The Maverick Pride Tales - Chapter 121: Chapter 121

“Hold the door, please.”
The sound of a young woman’s voice reached Uncle Uzzi’s sensitive ears as he stood just inside the elevator of the upscale complex where he had recently bought a condo.
The young woman was breathing quite heavily, and she struggled with half a dozen shopping bags. Uncle Uzzi noticed she was trying to take a puff from an inhaler, and sympathy overwhelmed him. Uzzi rushed forward to take some of the burdens out of the woman’s hands.
“Allow me, dear,” he said, and the pretty stranger nodded, finally able to draw two quick puffs of much needed medicine into her lungs.
She held them in, eyes closed, while two tears rolled down her cheeks from the strain of trying to breathe. Uzzi waited, not pressing any buttons until the stranger could inhale and exhale normally again.
“Thank you so much. Darn asthma,” the young woman replied. “Oh, that is better.”
“My pleasure,” Uncle Uzzi returned, noting the female’s curly brown hair, equally dark eyes, and curvaceous figure.
She was just the type of woman his clients went wild for. Uzzi grinned, his magic zipping up and down his arms.
No wonder Hank called to say he was stuck in traffic.
The universe always had a plan, and it seemed Uncle Uzzi coming back to check on his little condo while he waited for his car was part of it. An idea began to take shape in his mind.
Perhaps he could be of some help to his new neighbor. He wondered what she would say when he broached the subject, but one look at one of her bags loaded with books from a local second-hand store, and he knew this would be easy peasy. The stranger was a fan of paranormal romance.
Fated indeed, he mused, and Uncle Uzzi smiled warmly.
“You’re new in the building, aren’t you, dear?”
“Me? Yes, oh, excuse me for not introducing myself,” the young woman said, and blushed prettily. She reached out for her bags, and Uzzi detected an independent streak that was most attractive.
“Nonsense, you had all you could manage trying to get your breath back. It is quite fine.”
“I am very sorry about that, and thank you for your help,” she said, showing off white, straight teeth and a killer grin. “I am renting a unit for the season. My name is Annalia Reese.”
“Nice to meet you. A temporary stay, then. I see. So, where are you from?” Uncle Uzzi said and returned her infectious smile with one of his own.
“I just got here from South Florida, actually.”
“Ah. And how do you like it so far?” he asked, anxious to learn more about the intriguing young stranger.
Uzzi’s magic was tingling, and his senses were on high alert. This one was special, whether she knew it or not. Uzzi had not run into Annalia Reese right then on accident. Fate had a hand in it. It always did.
“Well, I confess this weather is really something else. I don’t think I was properly prepared,” the woman shivered in her sneakers and lightweight coat.
Uncle Uzzi had to agree. She was not at all ready for the kind of weather that was January in New Jersey. It was just after the New Year and the Garden State was a hodgepodge of snow, sleet, rain, and bitter winds.
“You poor thing,” Uncle Uzzi said and nodded at her inhaler. “Asthma?”
“All my life,” Annalia returned. “but this near attack was all my fault. I allowed myself to get in this shape.”
“How do you mean?”
“Oh, not my body. I mean, I am a curvy girl, and all, but what I meant by allowing myself to get in this shape was that I ran out of my preventive medicine about a week ago. I knew I was traveling, but I forgot to refill it. I was working on a deadline and waiting on my prescriptions to be transferred here. It took a few days longer than I expected, but after some calls, I could finally pick it up a little while ago.”
“Well, thank goodness for that, Annalia. My name is Uncle Uzzi,” he told her and nodded his head. “How would you like to come to my place and warm up with a nice pot of tea, hmm?”
“Oh, that is so nice of you, but I wouldn’t want to impose,” she began.
“Not at all, I insist,” Uncle Uzzi said, determined to get to know the woman better.
His senses were rarely wrong, if ever, and Uzzi knew this young woman was going to be particularly important to someone in the immediate future. It was why he’d been pulled back to New Jersey when he’d had California in his sights.
Annalia didn’t know it yet, but Uzzi was about to change her life. Trusting his instincts, he rattled off his condominium number and told her he would be expecting her as soon as she dropped off her things.
“Okay then, I’d love to. Just let me freshen up, and I will be right over,” Annalia’s friendly smile brightened her face, and Uncle Uzzi nodded at her.
“Of course,” he said. It would give him just enough time to boil the water and muddle over his first impressions of her.
“I have a good feeling, liebling,” he said to his late wife and walked into his condo.
The entire place was done in soft grays and stark whites. Clean, neat, and a little bit homey with the peach colored accents his decorator through in. Overall, Uzzi was quite happy with the finished space. He filled the kettle and set it to boil, preparing the teapot with some loose vanilla bourbon rooibos leaves.
