Stupid Cupid

by Liz Hunter, Aka Mennen, Phyllis Campbell

  “Ouch.” She must have hit something on the chair.

  “What the hell?”

  “Get dressed,” she hissed at him.

  He looked around for his tee and found it under the chair. She had her bra clipped and buttoned her shirt, cursing softly. He had just managed to pull his shirt on when Carly tried the door handle.

  “Hey! What’s with the door? Why is it locked?” she called out.

  “It’s not.” Leena moved to open it and faced her sister. “You know how it sticks sometimes.”

  “It does? I didn’t know that.” Carly pushed her way in. “Lee, you’ll never guess. I talked to Gina and she said I had to—.” She saw Vince and stopped. “Oh!”

  Turning to her sister who was busy stacking some papers on the breakfast table, she grinned in a way that made her look about ten. “Oh, I see. That’s why the door was stuck.”

  They both hastened to correct her.

  “What do—,” Leena questioned.

  “The wind—.”

  Carly held up a hand, palm out. “Oh, puhleeze. I’m sixteen, not six. I’ve had sex ed.”

  Leena sputtered as Carly continued. “Just use one of the other rooms next time and you won’t get interrupted. Anyway, this is great. You’re both here, so I only need to say this once. Gina said—. Wait a minute.” She turned to Vince. “Did you say the breeze shut the door?”

  He nodded in the face of the little whirlwind facing him. “That means you—.” Carly turned to Leena, her curls bouncing every which way as she gave a little hop. “That means you did it. You used your powers. You’re back. Oh, Lee, I’m so excited.” She fell on her sister hugging her, talking all the while.

  Vince gaped as Leena tried to extricate herself. Then Carly’s continued words penetrated the fog that seemed to envelop him.

  “Your powers,” Carly said. “You used them at last. Does this mean you’ll teach me? Now you can undo that awful spell I cast on both of you.”

  What in the hell was she talking about? Was she saying Spell? As in witches and stuff like that? Spell? He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

  “Carly, stop.” Leena pulled herself free, sheer panic on her face. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “What’s the matter? Gina said it would only work if you two were meant to be together and looks like you are. You were making out, weren’t you?”

  Leena let out a groan like a wounded animal. “Carly, shut up. Vince I’m sorry, she’s just trying to irritate me with one of her make-believe lies. She does that you know.”

  “Oh come on, Sis. How long can you hide this?”

  “Carly, I’m warning you—.”

  Vince found his voice. “Would someone tell me what the hell is going on?” He felt like he’d entered the twilight zone. They continued arguing, oblivious to him. “Hey!” He smacked a hand down on the table. They both jumped and fell silent. “That’s better. Now, what the hell just happened here?”

  Leena looked at him, her eyes huge and stricken, as if he’d hit her instead of the table. He shoved aside the guilt at making her look that way. “What,” he enunciated every word, “is going on?”

  Leena’s throat worked but the only sound that came from her was a groan.

  “Carly? Want to try explaining?”

  “Er … Lee?” She turned to her sister, questioning.

  Leena found her voice. “Just tell him how you like to pretend.”

  Carly rolled her eyes.

  “No, I don’t think so, Leena. I want to know exactly what she meant by casting spells and how that damn door shut. And what she meant by you using your power. Sit,” he ordered the two of them, waving to the chairs. Then, softening his voice when they both flinched, he added. “Let’s talk about this calmly, okay?”

  They both sat, although he suspected Leena did it more for her own sake than because he ordered her to. She looked ready to collapse. He took a step toward her then checked himself. First they had to sort this out.

  Vince propped a foot on the bottom rung of the chair nearest him, leaning an arm on his knee. “Okay, any time you’re ready.”

  Carly looked mutinous like only a teenager could, and Leena sat there looking like her world was crashing about her ears. What was wrong with them? Of the two, he figured he could break Carly faster. So he turned on the charm, that famous persuasion that won him some prime accounts.

