Chapter 4
Winston
The bell dinged overhead, and I looked up to see Willow walking through the door with the pixie, Tess, and someone else. I quickly looked down, and kept stocking the bakery case. Charlotte perked up immediately.
“Professor Willow! How nice to see you. And Piper, how are you? Tess?”
Tess flew about Charlotte’s head and finally landed on her shoulder laughing.
“Oh, we are just wonderful.”
That sounded slightly sarcastic, or maybe just a little too chipper. I looked over to see Willow coming up to the counter, but her friend Piper kept walking right past her, and up to … me.
“Hello there…” she nearly purred at me. I smiled back, unsure what this was about, but determined to treat them like other customers.
She was taller than Willow, with wildly curly hair… and amber eyes. So this was the witch best friend that Charlotte had mentioned.
“Hello. Do you want a treat?”
Piper’s eyes nearly glinted.
Realizing what I said, I stammered, “I mean from the bakery case?”
“Oh, I’ll take a treat.” The smile on her face was nearly enough to make me run back into the kitchen and hide.
“Piper!” Willow whispered it, but I could hear the violence promised in it.
“What? I just want a muffin. That’s the treat I meant, right?” She paused looking at Willow, and then faced me, her eyes nearly sparking with mirth, “What do you suggest?”
I tried not to laugh at that, realizing that Piper was watching out for her friend.
I pulled a raspberry white chocolate muffin out of the shelf where I had just stocked it.
“These are fresh! Just made ‘em.”
“He owns a coffee shop. And bakes. And…” The look she gave me made me feel like I was on display instead of the baked goods. With the last pause, she had turned to look at Willow and I couldn’t see her face anymore. I shook my head, wondering what that meant.
“Normal order, Professor?” Charlotte at least, was sticking to business. Though she sounded way too amused.
With a sigh, she responded, “Yes please. And a muffin. To stay for once. We’ll have breakfast here. And milk for Tess please, with some honey?”
Tess took off from Charlotte’s shoulders, flitting about Willow’s head.
“Of course!”
They were rung up and paid, and went to sit at a table near the garden windows. I pulled out another muffin and asked, “What’s the coffee order?”
“Oh, she likes a peppermint white chocolate, hot, large, with an extra shot of espresso.”
“How much coffee does she order that you have it memorized?”
Charlotte raised an eyebrow. “She’s a college professor. I think it’s, like, mandatory that they live on the stuff. Also, I’ve worked here for over a year—I have a lot of orders memorized.”
Shaking my head, I made the drink and took the tray from Charlotte.
“I got this.” I turned, grabbing the cup, and started making Piper’s order too.
She quirked an eyebrow at me, but didn’t say anything as another customer came in. After getting the coffee ready, I threw some extra sprinkles on top of both. I started walking towards the two women, and saw that the table had been covered with papers once I reached it. I raised an eyebrow and stood there with the muffin and drinks for a couple of seconds before they noticed me.
“Oh, Winston. Sorry.” Willow pushed some of the papers in a pile to make room. While she did she said, “Or well, Mr. Sullivan? I’m sorry, we’ve barely been introduced. I shouldn’t assume.”
Smiling, I looked down at her. “Call me Winston. Plus, I hear you come in here often.”
I set the drinks down, with the muffin as well. Piper had already eaten half of hers.
Willow blushed, making me think thoughts I shouldn’t, and said, “Call me Willow, then.”
Piper was waving her hand at me, and towards the muffin. “That is one fantastic muffin. Do you use any magic?”
I quirked my lips, “Did you sense any?”
“No, but one witch to another, I can’t believe you could bake that wonderful without it.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “No magic in that. Though I am thinking about toying with a line of magical foods. Right now it’s just the coffee.”
Tess flittered up in front of my face, “Oh, maybe like love potion drinks? That would be fun.”
“Tess!” Willow nearly shrieked, then coughed. “A drink isn’t food. Also, love potions are fake, right?”
Piper and I agreed at the same time, “Yes.”
Changing the topic, I asked, “I heard you’re a professor of magical history?”
Willow looked past me at Charlotte. I didn’t dare. I just smiled.
“I am, yes.” She replied, looking unsure.
“But you’re not a witch.”
Piper laughed at that, and then took a sip of coffee.
“No, I’m not.” I heard a thunk, and wondered if she’d kicked her friend under the table. “But I grew up around it and always loved it. I’ve done a lot of research, and I earned my position.”
“Speaking of which…” Piper said, gesturing to the pile, “She has a question for you.”
