“Do you want a picture?” I said.
“Of me?”
“Both of us,” I said. I took my smartphone and opened the camera application. Tessa and I were projected onto its screen.
“That’s so cool,” she said. We both posed, taking several pictures.
“What’s the plan?” said Tessa.
“There’s still some time before the movie starts, so I figured we could look around for a little bit. Then movie, then dinner. Finish the night with some ice cream. Sound good?”
“Sounds perfect,” she said, taking hold of my hand.
Tessa led me by the hand throughout the center. At first we didn’t have a set plan, but as soon as we went to the map she knew where to go.
“Why the candle store?” I said as Tessa led me inside a store lined with pastel colors. Hundreds of different candles came together to give the store a unique smell. The store sold other things too, like anniversary cards and other trinkets that one would get their mom or grandmother on their birthday, but Tessa wasn’t interested in any of that. She went up to the sole employee in the shop.
“Do you have any pumpkin-scented candles?” said Tessa.
“In the middle of summer?” said the employee. When Tessa didn’t respond, she went behind the counter and searched their systems. “Seems like we might have some in stock. I’ll be right back.”
“Witches and pumpkins are a thing?” I said. I could hardly contain my laughter. To me it seemed like the popularity of witches and pumpkins evolved in tandem with Halloween.
“Yes,” said Tessa, puffing her chest. “Pumpkins are known to have certain properties that make it easier for witches to cast spells.”
“Is that true?”
“I have three different kinds in stock,” said the employee. Tessa went over to thoroughly check them. I was still hung up on the whole pumpkins-are-magic comment. Would their smell be magical too? How much pumpkin concentrate do you need for these properties to take effect? If I eat enough pumpkin, will I turn orange before I turn magical? So many questions.
“I’ll pick this one,” said Tessa, pointing to the one in the middle.
“Alright, I’ll ring that up.”
“I can pay for it,” I said, pulling out my wallet.
“Don’t worry about it Raul,” said Tessa, smiling. “I can pay for it.”
Tessa took out a small wallet from a handbag and paid it off in cash.
“So,” I said as we left the store. “Are pumpkins magical or not?”
“What time does the movie start?” she said.
“It’s—oh, crap! It starts in like 5 minutes.”
We nearly sprinted to the movie theater. The long line just made things worse. By the time we got to the ticket window, it was a few minutes past the start.
“Can we get two tickets for the 6:45 PM showing?”
“Those are sold out, sir.”
“That’s… OK,” I said. Internally, however, I felt utterly defeated. I should’ve bought them online and sucked up the $2 transaction fee.
“We can’t watch it?” said Tessa.
“Yup. Any other movie you’d be interested in?”
Tessa was able to see the movie posters of all available movies in the screen above us. Within a few seconds, she made her decision. It was the Generic Drama that I made the conscious decision of not watching yesterday. The poster featured a woman solemnly looking out a window into the cityscape.
“Is it OK if I pay for the tickets?” I said.
“No, I can—wait, how much are they?” She retreated her hand from her purse and urged me to continue. I bought them, and we headed up.
“Want to buy any popcorn? There’s still a few minutes before the trailers start.”
“I’m not hungry now. Rather save it for dinner. What are trailers?”
“They’re advertisements,” I said. “For movies and other events.”
“How interesting,” she said. “We should do that. Put advertisements in our coffee.”
“How would we manage that?”
“Maybe putting our logo at the bottom of their cup!” said Tessa.
“So that they’re reminded of the restaurant they’re currently sitting in?”
“You don’t have to be so negative about it,” she said, pouting.
“If pumpkins are as magical as you say they are, then maybe we should just sprinkle some of that on there,” I said, laughing.
After the ticket-taker made sure that Tessa wasn’t hiding a camera on her hat, we went to our theater. At around 120 seats, it was one of the smallest theaters they had. To Tessa, however, it was the leviathan of movie theaters.
“This is so huge!”
“You haven’t seen anything yet. When we come see a new release, we’ll be inside one of the bigger theaters.”
“How sly of you Raul,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“Implying that we’re coming here again. The first date isn’t over and you’re already thinking of a second one.”
“I wasn’t…”
She got me there.
The theater was empty. Tessa and I took our seats in the upper middle rows. Even after the trailers finished, there wasn’t a single other person in the room. I imagined the movie was on the tail-end of its theater run, but to be completely alone was surreal.
“No one else is here,” I said.
“Does that mean we can fool around?”
“T-Tessa? What do you mean?”
Tessa held out her hand. The lights surrounding us turned from yellow-white to red, then blue, and finally green.
“So that’s what you mean,” I said.
“Shh! The movie’s about to start,” she said. Never mind the fact that there was no one else in the theater.
“Could you turn the lights back?” I said. The green made it feel like I was in the middle of some Christmas party.
“Oops, sorry.”
The movie opened with the scene of a young woman looking out her window. The people she looked down on were like ants, scurrying around in the rain. For most of her life, she had been a prisoner of that place. The gatekeeper, her mother. While rummaging around the house, however, she finds a letter from her recently-deceased father. The letter told her to explore the world, to escape the clutches of her mother. The woman decides to do just that, sneaking past her mother and descending for the first time in years.
