Eva
“So, this one right here is where they date without seeing each other. If they want to meet face to face, they have to get engaged.” I wave the remote around as I explain the premise of each show to Sorren, who is locked in as I scroll through the different reality TV show options.
“What’s that one there?” he asks, pointing to an aesthetically pleasing picture of a cake.
“That’s a good one.” I click over to highlight it. “It’s a baking show. Low drama, low stakes, and so much fun. It’ll totally make you crave desserts and bread the entire time.”
“Tough choice. Blind dates or a baking show. You pick,” he says and pulls the soft chenille blanket off the armrest and spreads it out over our legs.
I want to watch the dating show, but I might die of embarrassment when they get to the honeymoon phase and the cameras stay in the hotel room a few minutes too long.
“I think you’ll like the baking show.” I hit start and settle into the couch.
My eyelids get heavy ten minutes into the show. I give in and let them close, telling myself that I’ll just listen for a minute before opening them back up.
The next thing I know the TV is off and the fire has burned down to embers.
While I was asleep my feet worked their way toward Sorren.
Now, they are pressed up against his side.
I can feel his warmth, keeping my bare feet comfortable.
He’s passed out with his feet up on the ottoman while I take up the majority of the couch.
Sorren shifts, his arm on the back of the couch falls forward, landing on my leg. I sit there frozen, looking at how we are situated on the couch. This is wrong. It’s way too intimate. I should have never suggested we watch TV. This living room is not big enough for both of us.
I stand up, waking up both Sorren and Catrick Swayze, who has decided he’s an indoor cat now. Sorren wakes up slowly, stretching his arms in a wide arc.
“We fell asleep.” I need to get upstairs and close my door. I need to put walls between us and get my head on straight. Things with Grant are hard right now. But I have to believe they’ll get back to how they were before, and snuggling with a demon on my couch is only going to make things worse.
“Tomorrow we’ll see about getting you back home,” I say definitively.
Sorren follows me up the stairs. “That’s probably a good idea.”
I drop into my bed, physically exhausted, but my mind is racing.
What are you doing, Eva? You are playing with fire.
I can’t fall asleep. Just like last night, I stare at the ceiling, my mind racing through everything going on right now. Somehow, through this crazy day, Sorren managed to check off one of the major stressors weighing on me by taking care of that paperwork that’s been haunting me.
Having a demon stuck in my house hasn’t been all that bad. He’s the best roommate I’ve ever had and that includes Riley. Sorren’s funny and helpful, and the tidiest person I’ve ever lived with.
A friend. A good friend. He’s a great friend. Sorren is just a friend.
I repeat it over and over in my head as the guilt coils in my belly. I am a terrible person. For a minute there, I wanted him to kiss me. Do more than kiss me.
I turn on my side and hug my pillow as tightly as I can. I fail miserably at not thinking about Sorren’s lips and what they might feel like on mine.
Needing to think about something else—anything else—I focus on the images from scrying.
Sorren’s interpretation was similar to what I was thinking, he said everything like it was all positive.
However, it left a sour taste in my mouth.
Renewal, action, healing. Those are all good things.
But most people forget they usually come on the heels of sadness and hurt.
Deep down, I know that renewal and love isn’t referring to me marrying Grant.
I’ve held out hope that things will go back to the way they were before the job and the new car, but I’m realizing that those are just excuses.
It’s Grant’s decision on who he wants to be and he’s made his choice, I’ve just been in denial about it.
Of course, the universe won’t let me pretend forever, and now I have to confront the awful truth about where our relationship has gone.
Now that it’s clear in my head, I know what I need to do. I can’t put it off any longer.
I’m up thirty minutes before my alarm goes off and already dreading the day.
It feels like I’m about to inflict massive emotional damage to someone I care about.
Our paths might have diverged, but Grant’s still a decent guy and doesn’t deserve to be strung along.
This disastrous engagement needs to end before it can spiral completely out of control.
I get dressed as quietly as possible. Sorren is sweet for getting up early and making me breakfast, but I need some quiet time before the day officially starts.
Plus, he should sleep. He looked stressed last night after he talked to Malachi.
His eyes looked tired. Maybe he got bad news or the pressure is mounting for him to get back.
One more thing I feel guilty about. I have totally disrupted his life with my irresponsible witchcraft.
Wow, Eva, you are on a roll.
I brush my teeth and tie my hair back, forgoing a shower. The loud pipes would definitely wake Sorren up. As I finish getting ready, I start to second-guess my decision to sneak out without seeing him today.
It feels good to be around him. I enjoy spending time with my friend. Friend. Friends are curious about kissing each other all the time. It’s totally normal.
No. I need a moment to psych myself up for the day. I’m already exhausted, and it isn’t even light yet.
I creep down the stairs, grab my keys, shove the now-organized stack of papers into my bag, and close the door quietly behind me on my way out.