Willow had been about to drink coffee, but instead glared daggers at her friend.
“Question?” I was very curious now, and worried she thought I was offended at her teaching magic.
Looking down at the table, and then back up at me, she shifted in her seat.
“Well. How to put this…”
“Oh, come on.” Piper was clearly ready to talk. “She’s researching what she’s proven is an old grimoire and can’t make out some of the pages. She needs to finish it quickly, because her agent is expecting the book soon. We were wondering if you could help.”
I looked from Piper to Willow. I raised an eyebrow in silent question.
“Yeah. That’s the question.” Willow finally relented.
“Why me? What do you need help with exactly?”
“It’s an old recipe book. Or at least, that was what it was made to look like. It was actually a book full of spells and potions. And I mean old. Like the 1200s. I found it a long time ago, but it’s taken ages to figure out enough of them to piece together and prove what I thought it was. And to get an agent to take it. There’s two left that I really want to decipher, and we’ve had no luck. They were tucked into the back of the book, on much older paper, with far more elegant writing and designs.”
I glanced at Piper again, and raised an eyebrow, “You can’t help?”
Piper wiggled her fingers, “I don’t like history, and potions are not my strong suit.”
“Why me?” I asked again, looking back at Willow. The blush hadn’t left her face, and her hair was a bit rumpled from where she must have run her hands through it.
“You bake? You seem good with ingredients. We just thought… well it was Piper’s idea.”
Tess was sitting on the table now, and she started to say something when Willow nearly knocked her over with a piece of paper. She let out a string of tiny words I chose not to hear too closely.
“Can I see it?”
Willow handed me a few sheets of paper. They were scans, it looked like, of a very old book based on the style. The writing was cramped, tiny, cursive. Images were drawn all around the page, beautifully illustrated, yet so faded they were hard to make out. But I recognized a few of the things listed on it, and saw the different amounts for each thing, much as you would see in a recipe or potion. It did make me curious.
“When do you have to have it by?” I tried not to sound too interested.
“Well… Um. It’s due in 18 days, actually. So really as soon as possible because I also have to write a chapter on each of them. I can do that pretty quickly, really, but the sooner the better.”
I looked back down over the pages. It would be fun to play around with potions again. And the thought crossed my mind that I’d also be spending more time with Willow to do this. That seemed like a nice perk.
“All right. You can come by tonight after the café closes. We can meet here to work on it.”
“Really? Oh my gosh, thank you! I can put a plug for the café in my bio or the dedication!”
I shook my head. “Let’s just see how it goes. A lot of this is gibberish. I’m making absolutely no promises.”
Handing the paper back, our hands touched, and I felt a spark. I nearly dropped the paper, but Willow just set it back on the table. I thanked them again, avoided looking at Piper’s face, and headed back into the kitchens.
What exactly had I gotten myself into?
Willow and Piper stayed in the café for most of the morning, before Piper took off, and left Willow pouring over her papers. She grabbed a sandwich at lunch, what had to be her third cup of coffee, and went back to the table. Tess got some water, and I saw Willow give her some of the sandwich. Then I saw her fly out one of the open windows.
“Maybe we should switch her to decaf.” I suggested it to Charlotte.
Charlotte raised an eyebrow, “She would eat out your eyes as soon as she took a sip.”
“She’d never know.”
“Trust me on this one? Yes. She would. Your aunt tried multiple ways to make her cut back on her caffeine addiction. None ended nicely.”
I huffed but went back to working in the kitchen. There needed to be some soups and other items ready for the dinner crowd. My aunt had never served that much in terms of real food. Sandwiches, some soups, occasionally something more like a meatloaf. But cooking had never been her real love, just coffee and the people. She had told us stories all the time growing up about her regular customers. I was surprised when she decided to up and sell it to me on the cheap to go travel.
I hoped after getting to know the customers, I’d be able to add more of a variety of items. Mostly, I knew it was college students, though several professors who lived in the area came by for a coffee. There were a few writers who often stayed for a few hours, working on things. So, cheaper, easy fare would go over the best. According to Charlotte, Willow lived close by. In that, she’d been right, as I discovered her home when I rescued her from the car.
The cooking and baking soothed me. I enjoyed the mixing of recipes, following each item as it transformed. Creating something new out of something that could go a thousand different ways. I also liked to mix the different coffees. Perhaps I’d have my hand at creating a few new ones. Who really needed Pumpkin Spice, anyway?