  “Carly, I can tell you came in here with some news. Something about a … a spell?” He felt stupid even saying it. And I know I saw that door shut without a da—any wind around.” He gave her a slight smile. “And you’re right. Your sister and I were … getting to know each other a little better.” He ignored the choked sound from Leena. “We’ve just started working together and we have the biggest presentation our company has ever done coming up in a couple of weeks. I thought some time talking in a more causal setting would help us work together better. I was just getting myself a beer.” He walked to the fridge and paused. “Leena, how about you?”

  “God, yes please,” she choked out.

  Vince twisted the caps off two bottles and brought one to her. “So, Carly, what did Gina tell you?” When she didn’t answer, he smiled at her. “Look, I just want to understand what’s going on. How can I help if I don’t know what’s happening?”

  “Really? You want to help?”

  “Yes. It’s what I was trying to do earlier with Leena.”

  “Okay then.” She cocked her head to one side in a gesture so like her sister he almost laughed. But he mistrusted the calculating look in her eyes. “Did you pay a deposit?”

  He blinked at the change in subject. “Deposit?”

  “Yeah, like when you signed the lease. Gina told me we should have asked for a deposit.”

  He was getting a little tired of Gina said. Actually though, he had wondered about that but hadn’t thought it his job to ask. “So?”

  “So, I think you should pay us one.” They needed money—that much was clear. Given the dilapidated condition of the house and renting out rooms.

  “Okay. It’s usually one month’s rent. That okay with you?”

  “Yes.” She eyed him. “Can I trust you?”

  He met her look evenly, held her gaze. “Yes.”

  Leena might have moaned again but he couldn’t be sure. He was almost enjoying sparring with this spunky girl. After a moment of studying him she nodded. “Okay.”

  “So, now you’ll tell me what’s going on?”

  “Yeah.”

  He sighed, holding onto his temper. “So talk.”

  “Carly, don’t. I can’t afford to lose this job,” interjected Leena.

  “Its okay,” she assured her sister. “I’ve found us work.” Carly turned back to Vince.

  “You see, we’re witches.”

  Four

  Whatever Vince expected it wasn’t that.

  “You’re what?” He shot a glance at Leena but she had her head buried in her hands.

  It was Carly who answered. “You heard me. We’re witches. Only, Leena doesn’t want to be one. She says I shouldn’t either. But we have to find a way to make our payments. And that’s why Leena has to take a full time job and give up on her jewelry business.”

  He latched onto the only thing that made any sense. “Payments?”

  This time it was Leena who answered. “Mortgage payments. We’re about to lose the house. That’s why I was upset when you came in. That and—.”

  “You’re kidding right?” Vince replied.

  “I don’t kid about money, Vince. Believe me,” she snapped.

  “Not the money. About this … this witch thing.”

  “I wish I was. Nope, this is the real deal.”

  He had to sit. “There’s no such thing. As witches I mean. Do you guys think you belong to some WICCA group?” That had to be it. They, for some odd reason, wanted to be known as witches.

  “We don’t belong to a conclave. No WICCA, nothing. Because she wo
n’t let us.” Exasperation tinged Carly’s tone.

  “That’s right. Because all it’s brought us is grief. And you should be focusing on your studies, getting a professional degree so you won’t struggle like we have,” Leena shot back at her sister. “Carly, go upstairs please. Vince and I need to talk this through.”

  For a minute he thought Carly would rebel, but she caved under her sister’s steady look. “Okay, but Gina said—.”

  “Tell me later,” interrupted Leena. “Now please just go.”

  “Don’t forget that deposit.” Carly pointed a finger at him and he just managed to stop himself saluting. Even with all her weirdness, the kid was likable. So he grinned and waved at her.

  He turned to find Leena watching him, eyes wary. A part of him wanted to dismiss it all as imagination. But she was too serious, too solemn. If it had only been Carly, he might have been inclined to shrug it off. But Leena’s reaction gave it a ring of authenticity. Still it was too fantastic to believe.

