The Wanderer

The Visit

Slamming the secret door behind me, I stood there in the alleyway with a disgruntled demeanor. I blew a raspberry of disappointment as I rid the ornate white and gold mask from my face.

"That place was a bust" I grumble and pocket the disguise in my bag.

The underworld of trading, aka the black market. The place I go to in search of hard to procure items. Yet they didn't even have ancient artifacts, much less a spell book.

What a waste of time.

They only sold wares that have been discontinued by their manufacturer, stolen goods or rare imports that have had the price marked up.

I couldn't even find someone that could sell me Remember Me Tea.

Stepping out of the alleyway onto the sidewalk, I took out my phone to call up Skylor. Even if the place was a bust, I wanted to thank her for the directions and the lead.

After a couple of moments, she answered the call with a sense of delight in her voice. It was a little muffled, so I figured the red head was working with her cell phone pressed in between her shoulder and cheek.

I informed her of what I found at the market, noting my lack of results in my search.

"On the bright side, I snagged some grapes from that fruit import stand. Apparently, these are supposed to taste like cotton candy." I said lightheartedly, gripping the reusable bag in my hand a bit tighter.

"Ooh, I've always wanted to try those" she cooed with interest before I heard a crash on her end of the call.

In that moment, I made a mental note of giving her a portion of grapes. I'd have to rinse them off at home and package them beforehand.

My mind went to Jay, he would love these. If they made vegetables taste like this, he wouldn't make such a fuss.

"Sorry" Skylor apologized when she spoke into the phone again. "One of my new employees dropped a couple bowls."

"Oh, no worries" I said lightly and ask "Are they okay?"

Skylor explained that it was just a small accident. No one was hurt, so it's okay.

I listen to Skylor talking about work. How running her father's noodle shop is anything but easy. From ordering supplies, managing money and people, to balancing work and her personal life.

It was nice listening to the redhead rant and rave about the restaurant. She seems passionate about her work, and I'm all here for it.

Skylor even talked about the new menu she's putting together and asked for my input. I couldn't stop the smile that crossed my face when she went on a tangent on how she wants to change the ramen recipe to perfect the taste.

It wasn't until thirty minutes of walking and my two story house coming into view, did she notice she's been talking my ear off. I had to fight off the soft chuckle at her sheepish apology.

"It's okay. I like hearing you talk about what you're passionate about" I smile into the speaker "You certainly made the walk home a lot more interesting."

At my words, I swore I heard muffled squealing on Skylor's end of the call. Was a pot of water overflowing?

I then remembered what I was originally calling about. "Anyways, thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to keep an eye on that place in case something new shows up" I smile looking around on the busy street before crossing. I could just fly to my house but I wanted to rest my wings.