1) The story must be AU, CC, and
with the rating of R or NC-17.
2) Set in San Francisco.
3) Everyone approximately 25 years of age.
4) Maria has a haunting past that once tormented her, but she has survived to
move on and now is an owner of a Candle Shop. Her best friend and roommate is
Tess Hardy, who is a University student.
5) Michael Guerin (I think I will keep his own name) is one of the richest men
in town. His brother is Kyle, who for a short time has come to live with him and
is in need of his help. His lawyer is Max Evans, a man engaged to his pregnant
fiancée, Liz Parker.
6) Isabel Evans is a shy woman with no real love life, and she is ready to find
true love.
7) Alex is a famous DJ in the town, spinning disc with a classic rock sound.
8) They must all meet, fall in love, and find something in themselves.
9) Must end CC.
Bell, Book and Candle
For Frensi in Italy
Chapter One: Finding the Truth in Vertical Lines
Mercantile. By definition, the word ‘mercantile’ means ‘of or pertaining to merchants or trade.’ So, by that very definition, the welcoming ring of the bell above the door was the first part of business for a merchant. It was that blessed ring that in some cultures could mean so many things. Obviously for a pagan, it had a totally different connotation than the blessed meaning it has for other religions. But, for a Merchant, it signaled the arrival or departure of a customer. Bell ringing was once considered to be a blessing, and as the customer entered the premises, a blessing of good fortune was placed on the store. So when the hell did that nice quaint blessing become twisted and convoluted into something reeking of ill manners, rudeness, and irritating insolence? “What the hell is this crap?” Michael Guerin, evil customer incarnate, the ringer and bearer of not blessings, but rather curses, bellowed to the back room, separated by a curtain of beads. “Yo! Hey! Customer here! Some granola-crunching, ugly Birkenstock shoe-wearin’ hippy wannabe, want to make Pita bread money? Assistance would be nice!” Michael looked around the small shop with a total lack of interest. This was a bad idea. Obviously, since the workers were no doubt out back, smoking weed and snorting the essential oils of the place. Note to self, fire your damn secretary who sent you to this shop. “Sorry, I was in the middle of hot dipping wax.” Michael’s brow went up at the small delicate woman wearing a flimsy wraparound dress that was formfitting and flattering. Taking his time, he ogled her body, spending a bit of time on her legs which were bare and exposed. Okay, so normally he was a breast man, but he was also known to appreciate a great pair of legs, especially when attached to a voice that sounded like hers. A voice like that always came with a nice set of legs. “Hello?” Maria frowned, looking at the man who moments before had been pacing frantically around her shop, but now seemed mesmerized. Maybe he was having a seizure? He had a sort of doltish half smile on his face, and his eyes were… She dipped her head trying to follow where he was staring at to get his attention. “Hello? Did you need assistance?” Was it a drop seizure? Nope. He was still standing. “Sir?” “Huh?” Michael slowly followed her voice upward. Okay, so the breasts were small, much smaller than he preferred. Actually, he was sort of tiring of the overblown boob jobs that seemed to grace his world lately. All the women who ran in his circles seemed to have shared the same plastic surgeon. Neck was lean and long with wisps of golden hair making it appear even more delicate. The mouth. Pausing, Michael stared at her mouth. Oh damn! Perfect! Large puffy lips, well formed...the type of mouth that demanded attention. If it was natural and not collagen based, he bet she had hated her mouth as a child. It took little boys a long time to appreciate the parts of beauty that as a child appeared unnatural. ‘Fish Lips’ one day stops looking like someone to tease, and becomes something to worship, pant over, and chase with obsession. God, he loved teenage hormones! The woman stood there, uncertain what to do. The once bellowing loud customer seemed lost in another world. Clearing her throat, she patiently waited,recounting in her mind how the customer was always right. Michael’s eyes finally finished the journey to her eyes. Golden whiskey brown eyes met a pair of green ones, alive and radiant. Her eyes were dark and deep, alive and expressive. Green eyes. Beautiful. “Hel-lo?” Michael shook himself back to reality. The concern in her voice and the dawning apprehension in her eyes clued him in that he was staring. She was delicate and fair. What the fuck was wrong with him? “Sorry, I was just stunned that someone actually decided to serve me,” Michael inwardly cringed at his own biting voice, hurling insults at her to cover up his momentary brain freeze. Almost groaning aloud, he watched as her green eyes took on a new element. Anger. He watched as she struggled to keep it under control, and instead met his eyes with a chilly indifference as she plastered a cool smile on her face. “Well, I’m here now. What can I help you with?” “About time. I’m a busy