Just a Little Magic Ch. 10

- "I would love to ... Peter."

I leaned forward, and kissed her on the cheek.

- "Goodnight."

***

We boarded the Singapore Airlines flight to Mumbai, and took our seats in first-class.

Vicky gasped when she saw me.

Serendipity, my dear. Destiny, Fate ... call it what you will.

She recovered quickly enough; after all, she had a job to do, routines to take shelter behind. But in unguarded moments, I found her studying me from across the cabin.

It was a five and a half hour flight. The time just flew by. When it was time to disembark, I leaned close to Vicky.

- "When I said that I wanted to see you again ... I still do ..."

She let me kiss her on the cheek again.

***

#9 Kavia Gujarat, India

We did two shows in Mumbai, a city of 18 1/2 million people. It intimidated the hell of out me. The sights, the smells, the sounds ... they were so different.

- "Culture shock." said Lillian. "It's probably been building since Japan. Staying in hotels, in big cities, insulates you - but only so much."

- "What do I about it?" I asked.

- "Tough it out. There's no cure. It's not a disease. You just deal with it."

The shows in Mumbai were fairly successful. It's not like we were trying to reach 18 million people - just a few hundred who liked magic, or wanted a 'different' type of show, a novelty that they could brag to their acquaintances about (and that they were willing to pay top dollar for).

Then we travelled north to a city called Vadodara, in Gujarat.

Janine called Kavia up to be our fourth volunteer. I'd given up on pretending to be an usher after my experiences in Japan and China. I just couldn't pass as a local; everyone knew instantly that I didn't belong. It wasn't going to work in India, either.

So when Kavia strutted up onto the stage, it was my first good look at her.

Dark brown, shoulder length hair. Exceptional eyes. Prominent nose. Lipstick a little too bright. And an expression on her face that made me dislike her almost immediately.

I didn't know quite what to call that expression. Contempt? Distaste? It was only afterwards, when I compared notes with Lillian, that she used the word that stuck in my mind forever after that - the word that I associated with Kavia from then on.

Supercilious.

She just acted so damn superior, like we should have rolled out the red carpet for her, because didn't we know who she was? It made my fingers itch - only later did I understand that this came from the overwhelming urge to smack that expression off her face.

No - I don't believe in hitting anyone. Especially not a woman. That doesn't meant that I'm not tempted, sometimes. Smugness affects me that way, though. So does arrogance.

It didn't affect the show. Much. I could see that Janine was holding herself back.

See, Janine was spectacularly hot. If I haven't made it clear by now, she was a 10. Even the Russian judge would've given her a 9. Whereas Kavia was a 7. Borderline 8, tops.

Except that she acted like she was a 12.

I use the word 'acted' for a reason. From the moment we first met, Kavia was interested in yours truly. She'd been subject to Lillian's spell, of course. Then she'd looked up our videos. By the time she came up on stage, she was well and truly primed.

Kavia showed her intentions by acting like the bitch-queen of Gujarat. It didn't spoil the show. But it did leave me confused. Was this supposed to impress me? Was she expecting me to follow her back into the audience?

- "Holy shit." I whispered to Janine, as we took our bow after the show.

- "I know. But having her killed isn't an option."

I was surprised to find Kavia among the people waiting after the show. But true to form, she didn't stand with the others, at the foot of the stage; instead, she sat in an empty seat at the end of the second row.

Then she watched us. I was even more surprised when Kavia got up and left - without speaking a word to me.

***

We weren't all that worried. Let me rephrase that: Lillian and Janine weren't worried. We still had our serendipity event planned.

I went to lunch - alone - at a very upscale restaurant in Vadodara. It was expensive - and even more expensive for us, because we'd treated a number of people to free lunches.

When Kavia arrived at her favourite restaurant, every single table was occupied.

She was furious. Incandescent. One short second from a major outburst, a typhoon of rage. Then she saw me sitting alone, at a table for two.

Calculation replaced anger. Kavia shared a few choice words with the Head waiter. That poor fellow carefully approached my table.

- "Sir ..."

- "It's fine. The lady can share my table, at least until my guest arrives."

- "Thank you, sir. Thank you."

I stood up as she approached.

- "Hello, Kavia." I said. She wasn't the least bit surprised that I remembered her name.

- "Mr. Grey." she said. "Thank you for letting me sit at your table."

