Love Without Magic Can Be Magical

The room was marked 'Private' and Susan beckoned for me to follow where we traversed a modest sized waiting-room and into a large bathroom. I gathered this might be a place where a bride-to-be would get ready if the ballroom was hosting a wedding.

Claire put out what looked like a number of cosmetics in a neat and orderly array. Susan studied my face again and it dawned on me what was about to happen.

I tried to be polite in my protest, "No, that's OK. Thank you, but I don't normally wear much makeup. None at all, most days."

"Nonsense," she dismissed, "this is a cosmetics company. With your gorgeous hair, eyes, and skin tone, think of this as beta testing. You'll really be doing the company a favor."

Worried it might affect Darrin's standing in the company, there was nothing I could do but give in and let it happen.

Like an artist, a fast moving one at that, with brushes and swabs and just stuff, Susan worked on my eyes, cheeks, well, shit, just everything above my neck. She was almost a blur. Last were my lips which she slowed down to apply like a paintbrush. I groaned when I saw the deep dark red.

Susan praised herself for the job, "Wow. Look at that, Claire. We nailed that color, all of them. Claret, you look simply beautiful. Gorgeous!"

I don't know about that. I didn't even recognize who looked back at myself in the mirror.

"Let your hair down, honey." Susan said while standing back and folding her arms.

I pleaded, "Oh, I don't think that would be a good idea."

Susan raised her eyebrows and gave me the look of a powerful woman that was used to getting her way. I sighed a little too loud and pulled the green hair pin from my bun, letting it cascade around my shoulders.

Claire began to brush it for me while Susan supervised, and I wondered what Darrin would think. He had never seen my hair down before.

Susan finally seemed satisfied. She addressed Claire, "Bring Darrin back here, please." Claire scurried off and Susan collected the cosmetics and put them into my clutch. "For later."

We returned to the waiting room we first entered. Susan's smile had evaporated. Her face was all serious. "OK, it's almost showtime. Let's see if this plays out the way I think it will."

We didn't have to wait long, Darrin followed Claire into the room, struggling to carry four champagne glasses with just two hands.

He stopped cold in his tracks, nearly dropping one of the glasses. He got a good look at me and with a couple of strong blinks of eyes wide open, he glitched. Then glitched three or four more times.

"No. Darrin, no." I was almost in tears.

Susan got between Darrin and I, gripped my shoulders and looked into my eyes, "Go into the bathroom and wash your face. I'll take care of things out here."

I did what she told me, understanding where she was going with that. On my way to the bathroom, I looked over my shoulder and saw her arc a finger-to-thumb pinched hand before his eyes to mind-wipe Darrin.

Oh my god.

*

I was still trembling after washing my face and putting my hair back up when I emerged from the bathroom to the waiting room where just Susan was waiting.

I looked around for Darrin in vain. There was no Claire either. Susan explained, "He's waiting for you in the lobby. We need to talk first."

Almost under my breath I said out loud what I now already knew, "You're a witch."

"I thought a Samualsen from Massachusetts would have tipped you off."

"Mom might have known, but no. I'm not that familiar with our community."

She laughed, "Community?! We're no community." She got super serious, "OK, enough of that. Did you do that to him? That's Witch-Scorn, right? Do you know the witch that cast that or was it you?!"

I defended myself, still a little in shock that she knew, "No! I would never! I'd like to help him."

Her features softened and to my relief she nodded her head, believing me. She sighed and explained calmly, "I knew it had to be something like that. When Darrin started, I was really impressed with him. Then I became aware that the circle of sluts within our business had targeted him and one by one, he wouldn't take the bait. The prevailing opinion was that he was gay, but even the men that tried to get his interest couldn't. What I could see, but only because I'm a witch like you, was the emotional recall tick, so I followed up on it. You know, that's powerful magic."

"That's what Gran said too." She seemed like she cared for Darrin so I appealed to her empathetic side, if she had one. "Do you know of an anti spell?"

She frowned, "No. I don't think there is one."

"Do you know of any witch that might?"

"No. I checked around, even contacting the family back home. My mother knew a little of it and asked her friends, but she said most witches have never even heard of it."

