Chapter 3

Willow

I considered going by the bakery on the way home to grab muffins. They'd be a wonderful treat for girl's night and neither Piper nor I could really bake anything to save our lives. And they were ever so delicious. Except I didn't want to run into Winston again. Also, they might not have muffins at this point, it really was more of a breakfast thing. What if he was making cupcakes? No, no, I really didn't need to see Winston yet.

I really wanted coffee though.

Then again, Piper was bringing wine. It was late and I really didn't need any more coffee. Time to call it quits for the night, not get muffins, and go home. That was the best idea all around for probably everyone involved. Besides Piper would be along soon and I needed to be home.

"All right Tess, let's go home."

She'd arrived about an hour ago from her job at the University library, cleaning the ornate ceilings. Tess flitted around my office as I threw scans and other notes into my bag with my laptop. She landed impatiently on my shoulder as I turned off the coffee pot.

"Let's go usually means we are going." The impatience in her voice was so solid it felt palpable.

"Ha, ha. We're going, we're going." I knew she was really worried about the temperature dropping tonight.

The walk home was quick, with the crisp autumn air gently blowing the smells of campus about me. A cookout, flowers, and… coffee. I breathed in deeply, and stopped to soak it all in. A college campus always called to me.

I felt a sharp jab on my ear.

"Are we stopping or what?"

"Ow!" I shouted at her, then realized I'd been standing across from the bakery. Oops. It looked adorable in this light, and as always I was drawn to it. The lights and sounds and smells were all just so homey and relaxing. The stone house was on the smaller side, even being two stories, and I always thought it would have been at home in the middle of a forest.

"No, we are not stopping. Next time just say something. You don't have to hurt me." I pretended to swat at her.

"I didn't hurt you." Indignance floated off of her.

I shook my head, and within a few minutes was at my house. I flicked on some lights, put my stuff down in the living room, and flopped onto the couch. I was worn out, stressed, and stuck on the repeat of saying "19 days" and then daydreaming about muffins.

Maybe I did drink too much coffee.

My door opened with a bang, and I heard, "The party has arrived!" shouted from my doorway. Turning my head, I saw Piper standing there with two bottles of wine, and a bag floating in front of her. Her hair was wild from the wind, and she looked a little crazy.

"Hello best friend." She said, moving into the house.

I didn't even move. "Hi, best friend."

"Really? Nothing?" Piper deflated, looking at me.

"It's been a long couple of days. Also, that's the third time you've done that. I sort of expected some crazy entrance lately."

Piper made a strangled noise, came in closing the door behind her, and then took her bag into the kitchen.

"Change it up. Noted. I'll do something crazier next time. Or not crazy at all. Whatever will you expect? You can't know…" She shouted from my kitchen.

I heard bangs—my pots being moved—and then water running. A few minutes later, Piper plopped down in front of me, handed me a wine glass nearly full to the brim, and said "Pasta in 40."

"Oh thank Goddess, I love you."

I took a sip of the wine, and another. Sweet Moscato, just like I liked it.

"Now. I want all the details on the man."

"Piper," I whined. "I need help on this spell."

"Man first. Book second."

"That is the improper order of things."

She raised an eyebrow and went to take my wine glass.

"Fine! Fine. Man first. And he has a name. Winston."

"Churchill?"

"No! At least, I don't think so."

I heard Tess shout from the other room where her small house was, then she came flying into the living room.

"Sullivan! Winston Sullivan, remember? I told you this morning. Even went back and extra sneakily got his whole name since you didn't bother."

She sent a death glare my way and settled onto the table next to Piper.

"Oh, well, I was eating a lovely muffin at the time." I replied, trying not to laugh at her.

"You and food." Piper said, shaking her head.

"Says the woman who is cooking for me. Okay, he owns my café. He's tall, dark brown hair, rather muscular by the feel of him, tanned, flashing amber eyes. Makes excellent muffins."

"Your café? Since when did you own it? More important, by the feel? What feel?"

"Well, I mean, I did practically crush him when I fell on top of him instead of into a car head on. It wasn"t an intentional feeling… I just felt him. And by mine, I mean my favorite café, the place I always go."

"Why don't these things ever happen to me?" Piper went to the other side of my couch and flopped over, her own wine glass in hand.

"I'm sure your time will come to be almost run over by someone in the middle of the night and mysteriously saved."

"I can only dream." Piper waved her glass in the air, and tried to look mystic.

I shook my head, and took a sip of wine. Piper spoiled me in her choices. That and we had similar taste.

"Do you think we can look at the book now?"

"Oh no, that is not nearly enough context or clues. Work after gossip and food. Don't you know the proper order? Spill it. Tell me everything about him."

Tess flittered by and landed on the back of the couch. I gave in and started relaying the past day and what had happened, as Tess filled in details here and there. I rolled my eyes more times than I could count, but we made it through everything.

"So to sum it up," Piper said, "he owns a coffee shop, and is apparently hot to boot. He can bake, which honestly with the way you eat should be the only thing you care about. Date him."

