Thieves and Magicians

Chapter 4

"Did anyone give you any trouble?" he called from the kitchen area when he heard the door click shut. "Fortunately not." She put her coat away and headed to the living room. "What are you cooking?" she asked as she laid her bags next to her mattress. "Pancakes, you want some?" She thought about it for a moment, estimating the chances that he was just being nice and not trying to poison her. Perhaps it was the fact that she believed he needed her alive or maybe it was her hunger but she finally said: "Yes, please!" She sat down on the sofa and waited patiently until Xavier was done with the pancakes. Truth be told, neither of them had tried each other's cooking before, even when offered, paranoid the other was orchestrating their death.

After about five minutes the pancakes were ready to be served. "Here you go." Xavier handed Lizzie her plate, fork and a knife. He also put two different jam cans and a melted chocolate cup on the table with a separate spoon for each. "If you want, I have some cheese as well." "Thanks and no thanks, pancakes with raspberry jam sound delicious, no cheese needed." Xavier nodded and also grabbed some pancakes before sitting down on the sofa, next to Lizzie.

"So, when is our first show together?" Lizzie asked before taking a bite when she'd seen Xavier take a bite out of his pancake first. "Next week. If it's okay with you then I'd like to go over the plan and teach you what you need to know after we finish eating," Xavier replied and took the last bite out of one of his pancakes. "Sounds good to me." They then continued to eat their meals - which were, indeed, regular pancakes without any poison - in silence.

When they were done eating, Xavier, as promised, showed Lizzie the plan for the show, revealed the secrets behind the tricks and told Lizzie exactly who's gonna do what and when. She was paying close attention - not just to do well on the show but that was also something to hold over his head when needed. For the rest of the week until the big day, most of their time was spent practising. Though Xavier expected Lizzie to be good, he wasn't prepared for how good and how fast of a learner she was. This show is gonna be epic, Xavier thought to himself. He, admittedly, was also a bit concerned that teaching her the secrets was gonna come back and bite him in the ass someday.

The show was supposed to take place in the biggest and most popular park downtown and start at 8 pm. Lizzie showed up at Xavier's place at 6 pm to get some last-minute preparation in and get ready. She walked up to his porch and knocked on the door. A muffled voice could be heard from the inside calling out "coming, coming". "Hey, come in," Xavier opened the door and stepped away from the entrance. "Hi-" Lizzie greeted her friend while also trying to remember what breathing was. She expected Xavier to look his best during the show but she wasn't expecting him to look that good. The outfit itself was rather simple - black skinny cocktail pants and a white flannel shirt with a fancy black corset on top - but did it fit him well.

"You look great," she mentioned after a while. "Thank you, I'm not finished though," he smiled and fiddled with the eyeliner in his hand. "Need any help?" Lizzie offered. "No, I got it," Xavier replied and scurried back to his bedroom to finish his makeup. Lizzie dropped her bag off next to the sofa, gouged out her clothes and makeup kit and headed to the bathroom. Her outfit was somewhat similar and consisted of black skinny pants and a tight black shirt with long white sleeves and a fishnet around the waist area. Clothes changed and the frontal hair gracefully tied back, it was time to apply makeup. She went with simple yet bold eyeliner and some dark eyeshadow. After about twenty minutes she was done.

"Wonderful look," Xavier complimented her as she walked out from the restroom while tying his hair up. "Thanks. Should we go over the plan one last time before heading out?" Xavier nodded and pulled out the sheet with the details from his notebook. They did their last-minute revision until the clock struck 6.40. Xavier placed the sheet between the notebook pages again and put it in his box. After about two minutes the magicians had their coats and boots on and were out the door, heading to the park.

The park, which was usually full of life, was now empty. The duo arrived at the park 45 minutes early to set everything up. There was a small stage set up and plenty of chairs, bean bags and sitting mattresses scattered around in front of the stage - just as Xavier had requested. About 15 minutes after their arrival, a friend of Xavier's - Albert - who was given the job of a ticket controller, showed up. The two friends greeted each other but didn't idle for long. After another 15 minutes, the crew was ready and the first people started showing up.