I slumped into an easy chair in defeat, admitting, "I've been looking too. I think I found a few anti-spells that if I put them together might do it, but it looks dangerous and really over my head."

"You like the boy, huh?"

I lied to de-escalate the level of what I really felt, "He's growing on me."

"For making a witch-baby or is there something else?"

I didn't answer.

She got into a mode that sounded like Mom, "You can't be falling in love with the boy. Your mother taught you how we do things, right?"

I looked up at her, like, what am I going to do? She made a wan smile, "You look like a sad puppy."

"I have to help him, Susan. I have to."

She pulled me out of the chair and into an awkward hug. "I like you, Claret. I like Darrin too. I'll keep looking. Please don't do anything stupid until we can figure this out, OK? Please?"

I nodded OK.

She broke the embrace. "You two go home. Neither of you want to be here, and the pool of sharks out there aren't good for him. Merry Christmas, Claret."

*

The following Tuesday he sat down and greeted me, "Good morning," settling his laptop and coffee on the table, careful not to upset mine. It was cute how he arranged it to make sure the edges of the device were perfectly parallel to the table and his coffee was arranged at a precise distance from his elbow.

"Good morning," I returned.

"So. Much. Weirdness. I have to tell you about it." He didn't even power up his laptop, seeming anxious to talk to me. "Like we discussed in the car ride home on Saturday, Susan giving us her undivided attention like she did. Whoa! Right? Well yesterday, at work, she strolls into my cube and sits in my guest chair. That's never happened before! And she talks to me about all kinds of non-work-related stuff. The weather. You. She asked about my sister. So weird, right?"

I suppressed a laugh at the way he relayed the previous day's events.

"What did you tell her about me?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing," he lied, then added some honesty, "Just that we start our day at the same table four mornings a week."

"That's all?"

His smile abated somewhat, "No. I mean, um, I told her that we're friends. That's all."

I just nodded my head and smiled at him. "Because we are," I added.

"Yeah. Well let me get to the weirder part. After Susan spent time in my cube, and probably also because of the Christmas party, none of that went unnoticed. I got left alone the rest of the day. And clearly, my status in the company changed, like instantly. I even got Tammy and Celeste to do what I asked them to instead of, I don't even know how to describe those two. But it seemed to have a ripple effect and I got a lot done. It was excellent."

I chuckled at his enthusiasm, "That's great news."

"Yeah, well you deserve some of the credit. You really seemed to charm Susan at the party. Don't know what you did but thank you."

I replied honestly, "You don't have to thank me for anything. She likes you. You just be you and do your thing. I think everything is going to be different from here on. Good for you."

"Well. Thanks." He finally booted up his laptop.

I said out loud what I was thinking, "I like Susan. She's not all what she seems."

"Yeah, I know now."

*

It was the first week in January after New Years, things were kind of slow in the shop like they always were around that time. I didn't mind, I had outsold my Christmas plans and used the free time to rebuild my spice mixes and stock the shelves.

I was in my apron and at the kitchen-like island spice counter at the back of the shop when she walked in, announced by a ringing of the bell attached to the door.

If I hadn't been a witch, I would have been more surprised. I had just been thinking of her, wondering if I could truly trust her or not. I was thinking that I could, solely based on the transformation in Darrin over his attitude on his work.

Susan wandered around my shop, browsing this and that while I kept one eye on mixing some dried spices and keeping another on the tall, willowy woman.

She finally ended her self-tour of my shop at my spice counter and I greeted her, "Hello. Welcome to the Spice Witch. Can I help you with anything?"

She returned my smile and then gave me a wise-ass kind of look, "I hear that someone is digging around on Witch-Scorn."

I'm sure I turned pale. Had I been caught poking around? How bad is this going to be?

She gave me the all-knowing look, "You've covered your tracks pretty well, so, no, I don't think you've been found out. For now."

"What did you come here to tell me?" I asked accusingly.

"Now, now. Mine was a peaceful mission. I'm here to tell you that you need to continue to be careful, but if my contacts know that someone is digging around, you can bet the witch that cast Witch-Scorn on Darrin knows too."

She was right, of course. I had been thinking the same thing.

She took up a soothing tone, "I would also like to remind you, that our kind can't be trusted. You could get hurt."

