Just a Little Magic Ch. 10

1. BREANNA Atlanta, Georgia January 9, 2001 January 14, 2028

2. ELODIE Brugges, Belgium February 8 February 13

3. VICKY Singapore March 9 March 13

4. SOPHIE Montreal, Quebec April 7 April 12

5. IRENE Limassol, Cyprus May 7 May 11

6. SANDRA Taipei (Taiwan) June 5 June 10

7. ASHLEY Chicago, Illinois July 5 July 9

8. MIRELLA Sao Paulo, Brazil August 4 August 8

9. KAVIA Vadodara, Gujarat September 2 September 6

10. ESTHER Johannesburg, S.A. October 2 October 6

11. TAMARA Tampa, Florida November 1 November 5

12. RI Osaka, Japan November 30 December 1

13. JANINE Toronto, Ontario December 30 December 31

*****

#11 Tamara Tampa, Florida

Tamara was tall, with the body of an athlete. She dressed like a poor student (which she was). Her long straight hair, which she apparently hadn't had time to wash, was tied behind her head with a scrunchie.

She would've been mortified if Janine had called on her; there was no way we were getting her upon stage.

Tamara watched the show, and left immediately afterwards. That was fine, though - it was exactly what I'd expected her to do.

Lillian had really taken the 'serendipity' idea to heart. She also gone ahead and organized a special little 'event' for Tamara. On top of that, Lillian took charge of keeping Sammy busy. She re-worked the schedule with him, and planned several appearances to coincide with our western swing.

Tamara was a grad student at the University of South Florida, working on her PhD.. But she also volunteered, once a week, at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital. Towards the end of her shift, she was stunned to find me there - doing a show for the sick kids.

Tamara watched my routine with the kids. She already had a major crush on me (magic, remember?). This was simply too much of a coincidence for her to take in.

I made sure to look her way several times. The first time, I frowned, as If I was trying to place her. The second time, I smiled at her; she smiled back, shyly.

After my little routine, I approached her.

- "You were at our show, last night." I said.

- "I was. But - how did you know?"

- "I saw you, while I was pretending to be an usher." I held out my hand. "My name's Peter."

- "I know." she said. "Tamara." She took my proffered hand, and experienced what Ashley had: a startling sensation of warmth, which spread rapidly from her hand to her elbow, and then to her shoulder.

- "Wow!" we both said - I pretended that the sensation was a surprise for me, too.

- "Umm ... how did you like the show?" I asked.

- "It was ... remarkable. Oh - did you mean last night, or this one?"

- "You go, girl!" said one of the nurses, bless her heart.

Tamara blushed.

I stepped into the breach. "This may sound awfully forward, Tamara - but would you have dinner with me?"

Lillian had done her research. After her volunteer stints, Tamara was in the habit of getting herself a pizza, or some other takeout food, which she invariably ate alone, in her apartment.

"You'd be saving me from eating alone." I added.

She was feeling the effects of serendipity, for certain. She blushed again.

- "That sounds very nice."

Neither of us were dressed for fine dining. I took her to Uncle Jack's Crabshack, where we put away a few beers, and quite a bit of seafood.

Tamara was bright, hard-working, and extremely nervous. She hadn't been on a date in years - she honestly couldn't remember the last one. She was still devastated by the breakup of her marriage.

After four years, her husband had suddenly admitted that he'd cheated on her, and then left her. There had been no warning, as far as she was concerned.

- "I can't believe that I'm telling you this." she said.

- "I get the feeling that you haven't told anyone. When did this happen?"

- "Five months ago. I still don't understand it." she said. "I can't even believe that I'm sharing this with you. I mean ... I appreciate you listening to my woes - but could we talk about something else?"

We talked about her PhD. program, but she also asked about my career. She was a very intelligent woman, and I warmed to her - just as she did to me.

- "This will also sound a little ... forward. I'd like to see you again, Tamara."

She blushed again. "I ... I'd like that, too, Pete. But ..."

- "There's no rush, Tamara. I'm sure that neither of us wants a one-night stand."

- "No." she agreed. "But ... I am interested in you."

- "So am I." I looked into her eyes.

"I'll be back in a few days, for a show in Sarasota. Could I ask you ... to have dinner with me again?"

We had a nice dinner, in a much fancier place. Tamara dolled herself up, a bit. Her long brown hair was freshly washed, and she'd put on lipstick and a little eye shadow, which highlighted her very pretty brown eyes.