While exploring the city after sunset, she befriends a young man. He shows her the ways of the city and its many sights, but it becomes increasingly clear that her body is weakening. As dawn breaks through, she reaches her apartment only to collapse and die on the front steps.
As the credits played, Tessa sobbed.
“That was so… beautiful,” she said, wiping her tears away. “The way she… And how he… Do all movies here make you cry like that?”
“Not all of them,” I said. “Some try to make you laugh.”
“You didn’t like the movie?”
“I did, yeah…”
The truth was that I thought it was a little too melodramatic. It’s the kind of film targeted towards women 14 to 20 years old. Tessa was a little out of that age range, but it affected her just the same.
The lights turned back on, and Tessa’s crying settled into quiet sobbing. As I was about to get up, she turned to me and put her hand on mine.
“You wouldn’t let me die like that, right?” I tensed up. Why would she ask me something like that?
“Of course not,” I said. “If you died I would have to hire someone else, and that’s so much paperwork.”
“You’re so mean!” she said, shooting out of her seat and hustling out of the theater. I followed along.
Dinner at Monroe Grill was delicious, but Tessa barely talked. Even after we got our food, she ate in silence without so much as a comment.
“How are your beef medallions?” I said.
“They’re good…” she said, putting the last one in her mouth.
“Is there something wrong?”
“No,” she said.
“Is it because of the comment I made earlier?”
“The thing about having to hire someone else? No, it has nothing to do with that.”
“Then what is it? If you don’t mind me asking, that is,” I said.
“Yesterday, I… got a call from someone back in my witch colony.”
“Is that what has you upset?” I said. Tessa never mentioned her family, so it was possible that she just didn’t get along with them.
She nodded.
“I get that way when Uncle Joe calls me sometimes,” I said. “He never calls to say hello or anything nice like that. It’s always ultra-specific things that make little sense. One time, he told me to serve a double-shot macchiato to a man wearing a bright green tie. A few minutes later, boom, someone with a green tie showed up.”
I complained, but the truth is that I was eternally grateful to Joe for everything he did for me. He gave me a job and believed in me enough to let me run the business. Most of all, he led me straight into Tessa.
We then ventured through the sidewalk some more, before arriving at a small ice cream parlor. Nearly three dozen flavors of ice cream and a dozen different ways to deliver them. Tessa put her fingers to the glass and gawked.
“There’s so many different kinds of ice cream here,” she said.
“Anything in particular you’re interested?” I said.
“How many can I get?”
“As many as you want.”
“Excuse me!” she said, calling for the attention of the clerk. “Could I have a scoop of dulce de leche and… one scoop of triple chocolate fudge-fudge?”
“Would that be all, miss?” he said.
“I can get more?” said Tessa.
“Sure can,” he said.
“In that case… I’ll get one scoop of that velvet moon ice cream and another scoop of triple chocolate fudge-fudge!”
The four scoops were assembled inside a large waffle cone. I wasn’t as ambitious and only ordered two scoops on a regular cone. Tessa watched with bated breath as I paid for the dessert.
“Here you go,” said the clerk. Tessa grabbed her waffle cone and admired it for a few seconds before digging in.
“It’s so good,” she said.
We sat on a creaky wooden table just outside the shop window. There were many other couples strolling around. Not many guys could say they knew a witch. Fewer still could say they had a date with one. Tessa smiled as she ate more ice cream, her mind fully submerged in the mountain of sugar in front of her. Maybe something about witches made them like sweets more.
“What are you thinking about?” she said.
“Not much… Just thinking about you,” I said.
“Only good things, I hope,” said Tessa. The witch flashed a smile, but it quickly faded.
“Only good things.”
She had come out of the movie significantly less lively. Just a few hours ago, our conversations were funny, her reactions over the top. Now it all felt muted. A breeze bellowed through the street, causing Tessa to shiver.
“You can take my jacket,” I said, as if by instinct. I got up and placed it around Tessa.
“Thanks,” she said, putting it on. “You’re too nice to me.”
“That’s not true. I could crack way fewer jokes at your expense.”
“That’s your way of showing you care… I think.”
“No need to rationalize it,” I said, licking off the last of my ice cream. “You’re an easy target sometimes… but you’ve gotten harder to make fun of. Can’t believe how fast you adapted to life here.”
“It’s been hard at times, I admit, but I’ve had so much fun here. Coming here and meeting you was really a blessing.”
“Hey, hey. Don’t be so melodramatic with me. You’re making it sound like a goodbye.”
Tessa finished her ice cream and put her fingers over mine. As soon as she did, I became acutely aware of it. It was like my hand was perched on some precarious valley, and any sudden movement would tumble me one way or another.
Instead, she moved for me. Tessa pried open my fingers and wove hers between mine.
“Tessa…”
“Tell me about your next grand scheme,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “Are you going to invite some famous novelist? Maybe entice customers with some alcohol?”