- "You're welcome. Unfortunately, it's only until my guest arrives."

- "Your guest?"

- "My partner. Janine."

- "Ah. I see." she said. Kavia pretended to be unconcerned, but her competitive juices were flowing. "I'm meeting someone, myself. As soon as he arrives, I'll be ... out of your hair."

- "It's no trouble."

There was a moment of silence. With Vicky in Singapore, I would've been trying desperately to find a subject of conversation.

With Kavia, I chose complete silence.

She was from a rich family, with a largely decorative job in a publishing house. Kavia had always moved in upper-class circles, where her beauty (7.2, I'd decided), combined with her father's wealth made her a major item.

Men had pursued her, worshipped her, spent money on her. She was susceptible to celebrities, or semi-celebrities - at the moment, she was waiting for a cricket player from the Baroda team. Poor fellow - he wasn't going to make it today, because of two flat tires.

I took my call first. It was Lillian.

- "Really?" I said. I waited a moment. "Fine. I'll call you later."

Kavia listened with intent.

- "Your friend isn't coming?" she said, with a little smirk.

- "Apparently not. You can share my table as long as you like."

Kavia enjoyed herself for another few minutes, until Rajeev called to inform her that he wouldn't be able to meet her for lunch.

- "What? Two?" she said. "Bullshit." she muttered.

I didn't laugh. I didn't smirk. She wasn't going to miss her date's company; what she regretted was losing the opportunity to show me how much she was in demand.

- "Am I to guess that we're both lunching alone?" I asked. "Perhaps we should eat together."

- "Since we're already sitting here ... why not?" she said.

The meal was fairly good. Kavia lectured me on what I should have ordered.

- "It's my first time in India." I said. "I thought that I should be careful, at first."

- "No risk, no gain." said Kavia. "Tell me, Mr. Grey - how long will you be in Gujarat?"

- "A week. We have a show in Delhi on the 12th."

I'd been playing it cool, showing next to no interest. Kavia wasn't accustomed to this. I wasn't trying to impress her, or throwing money around. She was interested; she had no way of knowing if I was, though. She decided to gamble, and changed her strategy.

- "Do you have a tour guide? I could recommend an excellent one."

- "Oh?" She meant herself, of course.

- "Do you like beaches, Mr. Grey? Because the very best beach in all of India is just minutes away from my family's home near Surat."

- "Really? Are you inviting me to your family home, Miss Kavia?"

- "You read my mind last night, Peter Grey. Can you read it now?"

I could. I didn't need magic to do it, either.

Kavia drove like a maniac. She had a powerful little sports car, and she was obviously accustomed to driving at high speeds. Vadodara is 150 km from Surat - that's 3 hours of travel time, usually. We made it in just over 2 hours. She didn't kill anybody on the way - for which I was very grateful.

- "Did I manage to elevate your heartbeat?" she asked.

- "Last night - yes. Today, I think my heart just stopped." I said.

She liked that answer. Kavia didn't talk too much as she drove, which allowed me to read her mind. She was considering a variety of options for seducing me. Dinner at the Cliffside restaurant. A quick meal at the local, with copious quantities of alcohol ... she wondered if I knew about arrack.

- "You don't have to get me drunk, Kavia." I said. "We pretty much committed ourselves when we left Vadodara. I will gladly eat and fuck you into a coma. You just have to feed me, first, and then choose a location. I'll leave that up to you."

She took a deep breath.

- "Can you really read minds?"

- "I didn't have to. Your nipples have been hard since we passed Ankleshwar. You've been thinking about seducing me since last night."

- "Fuck. You can read minds."

- "I can smell your arousal, Kavia. But yes - I can also read your mind."

- "Oh, shit. Really?"

- "We're almost there, aren't we?"

- "Yes." she admitted.

- "Then you should stop for food. Because when we get to your house, I'm going to do exactly what you hoped I would."

- "Oh ..."

Kavia had to pull over. She quickly considered her options.

"What ... what am I thinking now?"

- "You're trying to decide between the noodle place - Bharauji's? - and the curry. Let's do the noodles. It's closer. And we may have to fuck before dinner as it is."

- "Oh, God ..."

***

Kavia would have described herself as a very sexual person. She thought about it all the time, and had had a number of relationships, or liaisons, as she called them. She loved being desired, being pursued, and she liked having sex.