  “So what’s this really about?”

  “Just what I told you, Vince. Witchery, witches, the paranormal, call it what you want. It’s still the same thing. Carly and I were born witches. When I was younger I actually believed in my calling. But now it’s all I can do to make ends meet. That’s why I took the full time job and rented the rooms to you.”

  Something jogged his memory. “Earlier you said something about the mortgage payments upset you. And something else but you didn’t finish. What was that?”

  She took a deep breath, needing to fortify herself it seemed. Fidgeting with the papers on the table, she mumbled, “Your car.”

  “What about my car?”

  “Oh hell. I hit it as I tried to park behind you.”

  His Beamer. She hit his Beamer! With an effort, he controlled his rising anger. “How bad?”

  “Bad enough. I hit the back fender, broke the light. Don’t worry, I have insurance.” She looked at him and he willed himself to ignore that hesitant look. Part of him wanted to say it was all right, while another side seemed to be getting madder by the minute.

  “Okay, we’ll deal with that in a minute. Now what was that Carly said about casting spells? Did she do something to me? Come to think of it, I’ve felt weird all week.” Not as weird as calmly discussing being a witch with his landlady.

  “God, I hope not. She’s been practicing spell casting. Obviously she has no idea what she’s doing. She cast some sort of spell on the cat but it backfired and hit me. That’s why I’ve been so nervous all week, spilling things. I bet it’s why I hit your car, too.”

  There it came—the excuses. It wasn’t my fault.

  “Sure,” he drawled. “So what did she do to me?”

  “I have no idea. We’ll have to ask her. If I know anything about her, she’s hovering in the hallway. Carly,” she called out. “Get in here please.”

  Carly slipped in confirming she’d been hiding outside the door. “What?”

  “What did you do to Vince?”

  “Noth—.” Again that steady look from her sister. “Okay, okay. Stop giving me that look. I thought you guys would make a good match, so … so I…. “Her courage seemed to fail her.

  “Its okay, honey. Just tell me. I’ll fix it.” Leena obviously knew how to get her sister to talk.

  “Well, I cast a joining spell.”

  “Oh no!”

  What the hell was that? Leena’s reaction alarmed him even more. “What is that?” he asked, his voice rising in panic.

  “A joining spell is kind of a love potion type of spell. It’s supposed to make two people … er … wan—I mean, desire each other.”

  Her trepidation took on a whole new meaning. “You mean—.” He broke off, not knowing how to phrase what they had done in front of the teenager.

  “It worked, didn’t it? I knew it. You guys were making out weren’t you?”

  “Carly, go to your room.”

  “Carly, you should leave.”

  They spoke in unison and she looked at them in disgust. “Great. Gang up on me. I’ll be up in my room.”

  “Really in your room this time, not behind the door,” Leena said.

  Carly huffed her way out the door and thumped up the stairs, talking, presumably to herself.

  Vince took a long swig of his beer, wishing he had something stronger. “So all that earlier was because she cast some love spell on me?” That explained his strong attraction to someone not his type. The surge of anger became stronger.

  “I’m not sure what she did. Until I talk to her I can’t say for sure. But—”

  “So what, Leena? Did you add something to what she did? So I’d sleep with you? Forget you hit my car? Maybe pay you more money in rent?”

  He hated being manipulated. Loathed the thought that someone had controlled his actions. If such a thing was even possible. Maybe she had planned this all along? Righteous anger filled him and he went with it. “Too bad it didn’t work. I’ll expect your insurance information in the morning. You’ll have to find some other sucker, Leena.”

  Ignoring the stricken look on her face, he stalked out the door.

  Leena trudged wearily up the stairs to her sister’s room. She had no time to process what Vince said, his reaction. All she knew was the incredible sense of loss and shame that pervaded her being. How could she have been so cheap? And that’s what it felt like. Having sex with him on the kitchen chair. She quelled the excitement that threatened to take over as she remembered the sensations of being on his lap, coming apart in his arms. She’d never acted that way before. Did it have something to do with Carly’s spell? There was only one way to find out.