Tamara and I connected again. We had a wonderful time together. Had I met her at home, before Sophie, I would have been tempted to ask Tamara out. She was definitely girlfriend material.

No, I didn't have sex with Tamara. She wasn't over her husband's betrayal. And despite her magically-induced attraction to me, she wasn't about to break the habits of a lifetime, and sleep with a man she'd only just met. She was tempted ... but I didn't push it.

***

By this stage, I finally realized just what Lillian had done. Using some of the money that Janine and I had made, from poker and magic shows, Lillian had gone on a world tour of her own. She'd found the 12 women 'in question', learned a great deal about their backgrounds ... and then cast a spell on them, pre-disposing them to fall in love with me.

Now I understood why I'd seen her in Montreal: she was there to do the same to Sophie. When I returned home, we'd had our meeting, and Lillian must have realized that she no longer had to do that, since Sophie and I were already dating. I never asked Lillian about her trip to Montreal, and she never told me about it.

***

We did a couple of shows in Texas, and one in Phoenix, before returning to Las Vegas. Sammy and I had some quality time together. We did some more interviews, and filmed a sequence for Penn and Teller's upcoming Magic Special.

Then it was time for our second appearance on their show.

Janine showed the audience a simple table, with decks of cards, pens and paper. She invited Penn and Teller to join her. She let Teller choose a deck, which she handed to me. Then she asked our hosts to choose a card - by writing it down on a piece of paper.

Meanwhile, I strode toward the front of the stage, shuffling the cards in my usual ham-handed fashion.

Janine had Penn and Teller write down their choice - and then surprised them by having them write down a second choice as well. Finally, Janine asked Penn to pass his two pieces of paper to Teller - and vice versa.

- "Just so that we know you haven't chosen the same cards" she said. At that point, she announced: "So now, Peter will find your four cards."

As she said that, I muffed my shuffle, and sprayed the cards all over the front of the stage. The audience roared.

Alyson Hannigan came to help me pick up the scattered cards. I'd done a great job of spraying the deck: two cards had landed in the front row of the audience. Helpful spectators brought them up to us.

Janine called out to me. "Hurry up! You're making us look bad!"

Alyson passed me the last card she'd picked up.

- "What is it?" I asked.

- "Ten of spades."

- "That's okay - neither of them picked a spade. Nobody picks spades any more."

- "How do you know?" said Alyson - bless her heart.

I winked at her. "Magic."

I returned to the table, where Janine shook her head.

- "Did you mess it up?"

- "I don't think so." I said. I spread the cards I had across the table, face up. My spread was a mess, of course, and I dropped several cards off the edge of the table.

"Oops!" I said. "Hopefully nothing important."

Janine picked them up, calling them out as she picked them up.

- "Four of spades ... Six of hearts ... Eight of diamonds ..."

- "Oh - wait! We need that one."

I took the card from her hand and passed it to Penn. He admitted that the Eight of diamonds was one of the cards Teller had chosen.

Then I produced the nine of hearts (Penn's choice), and the jack of clubs (Teller's second card). All I needed was Penn's second card.

Except that I couldn't find it. I got to the end of the deck - and it wasn't there. I rapidly began cycling backwards through the deck.

- "Peter?" said Janine.

- "Uh oh. I mean ... this usually works." I spread the cards face up on the table.

The audience were holding their collective breath. They didn't know whether to laugh, or to feel bad because I was blowing the trick.

- "Oh!" I said.

I quickly trotted to the front of the stage, looking around just like a man who's lost something. Finally, I reached the spot where Penn and Teller sat. Then I bent over and picked up a stray card (exactly where I'd thrown it earlier).

- "Three of clubs?" I called out.

Teller held up the second of Penn's pieces of paper, showing it to the audience.

Alyson asked us some more polite questions while Penn and Teller conferred. They finally had to admit that we'd fooled them again.

***

Sammy and I got great news, just a few days before that: Trish and Sophie were flying out to join us for a long weekend.

- "We've only got 4 days." said Trish. "So let's make 'em count!"

- "Hey, Robin." said my beautiful long-distance girlfriend.

- "I can't believe you're actually here." I said. She seemed to get better-looking every time I saw her.

- "I wanted to celebrate your birthday a little early, too. But you can really blame Trish. We were comparing notes on how much we missed you guys - and she just said 'Why don't we do something about it!'."