I went back out around 4 pm to see that Willow was still there, Tess sitting on the table in front of her, huffing. I began to think she planned to stay all day until I closed. We were only open till seven. That was still a long day of work, on a day that was supposed to be her weekend. She either really liked it, or really needed it to be finished. Maybe she was afraid I’d take off without helping her. Though she barely glanced my way.
I was filling up the case with the last of the sandwiches, when I heard Charlotte moan. Turning, I found her leaning against the wall, looking three shades paler than normal.
“Charlotte? Are you okay?”
She nodded, then made a funny noise.
“That doesn’t sound okay.”
“My brain…”
“Your brain?” I think my voice went up an octave. I heard a chair scrape, and then Willow was there.
“Charlotte? Are you getting a migraine?”
She nodded again, just slightly. Willow helped guide her to a chair in the corner, to sit down. The next thing I knew, she was in the kitchen, then running back out with a glass of water, and a damp paper towel. She placed it on Charlotte’s neck, then urged her to drink some water.
“Sorry,” Charlotte muttered. I walked closer to her.
“Migraines?” I asked, still a bit confused.
“I get them, occasionally. This one hit hard, and all of a sudden. I’m usually good about watching for the signs… but…”
“No worries. I didn’t know you suffered from them.”
I realized I had a potion that would help her. My mother and I had made them because she suffered from them badly before she hit menopause, and even worse during. But Charlotte couldn’t watch the counter like this, and I couldn’t leave the potion while brewing it…
Willow looked up at me, and I smiled, a sudden thought occurring to me.
“I can make something to help her, if you can watch the counter?”
“You’d trust me to do that?”
“Charlotte likes you. Plus you asked me for a favor, so I assume you won’t screw me over.”
Willow sighed deeply. “I had hoped to have escaped retail.”
Charlotte mumbled under her breath, and Willow laughed a little.
“All right.” Willow said, looking determined. “Charlotte, let me know if you need something. Put your head down, you are in no condition to drive or try to go anywhere. Give me your phone, and I’ll text your girlfriend to come get you.” Then she looked up at Tess flying above her, “Tess, you watch her.” Then those eyes pierced me, “Winston, how long will this take?”
“Ten to fifteen minutes, depending.” I turned back to Charlotte, “On a scale of one to five, how bad is it?”
“Ten.” Charlotte answered.
I looked at Willow, worryingly, “Fifteen minutes. Know your way around?”
“Yep. Go.”
I hurried back through the kitchen leaving Willow to take care of the customers, while I headed up to my apartment. I had everything there I would need. I’d rather brew it in my kitchen than chance putting something in the café while it was open. Opening my door to my living room, I hurried to the small kitchen. My aunt figured if she ever needed to bake or cook anything large, she’d just use the bigger one downstairs.
I grabbed a few vials, and a pot. Washing my hands, I thought intently on what I wanted to accomplish. Then I put the pot on the stove, and lit the fire with a wave of my hand. Slowly, I began to add the different ingredients. When the potion turned clear, I knew I had remembered it correctly. A strong scent of peppermint wafted from the bowl, and I knew my apartment would carry that scent for days.
I poured it into a small bottle, and hurried downstairs. Charlotte was still sitting there, trying to drink her tea, as I carried the bottle over.
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course.” She whispered.
“This is potent stuff. One swig, and the pain will be gone, but it will leave you a bit weak.”
“But the café…”
Willow approached at that moment and made a scoffing noise. “I can take care of it. We’ve got you a ride home.”
And so Charlotte took the bottle, and on my direction, just a tiny sip. After just a mere moment, she dropped the cloth and looked up at me, wonder in her eyes.
“Why didn’t I know this existed before? I’m a witch, I could brew this. I’ve had so many migraines, and most of the stuff I’ve found barely makes a dent.”
“It was my grandmother’s special concoction. She didn’t like sharing. That should last you a while. I can make a tea for milder ones. Maybe one day I’ll sell it.”
She nodded, slowly. “I can see what you mean about feeling weak. I feel woozy, but all the pain is gone.”
Willow and I helped her outside, where her girlfriend had arrived to pick her up. She had walked to work from campus where her car was, and she was in no state to get home.
“You sure you’ll be okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, Laura’s used to this by now. I’ll explain to her that I took something, just not what. Thanks.”
And with a smile, she slid into the seat and was gone.
Willow turned to me, but I realized no one was in the café, and hurried back inside. Now to see how good Willow really was with customer service. I could have handled it by myself… but I wasn’t going to tell her that.