"It isn't that easy. And he's a witch."

"Oooooo, the plot thickens. You love witches, shouldn't that help? If not, can I have him?"

"No."

I realized what I said, and immediately buried my head in a pillow.

"Oh! You do want him!"

"I did not say that."

"You might as well have."

"No, that isn't…" I sighed and gave up. "Fine, I think he's hot. And yes… I may have dreamed about it. Or daydreamed nonstop about him in an apron with a tray of muffins."

"Was it only an apron?" Tess giggled and decided at that opportune moment to fly off out of reach. Lucky her.

"So what's holding you back? You like him."

"I literally just met him, and know almost nothing about him?"

Piper waggled her wine glass back and forth in front of my face. "And that's what you learn while dating. I need to check the food. Side note – you don't have to know anything about a person to do naughty things."

She disappeared into the kitchen, and I shook my head, taking another sip of the wine.

I hollered into the other room. "Can we get down to why I actually invited you here?"

"What, you didn't just want me to cook for you? I thought I invited myself to learn about the hot guy. You had no part in this!"

"Well, I mean, besides that, I agreed to it."

Piper laughed, and rejoined me on the couch. "Fine, fine. Spells. Let's look."

"I cannot figure out these last two recipes. I have the rest of the book ready to go, but I don't know what to do with these. And I promised a certain number to my editor, so I worry about backpedaling."

"Okay, if you won't let it go until after dinner, let's see what you're working with."

I pulled out the copied papers from my backpack, careful to set the wine far away from them. They were copies of the original grimoire pages, or so I thought. Even if it had been bound as a normal recipe book and made to look like one. Every other item in the cookbook had turned out to be an old remedy or potion for ailments and issues commonly given. These two, I couldn't make heads or tails of.

"You know, I don't like making potions. It's not one of my strong suits. Hell, I barely can put together some of the basic ones."

"But you are so good at cooking. That makes no sense at all."

"Potions take patience, on a whole other level. Practicing while making. Cooking is just food coming together to taste good. If it doesn't work, you just have a whole mess of something inedible. Mess up a spell? Boom."

I shook my head, remembering how she had nearly blown out the whole wall in their kitchen. I certainly had never forgotten it, or the look on Piper's mother's face. Piper was right in that her potions often turned wrong and her mother quit letting her practice in the house.

"Okay…" Piper studied it carefully. "I can read a few of these, but I have no idea what it means. This seems like another language."

I growled in frustration, and leaned back into the couch.

"That's my problem. Some of the ingredients match older names for things I know. I mean, I've been researching this stuff for years. I should know it. If you can't even figure it out? What then?"

Piper sat back and mused over the glass of her wine.

"Let's eat, and drink more, and take another stab at it after a good movie."

I shrugged, and carefully put away the pages to keep any accidents from happening. Trust Piper to think food, wine and time would lead to their own magical remedy. I decided to launch myself into girl's night in the hopes of forgetting my problems for at least a little while. It worked. Mostly.

After dinner, and dishes, we both collapsed. Piper was a bit tipsy, and Tess was snoozing on the arm of the couch. I took another sip of my wine, and laid my head back against the couch. I figured I should probably quit drinking at this point; I'd lost count at how many times Piper had filled up the glass before it was even empty.

"You aren't watching the movie!" Piper said, intent on a man dancing across the stage on my TV.

"I'm too stressed to enjoy it right now."

Piper gasped. "Too stressed to enjoy a musical?"

"I have so few days left to figure this out, and write the chapters based on them. And I'm clueless."

"Isn't the guy a witch?"

"Guy?"

"Your café guy."

"Oh. Um. Yes."

"Ask him."

"Ask him what?"

"How drunk are we?"

I shook my head. "Piper, ask him what?"

When no reply came, I opened my eyes and looked over at her. She smiled.

"Ask him to work with you on the recipes. He's a baker. And a witch."

I stopped mid-movement with the wine glass to my lips. Well. That did make a certain bit of logical sense. He would have a good background for it. Heck, as a witch he might specialize in potions…

"Most witches think I'm ludicrous though."

"That isn't true." Piper said, then paused. "Well, I mean. Mostly? The ones who know you like what you do."

"I'm a human, researching magic, which I can't even do. They think it'd be better for one of them to hold my position."

"The thing is, none of them want to. Who wants to study boring old texts all day when we could be doing all the fun things we do?"

I shook my head. There had been pushback on my joining the magical history programs, every single time. But, I'd always prevailed with my research and knowledge. And Piper was right, not many witches wanted to teach their history in the first place.

"I could ask him, I suppose. That means talking to him though."

"Oh, I can go with you! I'll ask him. We can go get coffee tomorrow."

"I think that's a bad idea." Scenarios of Piper meeting Winston paraded through my tipsy head and every single one of them ended in some kind of disaster, mostly for me.

