It's Magic, You Know

There was a 'bloop' sound indicating a received text just as she held it up. Jenni saw both his name and his reply.

"Hollie, I was thrilled to get your reply, and even more so that you said 'yes'. I can't wait to see you again! I'll text you the details soon. Jakob."

Hollie realized what was going on but only after she knew her daughter had read the message.

"Well, well. Someone is thrilled because of something my mother wrote to him!" Jenni teased. "Who'd have thunk?"

"I cannot believe you read my text!" Hollie said as she turned it around to read for herself.

"I didn't," Jenni told her. "I read Jakob's."

Her mom was smiling like she hadn't seen in so long it made Jenni smile, too.

"He did say that, didn't he?" Hollie said as she read the text for herself.

"Yes, he did! See? I told you so, right?"

"I...this...this is...crazy! I can't believe I'm going out with Jakob."

She looked at her daughter, shook her head, then said, "Our Jakob."

When her mom looked at her, Jenni saw the smile and squealed.

"Well you are, and I am SO happy for you, Mom!" she said as she hugged her mother.

Her mom not only hugged her back, she surprised her when she said, "Oh, my gosh. I have a date! I need something to wear. Something nice. But I don't have anything n..."

"Mom! Settle down. We'll find something, okay? You and me. We'll go look together. After you get you home tonight. All right?"

Her mom was on the verge of tearing up as she reached to hug her daughter again.

"I don't know what I'd do without you," she told Jenni.

Jenni pulled away and looked at her mom then said with a straight face, "Yeah, I'm kind of cool like that, huh?"

Her mom laughed a genuine laugh which made Jenni laugh before they hugged one more time.

"Hey. You're gonna be late. Go. Get ready," Hollie said as she playfully pushed her daughter away.

As Jenni walked away, she was still smiling and started singing, "Mom has a boyfriend, mom has a boyfriend!"

"Do not!" her mom called out just as playfully even as she wondered if maybe she did before reminding herself this was one date and one date only.

"It's probably more of a 'pity' date than anything else," Hollie said to herself before pouring the rest of her coffee down the sink then going to brush her teeth, as well.

Hollie kept her phone on vibrate at work, and when it buzzed around noon, it startled her to the point she nearly dropped someone's order. After setting the plate down, she took a quick peek and saw it was from Jakob, so she pulled it out of her apron pocket and read it as fast as she could.

"Hollie: I've been on top of the world all morning. So...would dinner at The Top of the World be okay with you?"

The restaurant was located on the 106th floor of The Stratosphere Tower and afforded an amazing view of the city. It was also very expensive, so Hollie had never been there.

Just the thought of spending that much money on one meal ran counter to everything in her life. Taking Jenni there for dinner would cost more than they'd spend for groceries over a two-week period of time. And yet she did her best to put those fears aside and try and consider her own happiness for a change. It wasn't easy, but Hollie had to start somewhere, so she accepted his proposal.

"Proposal. Now that's funny!" she told herself as she quickly replied.

"Yes. That sounds...wonderful!" was all she wrote before hitting 'send'.

His reply came back seconds later.

"Great! I'll pick you up at seven, okay? And I really can't wait to see you!"

Hollie had no idea she was smiling until another waitress said, "You got a boyfriend or something?"

Hollie nearly dropped her phone as she slid it back into her apron pocket.

"Me? No. Just something...funny. That's all."

"Uh-huh. Okay. We can go with that," the younger woman said, not buying her explanation at all.

The smile was glued to her face the rest of the shift, even when she didn't get a tip from two men who'd ordered meals, drinks, and dessert.

As she got ready to leave, her fellow waitress said, "I'm happy for you. You know, for your non-boyfriend boyfriend."

Hollie started to deny it again when her friend said, "You are so pretty. I'm only 25, and I'd give anything to look as beautiful as you. So all I can say is I hope you enjoy whatever you're doing with this non-guy of yours."

Her comment surprised Hollie to the point of making her want to come clean.

"I do kind of have a date," she admitted.

"I knew it! And if you're going out with him, he has to hot. He is hot, isn't he?" the younger woman asked.

Hollie smiled then said, "He's...pretty hot."

"Now I don't know whether to hug you or hate you!" the girl said before giving her friend a hug. "Just have fun, okay?"

"I will. And thank you," Hollie told her.