Riley is already at the café when I pull up a full forty-five minutes early. The light from her cellphone illuminates her face while she happily taps away in her car.
I knock on her window to get her attention and she jumps.
“Eva! You scared me!” She clutches at her chest.
“What are you doing here so early?” I ask. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep last night.
“I didn’t want you to get here alone again. Yesterday was weird.”
She gets out of her car and wraps me in a tight hug. I fold into her, desperately needing her support at the moment.
“Come on, I need some coffee,” she says, moving toward the café.
The door is perfectly locked like usual, nothing messed up or out of place. No lingering magick setting me on edge.
“Those cops pissed me off yesterday. Just because nothing was missing doesn’t mean it’s okay,” she says, starting the opening routine.
“Yeah. Raincrest PD is sweet but not qualified for anything above a parking ticket.”
“Oh! That reminds me, I need to get those tickets taken care of.” Riley has an impressive collection of parking tickets accumulating in her glove compartment.
The routine of opening the shop grounds me, the ritual makes me feel like everything will be okay.
I’m about to blow up my life, but there is no doubt in my mind that it’s the right thing to do.
The realization feels like a heavy weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
I’m not excited to break Grant’s heart, but I know it will make both of us happier. Eventually.
“You okay over there?” Riley asks while she stocks the glass case with freshly baked treats.
“Not really. I’m going to break up with Grant.”
“You are?” She drops the tray and quickly bends over to pick it back up before any of the food hits the ground. “What happened? What did he do?” She immediately jumps into defensive mode. “I’ll kill him.”
“No, nothing like that. I’ve been feeling like we were growing apart, but I hoped it was just a phase.
” It feels good to talk to Riley about what I’ve been feeling.
“Then, I did a reading the other night and got it all spelled out for me. Time for a new beginning and that love is near. I knew it wasn’t talking about us getting married. Don’t ask how I knew, I just did.”
“Come here, girl. Give me another hug.” Riley holds me tightly.
“You’re not going to gloat? Say I told you so?” I ask.
“Maybe later, but not today. I know how much you care about him. Do you want me to come over after you do it? I can bring wine and chocolate and whatever else you want,” Riley offers.
“No!” My response comes out way too fast, too panicked. “I mean, no thank you. I’ll probably just go straight to bed. I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”
She pulls back and scrutinizes my face. “You sure?”
“Totally. We’ll do something fun this weekend.” I rub my eyes. “Let’s open up, I want today to be as normal as possible.”
Riley nods, and walks away to flip the sign to ‘open.’
The bell over the door rings, and our first customer of the day walks in. Luckily it’s one of the guys who is always plastered to his phone, so he doesn’t notice my red-rimmed eyes and wrinkly clothes.
I pull out my phone to shoot off a text to Grant. My fingers hesitate over the screen, there is no way I can send the ‘we need to talk’ text at 5 a.m., that’s just cruel. I can’t think of what else to say, so I slide my phone back into my pocket and go back to work.
The morning rush hits hard, and the line is to the front door in no time. It gets dicey when we run out of pumpkin scones mid-morning. The next thing I know, it’s 2:30 and nearly time to close up.
Oh shit! I never texted Grant.
I pull out my phone and have three missed texts. Two from my mom and one from Grant.
Mom
g’morning! Call your mother.
Don’t leave me on read! Isn’t that what the kids are saying these days?
I swipe both away. I’ll call her later.
Grant
Meet me at Sanderson Park at 6. DON’T BE LATE.
It’s a fitting location. It’s where we used to meet to take long walks. It’s quiet and peaceful, and we can have some privacy to talk. If I leave now, I can take a short nap, shower, and meet him there. Then we can talk it out.
“Riley, can you handle things from here?” I hang up my apron without waiting for an answer.
“Of course. Let me know how it goes,” she calls from behind the register.
The drive home goes by in a blur. I park my truck in the driveaway and sit for a few minutes, my mind wandering. Before long, curiosity about what Sorren is up to gets the best of me.
What has that demon found to keep himself busy today?
He’s sitting on the edge of the couch, stiff as a board, glued to the TV when I walk in. Deep in my belly, my magick pulses to life at the sight of him. A warm glow that warms me up from the inside.
“Eva, you’re never going to believe this,” he says, not looking away from the screen. “This show is absolutely bonkers. I can’t figure out what it’s actually about. It’s just a bunch of people who work at this restaurant and fight with each other.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s a good one.” I drop my bag and sit next to him on the couch.
“This guy right here, he thinks he’s God’s gift to women, but he’s actually terrible. He’ll fit in perfectly at Mephisto Inc. someday.”
Sorren is more right than he knows.
I settle into the couch, curl up into a ball and close my eyes to the sounds of Sorren gasping and laughing at the show.