  Their mother had had affairs and jaunted about town with little regard for two impressionable girls at home. When she began going away for days on end, Leena had become both mom and sister to Carly. They were close but she hadn’t been able to curb Carly’s enthusiasm for their heritage. She, on the other hand, wanted them to have a normal life, wanted Carly to grow up and have a real job. Something professional so her sister would be financially secure. Unlike Leena herself, who hadn’t been able to go to college. She sighed as the wisps of dreams long buried teased the corners of her mind.

  Carly sat against the headboard in her familiar pose, her expression half-mutinous, half-scared.

  “Oh, honey. Come here.” Leena didn’t have it in her to yell at her sister. After all, Carly thought she was helping. In Carly’s mind, learning to use her powers would solve all their problems.

  Her sister hugged her, choking back a sob. “I didn’t mean to mess things up. I really didn’t.”

  “I know, baby, I know. You want to help.” She’d reserve her lecture for later.

  Once Carly stopped crying, Leena settled back on the foot of the bed and asked. “So tell me everything you did. Start from the time of the first spell last week.”

  “Okay. Well, you know about that. After that, I didn’t do anything. I couldn’t find a way to reverse it. Then I met Vince last week—he came over a couple of times to drop things off. And he was, like, so nice. I thought he made a good match for you.”

  “Why do you think I need to be paired up with someone?”

  “You’re unhappy all the time. I can see it. You worry about the money and the house and me. I thought you should have someone to take care of you.”

  Leena agreed in theory. Not so much about being taken care of, but how nice it would be to have someone to lean on, to laugh with, have great sex with. A vision of Vince, caring and hot, looking at her as he held her hair back, came unbidden to mind. She blinked to clear her head.

  “It’s not for you to choose someone for me, Carly. It has to happen naturally. Spells like this don’t last. Not unless people have an attraction for each other and are … are suited to each other. Vince and I, we’re very different people. He’s a big time ad executive. Do you know the kind of people he has dinners with?”

  Carly shook her head. “Well, they’re big time, too. And I w
ould never fit with that kind of life.”

  “But you guys were making out, weren’t you?”

  Leena sighed. How to circumvent this one? “We weren’t making out.” She waited a second for the proverbial lightening to strike. “We kissed, that’s all.” No way was she telling Carly what actually happened in there. “And it was most likely because of your spell. Nothing else. I have to work with the man. And we really need the money from this job. It even has health insurance benefits. Do you know what that means? It means we can sit back a bit and not worry as much about how to get things paid. Besides, what if he decides to break his lease? We don’t have the money to sue him or anything. And boy, do we need that rent money right now.” She decided to leave the issue of the deposit alone. If he paid it, it would be a great help. If not, she’d muddle along like she had in the past.

  But first she had to get Carly to stop trying out spells. She knew her sister well enough to realize that a simple request would not work. Carly was stubborn as they came. And those damn cats probably encouraged her.

  “Carly, I want to make a deal with you. I want you to stop spell casting during the school year. In the summers, I’ll work with you. If you finish high school, you can apprentice with someone. Someone who knows more than I do.”

  Carly mulled it over, cocking her head to one side and chewing her lower lip. “Why can’t I just apprentice with you?”

  “Because I never had any strong formal training. If you want to do this right, you have to learn from someone really good.” Unlike their mother, she silently added. She’d always been careful not to denigrate Mom in front of Carly. They rarely discussed their mother anymore and she had no idea of how Carly really felt. “Is it a deal, Carly?”

  “I know someone I can learn from.”

  “Good.” No way was she going to get sidetracked without extracting a promise from her sister. “But first, tell me you promise?”

  “Every summer ‘til I finish school? That’s three whole summers.”

  “Yes, every summer.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay, what?”

  “Okay, I promise not to spell cast during school.”