Chapter 16
Iwalked into a smaller waiting area. It was clean and cozy.
The white I thought I’d seen on the walls turned out to be a soft taupe.
There was a row of seating—lavender chairs that matched Lydia's hair and looked ridiculously comfy.
Glass shelves with gold accents housed an assortment of bottles with the same label I recognized from my living space.
Despite Cindrette walking in only a minute before me, the space was empty.
Except for Lydia. She hovered over a small standing desk in the center of the room, in front of a wide curtain that spanned wall to wall.
When she lifted her creamsicle eyes to greet me, a bolt of lightning shot through my body.
The small buzz of hope and excitement I’d felt at my first successful session amplified. I went from giddy to outright drunk with pride in seconds. This was different from the sensation I’d experienced in the boardroom. That had been a stream of blissful acceptance.
This was an ocean of champagne at high tide. A hiccup escaped my lips. I covered them with a shocked giggle. Lydia’s calm face lifted into a mischievous grin.
“Good morning, Simone. I was wondering when you’d find your way to us. Can I offer you a drink?” She gestured toward the compact water jug in the far corner. Slices of cucumber and leafy green mint floated in the crystal-clear water.
Suddenly, I was parched. It took all I had not to cross the room and lift the jug directly to my mouth. Instead, with shaky legs, I did what I hoped was a cool stride over to it.
“I can get my own water, thank you.” My words were slurring, and my head held the fog of a hangover. Weird. I thought I would feel good in the medspa. Instead, I just felt … topsy-turvy.
“As you wish, Ephemeral Supreme.” Lydia’s grin stretched from ear to ear.
A small voice inside me shrieked in protest, and the house groaned.
It was at least a hundred years old, as far as I knew, and I’d never heard that sound before.
The floorboards never creaked when you walked across them.
The house didn’t “settle” the way others did.
The sound of it happening was jarring enough to snap me back into reality.
And once there, I was right pissed off at Lydia Langley.
Part of my training as a therapist had been learning to embrace that emotions, by themselves, are neutral. Feeling pain isn’t automatically a bad thing. Joy is great, but sadness has its place in our lives as well. Logically, I knew that.
But in this case, I latched on to the growing rage pooling in my stomach and let it take charge of my voice.
“This bullshit manipulation of my emotions stops now, Lydia. Not only is it rude and disrespectful, but it’s violating as well. We won’t have that at the Magnolia. Am I clear?”
Whoa. Once the words were out, everything underneath my feet shifted. If I’d been floating before, I was surely on solid ground now.
Lydia’s face barely registered her shock, but it rode off her in waves. The smile disappeared. One lovely eyebrow lifted. And a surge of anger that matched my own knocked me back a step. It came at me like an animal poised to attack its prey. I widened my stance to brace myself.
Lauren had implied the Twins were fae. I didn’t know much about them other than what I’d read in a few of my favorite fantasy novels. But I remembered reading that they were strong. Super strong. And fast. Lydia could have crossed the room in a heartbeat and broken my neck.
But even as the thought latched onto me, the force of her anger barreling forward stopped short inches from my body. It curled there like invisible smoke. Tentatively, I extended one hand and met a wall.
So I had a barrier. Interesting.
Lydia’s lip lifted into a snarl, and the anger slinked back to its owner.
“I don’t want to fight with you Lydia.” I inched sideways and sank into one of the chairs. My butt sighed in bliss as it conformed to my body. With a gesture, I motioned to the chair beside me. “Why don’t we try talking instead?”
“Five minutes.” She tapped her delicate wrist, which incidentally did not have a watch, and crossed the room to join me with a weightless grace I envied. I tended to clomp about, my steps heavy.
Up close, she was even more beautiful. Her skin was flawless. She tucked her hair behind one ear with long, slender fingers. A cascade of gold cuffed the ear, which tapered to a sharp point at the top. Her skin was milk dipped in honey. When she moved, the crisp scent of bergamot followed.
“Are you and Lyra the creators of the beauty line I have upstairs?” She tilted her head at me, as if she didn’t understand the question. “You smell like bergamot. It reminds me of the product upstairs with that logo over there.”
She inspected me for a moment, pursing her lips together. When she answered, her voice was no longer the lilting melody from before. Instead, it was clipped and guarded.
“It was Lyra’s idea. We took it to Agatha, and she let us run a trial.” A hint of her smile returned. “It was a very successful trial.”
“I saw the YouTube page. Two million followers. I even used it to put on makeup.” When she only stared at me as if I was being analyzed, I continued. “I like it. That’s all I’m saying. I’m not trying to be your enemy.”