As she rode the bus home, she couldn't help but pull her phone out again and reread his short texts. And that's when it hit her she didn't know what day. Or rather...night.

The thought that it could be tonight, as in just four hours from now sent a chill through her. Panicked, she typed out a reply:

"Jakob. When you said 'seven o'clock', you didn't mean tonight, did you?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?" he replied within seconds.

"Yes. Well. I...I don't have another nice dress to wear. And I need to do my hair and makeup. I don't see how I can do that and be ready by then."

She hit send, her hand almost shaking.

"No worries. When will you be home?"

"Ten minutes or so. Why?" she wrote.

"Perfect! Just be ready to go as soon as you get there, okay?"

"Wait. What do you mean 'be ready to go'?" she typed.

She had no idea Jakob was smiling as he replied.

"A car will be by to pick you up in fifteen minutes. From there, don't worry about a thing, okay? PS. You can trust me."

He added some smiley emojis then sent it.

"Oh, my...goodness," Hollie said to herself as her brain went into hyperdrive worrying about everything from Jenni to what she'd gotten herself into.

She texted her daughter immediately, and when she read it, Jenni replied just as quickly.

"Mom. Go! I'm fine. I can make my own dinner and watch a movie at home. I also have homework to do so just go and have a great time, okay?"

Hollie couldn't think of anything to say other than, "Thank you, honey! I love you so much!"

"LuvU2!" the came instant reply.

Still worried and now a little excited, Hollie got off the bus at her stop then walked to her front porch and went inside.

She barely had time to pee and wash her hands before there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" Jenni hollered, who was even more excited for her mother than her mom was for herself.

"Hello?" she said when she opened the door.

There was a man dressed in black, and she saw a long, white limo pulled up along the curb in front of the house.

"Ms. Corbett?" he asked.

"Yes, but I'm pretty sure you're looking for my mom," Jenni said as Hollie came out asking what was going on.

"Good day, Ma'am," the chauffeur said.

"He's here for you, Mom," Jenni explained as her mom stood there dumbfounded.

"I am," the man said.

When Hollie neither moved nor spoke, Jenni said, "Go on. Have a nice time, Mom! You totally deserve this!"

"Well, okay," she said, a nervous look on her face as she grabbed her purse.

"And don't worry about when you get home, okay? I'll be fine. Just have fun!" her daughter said before giving her a hug and almost pushing her out of the door.

"Bye, honey! I'll call you, okay?" her mom said halfway to the car.

Jenni waved but didn't reply as she watched the driver open the rear door for her mom.

When she got inside, Hollie saw the limo was empty except for a large bouquet of red roses.

"Those are for you, ma'am," the driver said before closing the door. "As is the complimentary bottle of champagne."

"Wait. All of that is for me?" she asked, not sure she'd heard correctly.

"Yes, ma'am. But you'll have to hurry if you plan to drink the entire bottle before our first stop," the driver said with a smile.

Hollie got in and first looked at and then smelled the flowers. The scent was amazing, so she took several deep breaths through her nose before opening the note attached to them.

"Hollie. I still can't believe you said 'yes'. I hope you enjoy the whirlwind pampering, and I do apologize for the rush. But you should still be ready by seven. I can only imagine how beautiful you'll look, and I can't wait to see you. Jakob."

She had no interest in the alcohol so she took several more whiffs of the beautiful bouquet before taking a look around. She'd never been in a limo, and it was hard not to be impressed. Everything was leather and chrome and 'fancy, shmancy'.

In order to satisfy her curiosity, Hollie had to play with all of the buttons she could find. Everything was fun and exciting until one button caused the glass to come down separating her from the driver.

Hollie panicked and apologized as she hit the button several times in a row sending up and down each time.

"No need, ma'am," the driver said. "Did you need something?"

"No. I think I've had enough surprises for one day," she said without explanation.

As she finally rolled the window back up, she heard the driver say rather cheerfully, "We'll have to see about that. The night is still young."

Minutes later, he stopped the car then came around to help her out.

"Where are we and what are we doing?" Hollie asked once she was standing on the sidewalk.

"We're at the Wynn Hotel, ma'am, and you are going to The Spa at the Wynn while I wait," he told her.

He walked her to the entrance where an attractive woman about her age met her.

"Ms. Corbett? Hello. I'm Maria. If you'll follow me, please?"