I nodded in thanks and just looked at her. Feeling helpless and frustrated in not having found an anti-spell by now. What should I say?

She sighed and calmly said, "I've never met a witch with a heart like yours before. I admire you, really, but it also has me worrying about you. You are dealing with powerful magic, and that means its source is one powerful witch. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

I nodded in understanding, but I also didn't care. I had to save Darrin. I just had to.

Then she asked the same question that had been killing me too, "What did our boy Darrin do to deserve this?"

I should have kept the one little thing I knew to myself, but it was a fair exchange with Susan sticking her neck out in this. "He said he had a girlfriend and that it didn't work out, but he was at a loss of explaining why."

"Hmm. That had to have been the witch. And just as Darrin's natural charms are pulling at your emotions, before you, he pulled at the heartstrings of the wrong person. The big bad witch with the big bad spell."

I felt hopeless. I'm sure my face said so too. Susan reached her hand out to cover mine. "All is not lost, I'm still looking, and you should too." She squeezed my hand for emphasis, "Just be careful. OK?"

I nodded. Trying to renew my earlier confidence.

Susan looked around the room, "Now. Before I go, help me pick out some spices to make my home smell wonderful. Some things in here smell just like home and of course, my mother."

*

By the end of January, I thought I found something. It was complicated, really complicated. Yet, also promising. I spent the next three weeks vetting it, studying it, looking for tricks and secrets from within that would sabotage the anti-spell or any other negative side effects. It sort of became an obsession.

In that time, I spent our pre-work mornings together in the coffee shop. I even stopped sleeping in on Mondays so I could add a morning with him during the week.

I memorized it. With a lot of practice on a plant on my rooftop garden of my apartment building that the landlord didn't mind me having. The plant didn't seem to mind either.

I was ready.

Now all I had to do was get him alone where we wouldn't be disturbed. Yeah. I hadn't thought that one through.

I got his attention, "Darrin."

"Hmmm?" He looked up at me from his laptop.

I started off with honesty, "Did I ever tell you I could read things in the stars?"

"Um, no. I don't think you did. That's cool. Wait, you mean like horoscopes or, like, constellations?"

"Oh. All kinds of things, really."

"Nice."

Now I just had to go for it, "Could I show you? Tonight. After dark. There's an event that I would like you to be a part of."

He glitched and looked serious, "Oh, um, I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Why not," I made my best pouty face. "Just as friends. You said it yourself, that we are friends."

"Yeah, I know, but . . ." He didn't know how to finish his own sentence.

"It would mean a lot to me. There's this field. It's on CA-78, between Escondido and Ramona, and it's away from the light pollution so we can get a better look. Well. I'd just be alone if you didn't go with me, and I wouldn't feel safe alone." I felt a little sick to my stomach at my deceit.

I could see his brain wrestling with itself internally. Only without glitching, thank goodness. He made up his mind, in my favor.

"Yeah, sure. I'm free tonight."

We made our arrangements after a brief discussion of logistics and then I nearly skipped out of the coffee shop in joy. Too much actually. I almost didn't notice the big dog being walked on my sidewalk about a block ahead, coming right at me. Shit. I made a quick right before the crosswalk and then a left at the next block. It was going to take me longer to get to my shop but my improvised route meant I wouldn't have to cross paths with the beast.

I didn't care too much. I wasn't going to let it squash my good mood.

Tomorrow at this time, Darrin might be free.

*

That good mood and positive attitude devolved until I was a basket case by the time he showed up and picked me up from my apartment.

As he drove us to the coordinates I had plugged into his car's navigation system, I was unable to look at him. Along the way I was glad that he wasn't really chatty for a change. I needed to concentrate as I rehearsed the spell in my head. I had to get this right. I just had to.

There was a gravel pull off at the side of the road and he parked. I closed my eyes briefly and took some deep breaths to calm myself down.

He followed me out onto the field and remarked, "Hey, it's not as dark as I was expecting. How long before we can really see something up there?"

I didn't answer and led him to a little clearing I had known about all my life, it was where Mom used to take me to practice magic when I was learning how to use it.

I stopped in the center of the clearing and turned towards him, getting close and held my hand to his chest. He looked into my eyes and I could tell he knew something was going on that had nothing to do with stargazing.

