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“You mean saying ‘I can’t’ and running off wasn’t answer enough for you? I thought it was pretty clear. But in case you need it more specifically, no. My answer is no.”
“No, you won’t marry me, or no, you don’t want to be with me?” His tone shifted from angry to gentle. “Because we don’t have to get married now. We can take more time to work things out. You not wanting to be engaged doesn’t mean we have to break up.”
“I mean no to all of the above. I knew it wasn’t what I wanted, so I had to get out of there.” It sounded weak, but I wasn’t sure how I should play this scene. In a romantic comedy scenario, the story dictated that I do something big and dramatic instead of talking about it like a normal person would. In the movies, we didn’t get to see Mr. Wrong in the aftermath of the dramatic exit unless something hilariously humiliating that he totally deserved happened to him. We just saw the heroine happy with Mr. Right. Unless …
With a sinking feeling, I realized that this was supposed to be the scene where the heroine reconciled with Mr. Right after making the biggest mistake of her life in ditching him temporarily for Mr. Wrong. If I was still under the spell, I’d realize the error of my ways and apologize, and then we’d have a romantic reunion where all was forgiven. I didn’t think I could pull that off.
Instead, I dredged up every scene I could recall of the heroine explaining herself to Mr. Wrong before rushing off to be with Mr. Right. “It was an epiphany,” I blurted. “I looked at you there with the ring and the sparklers and the music and all that, and although it was everything I thought I wanted, I knew it wasn’t right for me. You were doing the right things, but you just weren’t the right guy. You’re going to make some lucky girl very happy, but you need to be free to find her.” I thought that sounded suitably noble, even if I did have to fight my gag reflex to say it. I didn’t hate him like the prison guard that he was. I was giving him up so he’d have a chance to find happiness.
He made a good show of acting distraught, waving his hands in the air and making a pained expression. “Did I do something wrong, something that made you upset?”
“No, you did everything right. It’s not you. It’s me.” I had to bite the inside of my lip to keep from laughing. I didn’t think anyone ever actually said that.
“There’s someone else, isn’t there? Your boss.”
“Don’t you think it’s a bad sign for us if I could be attracted to anyone else?”
He reached for my hand and grabbed it, holding it too tightly for me to pull free without making a scene, and this wasn’t supposed to be a scene. I felt the tingle of magic grow around me, and my thoughts went hazy. He was putting the whammy on me again. Was it the little whammy to make me like him or the big one to make me forget who I was? Or would the little one not work without the big one? I desperately tried to hold on to any memories I could of my true self. I remembered kissing Owen, being part of magical battles, working in my family’s store back home—all the things that weren’t supposed to be a part of this world. My name was Katie Chandler, I was from Cobb, Texas, and I worked for Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc. I wasn’t part of this world, and I wasn’t in love with Josh, or whatever his real name was.
“Come on, baby, how can you resist me?” he purred, making sad eyes at me.
I didn’t know about magic, but that was enough to break any spell. “Seriously?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “You’re resorting to puppy dog eyes? That, right there, is why we’re not right for each other. You want a girl you can win stuffed animals for at the fair, and I am so not that girl. We don’t even have the same idea of what’s romantic.” For instance, his whole romantic proposal scenario left me cold. I didn’t want to be surrounded by strangers for what was supposed to be a private moment. If I knew Owen at all, if he ever did propose, it would just be the two of us there. He wouldn’t make a big production out of it.
“So, it’s really over, then,” he said. “You won’t give me another chance?”
Had I ever been this whiny and needy about a breakup? Maybe in high school—at least, I hoped that was the only time. “Yes, it’s over. Thank you for the good times, but I think it’s best if both of us move on, really. I’ve got a new job at the store, and I’m really enjoying it here now. I don’t need you to take care of me.”
Ever so slightly, Josh glanced at the gray guy, and I saw out of the corner of my eye that the gray guy nodded. “Okay, then,” Josh said, backing away, but still holding onto my hand. “If that’s the way you want it.”
It occurred to me that if I’d stuck with Josh while retaining my memories, I might have had a chance to learn something. But I wasn’t that good an actress. He’d have probably figured me out before I learned anything useful. “It is the way I want it,” I said firmly.
He gave my hand one last squeeze, and I blinked as another wave of magic hit me. I had a moment of haziness, and then my head cleared. “Well, then, have a nice life,” he said.
“You, too,” I added, smiling fondly. He glanced over his shoulder, like he was looking for someone, but no one was there, and then he left.
As soon as he was gone, Florence exhaled loudly and said, “Good riddance to bad rubbish. If you hadn’t sent him away, I would have.”
“I guess I should have said something more before I ran off last night,” I said sheepishly. “When a guy asks a question like that, you owe him a real answer.”
“I can picture him kneeling in that restaurant with you already out the door.”
I winced. “How humiliating!”
“Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Now, let’s get this place ready for the afternoon coffee break rush.”
The rest of the afternoon, I had the nagging sense that there was something I was forgetting, something I was supposed to do. I must have been pretty obvious about it, since Florence asked me at one point, “Did you leave the iron on, or something?”
“What? Why do you ask that?”
“Because you’ve got that look.”
“Oh. I guess there is something I’ve forgotten, but I can’t remember what it is. I suspect there’s some errand I was supposed to run today, but in all the excitement, I’ve totally forgotten. When my electricity or telephone gets cut off, I suppose I’ll know, huh?”
“Ah, new love. It makes fools of us all,” she said with a melodramatic sigh, but in spite of her teasing tone, she looked serious.
“Yeah, when you go straight from having one guy propose to realizing you’re in love with another guy, it really messes with your mind.”
“But in a good way.”