"Are you nervous?" Xavier asked Lizzie as they were watching the crowd flow in through the front gates. "Not really. Are you?" she asked in return. "Just a bit." "Is it 'cause I'm new to this?" Lizzie queried and looked at Xavier. "No, you performed great when we were practising. I believe with you, this show will be spectacular. It's just the nerves getting to me, it's no big deal." Xavier looked at Lizzie and gave her an encouraging smile. Lizzie returned the smile.

Soon enough the clock had struck 8 and the show could begin. The big bright streetlights were turned off, leaving everything in the park beside the tracks, which were dimly lit by the lanterns planted in the grass next to them, shrouded in darkness. A moment later, however, the spotlights were switched on instead, lighting up a part of the stage with cold hard white light and probably temporarily blinding a good part of the audience.

Xavier took a deep breath and stepped out from the darkness into the circle of light. "Greetings, one and all. Welcome to the show! Today's show is gonna be a very special one 'cause this time I'm not gonna be performing alone. Give a warm welcome to my new co-magician, Lizzie!" Xavier swung his arms into the air. The crowd was cheering and applauding as Lizzie stepped into the spotlight. The noise faded out when Lizzie started talking. "Greetings, everyone gathered here today, and a big welcome from me as well. My name is Lizzie and I'll be performing alongside Xavier tonight. Hope you all have a wonderful night and enjoy the show!" The crowd started cheering again. Both magicians had genuine smiles of joy on their faces seeing the crowd's enthusiastic reaction. They glanced at one another - we're off to a good start.

The show went smoothly. Xavier performed some of his classical tricks alongside plenty of new tricks, which he could now pull off thanks to the help of Lizzie - who did a spectacular job. When the time came for the magicians to make a final bow on stage, the crowd was cheering and applauding like never before. "Thank you all so much for attending the show! Check the city newsboard for more information about the next one if you'd like to see us do even more magic! And have a wonderful night, everyone!" Xavier said as he stood upright again. "It was wonderful to have you here tonight, thank you!" Lizzie thanked the crowd as she too stood up again. The street lamps were turned back on, flooding the park with light once again. The audience stood up and started to head toward the exit, meanwhile, the performers and Albert started to do their part of the cleanup.

"That went well," Lizzie stated as they were walking back to Xavier's place after they'd finished the cleanup and said goodbye to Albert. ""Went well"? You did amazing and the audience admired you." "Thank you for the compliment," Lizzie said with a slight giggle and a satisfied smile. "You're gonna stay at my place tonight?" Xavier asked. "If you don't mind. Quite a few of my things are there and it's getting kinda late - your place is closer." "No, I don't mind." Lizzie nodded. Though she didn't trust the guy enough yet to not sleep with a knife under her pillow, he seemed mostly okay for now and she was starting to think that perhaps those three months were not gonna be that bad after all. She was correct.

Time flew by and before the duo even realised, three months were gone just like that. "So, I have a plan ready for the next show. Do you have a moment to take a quick look?" Xavier laid the paper down on the coffee table and sat on the sofa next to Lizzie. She took the slip of paper and glanced at it. "I see you have come up with new tricks - they seem awesome. However, I think the disappearing act would work better as the big finale instead of a middle piece, don't you think?" Lizzie turned to Xavier and handed him the sheet. Xavier gave it some thought. "You're right, it would work better as a finale. Thanks." He smiled and went to get a pen.

"When's the next show?" Lizzie queried. "14th July, that's roughly two weeks from now so we have plenty of time to practice," Xavier responded as he put the sheet against a wall and started scribbling over it with a pen. Lizzie's face fell. They made a deal on the 15th of April. "14th, huh? Guess that's gonna be my last show then." Xavier stopped scribbling. "Ah, three months are over already, huh," he mumbled. He let out a quiet sigh, which Lizzie couldn't hear and turned over to face her. "Well, let's make sure your last show's gonna be like no other." His lips curved into a smile which didn't reach his eyes. Lizzie nodded and said somewhat deviously: "The most epic one the crowd has ever seen."