Chapter 10

Winston

The café was so quiet with everyone gone. I turned on some music, letting it fill the silence. As I mopped the floors and cleaned the tables, I realized that my mind kept going back to Willow. There was just no way to get her out of my mind.

And worse, I kept remembering when we collided, and I had my hands on her hips, staring at her lips. I'd wanted nothing more than to kiss her right then and there… in front of all the customers and whoever else wanted to watch.

Damn it, this probably wasn't a good idea. I had just fled one relationship that my mother absolutely refused to let go of. If I called her, telling her I was dating… and someone who wasn't even a witch at that… She might disown me.

Did I care?

I changed the music to something poppy with more of a beat and lost myself in the cleaning. The kitchen did not take long, and I soon had all the extra items up that needed to be kept colder. Eventually, there wasn't anything else to do, so I gave up, turned off the music and went upstairs.

The apartment felt lonely. I laid back on the couch and tried to think about new recipes or items I could cook for the café. The same old sandwiches were getting boring, and I was sure the customers would appreciate some variety.

What food would Willow like?

And there I was again.

Willow surely knew about witches needing to marry other witches to more likely reproduce children with the magical gene… right? Was I insane to disregard that? Maybe. Did I care?

Not really. None of the witches I had met had snagged me so intensely. I couldn't think of anything else. Her body, her scent, her quick wit and obsession with coffee. Everything was reminding me of her. And I needed to work on that second recipe.

Groaning and rubbing my hands on my face, I sat up and stretched. Okay. Time to quit this, and do something productive. The table was piled with papers and notes. I'd glanced at the second potion and thrown things here and there last night. I hadn't concentrated on it in the least.

But Willow was counting on me. I'd spend an hour on it tonight and do more tomorrow.

The next morning dawned bright and early, and I'd barely made progress on anything. I got the café ready to go and greeted Lyzzie as she walked in. She smiled, and went straight to work, flipping the sign over promptly at 6 am.

There was always an early morning rush, with people on the way to work or school. Their names and faces were already becoming second nature, and I liked to greet them when I could..

"Winston! My man, these Danishes are fantastic. Going to have any winter specials?" Corey, one of the regular customers, asked.

"Was pondering that last night! What would you like to see?"

"Oh, I'll have to think about that. Pecan anything is my favorite. Maybe you need a suggestion jar!"

"Good thought! I'll look into it."

I smiled as he paid, leaving a nice tip, and headed out, Danish and coffee in hand.

"That's not a bad idea, actually. I mean, the pastries and stuff were always good, but your aunt has been serving the same things the whole time I've worked here."

"Really? Good to know. I'll work on looking at menu changes. Can you make a list of best sellers?"

"Yep! If you went electronic, you could track it."

I sighed, pondering what that expense would be. "I'll think about it. I'm going in the back."

Lyzzie waved her hand at me, and I started to leave - but noticed Willow walking by the window. She was bundled up this morning, with a scarf and earmuffs. The blue set off her vibrant multi-colored hair even more. Turning, I started her peppermint mocha, and threw in an extra shot of espresso. By the time she was at the counter, I was holding it out to her.

"Oh! Thanks. You know me too well."

"Nah, just predictable." Lyzzie smiled at her.

She laughed out loud at Lyzzie's response. "What's in there today?"

Pointing at the bakery display, I waved my hand. "All the normal stuff, and an apple Danish I dreamed up."

"Yum, dream food. Okay, I'll take one of those. I've got to get to class."

After she paid, and started out the door I realized I was watching her walk away in a very tight pencil skirt.

Lyzzie raised her eyebrow at me, and I sheepishly smiled, making a quick exit to the kitchen.

With several items ready to go out, I didn't need to bake or cook as much today. I decided to pour over the accounts and figure out where I stood. Three hours later, and I knew exactly why I had never liked math, and certainly hadn't wanted to be an accountant. Conversions and baking was something I just knew. All the different lines in these accounts were making my head hurt.

It boiled down to the fact that the café was certainly in the green, with plenty of money left. Having a few less employees for a couple of months had also added to what we had banked. I'd make some flyers and get them handed out for hiring someone else. As a matter of fact, I'd make one for the counter now.

Once that was done and posted, I thought about what Corey had suggested. Rummaging in the pantry gave me the knowledge that my aunt had kept everything that could possibly be of use. A jar of decent size finally appeared at the end of a shelf. I washed it out, and taped "Ideas for New Menu Items" on it, and put it out on the counter with paper and pens.

Feeling successful for the morning, I wondered if Willow would be by that afternoon. She was out on Monday at 3… Monday and Wednesdays schedules were usually the same at colleges. Of course, there was no guarantee she'd stop here.

But I still did need to ask her if she'd recommend some students to be employees…

I poked my head out the door to check on the numbers. It was lunchtime, and several customers from around the area had come in to grab something, but it wasn't too busy.