She thawed. It was the slightest drop of her shoulders, but the air between us softened. Not a lot. I could work with that.
“If you want us to get along, stop using your magic against others.” She leaned back, looking at me over her long nose. “And schedule a facial. Your skin is atrocious.”
I was too shocked by the former to be offended by the latter.
“I’m not using my magic against anyone,” I told her. But dammit. There it was in my voice again. A hint of a tremor that told me I was lying. Even to myself.
“Is that so?” Lydia, of course, picked up on it.
“I suppose your husband just woke up with a strange virus that coincided with your cruel oaths to him? And you walked in here telling me what is allowed at the Magnolia because you have such a strong sense of authority and not because you know I have to obey?”
Had I thought she’d softened toward me? Hah. The anger prowled around me once more. Lydia rose to her feet and paced the small space of the waiting room.
“And the trick you played on poor Doug Holloway yesterday?” She uttered a scoff. “Really, Simone, I didn’t expect you to stoop so low. Especially on your first day.”
“I what? What did I do?” My mind was a jumbled mess, trying to reconcile what she was saying about my session with Doug. “I didn’t play any tricks, Lydia. I was using a therapy tool that is useful when …”
My words trailed off at her self-righteous glare. She planted her hands on her hips. It was the most expressive I’d ever seen her.
“You aren’t fooling me, Simone. And you certainly didn’t fool Doug.” Then she laughed, and it was nothing short of a witch’s cackle. “Once word got around that you tried to manipulate his emotions, to use your expression, you were sunk.”
She peeked behind the curtain, offering me a glimpse of what appeared to be an endless hallway with rows of doors on each side. A light above a door at least a mile away flickered green.
“My client is ready. Unlike you, I take care of their needs rather than my own.”
I had no response. I was too dumbfounded to defend myself. She slid behind the curtain without saying goodbye. But her follow-up words bounced through the room and filled my head.
“Stop trying so hard to make an impact. You’re only losing our respect more.” Her laughter echoed in my ears. “Then again, maybe don’t stop. In thirty days, you’ll be out of here, and we can all move on. Whether we want to or not.”
I sat in the waiting room with my mouth gaping open. Whether they want to or not? What did that even mean?
It had only been a few days. But I was screwing this up. Majorly. And for the first time, I realized that the consequences of my failure didn’t just affect me and Agatha. The other division heads had something at stake.
Frustration cut through my haze. If they had something to lose, why not help me? Why mess with me and test me instead of showing me compassion and guiding me? Aside from Brianne, no one was reaching out. I had no details and no idea where to get them.
Maybe they were just busy. Maybe, despite never seeing anyone come in or go out, business was better than I realized. I’d never asked Ethan for financials, nor had he offered them. Then again, I hadn’t asked.
I’d made the decision to focus on the therapy division. The job I was supposed to know how to do.
Part of me wanted to stomp behind that curtain and bang on every door until I found Lydia. Then I’d give her a piece of my mind, consequences be damned. I’d just sat there while she accused me of things I hadn’t even done. I deserved to defend myself.
But disturbing every client at the spa didn’t make good business sense. And, as much as I was loath to admit it, Lydia was right. At least partly. I had hexed Jeff, even if it was unintentional. Gumbo warned me to be careful about my words. I’d done the opposite.
But Doug? All I wanted was to help him. I’d definitely never played a trick on him, intentional or otherwise.
Had I?
I rose with a sigh, taking my glass of water and leaving it right next to Lydia’s computer just for spite. I stuck my tongue out at the curtain and returned to my office.
And sat. All afternoon. While session after session either called and canceled or didn’t bother to show.
By the end of day two, I’d seen exactly one patient, gotten into a fight with a colleague, and learned the town was already turning against me based on something I didn’t even know I’d done.
And I had no idea what to do about any of it.
Panic crept into my veins, turning my blood to ice. My heartbeat quickened until my pulse pounded along my neck. I tried to take calming breaths, but with each inhale, my situation clamped harder onto my chest. I dug tingling fingers into my palms and squeezed my eyes shut.
The urge to vomit surged through me. I’d never make it to a restroom. I yanked the rusted copper trash can at my feet and hauled it on my lap, leaning over it as my body shuddered and heaved.
Another panic attack. There was no way I would be able to talk myself out of this one. I needed help.
“Gumbo.”
The heavy vibration of Gumbo’s purrs rumbled all the way up to my stomach. He rubbed against me, pushing his head into my fisted hands until they relaxed. He whispered to me, and I clung to his fur until my heartbeat slowed and my breath was deep.
When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in my office. And I wasn’t alone.