Kiss and Spell (Enchanted, Inc.)

by Swendson, Shanna

  “Ah, an old fogy, I take it. None of those newfangled e-books for him.” He laughed, and I fought back my irritation and my urge to jump to Owen’s defense.

  “Actually, he’s pretty young—around thirty, I’d say. But he is kind of old-fashioned, in a good way. I like his vision of bookstores, and he’s asked me to help with some advertising and marketing strategy.”

  “That should be good for your résumé. Instead of having wasted the past year in a retail job, you can now call it a job within your field.”

  I bristled again, but crumbled a roll from the bread basket instead of saying anything. “If I get to do interesting stuff, I may want to stay,” I said. “I’m not crazy about pouring coffee, but if I get to help on the business side of things, it might become a job worth sticking around for. I really seem to have clicked with Owen.”

  He choked on the sip of wine he’d just taken, then had a brief coughing fit. “Sorry, that went down the wrong way,” he said.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” But there was an angry, alarmed look to his eyes that I found oddly chilling. Was he jealous of a boss I’d barely mentioned? I’d worked so hard to talk about Owen in a neutral way. Maybe I’d overdone it to the point it looked like I was hiding something.

  He barely spoke through the rest of dinner, and his mind seemed to be elsewhere, like he was mentally cooking up some scheme. It was so unlike him that I was worried, but I got the impression that asking him what was wrong wouldn’t go over well. I would have begged off of dessert and said I needed to get home, but he did it before I could. He didn’t even walk me home. He merely gave me a perfunctory kiss at the restaurant door and hurried away, like he was late for a meeting. And to think, I’d given up dinner with Owen for that very unsatisfactory date.

  *

  Before I even had my apron on the next morning, Florence demanded, “I want to know the whole story.”

  “Josh didn’t propose last night. In fact, he got weird and called for the check before I was even done eating and then hurried away like he had to catch the last train home.”

  She waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, who cares about Josh. What about spending all afternoon with that cutie-pie boss? I’m sensing a real connection between you two.”

  “He’s just using me as a coffee taster, like he thinks that serving so much of it and being willing to admit that what we serve is awful makes me an expert.”

  “That’s all, huh?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Didn’t you say he wanted to pick your brain for advertising ideas?”

  “Well, yeah, but he hasn’t done so yet, so there’s nothing to tell you.”

  “And you two didn’t talk about anything but coffee all afternoon?”

  “I did find out what his vision for the store is. He’s kind of a romantic about bookselling.”

  “Oooh, you said romantic,” she teased.

  “No, he’s just got this idea of the perfect rainy day spent browsing a bookstore, and he wants to give that to people.”

  “Oh, a perfect rainy day spent browsing a bookstore? Now, where have I heard that before? It sounds like you two were made for each other.”

  I knew I was supposed to bashfully protest, but I paused thoughtfully and said, “It does feel like I’ve known him a lot longer than I have. I guess I just feel comfortable with him.”

  “So you won’t be circling any classified ads anytime soon.”

  “If I can help relaunch this store, then that gives me something for my résumé, and that will improve my job-hunting odds, so it’s in my best interest to hold off on the job hunt for a while.” I slammed the bakery case shut to emphasize that the conversation was over.

  It didn’t deter her. She merely changed the subject. “Now, what about what happened with Josh?”

  “Nothing happened with Josh.”

  “That’s what I meant. Doesn’t sound like much of a date.”

  “It doesn’t have to be champagne and rose petals every time we get together.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “Is it ever champagne and rose petals with him?”

  Again, I had the weirdest feeling that I didn’t know. I had a couple of memories of previous dates with him, but they were isolated incidents, not woven into any larger tapestry. “Let’s face it, I’m not exactly a champagne and rose petals type. I’m more milk and cookies.”

  “If he’s cookies, then it’s the kind we sell here. By the way, we had some leftover sugar cookies yesterday, so I finally got that table by the stairs to stop wobbling.”

  I felt obligated to defend my boyfriend, even though my heart wasn’t really in it. Putting my hands on my hips, I asked, “Do you have a problem with Josh? Last time I checked, you weren’t dating him.”

  “But why are you dating him? You don’t have to settle. There are other fish in the sea. Namely our new boss, Mr. Blue Eyes.”

  I couldn’t meet her eyes because then she’d see that I didn’t know. This was all so confusing. I blamed it on a restless night full of crazy dreams in which I’d been chased by magical monsters with a dark-haired, blue-eyed man at my side. Oh no, I’d been dreaming about my boss, I thought, stifling a groan. That had the potential for serious awkwardness.

  *

  Owen came up to the café after lunch, carrying a stack of binders and a couple of legal pads. “I thought we could go over some marketing ideas, if you’ve got the time,” he said. “We can do it here, and that way you can help if you’re needed in the café.”

  “Sure,” I said, hoping I wasn’t blushing. Florence’s wink didn’t help matters. I shot her a glare as I followed Owen to the largest unoccupied table, where he set down his binders and pulled out a chair for me.

  After we’d taken seats next to each other, he opened one of the binders and outlined his business plan in more detail than he’d gone into in the all-hands meeting. Then he said, “What I want to do is get the word out about how enjoyable it will be to browse for books here, that sense of discovery from finding something unexpected that you wouldn’t have known to go looking for.”

