Max Murphy, stage manager extraordinaire, crumbled into his chair. A fourpack of Starbucks went on the table in front of him. Adrian, writer, director and producer of this soon-to-be theatrical experience quirked an eyebrow at him.
“Are those all for you, or were you planning to share?”
Max just gestured towards the cups. His gesture floated out a bit too far and the steam rising from the coffee made a guerrilla attempt at scalding his hand. Max snatched his hand back and ended up toppling over backwards in his chair. He did not bother to get up.
“Rough night?” Adrian smirked over the rim of his cup.
“I didn’t get much sleep. Well, not much restful sleep,” Max amended.
“Bad dreams?”
“You have no idea. I was at the Mall of America, and there was a demoness and an attempt on my life…”
“How much of this was dream and how much reality?”
“I’m not certain. I think–”
Kai, the leading man, swept through and regally laid claim to the venti soy latte. Kai was graceful, handsome and an absolute bitch on wheels. He was also a pixie with a penchant for masquerading as a human and an over-developed flair for the dramatic. It served him well on stage, less so in life.
“You’re welcome,” Max said pointedly. Then he managed to give himself a papercut on the yellow legal pad he kept for notes. Kai smirked.
“Well, it looks like it will be another wonderful day, courtesy of Murphy Enterprises. We’re so blessed to have you around.”
“Back off, pixie sticks, or you’ll see just how blessed I can be.”
“Touchy, touchy.”
“Kai,” Adrian said in that hyper-serene tone of voice that brooked no mutiny, “would you be so good as to go and notify the ladies in the foyer that we’re about to begin? I take it you have them already organized?”
“Of course.” Kai sniffed and swept out. He paused in the doorway just long enough to shadow a dramatically posed silhouette, then let the door slam shut behind him. Typical.
“That pixie is such a fairy,” Max muttered.
The corners of Adrian’s mouth quirked upwards, just a tad.
“You ready for a long day?”
Max groaned and reached for his coffee.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
The latch clanked and the door swung open. A tall, brunette beauty swept into the room. Adrian made a small sound of approval in his throat.
“Know how to make an entrance,” he murmured.
Max glanced up. The scent of Chanel no.5 hit him first. It was all too familiar, on the heels of last night’s dreams. But it was her face that took his breath away. Reaching for a pencil, he tipped his coffee and sent a brown flood washing across the table. Max didn’t notice.
The woman of his dreams had just walked into the audition hall.
***
Max sat in the third floor food court area of the Mall of America. His table was right next to the balcony, so he had a great view of the people wandering down below as well as those walking past on his level. Max leaned against the railing, sipping his Orange Julius through an equally orange straw and watching the world go by.
The world looked back at him. Or rather, one woman did. One woman who, Demetrius being bated, Helena’d give to be to her translated. She was beautiful, brunette and flawless, with legs all the way down to the floor. Those legs were carrying her towards Max at a striking pace.
She drew eyes to her like honey drew flies, but she only had eyes for Max. Not once did her smoldering gaze leave his face. It did not go unnoticed.
“Hello,” she breathed once she reached him.
“Hello yourself,” Max smiled back.
Now Max was getting a glance or two. A man in a John Deer cap glowered and reached for a cup of coffee. His attention wasn’t where it should have been and the cup tipped, spilling hot liquid all over his crotch. The man jumped to his feet swearing.
Max’s eyes flicked for the barest instant towards the commotion. The woman reached out and trailed one nail gently down Max’s cheek. His eyes locked on her once more. She smelled of Chanel no.5 and her nails were lacquered rose red. She smiled.
“Buy a girl a drink?”
Max grinned, bemused.
“Sure. Coffee? Or something stronger?”
“Something stronger, I think.”
She flipped her hair over her shoulder and the two of them were sitting at a crowded bar. There was a martini in from of Max and the lady appeared to have some sort of fizzy offering with a tiny umbrella. The ice in her drink cracked.
The woman’s eyes were a bit wild. The sultry air that had hung about her a moment ago was gone, replaced by something else, something decidedly dangerous. Eyes hard as flint, she shot a wary look towards Max.