Hollie found herself inside a very high-end spa where Maria offered her a luxurious robe as she showed her where she could change.

"You can shower in there," Maria explained. "When you're finished, come back out and you can choose from several outfits Mr. Bennett had sent over. Once you've made your selection, we'll take care of your hair, nails, and makeup."

Hollie had so many questions she had no idea where to even start. So instead, she followed the instructions and got undressed then took a hot, relaxing shower in the most amazing place she'd ever seen. After drying off and wrapping her hair in a towel, she walked back out and found Maria waiting for her.

"Perfect! If you'll please follow me again, we'll go find something as beautiful as you are for you to wear," Maria told her.

"This is...this all so...crazy!" Hollie said as they walked over to a small area with three full-length mirrors and a changing room.

"All of the outfits are in there. Feel free to try as many on as you like. If nothing works, just let me know, and I can have several more here in a matter of minutes."

As Hollie looked at each of the beautiful dresses in front of her, she felt lightheaded. When her phone suddenly rang, it made her jump and almost shriek.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hey. Are you having fun?" she heard Jakob ask.

"This is...impossible! And wonderful," she told him.

"I just wanted to make sure everything was going okay."

"Well, now that you're on the phone, could I show you the dresses I'm trying to chose from?"

She heard him laugh then say, "I picked them all out, so I pretty much know what you're looking at."

"Do you have a favorite?" she asked as she looked through them.

"I do, but I want you to wear the one you like the most, okay?"

"Jakob, that is so sweet. And...not surprising," Hollie told him.

"I'm not into control," he told her in a pleasant tone of voice.

She'd already looked at each of them and knew what she wanted to wear.

"Okay. I think I've decided."

"Whichever one it is, you'll make it look amazing," Jakob told her.

"I think it's the other way around, but thank you," Hollie said.

"No. It's definitely you improving the dress and not vice versa."

There was a pause before Hollie said, "Jakob? Thank you for this."

"You're very welcome. I know you're not a 'showy' person, and I was concerned this might be way over the top, but as they say, you only get one chance to make a good impression, and if didn't at least try, I'd never forgive myself."

"You made a very big impression on me," she told him. "Ten years ago."

"Wow. Now I'm the one who needs to say 'thank you'."

"No. Jenni and I can never thank you enough, Jakob," she gently corrected him.

"You can start by getting dressed," he told her with a chuckle.

"Okay. I'll do that," she said very sweetly.

"Bye, Hollie."

"Bye."

The dresses were black, blue, white, red, and gray. All of them were gorgeous, but the final choice was easy. The black dress was stunning, and if she was going to go through with this, she wanted to pull out all of the stops. It was barebacked and sleeveless as well as long and flowing with a slit all the way up the right side.

When she walked out wearing it, Maria smiled.

"I believe Mr. Bennett will be very pleased," she told her as she led Hollie to a table with jewelry and accessories of all kinds and colors.

"Have you worked for Jakob long?" Hollie asked.

"Jakob? Oh, no. I don't work for Mr. Bennett. I work for Mr. Copperfield," she told her.

"Oh. I...I just assumed Jakob was doing all of this."

"He is. Well, insofar as this is his idea. But Mr. Copperfield owns the limo and employees everyone who's helped you this evening," she politely explained.

Maria smiled then told Hollie, "His personal assistant called me and let me know that you are to be taken care of like a member of the family. That tells me you must be very special to Mr. Bennett, because he's like family to Mr. Copperfield."

"Oh. Okay," Hollie said, even though she was even more confused now than she'd been all afternoon.

The dress was a size 6 and fit perfectly. As beautiful as it was, it was the jewelry that Hollie found the most interesting. There were over a dozen gorgeous necklaces to choose from, but one stood out immediately to her. It was a nine-strand pearl choker with a gold-plated, diamond, drop-down pendant. Each came with matching earrings so she needed less than two minutes to complete her wardrobe.

Maria helped her with the necklace as Hollie put the earrings in then led her to a large, leather chair where she laid her back and began working on her still-damp hair while another woman started on her nails as a third did her makeup.

"I...I feel like some kind of movie star," she said as the three women attended to her.

"I believe that's the goal," Maria told her with a smile as she began blow drying her hair to the point where she could put in some very large rollers.

An hour later, her hair and nails were done, and Maria took out the rollers then finished styling her hair.