I swirled the wine in my glass, feeling fuzzy as I watched it twirl. Piper hiccupped and giggled. I hadn't been this tipsy in months. The thought of unleashing Piper this early on Winston rang all the alarm bells I had left.

With a glance over, I realized it was pointless to argue. She was asleep, wine glass in hand, smiling serenely. Probably dreaming of some celebrity. I put the wine glass on the table with mine, and threw a blanket across her. Remembering that Tess was asleep on the arm of the couch where she'd been watching the movie with us, I moved her to her own house.

It was an old dollhouse, one of those big mansion ones that we had found and fixed ups. Tess had never liked the other bedroom, because it was just too big for her to feel comfortable in. So we'd cleaned out the hall closet, and taken the door off. The house sat in there perfectly, and Tess had made it her own. I gently laid her on her bed, and turned off the lights.

After making sure the door was locked, I flopped over on my bed with all the intent of changing….

And woke up to sunlight streaming through the window, and Tess flitting about my face.

"Ah, what?" My head suddenly swam, and I moaned, grabbing it. I felt my bra stab into my side when I moved, and looked down. I was in bed. Fully clothed. I saw Tess fly off, and then heard a loud expletive from my living room. Piper. Shit, we fell asleep after getting drunk, apparently. Tipsy? Drunk? Exactly how much had I had?

Thank Goddess it was Saturday morning, and I didn't have class today. I never got this drunk, what had I been thinking?

I pushed myself into sitting up and then realized that was a worse idea. I almost vomited, as my stomach proceeded to do nine flip flops and a few cartwheels. I gently laid back down and closed my eyes waiting for the world to stop spinning.

"Willow?" I heard Piper moan from the living room.

"Please, please tell me if you have some of that wonderful elixir?" I asked without moving.

"What?"

I moaned, unable to raise my voice anymore. I felt Tess fly across my face, the sound of her wings flapping nearly like thunder to my sensitive brain.

"She does. It might take a few minutes to make it in here though." I heard a giggle, and then felt air from her wings as she flew off again.

"Tess, watch it, or next time I'll get you drunk too." Realizing I was whispering, she probably didn't even hear me. Oh well.

Pixies could get drunk off nectar. It was rather funny to watch.

About five minutes later, I heard Piper swear again, but closer this time. I opened my eyes, and saw her in my doorway. She shook her head, took a swig of water, and stood up straight.

"All right. Your turn."

"Does it still taste disgusting?"

"Yes. It's the price for being stupid enough to get so drunk."

I sighed, and sat up, slowly this time. The world only spun a little. I took the offered bottle, and Piper's water. Then I took a hearty swig of both, one right after the other. It was the only way to keep from vomiting.

After a few minutes, I felt my stomach settle, and my head ached less. Piper flopped onto the bed beside me.

"Can we just go back to sleep?" she mumbled against the pillow.

"Ugh. You can, but I want to shower. Maybe. In a few minutes."

The elixir worked wonders, but it took a bit to fully help. I finally stood up and started towards the shower. I had the water running, and was naked, before I realized I hadn't grabbed clothes. Oh well, Piper had seen me in worse states. I'd just wrap the towel around me.

The shower water was hot, and did wonders on my brain. I had to drop the temp to wash my hair, which did a great job of waking me up. Not as great as coffee, but it worked. As I got out of the shower, Tess showed up, buzzing about. She had changed as well, and fixed her hair.

"Have good dreams?"

"None that I remember."

"Well you were talking quite a bit. Or should I say moaning."

"What?"

Tess laughed and then took off. Moaning? About what? Then, realization hit me about what kind of moans Tess would find funny, and my entire face went scarlet in the mirror. And I couldn't remember any of the dreams—what a waste.

I wrapped my hair up, and walked out into the room. Piper was curled up on the bed, asleep again. I shook my head, and went to my closet. I started to grab some ratty old sweats but then remembered that I was going to the café. I stared at my closet in panic. Finally, I selected some nice jeans, and a black top.

Black always worked right?

"Is that what you are wearing?" Tess flew in again. She was wearing a neon pink top, with a black tutu skirt. I envied her tiny fashion.

"What's wrong with it?"

"It's just so plain."

A pillow went flying, missing Tess, but making her fly higher.

"Hey!"

"Shush. You know how she is."

I turned to see Piper, sitting up and smiling.

"Sleeping Beauty awakes."

"Ha. I'm sure. I'm stealing the shower. And clothes. I feel horrid. Then we'll go to the café and you can introduce me."

"I don't even know if he'll be there!"

"He just bought the place and lives above it right? I'm sure he's there."

I had completely forgotten that Maggie had lived above her café. Oh, that made sense. He'd be there all the time. I felt panic.

"Maybe I should change…"

Twenty minutes later, Piper was dressed in a simple black maxi dress she had stolen from my closet, along with who knew what else, and we were on our way to the café. I had not changed, but had braided my hair up, and put on some jewelry. Tess had flown ahead, eager to not miss a minute. Or so she had loudly declared.

Friends were just wonderful, weren't they?