Not me.I hated that kind of attention.
And now, Drake's look of pity – or whatever it was – was adding a nice dash of salt to the open wound of my shredded pride. I felt like screaming, but for the life of me, I couldn’t imagine why. Things weren'tthatbad.Were they?
I forced a smile. "Actually, if you wanted to get the vehicle, that would be really nice."
He gave me a dubious look, as if he knew exactly how I truly felt. But to his credit, he didn't argue the point.
Instead, he turned away and headed out through the nearest glass door. I watched him for barely an instant before turning away and trying my best to blend in with the crowd. Perversely, I was actually relieved that the lobby was so packed, because it gave me the chance to hide in a sea of bodies rather than stand out on my own.
As I tried to blend, I took my first careful look around and paused at the sight of a lanky teenager dressed in chainmail like a medieval knight. He carried a sheet of paper in one hand and big broadsword in the other.Well, that was unexpected.
Trying to make sense of it, I scanned the crowd. Just beyond the teenager, I spotted two female elves – not the Christmas kind, the other kind.
One of them wore a long flowing princess gown while the other wore a short Peter-Pan dress with thigh-high brown boots. The one in brown had a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder and carried an old-fashioned longbow. Her pointy ears were obviously fake, but her smile was real enough as she laughed with her friend.
Her smile mademewant to smile until I recalled the events of this morning. Everything had been going so well until that stupid phone call.
But the real problem had been my own reaction to it. Sure, Drake had been a bit overbearing, but could I truly blame him? After all, he had no experience with my mom, so of course he would've been unsettled.
Heck,I'dbeen unsettled, and I had a ton more experience than he did – at least when it came to my mom. In fact, I'd beensounsettled that I'd been cranky and snapping at the one person who'd actually been trying to help.
I winced as the events of this morning replayed in my head.I'd been a terrible sport, hadn't I?
Somehow, I needed to make this right.
I turned and glanced toward the parking lot, only to pause when I spotted Drake – not in his vehicle, but standing just outside the glass doors, as if he hadn't quite left.
But this wasn't the thing that made me stare. It was the fact that Drake was talking to a wizard – and not the Harry Potter kind. Rather,thisguy was wearing a long purple cloak along with a pointy wizard hat.
The guy was tall and thin with a friendly face. In his hand, he held a long silver staff topped with a glowing white orb. In the guy's other hand, he was holding a red Santa-sack emblazoned with yellow moons and stars.
What on Earth was going on?
Chapter 33
Gwen
As I stared across the distance, the wizard turned and looked in my direction. When he saw me watching, he waved like we were old friends even as Drake turned and strode out of sight.
I lifted my hand and waved in return, mostly because it seemed incredibly rude not to. Even so, my disheveled appearance made me feel stupidly self-conscious as the wizard hoisted the Santa sack over his shoulder, pushed through the nearest lobby door, and headed straight toward me.
He stopped in front of me and held out the staff. "Hey, hold this for me, will ya?"
I hesitated. "Why?"
"Because I've gotta get the thing out of the bag."
"What thing?"
With a little swagger, he replied, "The coat. I heard you needed one."
Oh, God.I didn't want the guy's coat. I wanted to die of embarrassment. "Thanks, but I'm fine."
"That's not whatIhear."
"From Drake?" I tried to smile. "I'm sure he was exaggerating." And then, at the guy's frown, I added, "I mean with the best intentions, of course."
The guy's frown only deepened. "Who's Drake?"
