Page 5 of Novice Girlfriend

I glanced between them. “So he learned we just need to find a better scene for a date because he will probably get one now?”

“Yes,” they both instantly answered.

Well… Shit.

2

Bevin

Most would think that people wouldn’t want a job that started at six in the morning on a Saturday… Or ever that early.

But a lot of people did. They wanted shifted hours from normal so they were available for other things. I knew this was common for humans who had to deal with work commutes and traffic. Seeing healers—doctors for them—who had certain hours.

Actually, that was for our healers too. There were lots of instances in the magical world that had normal business hours, and if your job started at five in the morning, you were done at one or two in the afternoon. That gave you the rest of the afternoon and night.

Several moms worked at the treats factory just for that option so they were home when their younger kids got out of school. Someone else got them to school then? I wasn’t sure how it worked—probably because of the dads, but either way, it was how we had a lot of people when I started at six in the morning.

The workers and how many we had were fantastic. They were being managed well, and people were grateful for the job. Now that Tracey had put her foot down about taking advantage of me—or trying too—the factory was running smoothly.

Apparently, the problem was just me.

“I don’t understand,” someone whispered as the batch of what should have become dog treats turned rancid before our eyes.

Like would have been blurred out in an anime rancid. Maybe even the way YouTube videos did that when someone vomited.

Yes, it was that bad.

And the smell was indescribable.

“Let’s get some windows and doors open,” the floor manager called to the others. She cleared her throat. “Are you okay, Bevin?”

I didn’t know how to answer and jumped when she touched me. “I don’t know what happened. I’ve never—this—I don’t know what this is.”

“There’s probably something wrong with this batch,” she said with a sigh. “We’ve had a lot of new people—mistakes happen. It’s unfortunate, but I’ll write up a report to Tracey. Your magic probably knew this wasn’t safe for dogs.”

A thrill of worry raced through me. “You think someone sabotaged us?”

She frowned but then shook her head. “No, just a mistake. We reorganized the storage and—mistakes happen. We’ll make extra sure everything is labeled better now that we’re getting in so many bulk ingredients. We’ll carefully dispose of this and sanitize everything. Let’s just move on to the next setup.”

I tried to accept her explanation and comfort. It was logical and of course something would go wrong. It was probably shocking that it hadn’t yet given how we’d put it all together and how fast we’d ramped up, right?

No, apparently not. We’d done a good job of picking the right people and managing it all.

The problem was me.

I ruined another huge batch—gagging at how rancid it all went and fast. I pulled out my phone in a flash and started messaging people.

Tracey.

Mrs. Reid.

Wyatt.

Like… Yeah, that was who to call. I basically sent the three of them messages saying my magic was broken and I’d fucked up in the factory and made a mess.

Literally and figuratively, and I didn’t know how to fix it or contain the situation.

Wyatt arrived first, within five minutes, and covered his nose as he jogged inside. He looked half asleep still and completely rolled out of bed disheveled.