I spoke with a tone I hoped would instill calmness to keep him from running away, "Things are going to get weird. Please understand that what I'm about to do is for you. And by exorcizing you of some evil magic, it will also give me a chance. A chance to have what I didn't know I wanted until I met you."

He looked understandably bewildered, "Magic . . .?"

"Do you trust me?" I asked?

"Um, yeah."

"Well, you shouldn't. But thank you."

I grabbed the front of his shirt and wadded what I could in each of my hands, pulling myself up, standing on tiptoes, and kissed him. Brief, but fully lipped. He even kissed back before he glitched.

"What was that for?" He asked.

"For luck." Yeah, that was only half true. It was a great kiss and because I wanted more of them, it buoyed my emotions over why I was doing this and my confidence renewed.

I let go and took a step back. I started to incant the spell, the words whispered through breath that was carried by my side spell of a light wind which encircled Darrin gently but would intensify as the spell was fully consecrated.

Only I didn't get very far. He stood still, studying me with curiosity even though the opening words of the spell would command his rapt attention as I knew it would. A purple glow of visible energy grew outward from his flesh. I was not even a third the way through and I knew I had made a terrible miscalculation. One that was going to kill me.

Hopefully it wouldn't kill him too.

The energy manifestation grew in size and sort of collected at his lower back, growing in stature until it towered over him, forming and curving into the shape that sort of resembled a giant scorpion's tail. The tip being positioned over his head and forward. The energy crackling in angry pops and buzzes.

I continued to deliver the words of the anti-spell, only I knew I wouldn't get through it in time. Oh, what have I done!

Only I knew exactly what I had done. I had activated a second spell, a layer riding the layer of Witch-Scorn. It was a spell-defender, something that I had only heard about, also powerful magic, maybe more so than the Witch-Scorn itself.

The spell got busy, lifting the scorpion's tail in strike mode before it hit me. Oh god, it was so fast I didn't even see it happen before it hit me hard. I went to the ground. My incantation silenced. The tail lifted once more and hit me again, driving me into the ground like I was going to make a snow angel out of the hard Earth.

The pain was intense, the light from the energy almost blinding. I could hear nothing but the crackling energy, or was it actually the cracking of my bones?

I was about to die. My final thought was to say goodbye to Darrin. I looked over at him and he didn't look to be in any pain, only his face was that of pure terror as he watched me get pummeled before him.

I had let him down. I was to blame for it. Why didn't I see this coming?

I felt an anger overcome me. That bitch. That fucking bitch. Why did she have to do this?!

The scorpion's tail of energy sharpened its tip until it resembled a scimitar, the final blow was going to be like a blade through my skull.

No! The strike was fast but I was faster, moving my head enough that it just severed part of my ear. It struck to where I had moved my head but I had moved again. "No, you fucking bitch!" I screamed while it moved side to side like it was looking for where I might find the strength to move next.

That gave me the opening I needed, I somehow reached up and gripped it with both hands. I thought I hurt before, well it was nothing like making contact with it. The energy went through me, burning my hands, electrifying my bones. The angry purple aura grew into rays shooting off in every direction.

My hair caught fire. The sulfurous odor from it burned my nose and throat, but I held on. I screamed from the pain and still held on. The tail continued to try and get free and at the same time wanting to skewer me.

I don't know where I found my strength. I worked my nearly-destroyed fingers into the tail and with a shriek started to pull my hands apart, separating the column of energy into two strands. The whole tail was thrashing around but I held on and further separated it with an audible tearing sound until my arms were extended at my sides and I could only watch as the tail ripped all the way over Darrin's head until it reached Darrin's back and the purple energy lost its brightness and fervor.

Then it was gone. With a puff of purple, like a final gasp.

I was still alive. I tried to sit up to see if Darrin was too but couldn't get up. Oh. A new wave of pain swept through me as the adrenalyn wore off. I struggled to breathe. Consciousness started to fade until the face of Darrin appeared above me, full of worry. I felt a wave of relief to see he appeared unharmed.

"Are you OK?" He asked. Fully aware that I wasn't. "Oh my god. I'm going to call 9-1-1."