Page 5 of Wishful Dreaming

“You look just as sweet as ever, don’t let the old hag ride you about your looks, she’s still got hers, but you’ve got more.” Stella swatted Willie on the arm and he shrunk back in play.

“Oh master, don’t hurt me, don’t… Oh wait, please hurt me, please.” His hearty guffaw filled the room and Sal came up from behind Belle.

“Okay, what the hell am I missing here? Sounds like a good time.” Lacey sat in the corner and giggled.

“I want to see the lamp, pass it over Stella. Where the heck did you get this?” she said as Stella handed it off to her.

“This is the coolest thing. Does it come with wishes by any chance?” Lacey rubbed it on her breasts and Belle laughed.

“Come on, don’t frighten the magical genie. Thatgenie is a masterat producing dreams. I asked him to help us find Philippe, and I asked for a hot man to go with tastyhot pizza and look who he unearthed.” Sal bowed and smiled.

“In my defense, the pizza was from a grocery store freezer section, and the beer was from Stella, me, well, that was a job thing. I like the way it’s working so far though, no complaints in the hot love department.” Sal tweaked Belle’s ass, and she laughed.

“I found the lamp on the beach aftertheafternoon storm a few weeks ago. Since then,things have been coming true. In one form or another, it’s granting my wishes. Could befate or coincidence.”

“There’s no such things as a coincidence, I’m more for the fate thing” Lacey said and fingered the ruby jewels on the gold.

“Well, little oldmagic lamp, how about you bring me a mountain of Belgian chocolate and a hot, sweet foreign man who’s rich? Oh, and he has to be tall and blond if you can manage that?” She laughed and handed the lamp back to Belle after planting a kiss on the tip of the spout.

“A kiss for good measure, I haven’t had Belgian chocolate in years. Don’t ask mewhyI wished forsweets, guess it was the first thing that came to mind.” Belle chuckled and nodded.

“Stranger things have been happening. Trust me, if I wake up tomorrow to a call from you saying a cardboard box sporting a smile showed up with chocolate, I’ll freak. Besides, I may have used up all of my wishes. Why don’t you take it for a few days and see what happens?” Lacey grabbed the lamp back and hugged it.

“You and me,little lamp, we will wish super hard andmy dreams will come true. Don’t fail me now, I need a hot European stud, badly.” Stella emerged with champagne flutes and Sal popped the bottle. Everyone raised their glasses in a toast to Philippe being found, and Sal stared into Belle’s eyes as he took a sip.

“To finding my beautiful girl again, after these long-lost years, and formany more good times, I hope.” Belle blushed. Stella held up her glass and wrapped her arm around Belle. She wiped a tear away and kissed her on the cheek.

“To my number one editor Belle, who keeps me motivated to keep on churning outgood sex reads. I think this last one was my best, and who knows what the future will bring? Hot sex for this old broad? But if not, amazinglysteamy tales filled with dirty wordsformymasses todevour.” She swallowed down herbubbly and coughed.

“Christ, went down the wrong hole. In a bed, that ain’t too bad, but with champagne, man that burns something fierce.” She coughed again and excused herself then headed to the kitchen. Belle followed her in to make sure she was ok. Patting her on her back, Stella got her breath back.

“Girl, what would I do without you. I’m so glad that you’re okay and that woman didn’t hurt you too much. I keep thinking about what happened, and how it’s a good thing you found Sal. At some point I’d like to hear the back story on that little relationship. You’ve never mentioned him. Have you figured out why that woman wanted to do you in?” Belle shook her head and poured herselfwine out of an open bottle on the counter.

“It’s a long story, but in the next few weeks I’ll fill you in on the details. I’m trying to get my mind off of it, so once I process, I’ll explain. I’m glad I found Sal again. He showed up in my life at the right time, I’m forever thankful for that, and I hope we work out this time. We’ll see. Iwill go see where he is. At least he’s not European, I don’t have to worry about rescuing him from Lacey and her lamp dreams.”

Stella laughed and followed Belle back in to the patio. Lacey gave her a quick hug and made her escape, wanting to go spend time with Philippe before his bedtime. Belle and Sal hung out for an hour, then departed, leaving Stella with Willie and a wink. She laughed and shooed them out the door with a laugh.

∞∞∞

Lacey arrived to find Philippe waiting. He was champing at the bit and handed her his notebook.

“I feel good, can I go to Johnny’s please? Movie marathon, spend the night?” She hugged him gently and smiled.

“Yes, you may go, but be good, don’t eat too much food, and behave. Don’t stay up too late.” Philippe spun around, grabbed his small bagpacked in anticipation of a yes, and sprinted out the door. Lacey picked up her phone and called Johnny’s mom, Anita.

“Philippe asked if he could stay over for a movie marathon? I wasmakingsure it was okayand notanexcuse to escape. It will do him good to be around a friend.” She chatted with Anita, then hung up the phoneand flopped on the couch.

“Hmmm… Looks like it’s you and me, sweetlamp. Lonely girls night, what shall we do to amuse ourselves?” She flicked on the small TV, surfed around the basic channels, and finding nothing, headed to her room.

“Maybe a night outis on tap, hell yeah, I deserve it.” She rummaged through her closet and pulled out a beige low-cut dress. The bottombuilt from layers of thin cotton and she had made it years ago. It still fit like a glove, a bit too tight on top, but it was her favorite. When she danced, the bottoms swirled out like a dream. Throwing on a light layer ofmakeup, she put her hair up and ran clips through to hold it off her neck, then headed down to the Lug.

---