man.” Michael knew he was being unfair. He had tried to talk his secretary into doing this for him, but she refused. “My secretary tells me that you have special candles and make gift baskets.” “All my candles are special. And I do make gift baskets.” “Good. That’s what I want.” Maria frowned at the man. “Alright, I can do that. Did you find a candle or candles you wanted? Or did you need a few more moments?” “Find a candle? I thought you did that. Just give me a basket of stuff that will help inspire calmness, reasonable thinking, and compliance.” “Who is this basket for, exactly?” “My fiancée. I need to give her some papers to sign before the wedding and I thought it would be nice to…” “Dress it up into something more romantic?” Michael sneered at that. Romantic? He was marrying her, wasn’t he? He bought the damn ring, paid for the wedding preparations and everything. What else was needed? “Yeah, sure. Whatever.” Maria looked at her customer in confusion. “You are getting married, right? This is a real person….a woman that you’re marrying?” “Do I look gay?” Maria shrugged as she quickly scanned her inventory and pulled out few potential candles. “I’m not sure what gay looks like, so I can’t say.” She smelt a few of the candles. “These are nice. Some have a nice lavender and Chamomile mixed with a more soothing cypress oil.” She held it out for him to sniff. “Great. That’s great. I want your magical ones that have calming effects. The calmer, the better.” “Magical?” Maria said with a frown between her brows. “I can’t call anything I sell magical, but certain essential oils have noted effects on people and their moods.” Maria sighed at the misconception Michael seemed to be under. “There is no Craft in my aromatic candles. Just all natural essential oils and scents.” “Good. That’s what I want.” Maria nodded, and searched the shelves for a few more smaller candles. “How much do you want to spend? I can put in a few essential oils for burning that make the house smell good. Many of these candles don’t need to be burned. They will give off their scents to the room. I really like the rosemary and lavender scent. Do you know what scent your fiancée enjoys?” “Why would I?” Maria rolled her eyes. “Very well. Just give me a price range, and maybe tell me a little about what your fiancée likes to do, her personality, and perhaps try to give me a good descriptive sentences or two of what you think of her.” Michael looked at his watch in irritation. “I’m marrying her. What is there to really know?” Maria stopped in exasperation putting her hands on her hips. This had to be a joke. A prank at the very least. “Okay. You do know this woman right?” “I’m marrying her.” “So you keep saying.” Maria gave up and quickly collected some items. Anything to get him out of her store. Putting in special candles and essential oils that she deemed ‘necessary’ for any woman destined to share a life with this man, it was unfortunate she couldn’t add a card for a marriage counselor. “How long is this going to take?” “Not as long as I’m sure it took for you to get engaged.” “What does that mean?” Michael asked narrowing his eyes. “You don’t know anything about my relationship with my fiancée.” “Apparently neither do you,” Maria said under her breath as she quickly made a nice basket, and totaled up the materials and added her standard fee. “There you go. Do you want me to place the papers in the basket, or would you like to add them later?” “No. I’ve got them right here. I prefer them not to be the first thing she finds.” “Soooo, a surprise!” Maria voice lifted, somehow relieved that perhaps this man’s emotions weren’t as frozen as they appeared on the surface. “Perhaps the honeymoon tickets? Or a special gift?” “Prenuptial agreement,” muttered Michael distractedly. Maria stopped as she was decorating the basket. “Excuse me?” “What?” He saw the horror on her face. “It’s standard procedure nowadays.” “Oh, Lord!” “What?” He didn’t like her tone. He wasn’t a freak. This was his usual procedure. No way he was going to be left to the mercy of losing everything he owned in a messy divorce. “Divorce is nasty nowadays. This makes things easier.” Maria slammed a few objects down hard on her counter, feeling for this poor mentally challenged woman that somehow found herself engaged to this man. “Did it occur to you that most people enter into marriage with the very idea of ‘til death do us part’ as really something they believe in? They marry with the intent of being together for the rest of their lives and not with the goal of divorce?” “Not realizing it’s possible is unrealistic.” “Preparing for it is insulting!” Michael pushed his hands into his jeans’ pockets. “You selling me some of this mumbo jumbo crap, or not? I don’t think I came here to get your opinion.” “Of course not. This is ready.” Maria turned the basket to him, showing him it from all sides. It was pretty, smelly, and best of all, he couldn’t see the papers immediately. Looked like something a chick would like. “Great. How much?” Maria quickly told him the price and ignored his shocked look at the amount. Great, he was a cheapskate too. Looks could be deceiving. He