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Um, sure, my potions were magic, but they still had their limits. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have anything like that.”
An angry flush crawled up his neck and into his cheeks as he flung his arms to the side. “I thought this was supposed to be some magic, hocus pocus shop!”
“It’s not hocus pocus.”
The smell of something burning suddenly hit me, and after a terrible flash of the flames from my dream the night before, I realized my potion was scorching. “I’m sorry, if you could just give me–”
“This is crap,” the man raged. “I knew this place was fake. Nothing but crystals and nonsense.”
“If you’re looking for help with exercise, Wanda’s Witchery sells gym clothes that will encourage you to work out. Maybe you should consider giving her a visit.” I hated to chase away a customer, especially after a few lean days, but my potions couldn’t do what he wanted them to, and I’d rather he got what he needed elsewhere. Plus, I always liked sending sales Wanda’s way.
I took a few steps back towards the store room, trying to ease my way out of the conversation so I could get to my potion before it was ruined. But the man’s face turned an alarming shade of red, and a vein started throbbing at his temple.
“Are you telling me to get out?”
“No,” I started, wondering what in the heck was in the air today.
“Because I called you on your… your fraud?”
“It’s not fraud.”
He stomped towards the door, bottles rattling on their shelves with every step he took. “Well, we’ll just see what everyone thinks of this! Be prepared for my bad review on Yelp! I’ll be sure to tell everyone about the terrible service here!”
The door slammed, and the bell hanging over it shrieked and then fell to the floor, bouncing twice before it finally came to a stop.
I blinked back tears of frustration, as the fire alarm started shrilling.
***
“Is everything alright?”
I wobbled, the stool under my feet teetering slightly. I’d stood on it so I could wave a towel close to the fire alarm to try and clear the smoke away so it would stop going off. All I needed was the volunteer fire department tromping through my shop full of fragile bottles and candles.
I’d been in such a hurry to get to my burning potion, which had scorched black to the bottom of my beaker, ruining both, that I hadn’t bothered to lock the door behind my last customer. And with the bell still lying forlorn and forgotten on the floor, I hadn’t heard it when Andre came in.
Alarmed, Andre grabbed the stool to steady it, and reached up to brace my leg. His hand felt very warm, even through the fabric of jeans, and when he helped me down, the blush in my cheeks wasn’t just for the near miss he’d just witnessed.
Andre held my shoulder as he looked down at me, and I felt myself swallowing hard.
“Poppy?” he asked with a smile.
“Yes?”
“Is everything alright?” he asked again, this time with a little chuckle.
I felt my cheeks flush even hotter. “Oh, right. Um, yeah, everything is okay.”
“You’re sure?”
He reached out with his free hand, tucking a stray lock of my hair behind my ear.
“Um. I think so?”
It took more effort than I was proud to admit to not shiver at the brush of his strong fingers against the delicate shell of my ear. The flush in my cheeks wasn’t going away anytime soon.
“What did I just walk into?” he continued, not making any motion to release my arm or to back away. I swallowed hard as I tried to remind myself what he’d just asked me.
“Oh, um, I was just trying to…” I gestured around the back room, still filled with smoke that hung in the air, stinking of burned grass and orange peels. “Air this place out.”