“What the hell did you just do?”
“Me? Nothing.” Max reached out one languid hand and claimed his martini. “This is all your doing. You wanted a drink, remember?”
“I wanted a nightcap in a twilight hotel, with soft backlighting and a convenient bed. This has none of those things.”
“I guess your aim was off.”
“Impossible.”
“Apparently not, for here we are.” Max gestured at their surrounding with his drink before taking a small sip. “Mm, perfect. Just how I like it.”
The woman picked up her drink and took a small sip. Her face immediately soured and she set the drink back on the bar.
“Well, this is certainly not what I expected.”
“What did you expect?”
“An overly idealistic trust-fund brat who didn’t have the good sense to stay home and let mommy and daddy give him everything he’d ever wanted.”
“Oh, well, you found that.” Max slid an olive from the garnish with his teeth and bit down gently.
“Apparently that’s not all I have found.”
“Oh? What else?” Max washed down the remnants of the olive with another sip of gin.
“You tell me. I can’t finesse your dreams, I can’t leave, I can’t shift things so they attack you…just what have you done to me?”
“Ah. This is a dream. That explains a lot.”
“You didn’t know?” She stared at him incredulously.
“Not until just now.” Max grinned. “I suppose that makes you, what, a succubus?”
“You’re not as dumb as I was told you’d be.”
“And just who, exactly, told you I’d be an easy mark?”
The succubus shot Max another smoldering glance. She picked up her drink with one hand and toyed with her hair with the other.
“I don’t think so. Information appears to be my only bargaining chip, at the moment.”
“For the moment.”
“So…”
“So what?”
“Why don’t we make a deal? I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
“I’m not sleeping with you. One kiss and I’ll never wake up.”
“Don’t be so dramatic.” The succubus rolled her eyes. “It takes a bit more than one kiss, and we’re past time for that in any case. I was referring to an information trade.”
“Ah.” Max took another drink. “Question for question? I suppose that might be interesting.”
“I can make it very interesting,” the succubus promised.
“Alright, I’ll bite. Let’s do it.”
“Very well.” The succubus leaned back on her barstool. “What’s your first question?”
“Why don’t we start with your name? What should I call you?”
Max smiled. The succubus looked startled. They might as well have a bit of fun, so long as they were stuck here.
***
“Oh my god, you did not!”
Max was laughing breathlessly into his drink. Tears of hilarity were streaming down his face. Across from him, the succubus was actually smiling.
“I did! I swear. Devil’s honor.”
Mona extended two fingers and gave herself little horns. She waggled her fingers and Max practically snorted his martini. His fifth martini. Mona straightened.
“Alright, my turn.”
Max gestured her the go ahead.
“Let’s see,” the succubus pursed her lips. “Tell me, what, in your opinion, is my best shot at getting out of this mess intact?”
“Oh, so we’re finally getting down to business, are we?”
“Some of us have lives,” Mona replied, dryly.
“Ouch.” Max reached for his waterglass and took a long draught. “Well, it’s hard to say. I can’t just let you go, and you can’t just leave. You’re under contract and I have no real control over my, ah, talents.”
“And your little curse of a blessing won’t let me go so long as I’m a danger. We’ve been over this. You have to have some sort of idea as to how to free me.”
“That’s the key, actually. Freeing you. We get you out of your contract, we get you out of here, which means we can both go free.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?”
“I think it’s my question now, actually.”
Max grinned at her. The succubus threw up her arms.
“Fine. Ask.”
“Tell me who summoned you.” Max held up a hand to forestall protest. “It’ll make it that much easier to get you out of your contract, we have an agreement, and I’m guessing he wasn’t smart enough to forbid you from speaking of it, considering how much we’ve talked in the past howeverlong it is we have been here.”
Mona stared at Max for a long moment.
“Fine. I’ll tell you. However, you have to guarantee me, on your talent, that you will not tell anyone where you obtained this information.”
“Done.”
“Michael Murphy.”
As easy as that. Max rocked back and crossed his arms. All vestige of alcohol haze vanished from his eyes.
“Well, that’s a bit unexpected, but…”
“But what?”