She just wasn't very good at it.

Kavia lay back and waited for me to please her; if I could, then she'd consider fucking me again. She would have made an exception, of course, if I was an A-list celebrity, or a Crown Prince. She was a first-class snob.

She was also spoiled rotten, opinionated, and completely selfish. Under any other circumstances, I'd have wanted absolutely nothing to do with her.

Instead, I gave her the royal treatment. Kavia was kissed, licked, sucked and fucked into submission. It was a new experience for her; most of the men she'd been with were egomaniacs just like her, interested only in their own pleasure.

I discovered that you don't actually have to like someone to have sex with them.

After dinner, she wanted more. I obliged her. Then, while she lay panting, recovering from her third orgasm, I took her again.

Kavia had plenty of practice acting like a bitch - and getting away with it. She wasn't accustomed to being dominated by someone devoted to giving her pleasure. Her thoughts were in turmoil.

The next morning, she took me to see Suvali beach.

- "It's one of the best beaches in India." she said. "The cleanest, too."

- "We're not staying?" She'd brought towels, bathing suits, sunscreen ... yet she was already walking back towards her car.

- "You'll see."

She took me to a private beach. There was absolutely no one else there - as she'd know there wouldn't be. I got the hint: I ate her and then fucked her on the big towels.

We swam in the ocean for a bit, to cool off. Kavia led me back to the towels, where she actually went down on me - mostly just to get me hard so that I could fuck her again.

- "Lunch?" she suggested.

While we ate, Kavia was planning the rest of our day: take me back to her house, and get me to go down on her again. Following that, get ready for dinner, and take me to a fashionable country club where she could show me off to a portion of her social circle, and simultaneously impress me by letting me see how well-known she was.

Fuck that shit.

I had her order take-away for our evening meal, which we could re-heat when we were ready to eat. Then I outlined my agenda for the rest of the day: a thorough pussy-licking, followed by a fuck (in a position or positions to be determined). Then a nap. Showers, then dinner. Cuddling on the back deck, under the stars, followed by as much sex as she was still up for.

Kavia changed her plans. "You're very convincing, you know?"

- "I can be persuasive."

- "I was hoping to introduce you to some of my friends ..."

Kavia didn't have real friends; she had a social circle, connections, acquaintances ...

- "I don't care about your friends, Kavia." I said. "I'm only interested in you."

I was a creature well beyond her surprisingly limited experience. Nevertheless, Kavia decided that it might be worth her while to step a little outside her comfort zone.

It might sound like I was having a great time; not too many guys were going to complain about a sexual marathon with an attractive woman. After all, I was in charge, and I was having plenty of orgasms of my own.

It was just ... I didn't like her. I kept looking for bright spots, for redeeming features - and not finding them. And I wasn't about to change her, or find her suddenly transformed into a beautiful butterfly.

I had her drive me back to Vadodara, citing urgent business. I promised to let her take me out the next day.

In typical Kavia fashion, she took me to a cricket match - so that her former (now-ex) 'liaison' could see her with her new beau. She was using me, and I hated it.

The cricket was okay - it was like a cooler version of baseball - and I was enjoying the play, once I understood how the scoring worked. What I didn't realize was that cricket was played for six to eight hours a day, over three to five days.

I let Kavia know that I wasn't happy with her.

- "I'm not a toy, or a piece of clothing, or jewelry. You don't take me out just so that you can show me off. Fortunately, I enjoyed the cricket. But you'd better think twice before you do something like that to me again."

She was sorry. Sorry that I was angry, but not remorseful enough that she wouldn't try exactly the same thing on another occasion.

"I was going to take you back to my hotel, but I'm too annoyed."

- "I'm sorry, Peter. Really, I am." she said.

She wasn't.

- "I need some time to think, Kavia. So do you. I really enjoyed being alone with you, in Surat. But I'm not prepared to be a possession that you can display to your friends."

She was properly remorseful for all of two minutes.

She followed us to Delhi, where we did two more shows. She actually attended the second show, and waited (with ill-concealed impatience) afterwards. As a reward, I took her back to my hotel room and gave her a thorough fucking. I don't remember getting much sleep that night.

Kavia was thoroughly hooked. The sex, yes ... but also the way I treated her. I went out of my way to please her (sexually), but refused to concede to her wishes to show me off in public. She didn't understand me - but she wanted more.

*****