- "Thank you, Trish!" I said.

- "You're welcome!"

Janine didn't exactly welcome them with open arms, but Lillian was gracious, and the two of them left us to ourselves.

Trish wanted to gamble a bit, and Sammy was happy to indulge her. Sophie was willing to throw away $20 on the slots, but that was enough for her.

We took the girls to see Cirque de Soleil (even minor celebrity brings privileges when it comes to getting tickets for a supposedly sold-out show). We were also able to get them in to see Penn and Teller's show.

Penn was very courteous when we introduced our girlfriends to them afterwards. Teller just smiled and shook hands. Penn was sharp enough not to mention Janine - though he did look at me a little funny after that.

Sammy and Trish had dinner with us, but they really wanted just what Sophie and I did: some quality time, alone. No, not just sex - Sophie was delighted to sit in luxurious little bars, and be served complimentary drinks.

- "You're quite the celebrity, aren't you?"

- "Not really. I have to show them my special I.D. to prove that I'm actually performing here."

- "Well, I'm very impressed."

- "I still can't believe you're here." I said. "This is amazing."

- "I'm going to miss you, Pete." she said. I'd sent Sophie a long email message, outlining the plans for our 'World Tour'. We'd already been on the road for a month - and we had more than three months to go.

- "We've gone for long periods of time without seeing each other." I pointed out.

- "This feels different. You'll be further away."

She was right. I shared her apprehension, or whatever it was. We made love several times every night, and grew progressively more tired every day, from lack of sleep. It was all well worth it, though.

- "I can sleep on the plane, on the way home." she said.

I managed not to cry when I said goodbye to her at the airport.

Then I had to come to terms with the fact that I would soon be flying away to go seduce more women. Try as I might, I just couldn't figure it out.

We did four more shows in California. Then we said goodbye to Sammy.

Lillian had come up with a solution to the 'Sammy Problem'. It was hard for me to avoid my best friend, to slip away from him at night, so that I could meet women without him knowing about it. I had the terrible feeling that he was going to catch me one day.

So Sammy was going home to Toronto. We wouldn't really need him as much for the World Tour, since we weren't bringing any big sets (like the soundproof booth). Lillian could handle the bookings and arrangements.

Sammy would maintain our webpage, and set up our next Canada-U.S. tour.

He gave me a big hug before leaving.

- "Be careful, man. Don't you go getting distracted." he said.

- "Distracted?"

Sammy glanced meaningfully at Janine, who was talking to her mother. "You know what I mean."

- "No danger there." I promised. I gave him another hug.

Sammy flew to Toronto. Janine, Lillian and I flew to Hawaii - where we did a show - and from there we caught a flight to Japan.

***

#12 Kazumoto Ri Osaka, Japan

We did two shows in Tokyo, mainly to get a feel for how Japanese audiences would respond to our act. We needn't have worried; magic is universal. Added to that, Janine and I had learned a little Japanese as well.

- "Hurry up, Peter!"

- "I can't help it, Janine - they're thinking in Japanese!"

The Osaka show went very well.

Janine nearly killed me, later that night, as she used a lobster pick to pry out one of my fillings.

- "I think you broke my tooth."

- "Oh shut up, you cry baby."

Thank goodness Lillian was there. She used a minor spell to dull the pain a little. That, and quite a bit of sake, got me through the rest of the night.

There was a method to our madness, though. I needed emergency dental work. Lillian got our tour representative to recommend a few reputable dentists. Lillian chose the one she'd had in mind all along.

She'd taken the serendipity idea, and was running with it. Doctor Onoshi was willing to take on the work. He was ably assisted by his dental technician ... Kazumoto Ri.

Ri had been at our show the night before. She did a double take when I walked into the room. I gave her a good look as well, as if I somehow recognized her.

- "You were at the show last night." I said.

- "Yes." she said. "You were most excellent. It was very good."

- "Thank you. I hope that you will be most excellent, too." I grimaced and pointed at my mouth.

Ri grinned. "Oh, yes. We will take excellent care of you."

I got a new filling. I also enjoyed the undivided attention of Miss Kazumoto. She wasn't all that pretty, but she had a lovely smile. She'd dyed her hair an interesting sort of auburn.

Lillian knew a great deal about her. Ri had been, in her younger years, a Harajuku girl. She'd dyed her hair pink, then lime green. She'd worn fluorescent clothing, before finally settling on a style that could only be called Gothic Lolita. She was a little older (and a little wiser, now), but Ri was still fascinated by American pop culture and fashion trends.