Brewing tea was a ritual Uzzi often indulged in when alone. He felt in tune with his powers whenever he did so, and it helped focus his magic, allowing him to trust his instincts.
This woman is important.
So important, he opened the box of pastries he’d brought up with him from the Bear Claw Bakery and began filling a dish with the delectable miniatures he’d purchased.
Food was also best when shared.
An hour later…
“Uncle Uzzi, I have never had a cannoli cream filled chocolate dipped bear claw in my life but I swear this is the best thing I have ever eaten,” Annalia sighed, placing her fork down on the plate.
The moist, fluffy dessert was simply scrumptious. But her favorite was the thick, dark chocolate fudge icing the bakery had dripped all over the buttery pastry. How they got it so light and fluffy was beyond Annalia, but dang, she definitely needed more of that in her life.
Her new neighbor was quite fascinating. Not only was he positively adorable with his snow white hair and beard, bright blue eyes, and charming grin, but he was also the owner of the world famous Uncle Uzzi’s Magical Matchmaking Service.
“I am a devout fan of the Devlin brothers' confections,” Uncle Uzzi agreed. “Do you cook?”
“Who me?” Annalia laughed and shook her head. “Afraid I can’t boil water.”
“I see,” the older man chuckled his reply. “It isn’t for everyone. What is it you do?”
“Oh, I am a graphic designer. I do a lot of freelance work for Graves Enterprises. I design and create avatars and fantasy landscapes for some of their video games.”
“That sounds complicated,” Uncle Uzzi remarked.
“The software can be a challenge at first since it is always changing. I recently started consulting with a company developing AI art software, and it is fascinating and a little frightening. These programs are creating art based on a string of text commands. The geeky side of me loves that it is a thing, but my artist’s side is not really happy. Art is all about revealing the human soul. Artificial Intelligence is interesting, but it lacks emotion.”
“I see,” he murmured.
“Sorry, I get passionate about stuff like that. When I create something, I just put so much of myself in the artistry,” Annalia explained. She felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment.
“That is very interesting, but I know so little about graphic art.”
“Oh, gosh, well, I know many people don’t even think what I do is actual art. I know it’s silly to get so worked up,” she replied, shaking her head.
“Nonsense! Who told you that?” Uncle Uzzi snapped.
“Oh, it’s not important.”
“Of course it is! I have a nephew who creates video games, and I will have you know, I think they are just fantastic. They allow people from all walks of life to experience a world beyond their own reality or creative imaginings. You are an artist, Annalia. Don’t let anyone tell you differently,” the older man said firmly.
“Wow,” she whispered. She could not put her finger on the reason, but sitting and chatting, sharing tea and snacks with the older man was perhaps the most relaxing thing she had done in a long while. Annalia could often lose herself in her work, and it was a solitary job, especially during the pandemic. She missed connecting with people on any level—this was nice.
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“You sound surprised, dear,” Uncle Uzzi replied, reaching for his tea. “Surely, you have friends or other family who feel the same?”
“Actually, I don’t. I mean, I have a sister, but Sandra is a little bit out of the loop. She was married right out of high school, and her husband was very wealthy. They tied the knot the same year our parents died and took me in. She’s never been a big fan of any kind of art.”
“I am so sorry for your loss, child.”
“Thanks, it’s okay—I mean, it is never okay, but I am okay now. Better than I was, anyway. They were good people, died in an accident, and left us far too early. Dad had made some bad investments and Glenn pulled us out of the hole.”
“Glenn is your sister’s husband?”
“Yeah. He comes from old money, He’s okay, I mean he was never bad to me, exactly. He is just weird about what he considers proper, and he hates my idea of art,” she said blandly and sipped her vanilla infused tea.
Annalia sighed as the warm liquid soothed her throat and eased the ache inside her chest. Florida was all tropical heat no matter the month, and Jersey was super different. She’d come all this way, against her sisters’ wishes, but it was important for her career.
Sandra was still mad at her and was giving her the silent treatment as punishment. She checked her phone, noting the same lack of reply to her daily text she sent to ask how her sister was doing.
Sigh.
“I don’t want to sound like a complainer, I am grateful for them both. They paid for my college tuition, but I guess that’s why they think they have the right to criticize.”
“Family can be strange like that,” Uncle Uzzi agreed.
“Totally. It’s kind of why I made it a point to pay them back every cent they spent on tuition. In fact, I’ll be finished this month. It would have been sooner, but I couldn’t live with them another minute,” she confessed.
Annalia smiled at the older man. This was so refreshing. She did not even stop to wonder why she could tell this kind stranger secrets she had not shared with anyone. It just felt so good to get it all out.
For the first time in a long while, Annalia had a friend.