“Oh, this is just less Michael’s style. I suppose, Theodora put him up to it.”
“Who are these people?”
“Siblings. Well, half-siblings. Doesn’t matter.”
“No?”
“Not beyond the fact that it tells me why you’re here, how you got here and what is most likely the best place to look for the loophole.”
Max stood and offered his hand to Mona. The succubus took it and rose warily.
“What? Where?”
“Here.”
The bar was gone, replaced by a library. The smell of parchment and ink was strong, slightly too strong. Mona wrinkled her nose.
“You don’t spend much time in libraries, do you?”
“No, why?”
“If you did, your dreams wouldn’t smell so strongly of all the wrong things.”
“Ah. No worries.”
Max closed his eyes and spun around in a circle. He came to a stop, finger pointing down one of the aisles. He set off at a brisk pace.
“This way.”
“What are you doing.”
“Finding the loophole.”
“By pointing your finger?”
“It’s a gift and a curse. I’m either the luckiest man in the world, and everyone else around me suffers the slings and arrows of misplaced misfortune, or I’m unlucky and everything around me goes smoothly.”
“And this is relevant how?”
“It’s why you’re stuck here with me and me with you. As soon as you tried to attack me, things went bad for you and good for me.”
“How is this good for you?”
“I know who is out to get me, how they came after me, and most likely, before you leave, I’ll know a few new ways to defend myself.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“What is?”
“How that works.”
“Tell me about it. Here we are.”
Max reached up and blindly chose a scroll from the lefthand shelf. Without looking at it, he unrolled it and presented it to Mona.
“Sign here please.”
“What am I signing?”
“I have no idea, but I do know it will do the trick.”
“I like to know in advance what–”
“You want out or not?”
“Yes, but–”
“Sign it! Trust me. Right now, it’s the best thing for me, for you to be free, so what’s best for me is also best for you, and this is best for me. So make with the John Hancock.”
“Fine,” Mona sighed theatrically. She conjured a pen out of thin air. As she moved to put ink to paper, Max interrupted.
“Wait.”
She froze.
“What?”
“I had a nice time tonight.”
Mona looked at him.
“Me too, oddly enough.”
Max nodded and smiled.
“Goodo. Well, I guess this is goodbye. I doubt we’ll see one another again once we’re out.”
“Yes, well. Aufwiedersehn.”
Mona signed the paper with a flourish.
With a start, Max sat bolt upright in bed.
It was nearly dawn. The first stirring of light were just beginning to stealthily creep into the window. Max groaned. Auditions today.
***
There was silence for a moment as Mona finished her audition speech. Adrian had that look in his eye, the one that meant he had every intention of working with this woman in the future. If she didn’t fit this production, there would be another where she would, even if he had to write it for her.
“Thank you, Mona. Are you available for a callback around six this evening?”
“Of course,” Mona loosed a radiant smile.
Adrian nodded.
“We’ll see you at six, then.”
“Thank you. I’m looking forward to it.” She inclined her head and prepared to make her exit. “Until then, Mr. Bard. Max.”
She was out the door before Adrian’s pen stopped skritching its way across the pad. Slowly, he turned to Max. His gaze was penetrating. Max sighed and reached for the unspilled cup of coffee.
“Max,” Adrian’s voice was mild. “Do you know that young lady? Because I am quite positive that your name did not come up until she herself spoke it.”
“That’s the woman from my dreams.”
“I beg pardon?”
“Succubus.” Max sighed expansively. “Sent to bind me in eternal slumber. In fact, her brother was the one to bind Sleeping Beauty in her curse.”
“Did he really?”
“Apparently.”
“So much for the virgin and a spindle story.”
“Sounds like.”
“So…she isn’t seriously auditioning for the play?”
“Probably not.”
“Pity,” Adrian sighed. Then he brightened. “Perhaps I can convince her.”
“I’d really rather you didn’t.”
“Why is she after you, anyway?”
“Sibling rivalry.”
“Ah.” Adrian paused. “Wait, if you bested her in your dreams, what is she doing here, in the waking world, still chasing you?”
Max sighed theatrically.
“It’s just my luck.”
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