She was very excited to have a celebrity in the chair - especially one that she'd seen live only the night before. The office grapevine was very effective: at least half a dozen people came in while Dr. Onoshi drilled and filled, to get a look at the semi-famous gaijin. Ri happily filled them in on who I was, and what I was doing there.

The operation was a success. Ri was flattered by my attentions. When I regained enough control of my mouth to speak without drooling, I tried to express my gratitude to her. I also asked if I might show my appreciation by taking her to dinner.

As serendipity would have it, she'd had plans to go out, but her friend had just cancelled this morning. She hesitated for all of two seconds before agreeing to meet me.

Her office friends were all thrilled, and Ri basked in the spotlight.

I got a filling replaced, too.

***

I found Japan - and the Japanese - fascinating. Their culture is an unusual mix of traditional Japanese and odd Western elements. Sumo wrestling and baseball, for example. It was a bewildering combination to me.

Ri had dressed up a bit. I complimented her on her appearance, but ... the truth was, I was disappointed. At the dentist's office, she looked wholesome and cute in her scrubs. Even her chipmunk smile was endearing.

Now, though, she wore clothing designed to attract attention. She also overdid the makeup. The effect didn't make her look trashy; it just made her look like a girl who tried too hard (and one who spent way too much money on makeup).

Ri took me to a noodle shop (which I enjoyed) and to a karaoke bar (which I didn't). I didn't know (or like) the songs, and I didn't know the people who were mangling them. It's probably different when you do this with your office co-workers, and you've had a lot to drink.

Upon closer inspection, I found Ri to be a nice girl. She was rather plain, but wanted very much to be special. For several years, she'd tried to stay ahead of the fashion curve - with mixed success.

A famous gaijin magician? I was just too special to pass up.

Ri was prepared to come back to my hotel when she was still working on my teeth. A celebrity? A gaijin? A magician? She would have a million things to tell her friends, afterwards. The only real questions in her mind were

a) what flavor condom?

b) does he have a heroic member?

The answers to those questions were a) cherry, and b) oh my.

Ri came back to my hotel, eager to see what it looked like (the hotel, I mean). She gladly accepted a drink of scotch (straight), and then began to strip for me.

Her face might have been plain, but her hair was luxurious. She had small, but very pretty tits, and a tight little body. I had no complaints at all.

Until we started the foreplay. She was naked, stretched out on my bed, as I kissed her neck, and caressed her little boobies.

Ri started to chirp. It was an odd sound - halfway between a bird and a chipmunk. When I kissed my way across her breast, and sucked her tiny nipple into my mouth, she began to make another series of unusual noises.

- "Eee! Ee! Eee!"

It was such a plaintive cry that I immediately stopped.

- "Too sensitive?" I asked.

- "Huh? she said. Apparently not.

The foreplay continued. Ri continued to chirp as I went down on her. It was her idea to spin around, to move into a 69. In addition to the pleasurable sensations I was experiencing, I also didn't have to listen to her unusual vocal reactions.

When we returned to a face to face position, I finally penetrated her (wearing my fluorescent, bright red cherry flavoured condom). Ri began to whimper.

I immediately stopped thrusting.

- "Are you alright? Am I hurting you?"

- "No." She looked as confused as I was.

- "I'm sorry - I thought ..."

I'd learned a number of Japanese phrases, but even magic can't teach you to be fluent in a new language overnight. I just didn't have the vocabulary to address this situation. Likewise, Ri spoke a fair bit of English, but she wasn't fully bilingual either.

She assured me that I wasn't hurting her, and seemed willing to continue.

I went down on her a second time, to get both of us back to where we'd been. As soon as I entered her again, though, she began to whimper.

It was than a little off-putting. It didn't seem to matter if I pumped her hard, or settled into a more gentle rhythm.

- "Ee! Ee! Eee ..."

In a moment of what I thought was pure genius, I flipped Ri over, onto her stomach. Then I penetrated her from behind, and began to thrust into her. Once I got my timing right, I began to pound it to her - hard.

- "Eep! EEEP!" Ri tried to keep chirping and whimpering, but she had a hard time keeping up with me. "Eep! Unnhh ..." Now that was a sound I could get behind.

It was a much more satisfying fuck for me - and she seemed to enjoy it, too.