‘More indignities,’ Sue hammered. She glared at Nick. ‘Kindly unhand my fairy princess, sir. I am taking her out of this unsavoury scene.’
His warm, supporting arm was removed, leaving Barbie feeling chilled and shivery. He gestured a plea to Sue. ‘I’m sorry things got out of hand …’
‘Perhaps you’ll now take them in hand,’ Sue shot at him, glancing meaningly at Tanya. ‘I expect Mr. Webster to escort us out of this marquee, guaranteeing safety for my fairy princess. And may I say, sir …’ Her green eyes knifed into Nick’s. ‘… your choice of companion is no lady.’
‘Who the hell do you think you are!’ Tanya snarled.
Sue ignored her, nodding to Barbie. ‘The wand needs collecting.’
Barbie took a deep breath, gathering herself together, then stepped away from Nick, trying to maintain an air of dignity as she set off to where the wand had fallen on the dance floor.
‘No, wait!’ A hoarse plea from Nick.
Barbie hesitated, still feeling the magnetic pull he’d held on her, but she resisted it, realising Sue was right in her judgement to get them out of here, pronto! Nothing good could eventuate from what had already gone on. Revenge, she decided, was a very tricky thing to play with.
‘Please … stay!’
It was an almost anguished cry from Nick this time, curling around Barbie’s heart, squeezing it, throwing her into confusion. Before she could respond either way, her wings were grabbed from behind and jerked from the boned slot in the back of her dress. Crying out in horror at the damage that might be done, she swung around to find Nick juggling the wings with an equal expression of horror, babbling apologies. ‘I didn’t mean … I just wanted …’
‘More indignities!’ Sue accused hotly. ‘Mr. Webster …’
‘For God’s sake, Nick!’ Leon begged. ‘Leave her be and take Tanya from me.’
‘I don’t want Tanya!’ Nick snapped at him. ‘She can go take a flying leap off the Harbour Bridge for all I care!’
‘You scum!’
The black-haired witch broke free of Leon and smashed Barbie’s wings out of Nick’s hands with her fists. They fell to the floor and she jumped on them, stamping her feet all over them like a dervish, her red toenails splayed openly in black stilleto sandals, looking like drops of blood on the silvery gossamer as she wreaked her malicious damage.
Sheer shock paralysed everyone for several seconds.
‘No … no …’ Barbie moaned.
It shot Nick into action, hauling the hysterical woman off her feet and carrying her to the other side of the table where he forcibly held her to prevent any more harm being done.
Barbie stared down at the broken wings. They’d taken her so many hours to create and they’d been beautiful. Tears welled into her eyes. It was like a desecration …
Someone tapped her on the arm and offered her the wand she’d meant to collect. The star was hanging drunkenly at the end of the silver rod. It was broken, too.
‘You’re going to get a huge damage bill for this, Mr. Webster,’ Sue threatened darkly, folding her arms in firm belligerent style.
‘Okay. I’ll pay,’ he promised on a ragged sigh. ‘If we could move now …’
They moved, Leon shepherding both Sue and Barbie through the loud melee in the marquee. The wings were left where they lay crushed. Leon muttered something about a good joke going awry. Sue castigated him for not providing adequate protection. Barbie stared at the battered wand in her hand.
A falling star, she thought.
A wish …
Did wishes ever come true?
CHAPTER THREE
LEON swept into Nick’s office for their usual Monday morning conference, hoping his friend had wiped the birthday disaster from their joint slate, only to be faced with incontrovertible evidence that Nick was still obsessed with it!
‘What are those fairy wings doing on your desk?’ he demanded in exasperation.
Nick lifted a belligerently determined face. ‘I’m going to fix them.’
‘And just how do you propose to do that? Tanya punched so many holes through them with her stiletto heels, the fabric is irreparable.’
‘I am aware of that, Leon.’ He glowered dangerously. ‘Which is why I need to get the fabric matched so I can replace it. I decided you wouldn’t mind lending me your secretary for a while this morning. She’d probably know how …’
‘You can’t use Sharon for personal jobs.’
One black eyebrow lifted in challenge. ‘Can’t I?’
‘This is ridiculous!’ Leon expostulated. ‘I said I’d pay the bill for damages and I will. As soon as it comes in.’
‘I’m going to fix the wings,’ Nick repeated stubbornly.
‘Why?’
‘Because I want to. Because it will mean something when I give them back to her.’
Leon expelled a long breath. Nick was definitely out of his tree. He lifted his hands in a plea for sanity. ‘It was just an act. An act I paid for, Nick. Nothing more. Just a …’
‘It turned into something more.’
‘Okay, she was beautiful. She was sexy. She turned you on. But you don’t even know the woman, Nick. She might be …’
‘I don’t care who she is!’ His hand slammed down on the desk as he stood up. ‘I want to feel that again. I have to know. And I will know.’ He paced around the office, clearly disturbed, his hands moving in agitated gestures. ‘When I kissed her … I’ve never experienced anything like it in my life before. She’s different, Leon.’
‘Fairy princesses tend to be different, Nick. Kind of like dream stuff.’
That perfectly rational point earned a flash of impatience that said he didn’t understand, didn’t have the experience to understand.
‘I can’t let it go,’ came the steely resolve.
Totally out of his tree!
Recognising a brick wall when he saw it, Leon asked, ‘So, have you tracked her down, arranged to meet under normal circumstances?’
Nick’s face twisted with frustration. ‘I called and called the Party Poppers number yesterday and all I got was an answering machine. Then finally, this morning, I reached that Sue Olsen on the phone, but she flatly refused to give out the name and address of her fairy princess. Against company policy.’
Dead right, Leon thought approvingly. Fantasy and reality didn’t mix. Expectations could never be met and it was a stupid waste of time to go chasing them.
Nick grimaced and muttered, ‘But I’ll get it somehow. Sue Olsen said something about Singing Sunflowers before I started in on questions. I’ll ask my sister to book that act for her kids. My fairy princess is a singer … right? She might be a sunflower, too.’
The desperate hope in Nick’s voice told Leon his friend needed help fast or very little creative work was going to get done on the designs they’d been contracted to deliver. He instantly revised his opinion. The sooner hopes and expectations were blasted, the better.
‘No need to go to that trouble, Nick,’ he soothed.
‘I’ll go to any lengths,’ came the punchy retort, his eyes flashing unshakable determination. ‘I have to find her.’
‘Sure