"Lyzzie? If you see Willow this afternoon and I'm not out here, can you grab me? She's supposed to recommend some students. And if you know of anyone looking for a job, send them this way!"

Lyzzie nodded and waved me off to take someone's order. The customer was an older lady who smiled broadly at me, saying "Oh, I bet my granddaughter would love working here. I'll have to send her your way."

"Thanks, ma'am. I'd appreciate it."

With a glance at the goods displayed, I decided to make a few more sandwiches. I also needed to inventory all of the supplies, and see what we had that I could play around with.

Chicken salad, cheese, different meats, and all the veggie toppings. Maybe we needed some more vegetarian sandwiches, too. That was a good idea. Or snacks. College students loved to snack. That would be a good seller when they were studying. I'd ask Lyzzie what might work later.

Three hours passed in a blur as I planned, cooked, and prepped. The clock chimed the 3:15, and I stopped, wiping my forehead. Willow might be here soon… And Charlotte would be taking over for Lyzzie. I needed to brief her on the changes.

Wrapping up my last item, I rinsed and cleaned everything quickly. I heard the door behind me open and saw Lyzzie taking off her apron.

"Told Charlotte about the idea jar and the job posting. She's excited. I'm heading out and will see you tomorrow."

I waved as Lyzzie grabbed her purse and went out the back door. Charlotte poked her head in long enough to say "afternoon" and grab her apron.

With a last look at the clock, I ducked back into the café.

There was a bit of an afternoon rush, as many like Charlotte were done with classes for the day. I helped with orders and wiping down empty tables.

Just as I thought Willow wasn't going to stop by, she appeared, smiling and radiating excitement.

"You look happy, what's up?" Charlotte asked as she went to grab her coffee.

I came around the end of the counter. She smiled broadly and said "I'm all caught up on grading. This only happens like once every four weeks, and I have more being turned in probably as we speak. But I refuse to look again until tomorrow, so I can stay with this feeling."

I laughed. "You shouldn't work off the clock anyway."

She looked around the café, then at me, and raised an eyebrow. "You are here all of the time. And I only work a few hours in the office all week. We kind of are designed to not really have a set… clock? Academics are weird."

Willow started to pay for her coffee, and I waved her off, and around the counter.

"We'll be in the back if you need me, Charlotte."

She waved us away, a smile on her face. I didn't protest the idea that was probably in her head, especially since there was another customer waiting on her.

Willow followed me into the kitchen.

She took a deep breath in as soon as we walked through the door. "I love how wonderful it always smells in here. It's even better than out in the actual café."

Her expression was so intense. I loved that she was so in love with the café and baking.

"Kitchens are their own kind of magic. I made a little headway on the second spell. Let me go grab my notes, and we can work a bit on it here."

"You sure? I don't want to keep pulling you from your job."

"Hey, I work 24/7, remember? It'll be fine."

"Eh, sorry about that," she said, twirling her coffee in her hands. "Oh, I saw the hiring flyer. I'd already emailed three students I had in mind and said you might have something up soon. I told them to drop by and just mention I sent them."

"Perfect! Thanks. I'll be right back."

I ran up the stairs, two at a time. In the apartment, I grabbed my notes and coloring pencils, and rushed back down. Willow was at the table, her laptop open, and spreading her own notes beside her. Luckily, I'd already cleaned it after my last batch of cookie dough.

"Here is what I have so far. There are a few of the names and plants I recognize. I'm worried I might have to call my mom about one or two."

Willow looked at the coloring and outlines I had done on the sheet. "Blind Eyes… that's poppy, right? And Skin of a Man… that one sounds familiar. I remember when I first started looking at the really old recipes that I was terrified."

"Yeah, that's fern leaf. They really knew how to spice up names for things back then."

"Joy of the Mountain?" Willow asked, looking up.

"That's where I hit a dead end. I'm working on the others."

"This is amazing. I can't believe I couldn't figure these out. They were just so hard to read. With your coloring and the drawings filled in… I mean, look at this compared to the original."

She pulled out another scan, and she was right. It was hard to see most of the things on the original scan. I compared them both and thought about my magical talents.

"I'm good at cooking, baking and potions, largely because I enjoy putting together the ingredients. It's something I've always been good at—and I used to color my grandmother's books. She loved to let me do it. Maybe a part of me is calling to the recipe?"

Willow smiled broadly at that. "Magic never ceases to amaze me."

I sat down with the recipe in hand. "This is for a potion, but I'm not sure what it does. I haven't deciphered any of that yet."

"Well, I can tell you that they aren't common ingredients. So it may have been something the witch would have charged a lot for."

"And probably means something most people wouldn't dream of asking for. Wonder if it'll actually work. Kind of like the other spell. Many are afraid of knowing such a thing for sure."

"Piper brought that up. That most wouldn't want to actually know if they married their soulmate because they wouldn't have a choice in the matter. She thinks the spell probably does something else, and this was a nice way to phrase it."

