AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“From the way he looks at you every time you’re near, I wouldn’t worry.”
“What?”
“The entire time we were at Mystique’s place, he was staring at you like a lovestruck puppy.”
“Thanks for that. Later, partner,” Pro said as she hung up the phone. So, Luther was mooning over her all the while she was looking at him like he was the last lollipop on earth. Not a bad way to start a relationship.
Not a bad way at all.
She went inside the lobby, up the stairs, and took one last look around the theater, just as the lights began to dim. She quickly sat in the aisle seat next to Luther.
“I figured you wanted to be on the aisle,” he murmured. Pro was amazed that even talking quietly he could sound so damn sexy.
“Yeah, thanks,” Pro whispered.
Music began playing, an upbeat version of “That Old Black Magic.” A voice announced over the sound system. “Welcome to A Night of Wonder, and here is your host for this evening, Malcolm Shaut!”
The music shifted into a triumphant blaring of horns and Shaut came through the closed curtain, resplendent in his tuxedo. Pro had to admit, he was much more impressive on stage than he was in real life.
“Good evening, and welcome to the show. I am happy to announce that as of this week, A Night of Wonder has broken the record for the longest running magic show in New York City!”
This received applause from the audience, and Shaut waited until it subsided.
“The record we broke was set by us at our last show,” he said, which got groans from the crowd. “But all kidding aside, we have been running continuously in New York City for twenty-five years.”
Another round of applause filled the room.
“I was fifteen when I started this show,” Shaut kidded. “But seriously, we have some of the best magical talent from around the world, and I want to introduce you to our first act. Opening for us tonight is an act that always delivers. How about a hand for Brent the Great!”
The curtain opened and Shaut stepped to the wings. There was a small table held up by a black metal stand center stage, which bore a three-tiered candelabrum. Music began to play, Brent came out in a red velvet suit jacket, red tie with formal pants, and a wing-tip collar shirt. The crowd applauded as Brent acknowledged them.
Pro frowned for a minute. Where had he been backstage?
As music played, Brent pulled a candle from the holder, and with a gesture, it seemed to melt and become a white silk handkerchief, which Brent put into his front jacket pocket.
He picked up the second candle pulled, the silk from his pocket to cover it, and it vanished. When he opened the handkerchief, a series of folded silks began to bloom in the center of the white silk. More and more unfolded, until he held an impossible amount of different colored silks in his hand. Finally, as the last silk unwound, a small rubber ball was in the center.
He picked up the ball and set the silks on top of his table. He bounced it once, twice, and then threw it into the air, and it was gone. The audience applauded. Brent took the final candle and seemed to press down on the top of it. It began to shrink until all he held in his hand was the small, white rubber ball he had vanished moments earlier.
“This guy’s pretty good,” Luther whispered to Pro. She nodded. She was surprised, even though Brent had talked about doing his own act, she didn’t expect his skills and routining to be so strong.
He took the small ball and bounced it, and all at once there was two. With the flip of his hand there were three. He reached up and pulled a fourth ball out of the air. When he turned back to the audience he had white rubber balls between the fingers of both hands, eight in total. The music stopped as he put the balls away behind his table.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” Brent said in a powerful voice, so unlike the whiny one he used most of the time. “I want to share with you an effect of my own creation that I have been working on for a long time. I will need someone willing to select a card.”
A man raised his hand in the front row, and Brent asked him up on stage. He quickly had the man select a card and sign it with a permanent marker that appeared at Brent’s fingertips.
Brent had the man return it to the deck, and after a series of clever shuffles, handed the volunteer cards and asked him to locate his selection. As the man searched the deck, Brent pulled out a clear plastic bag with slips of paper in it.
“It’s not here,” th
e volunteer explained, and Brent nodded in agreement.
“How surprising! Now, in this bag I have all the numbers of the audience seats here tonight—literally hundreds.” He opened the bag and let the man look and pull several out, and he noted they were all different. The man put the slips back in the clear bag, and Brent shook it up to mix the papers.
“Focus your mind, and reach in and select only one,” Brent said. The volunteer reached in and held one slip aloft. “Read it!”
“Seat C10,” the man said.
