking about?”

            “Ah.” Gabriel grinned. “The singer. He’s all the rage with the Witches.”

            “Apparently Harpy women too.”

            “Ambrose is a Titan. Harpies are attracted to power - that would be why they like him.”

            “He’s not really acting like a Titan. He’s a pop singer, for God’s sake. How much power does a singer have?” Alice sipped her tea experimentally and scalded her tongue. She put down the cup, sucking cold air in past her teeth.

            “Apparently, he owns half the magical business community,” Gabriel said. “At least that’s what I’m hearing.”

            “Really? So where does he live? In the magical part of town?”

            Gabriel gestured vaguely southward. “A few miles that way there’s this big mountain, and he lives on the top of it in some enormous mansion. People say he throws huge parties all the time. It’s a big thing to get an invitation. All the business owners want one…and all the women of course. Talk is Ambrose has an appetite for women.”

            “I bet he does.” Alice wrinkled her nose. “I bet he thinks he’s a real Casanova.”

            “You don’t even know the half of it. This guy has an entire harem in his mansion.”

            “A harem?” Alice’s eyes widened. “You mean….”

            “An honest-to-goodness harem with at least twelve women in it.”

            “That’s so gross.”

            “It sounds like this man needs a lesson in humility.” Shakra stretched her paws out further where she lay.

            “I doubt he has any if he thinks he’s a god,” Alice grumbled. “I’ve never met him and I already don’t like him.”

            “Where did you get all this information on him?”

            Gabriel blushed. “Gossip session with Isabella next door.”

            Alice laughed. “I bet you’re like a pair of hens when you get together.”

            “Hey! I like to keep well informed, that’s all.”

            “You sound very informed.”

            “Nothing wrong with that,” he said defensively.

            Alice took a gulp of tea; it was cooler now. “Absolutely. Good tea by the way.”

            “Thanks.” Gabriel looked like he wasn’t sure about the compliment.

            “Do you cook as well? Maybe you and Isabella can…” Alice dodged his playful jab, nearly spilling her tea.

            “Heads up you two.” Azura emerged from the backroom. “I just got word that our shipment has arrived. Look outside.”

            A large truck was backing into the space in front of Threads. Alice bounced over to stare out the window.

 “This is so exciting!”

            “Yeah…” Gabriel didn’t sound nearly as enthusiastic. “So exciting.”

            Azura smiled, “You don’t have to do anything Gabriel. It’s your day off, so just sit down.”

            “Yes’m.” Gabriel sat down at the desk obediently.

            Alice watched as a man hopped down from the driver’s side of the truck and entered the store. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a red complexion. He wore a black top hat with a white band and feather.

 “Good afternoon, folks. Your shipment of magical wonders has arrived.” Alice noticed with amusement that it said exactly that in large gold script on the side of the truck - “Marvelo’s Magical Wonders”

            “Are you Marvelo?” she asked.

            “I am indeed.” The man swept his hat off and gave a low bow. “You must be the new owner of this fine establishment. Delighted to meet you, miss.”

            “Nice to meet you too.” Alice smiled at his showy gestures and the way he rolled every word off his tongue with great relish.

            “I’ll get my boys to bring the boxes in.” He looked down at the clipboard in his hand. “We’ve got ten boxes of pre-enchanted, and ten plain.”

            “Excellent.” Azura took the clipboard he offered, placing it on the counter so Alice could see it too. “We always go over it to make sure we’ve received everything we ordered,”

            Alice nodded and squinted at the invoice. It might as well have been written in another language. They looked up as a number of very short men came through the door carrying large cardboard boxes.

             “Are they Dwarves?” Alice whispered.

            “Yes, they work for Marvelo.”

            Alice tried not to stare at the little men, who all had beards that dragged on the floor. “Wow, okay.” She returned her gaze firmly to the packing slip.

            Once everything had been brought inside they bade Mr. Marvellow “Adieu”, as he put it, and Alice opened the cardboard boxes eagerly.  She went through them with exclamations of delight.

“Oh, look at these funny shaped bottles for the potions. They’ve got little handles!  This box has paddle balls - what do we make these do?” she continued without waiting for an answer. “And more compact mirrors to enchant! What’s this stuff? Oh wow, it says unicorn hair on the package!”

Azura interrupted her excited ravings. “I’ll take the extras to the back. You can pour over that and decide where you want the displays.”

            Alice nodded distractedly. “Sounds good, Wow! Talking sock monkeys!”

She knew it was silly to open each box like a Christmas present, after all, she had helped order them, so she knew what was in all of them. But it was different when it was all here in front of her.

After she and Gabriel had gone through all the new items and decided where to put the displays, she set to the task of assembling the cardboard stands.

            “I swear these are made by sadists,” she complained to Gabriel, “These instructions make you think you’re doing it right and then you discover after you’ve put the piece in place that it’s not where it goes. And it doesn’t help that he’s still hammering away up there.” She looked at the ceiling in frustration.

            After several hours and many muttered curses, they managed to get all three of the cardboard displays together and place them next to the till.

            “That should catch the kiddies’ eyes.” Alice glanced at Gabriel, whose blonde hair was standing up every which way. He’d been running his hands through it in frustration. She suddenly felt guilty. Why was he doing this on his day off?

“Thanks for helping me, but you’re not even supposed to be here. Go out and have fun!”