  I almost forgot to think about what he was saying, I was so entranced by the way he said it. His eyes sparkled and he became animated as he described his vision. I’d teased him about being a romantic, but he really did have a passion for what he was doing. I couldn’t help but wonder if that passion carried over to other aspects of his life, and then I had to bury my face in the binder to hide my flaming cheeks. Fantasizing about my boss during a meeting was a new low for me.

  “We’ll need to draw people into the store so they can discover it for themselves,” I said, my voice sounding a little too loud and too high. I fought to get it under control. “When you say it, shelving books in different sections doesn’t sound particularly sexy. But when people see it while browsing, they’re sure to see how different it is. We’ll need events.” I mused for a moment, thinking back to my school days when we’d done a class project along these lines. “I know!” I said, looking up. “We’ll have a book scavenger hunt! Have a grand reopening party, and one of the activities will be a book scavenger hunt where people have a list of books to find on the shelves. Since what you want to do is more intuitive than the strict chain-store rules, people will see how easy it is to find books.”

  “That’s brilliant!” he said, scribbling notes on a legal pad. “I love it. It’s the kind of thing that should get some word of mouth going. And we’ll have refreshments from our new, improved café.”

  We then brainstormed more ideas for the event and how to promote it, and I felt myself shaking off the rust from going so long without working in my field. We were really on a roll and laughing about some ridiculous idea I’d just thrown out when a voice said, “Wow, you’re having fun at work.”

  I looked up to see Josh standing at the end of the table. “Oh, hi!” I said. “What brings you here?”

  He bent to kiss my cheek. “Just stopping by to see my girl. Do you have a moment to talk?”<
br />
  I glanced at Owen, who said, “This looks like a good time for a break.”

  Belatedly, I remembered my manners. “Owen, this is my boyfriend, Josh. Josh, Owen is the new owner.” I didn’t know which one of them to watch as they greeted each other, but since I figured I’d know what Josh felt soon enough, I focused on Owen. He seemed perfectly open and friendly toward Josh. I’d have had to stretch to detect even the slightest hint of jealousy. Maybe this was all about business, after all.

  Josh, on the other hand, had found his inner caveman. I didn’t have to look at him to know he was unhappy. I could feel the tension and dislike radiating off of him. That was weird. I’d never known him to be the jealous type. Then again, I’d never given him anything to be jealous of. At least, I didn’t remember doing so in the vague haze of memories of our relationship.

  Owen excused himself, taking out his cell phone, as if he planned to use the break to check messages and return calls. I pretended not to notice Josh’s animosity and said, “Wow, a daytime visit! I feel so special.”

  “That’s your new boss?”

  “Yeah. He’s got some good ideas. He might even manage to make this place work.” I followed his angry gaze toward Owen, who was on the phone at the other end of the store. “Did he beat you up in high school, or something?”

  He blinked back to me. “What?”

  “You seem to have taken an instantaneous dislike to my new boss. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were jealous.”

  He opened his mouth, closed it, and shook his head, like he was trying to clear it, then he pulled out the chair at the end of the table and sat. “It has nothing to do with him,” he said, not very convincingly. “It’s just that I thought you were finally going to get out of this place and stop treading water with your career, and now he comes along and makes you actually want to keep working here. He’s sidetracking you.”

  “You know, it wasn’t too long ago that you were suggesting I just give it all up and let you take care of me,” I pointed out, trying to keep a light, teasing tone in my voice. I tensed anyway, like his answer would be a critical turning point in my life.

  “Only because I was trying to take the pressure off. Sometimes I think you sabotage yourself, like you’re afraid of success.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, like he was trying to center himself. “But that’s actually not why I’m here. I wanted to apologize for last night. I left pretty abruptly, which must have given you a terrible impression. The truth is, I suddenly wasn’t feeling too well and wanted to get home as soon as possible, and it was the sort of thing I didn’t want to bring up in a restaurant, if you know what I mean. It wasn’t about you, and I didn’t want you thinking I’d rushed off angry.” He chuckled and added, “Though I guess me showing up here and having a testosterone explosion around your boss probably didn’t help matters.”

  I immediately felt bad for having wondered about him. “Oh, that’s okay,” I said. “You meant well. And I hope you’re feeling better.”

  “Tons better. I think something I ate didn’t agree with me. You didn’t get sick, did you? It felt like food poisoning.”

  “No, I was fine.”

  “Then maybe it was a bug, and I hope I didn’t give it to you. Can I make it up to you tonight?”

  “How about tomorrow night? You probably ought to make sure you’re better, and I already told Florence I’d go to a movie with her tonight.”

  He’d tensed when I declined, but relaxed and grinned when I mentioned Florence. He looked across the room toward her, caught her eye, grinned, and waved. Anyone who saw her friendly response would never guess that she spent most of her time trying to talk me into dating someone else. I was watching her, so I barely noticed out of the corner of my eye when he nodded ever so slightly to her, like he was sending a signal. Her smile faded and she looked much more serious—like a totally different person—when she nodded in response. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought they were conspiring against me.