“I don’t want a repeat of what happened with you, so alcohol is a no-go for now. As for inviting someone… I’m thinking of doing some end-of-summer thing.”
“Like what?” she said.
“I emailed one guy. He hit the bestseller list with his debut mystery novel a few weeks ago and I think he’s local. Might work out. We’ll see.”
“Oh yeah? It sounds like a lot of fun.”
“It will be. And with you helping me plan it, there’s no way it won’t be amazing. Now that I know all the wonderful magic stuff you can do! We’ll give ‘em a real show… if that’s OK with you, of course.”
Tessa laughed.
“Of course it would be fine with me,” she said. “It’s a little funny how you used to be so against me using magic, but now you’re personally asking me to use it.”
“That’s because I only just recently realized how important using magic was to your identity. We still can’t let other people find out, but if nobody sees you there’s no harm in it, right?”
“Right…” she said, averting her gaze to the center of the table.
“Hey, Tessa?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you mind if I ask you about your home? What’s it like living in a witch colony? How are your parents like? Can men also use magic?”
“So many questions,” she said, curling her mouth into a smile. “Let’s see… the witch colony is in this far-off place in the middle of the countryside. It’s protected by an invisible barrier spell that makes it so that only those who are loved by a witch inside of the colony may enter. Inside, it’s a beautiful community filled with thatched roofs and groomed gardens and… I’m boring you, aren’t I?”
“Not at all,” I said. “Please keep going.”
I wanted to learn everything I could about you, Tessa. And it starts with where you’re from.
“It’s, ah… It’s pretty. Life is fun, relaxing. But not many people choose to leave it. Let’s see… You asked about my parents, right? My mom passed away giving birth to me, and my dad’s something of a loner, haha…”
“I’m sorry,” I said. I tightened my grip on the girl’s hands. She squeezed back.
“It’s OK,” she said. “Can’t miss what you never had, right?”
I remained silent. Not having a mother… No, at least I had mine for two decades. Tessa and I don’t share that much in common. It would be stupid of me to suggest that.
“As for your last question, I don’t think so. There’s men in the colony, of course, but they tend to the farms, the shops, and do everything but magic.”
“Are you saying there’s no way I could learn how to operate an espresso machine with my mind?” I said.
“Sadly not,” she said, laughing. “You’re really cute, you know that?”
“I’m cute?” I said. I wasn’t expecting her to be so forward. “N-not as cute as you, though!”
I tried to play it off as smooth so much I ended up shouting it out, alerting nearby pedestrians. I’m sorry for being such a dork!
Tessa looked more at ease than she did a few minutes ago. Her shoulders slacked, and I could tell she wasn’t forcing her smile anymore. Maybe it was the ice cream. Or maybe it was me. All I know is that I was enjoying myself.
“It’s getting a little late,” I said, checking the time on my phone. “I’d hate to call it off, but we have to get up early tomorrow.”
Part of me wanted to call Elise up right away and take her up on her offer, but that wouldn’t be fitting of a manager.
“It’s OK,” she said. “I understand.”
&
nbsp; We waited by the curb for the drive-share person to pick us up. Our hands were locked together. Tessa brought her body close to mine. I could smell her perfume. I became clinically aware of every breath she took.
“You haven’t talked much about your power,” I said, trying to break the silence.
“And what is it that you want me to tell you? I mean, I can tell you that I understand the way you’re feeling right now…”
She slid her free hand down my stomach but stopped just short of the belt. The move sent shivers down my spine. I’m sure Tessa could sense that, too.
“Not me! Other people, I mean.”
“Hmm,” she said, tapping a finger on her lips. “See those women over there?”
She pointed to a group of two women leaving a bar across the street. One of them stumbled as she walked, using the other woman as support.
“The drunk one has these very raw feelings of love. Her lover broke up with her recently, but enough time has passed that she’s beginning to understand why he split off. So, she’s getting drunk not because she got dumped, but because she can’t accept the fact that the problem might’ve been hers all along. Maybe addiction? I’m not sure.”
“The other woman faces conflicting feelings. She wants to support her friend but feels as if she can’t do it in this way. Something happened to her recently that changed how she fundamentally feels about things like this. Maybe it was the birth of a child, or maybe it was a job promotion. She’s too grown up for this.”
“That was impressive,” I said. To call it impressive would be a severe understatement. Tessa can grasp things about this world that I could never even dream of understanding. It really makes me think that she might understand me on a much deeper level than I understand her. Maybe that was why she was so open with sharing details of her past. It’s her way of helping me catch up.
You’re amazing, Tessa. Too amazing for someone like me.
Our drive back was much faster than the drive over earlier in the evening. As the car pulled up next to the apartment, I got nervous all over. In any normal first date, you walk the girl up to her door and say goodnight, maybe get a kiss out of it. But Tessa lives in my apartment already. We’ve spent more time together than any two people who go on a first date should have.
I fumbled to put the key through its hole. I expected Tessa to make some comment about how I was taking too long, but she remained strangely quiet. She must be having just as hard a time as me processing what we do next.
A Witch's Guide to a Good Brew Page 10