didn’t look like a reprehensible man. “She had better like this.” Maria took his credit card and quickly processed it. Anything to get him gone. “Sign here,” she looked at his credit card. “Mr. Guerin. Could I please see another form of ID to check the signature?” Michael showed her his driver’s license. Maria watched him leave carrying the large basket, frowning at her ringing bell that seemed to echo long after he left. Some women were so lucky. And some were not. She snorted as she felt the soft brush of a cat against her ankle. “Jinxy, what are you doing down here? C’mon. I’ll take you upstairs.” ~~~ “Kathleen, what the hell did you get me into?” Michael shook his head at this secretary’s clueless look. “That damn store, Bell, Book and Candle? It was a whacked place.” Kathleen smiled, imagining her boss in the very delicate candle store, with the hand blown glass and artistic candles and smells. “So what did you think of Maria?” “Was that her name?” Michael said, feigning disinterest. “She was very helpful once she finally decided to come out of the back room. A little too opinionated for a shop worker.” “She’s not the shop worker, Michael. She’s the owner. She does it all herself. I think she has a few college students that help do unloading and restocking on the weekends, but otherwise she does all the candles and glass blowing herself.” “Glass blowing? I noticed some of that. She put one in the basket.” Michael handed it over to Kathleen who made a pleased sound. “God! This is gorgeous. It’s a hand-blown candle holder.” Kathleen held it up to the light, and Michael had to admit that it was very beautiful. “Don’t mess anything up in there. I’m giving it to….um,….” “Daphne.” “I know her name!” Michael said with irritation. “Anyway, confirm my dinner reservations at Chez Panisse.” “You’re taking her to Berkley? You hate Chez Panisse.” “Yeah, I hate it, but Daphne loves it, or so she tells me.” “Wow, boss. You actually listened? I wouldn’t have credited you with that.” Kathleen smacked her head. “Oops. Forgot this was the prenuptial agreement date. Scratch that. You are unobservant and insensitive.” “Thank you kindly. Just do it.” Michael took his messages. “Call about my tuxedo pick up. The wedding is this weekend, so have them deliver it.” “Michael, the wedding is in three days. Not this weekend, like it’s a million years away. Three. Days.” Michael stopped and looked back at Kathleen. “Are you sure? That seems rather close. Do I have any last minute crap, like family rehearsals and shit?” “Daphne was in this morning. She left you an itinerary.” Kathleen Topolsky was a discreet woman. One that didn’t like too many intimate details, but she couldn’t resist. “She made it sound like she hasn’t seen you in days.” “She hasn’t. Literally in weeks. Months even. Since I proposed, she took the ring, and has been living at her parents’ house with girlfriends giggling and planning the big event.” “Too bad,” said Kathleen said softly to herself. “What’s that?” Kathleen shrugged. “Well, before your engagement is over, it would’ve been nice if you had a nice intimate sexual affair out of it. Sounds like she cut you off until the wedding.” “We still sleep together. Or at least have sex. She just goes home afterwards.” Michael frowned. That was the problem. Once he slept with a woman, he felt she was in the bag. He proposed, and suddenly his bed was empty again. Disturbing trend. “Doesn’t matter. Sex is overrated.” Kathleen shook her head as he went in his office. “Only if you’re doing something wrong,” she said softly. ~~~ “Well, Rockers, it’s been over a month and I’m still reeling from the news that Rob Trujillo has joined Metallica. That means Metallica is a full unit again! Fighting strong, where the metal meets the meat!” Alex Whitman looked up from his broadcast to his friend through the glass. Waving, he motioned for Michael Guerin to join him in the recording booth. “You've all known that I’ve been huge fan of Rob since the early '90s when he was part of the legendary Hardcore Metal band, Suicidal Tendencies. I got to know Rob when he played with Suicidal in Europe in 1993, during the 'Nowhere Else To Roam' tour. I was a young man then, but he really impressed me, perhaps shaped my life. I was impressed by Rob's roaring bass style and his very cool, unique vibe onstage, things I got to see again during the '94' "Summer Shit" tour when Suicidal Tendencies ruled. Rob was also one of the masterminds behind the 90' cult band Infectious Grooves. He started Infectious together with Mike Muir, the lead singer of Suicidal. Infectious delivered classic album titles like 'Plague That Makes Your Booty Move.' He then joined the Godfather of Metal, Ozzy Osbourne in '96. Rob is a monster talent, and I can’t wait to see what he brings to Metallica. To celebrate this event, tonight is all-Rob night, so set it back for some Suicidal Tendencies, and let KSAN 107.7 The Bone, Classic Rock that Rocks, take you away….” Alex quickly cranked up the music and flipped the switch so he could talk to Michael. “Hey, man, what’s up? You know it’s after midnight, right?”1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Close