"You ready for the final reveal?" Maria asked after leading her back to the mirrors with Hollie's eyes closed.

When she opened them and looked in the full-length mirror, or rather—mirrors—she gasped. Hollie was so stunned she covered her mouth with her hands.

"Oh, my...goodness," she said very quietly when she saw herself.

"May I take that as a compliment?" Maria asked with a bright smile.

"I...I can't believe that's me," Hollie said as she turned to the left then to the right.

"You look stunning," Maria told her truthfully.

"Would you...would you mind taking a picture for my daughter?" Hollie nervously asked.

"Of course! I'd be happy to."

Maria took several from various angles then returned Hollie's phone.

Within a minute of sending them, Jenni replied, having no idea what her mom had said to Maria just moments ago.

"Mom! You're a movie star! No kidding. You are like...totally gorgeous!"

Hollie was still struggling to keep everything in perspective, but this was so over-the-top it wasn't easy. She'd never done anything even close to this in her entire life, and it was overwhelming to say the least. In fact, the process had consumed her to the point of her having forgotten why she looked the way she did which was that she had a date. A date with a much-younger, very handsome man who was evidently trying to sweep her off her feet.

Judging by how lightheaded she felt, she had to admit that in some sense, at least, he was doing a pretty good job of it.

Her driver returned, and when he saw her said, "I've seen a handful of woman 'transformed' like this, but none quite so perfectly as you."

Hollie thanked him then wondered how many other women there'd been, so she asked.

"None for Mr. Bennett," he told her. "All of them have been friends of Mr. Copperfield or someone a close, personal friend of his wanted to impress."

He smiled politely again then told her, "And if I may say, you are indeed very impressive, Ms. Corbett."

He bowed slightly, and Hollie was so relieved to learn she wasn't just 'one of many' that she laughed a nervous laugh, mostly to let go of some of the pent-up tension.

"Shall we?" he asked as he offered her his arm.

"Oh. Yes. Thank you," she said as she took it.

Only then did she realize how high 4-inch heels were. She'd never worn anything higher than three, and only done that a handful of times. As they walked, Hollie felt like she was towering above the world, even though she now still only 5'11", a good inch shorter than her date.

When they reached the Stratosphere, her driver escorted her to the entrance. She thanked him sincerely, and after telling her it was his pleasure, he disappeared leaving Hollie to wonder what she should do. But as she turned around, there was a very dashing young man about six feet tall with the blondest hair she'd ever seen wearing a tuxedo who smiled at her.

"I do believe in heaven," Jakob said when he knew she recognized him. "You are even more spectacular than I'd imagined, and I was hoping you'd wear black."

"Thank you, and you look...amazing," she told him as she admired the tux and the man who was in it.

Like the driver, Jakob offered her an arm then said, "Shall we?"

As they reached the elevators, someone seemed to be expecting them.

"You ready for the ride of your life?" Jakob asked.

"I...think so," Hollie said.

The man followed them in and closed the door. Jakob nodded to him, and the man pressed the button for the Stratosphere then waited.

"Watch the numbers," Jakob said as they began ascending.

She had no idea how fast they were they were traveling, but the numbers changed so quickly she couldn't read them, and within seconds it began slowly down before coming to a stop.

The man opened the door and let them out before disappearing and heading back down.

"Oh, my goodness!" Hollie said when she saw the city from that height for the first time."

She grabbed Jakob's arm so hard she nearly cut off the blood supply.

"Are you afraid of heights?" he asked as they walked closer to the railing.

"I...I don't know," she said even as she stopped them. "I've never been up this high before."

"Come on. Let's go inside," he suggested, knowing she was at least feeling uncomfortable.

"Yes. That sounds like a good idea," Hollie said as she took one more cautious peek at the city below.

Among the other advantages Jakob enjoyed that evening, courtesy of his boss, was reserved seating. The personal, non-stop elevator ride, the limo, Hollie's makeover, and the champagne were all courtesy of the famous magician. Jakob paid for the roses, and would be paying for dinner, but Hollie had no idea as to any of that.

"Right this way, please," the hostess said as soon as they walked in.

"Jakob, this is so amazing," Hollie said as she looked around.

"No, you are amazing," he told her as he helped her get seated.

"Is champagne okay?" he asked as she sat down.

"No, you don't have to do that," Hollie told him. "I'm fine with a glass of water. Really."