            Gabriel shrugged. “There isn’t much I want to do by myself.”

            “I’m sure there’s plenty to do, “Alice mused. “After all, it’s New York - there has to be one heck of a night life here.” She remembered what Azura had said about the magical community having its own special type of clubs. “Have you ever been to a magical night club?  I mean, one that doesn’t let Regs in? I don’t know what you would call it.”

            “Selective clubs, yeah.” Gabriel nodded. “I’ve been to a few.” He brightened. “I hear there’s a really good one a few blocks down. It’s not specifically a coven or a lair; it’s supposed to be this huge melting pot, everyone you can imagine.”

            “I know a coven means Witches, what’s a lair? Werewolves?”

            “Vampire club. Werewolves would call their establishment a “den”. They all have certain names.”

            “Faeries have courts.”

            “Exactly.”

            “What about Elves?” she asked. “What’s that called?”

            Gabriel shrugged. “Elves don’t really have that sort of thing. We tend to travel solo. Besides, I’m only half Elf.”

            “Really?”

            “Yup, my Mom is human.” His face darkened suddenly. “She hates me though.”

            Alice looked at him in shock. “What?”

            “She hates me,” he said, simply. “It’s true. I remind her too much of my dad, whoever he was. That’s why I liked the idea that Threads moves. I had to get away from the constant accusing stares.”

            “You don’t know who your dad is?” Alice covered her mouth at how rude that had sounded. “Sorry…”

            “It’s okay. She refuses to talk about him, flies into a rage if I even mention it. I figure it’s the classic story. Human falls in love with Elf, Elf tells human they were just having a fling and they don’t want to be with anyone who will die on them.  Elves don’t marry humans; it’s just a stupid idea.” He added quickly, “I got lucky - I’ll only live about as long as a typical Wizard or Witch.”

            “That’s lucky? I thought you would want to live a long time.”

            “Not when I would outlive everyone around me.” Gabriel shrugged. “Anyways, that’s part of the reason I wanted to leave Victoria so fast.  Mom was threatening to kick me out again. She used to throw me out every time it got too hard to look at me.”
            “Gabriel, I’m sorry.  That’s terrible.”

            He shrugged again, looking at his feet.  After a second he brightened, changing the subject. “I’ll take you to a selective club if you like. The one down the street is called Rapture; Isabella told me all about it.”

            “But I’m only nineteen. Don’t you have to be twenty-one in the states??”

            “Not at the selective clubs. You can be nineteen or nine hundred.  Nobody monitors it, since it’s impossible to tell with some people.”

            That was an interesting way of looking at it. Alice was starting to realize that on top of being exciting and fun, the magical world had a lot less rules, and apparently no moral compass. It was a little scary to think about, and a little thrilling. She should say no though, after all, he was her employee, but he’d looked so sad a moment ago. Now, with the prospect of going out, he looked hopeful. How was she supposed to crush that?  “Sure, how about Friday?”

            “Sounds great, it will be nice to get out.” Gabriel smiled hugely, “hey, it sounds like the noises from upstairs have stopped.”

            Footsteps sounded on the back staircase, and Azura and the contractor emerged from the back room. The man had sawdust all over him, and his hardhat was crooked. She wondered if the addition to the apartment had been very harrowing. He smiled, “The place is up and running, Ms. Cunningham.  You got hot water, electricity, cable and everything. Only thing I didn’t do was make the bed.”

            She blinked. Nobody had called her “Ms” before, she sort of liked it.“That’s amazing, thank you so much.”

            “You’re welcome, miss. The bill will be in tomorrow’s mail.”

            “I’ll be sure and send you a cheque immediately.”

            “Much obliged.” The man actually tipped his hardhat to her. He shook Azura’s hand, winked at Gabriel and sauntered out.

            “That man is a marvel. “ Azura said, “I’ll close the shop, why don’t you come up and see the new addition.”

            Alice checked her watch in surprise, “Seven already?”

            “Let’s go!” Gabriel dashed into the backroom and out the door to the stairs.

            “Wait for me.” Alice puffed as she ran up the stairs behind him, “I’m curious to see this.”

There was a third door in the hallway now. Gabriel seized the knob excitedly, “I wonder…”

            They both stopped as the door swung open, Alice crowded up behind Gabriel so she could see over his shoulder.

            “Wow,” Gabriel said, “This guy is good.”

            The contractor hadn’t been joking when he’d said he’d done everything but make the bed.  It was obvious that most of the work had been done by magic.

            The suite was considerably smaller then Alice’s, but it was done in modern style, with black couches on the white tile of the living room, stainless steel appliances in the kitchen and a spacious bedroom in which they could see a four poster bed.

            “It’s furnished,” Gabriel said in awe, “Wow.”

            “ Magic is incredible,” Alice pushed him forward with one hand, “Come on, let’s look around.”

            “Geeze,” Gabriel wandered slowly inside, surveying everything with wide eyes, “This is way nicer than anywhere I’ve ever lived.”

            Alice smiled, “I’m glad you like it.”

            “It comes with a TV!” Gabriel cried.

            “I’ll let you get acquainted,” Alice laughed, “enjoy yourself.”

            He turned just before she walked out, “Hey Alice, thanks, this place is amazing.”

            Alice smiled, feeling embarrassed, “You’re welcome. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

            “Goodnight.”

            She walked back down the hall to her own suite, smiling as she thought about the look on his face.

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