  Chapter Seven

  Owen and I spent the rest of the day working on details for our scavenger hunt event, interrupted only by a deliveryman bringing me a bouquet of daisies from Josh. The card with the flowers wished me a good evening out and told me he’d be thinking of me.

  “That’s nice of him,” Owen said mildly. “How long have you two been together?”

  I started to answer, then realized I didn’t know. The start of our relationship was foggy. “A while, I guess,” I said vaguely. A second later, the answer popped into my head. “Nearly a year.”

  “So it’s serious, I take it.”

  “Yeah, I suppose it is,” I said reluctantly. Then I was surprised that I felt so reluctant about it. But it didn’t feel too serious, at least, not on my part. I barely remembered Josh existed unless I was with him, and I had a hard time remembering specifics of our time together. The only date I recalled with any detail was our last one. Anything happening before that might as well have happened to someone else. I had far more vivid memories of Owen, and I’d only known him a couple of days. I didn’t think that was a good sign.

  *

  As Florence and I prepared to turn the café over to the night crew, she said, “Would you mind if we made it a night in instead of a night out? I think I’ve had about all I can take of people for one day. Maybe we could pick up some takeout and watch a video. That way we could talk.”

  “Sounds good to me. Your place or mine?”

  “Yours, if you don’t mind. It’s closer and nicer.”

  We stopped by the café where I got my morning coffee and ordered burgers to go at the counter. Perry the waitress turned in the order, then leaned on the counter to chat with us. “Looks like you’ve got a big night of cholesterol ahead, huh?” she said with a grin.

  “Usually, tofu’s more my speed, but you’ve gotta indulge every so often,” Florence told her.

  “Yeah, as much kale as she eats, she can get away with a burger every now and then,” I said. “Me, on the other hand, well, I don’t know what my excuse is.”

  “You work very hard,” Florence said. “And now the new boss has you doing two jobs.”

  “Two jobs?” Perry asked.

  “It’s not that bad,” I said. “He’s just getting my help with some planning during lulls at work.”

  “And you should see this boss,” Florence added. “Spending time with him is not a chore. I think he likes Katie.”

  Perry leaned forward across the counter with great interest. “Ooh, he does?”

  “He does not,” I said, rolling my eyes. “He didn’t show even the slightest bit of jealousy when Josh showed up or sent flowers.”

  “So you were watching for jealousy?” Florence teased.

  “Just so I’d know where things stood. I wanted to see if there’d be a situation I needed to defuse. Things might get awkward at work if my boss got jealous of my boyfriend.” I remembered then that he’d asked how long we’d been dating, but that could have just been casual conversation, not an indication of interest, so I decided I wouldn’t mention it. I didn’t want to give Florence any additional ammunition.

  “Order up!” the cook called, and Perry went to get our meals.

  “Have a good evening, and I want updates about this boss,” she said as she handed us our bags.

  At my place, I let Florence peruse my DVD collection while I got dishes and drinks from the kitchen. She was putting a disc in the player when I returned. “I think a good chick flick is just what the doctor ordered,” she said as the two of us settled onto the sofa.

  The movie opened with the heroine walking to work through her neighborhood as a perky pop tune played and the credits showed on the screen. It was an eerily familiar situation. “Do you ever have days when you feel like that, where you can practically hear the song on the soundtrack?” Florence asked. I turned to see if she was joking, but she looked serious.

  “I guess,” I said with a shrug. It did look an awful lot like som
e of my recent mornings had felt.

  Then the movie got going. As usual, the heroine had a boyfriend who was obviously wrong for her when the right guy fell into her life. “Sometimes, I just want to smack some sense into these chicks,” Florence said, shaking her head in frustration. “Shouldn’t it be obvious that this is the wrong guy?”

  “I don’t know. He doesn’t seem too bad.” I wasn’t sure why I was defending him, though. I didn’t think I’d want to date him.

  “He’s boring. I’ll tell you what he is: He’s the safety net. The comfort zone. He’s not going to challenge her, but she’s also not going to grow when she’s with him.”

  “Are you trying to tell me something?” I asked.

  She raised her hands in mock surrender. “I’m just watching the movie. In real life, though, she’d ditch him in a heartbeat for the heartthrob. She just sticks with him because otherwise it would be the world’s shortest movie. Girl meets Mr. Right, realizes it, and dumps Mr. Wrong. The End.”

  In spite of her denial, I thought she sounded rather personally invested in the situation. Of course, the heroine started spending more time with the leading man, and then they fell in love in a montage of romantic scenes set to a swoony pop ballad. This part gave me shivers because I’d felt like that a couple of times lately. It was the way I remembered my entire relationship with Josh, and it was the way days spent with Owen seemed to go.

  “Is something wrong? You look a little pale,” Florence said, nudging me.

  I shook my head. “I think I’ve had a few montage days lately. And why is it the good stuff that goes by in a montage? Why can’t we dispense with a boring day at work with a coffee montage?”

  She laughed, but her eyes looked serious. At the end of the movie, she said, “See, that’s how it needs to work out. She realizes her mistake and rushes to make sure she doesn’t lose the right guy.”