"Not a bad point, really. Well, I can work more on this."

Willow looked at her notes and pulled up her chapter. "Well, no matter what, I knew more than I did. I need to get as much written as possible before my deadline and I have to get this to my editor. I could ask for an extension if I'm showing progress on it, I think. But we also were aiming to get these out in time for next year's classes, and we don't want to cut it too short."

"Do you use these in your own classes?"

"No, not usually. Maybe small pieces. I don't like making money off my own work, if we can support other professors and researchers, too. In the academic world, it's seen as shady if you make students buy your own book for a class you teach."

That made sense, in a roundabout way. I nodded and pulled my partly colored sheet back to me, opening the coloring pencils. Willow leaned back in her chair, folding her legs underneath her, and started looking through something on her computer.

The next hour passed slowly. I heard gentle murmurings coming from the café, and the soft jazz music playing filtered in. It was a lovely atmosphere to work in.

I also kept sneaking glances at Willow. Her multi-colored hair was coming undone from her bun, and little wisps hung about her face. Her eyes were squinted in concentration, and she was chewing on her lip as her fingers flew across the keyboard.

She was utterly captivating as she wrote.

The top and left side was filling in with various flowery shapes when Charlotte popped her head in.

"Hey boss. We're going to run low on food. The soups need stocking out here, if you can. And maybe help at the register? I haven't got to wipe down tables for a bit."

I smiled and stretched. Willow did the same.

"If you'll get the soups, I'll go help Charlotte. I need a break before I start seeing double and my fingers fall off."

"I have a potion for that."

She laughed and waved me off. Grabbing an apron, she headed out the door to join Charlotte. I heard their voices as I stood and went to grab a pot of the tomato soup to go switch with the one on the warmer. It made it easier to fill people's orders if you didn't have to go in and out all the time, and lowered the chance of knocking the chef off their feet.

We worked for an hour, taking turns doing various chores around the café. Willow manned the counter while Charlotte cleaned up and chatted with the few customers sitting around. I checked all the food and brought out a few more pastries. I double checked the dates for some, making sure none were older than a day or two – depending on the item.

"I know you are a professor, and probably a great one, but you do retail well," I said, smiling at Willow.

"People pleasing is a valuable skill in all professions," she laughed.

It'd slowed down, so Charlotte took her break.

"Dinner?" I asked Willow. "Or do you need to go? I'm sorry I keep distracting you from your home."

"No worries. Tess is out, so I'd just be watching TV and staring at my laptop. How many times can you rewatch episodes of Friends, anyway?"

"As many as you want, that's a great show." I replied.

She looked surprised. "I don't find many guys who like it."

"I watched it growing up. It's great."

We chatted about Friends for a while, before Charlotte came back waving us both off.

"Shew. Go eat. I'm sure I've got it covered until closing."

"Thanks Charlotte!" We both chimed.

"Food?" I asked, and she nodded, ducking into the kitchen. I grabbed two different sandwiches and some chips.

"Do you want Chicken Salad or turkey?" I presented the options to her once I was through the door.

She pondered for a minute, finally taking the chicken salad and chips.

We sat down next to each other at the table and started eating. After a pause, I was fixing to ask what she liked to read, when she suddenly looked up and caught me eyeing her. "What? Did I get food on me or something?"

"No. It's just… you know what, never mind. It's not important yet."

"What? Seriously, you can't do that."

She sighed dramatically. It looked like the wheels were turning in her head.

"I must know. Were they on a break?"

A laugh bubbled from my chest nearly hurting me as I heaved. She raised an eyebrow at me and waited. Slowly eating her sandwich.

"Do I get to know your opinion?"

"No. Not until you answer at least."

"Well then. I think that it easily sounded like they were… and Ross jumped the gun like a complete idiot."

She nodded. "I'll accept it."

"That was it?"

"Yep. This was delicious, thank you."

I shook my head, looking at her bewilderment. "Did I pass?"

"Yep." And her smile lit up her face. I couldn't help it. I leaned over and kissed her.

She gasped a little into my mouth, but didn't shove me away.

The flicker, the spark, I'd felt every time I'd accidentally touched her ignited. Her arms came around me, and I deepened the kiss. I couldn't get her close enough to me, and I straddled my legs on either side of her chair. As I wrapped my arms around her, she shifted, and wound up in my lap.

She gasped then, and pulled back putting her hand up to her mouth, staring at me. I don't think she even realized she'd done it.

"I… I… uh, need to go! Tess will be coming home soon."

That wasn't the reaction I'd hoped for. Well, I hadn't thought that through enough to hope for anything, actually.

"Wait, Willow, I'm sorry, I…"

She scooted off my lap, paused as if lost, then started moving again without looking at me.

"Nope, you are fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

And before I could stand, she'd grabbed her stuff, and was out the back door.

Well, fuck.