14. Working His Magic On Her

Chapter 14

Working His Magic On Her

“ I fucked up, Max,” Hugo said as he paced his living room. “I really fucked up.”

Max lay in front of the fireplace; her eyes watched Hugo’s movements. As he paced, Hugo examined his phone with the determination of an artist scrutinizing their work. He swiped and gestured as if directing part of the screen to new locations. He stopped.

Hugo examined the phone one last time before he turned his back to the couch and plopped down. He tossed it onto the seat next to him and, in the same motion, covered his face as he leaned back into the couch cushions.

“I’m an idiot. I ruined it. I ruined everything. Why didn’t I go in with her that night?”

The spattering of rain crashed into the window behind him.

“I bet she hates me now. I’m sure avoiding her for a few days hasn’t helped.”

Max furled her eyebrows one last time at Hugo’s nonsensical blabbering before closing her eyes.

He leaned forward and glanced over at the phone. He picked it up and scrolled through the playlist again. Every song had to be perfect and in the correct order. The phone bounced once as he dropped it back down. “I should go over there.”

Max opened her eyes and gave Hugo an uncaring glance before she closed them once more.

Hugo jumped up and peered out the window. Dark, gray clouds blanketed the sky. They moved and swirled with the trepidation of ruin. It was a hard rain—cold, dark, unrelenting. Water saturated the yellowish-green autumn ground. Alice’s black SUV remained parked in front of her house.

She’s still home. Now’s your chance.

Hugo scanned the dust covered pictures on the mantel. He stopped at his wedding picture. Elizabeth’s radiant smile. His joyous grin. The candid moment captured on paper of them lost in each other. Elizabeth in her white wedding gown. He in the black tux with a blue tie. Their wedding colors. Their high school colors. The colors of the first time they fell in love with each other. The memories flooded back.

Maybe it was for the best .

Emotion swirled through him. He contemplated sitting back on the couch as the rain pattered against the window. The sound of the storm grew more intense. The crash of rain became more violent against the window.

Hugo glanced over at his phone. Without time for doubt, he snatched it up and stuffed it into his pants pocket. Hugo strode over to the mantel and turned the wedding picture around.

“I’m sorry,” he said as he moved toward the front door.

He took his black leather jacket out of the closet. In a dizzying motion, Hugo flung the jacket around him and put his arms through the sleeves.

“Max, I’ll see you later.”

“Leave him,” Alice’s reflection said. “He clearly doesn’t want you. Leave him.”

Alice leaned back against the side bathroom wall. She tilted her head and leered at the mirror with disapproving eyes.

“Don’t give me that look,” Alice’s reflection retorted. “You know I’m right. He’s been avoiding you for what… a couple of days now? You’re too good for him. It’s for the best, actually.”

Alice was silent. Her reflection was perplexed and matched Alice’s silence. The mirror searched carefully for its next words. Anything to convince Alice. Her reflection leaned forward as close to the glass as possible and locked onto Alice’s eyes. “You’re never going to compete with his dead wife,” the mirror said.

Alice scowled in response.

“You know I’m right,” the mirror pleaded.

Alice stood up and turned her back. “He’ll come around,” she replied. “When he’s ready.”

“How long are you willing to wait?”

“As long as it takes.”

“And if he doesn’t…”

Alice paused before offering a reply. “Then I’ll continue to wait.”

Alice’s reflection buried her face into her palms, trying to find anything to help plead her case. Her reflection paused, then raised her head until only her jaw remained buried in her cupped hands. “Why?” the reflection asked in a muffled voice before dropping her hands. “What makes him so special?”

Alice lowered her head only for a moment and then turned. Tears welled in her eyes. She locked onto her reflection to reveal her inner, unrelenting truth. “He accepts me for who I am. No one has ever accepted me. They only wanted what I could do for them.”

Alice and her reflection wiped away their tears on the sleeves of their shirts.

There was a knock at Alice’s front door. The sound reverberated up the hallway walls and into her bedroom. Alice snapped toward the mirror. A shocked expression appeared on both of their faces. Galahad rushed through the open bathroom door. Excited, it bounced around in the air. More knocks reverberated through the walls. Galahad bounced and spun all around the bathroom.

Alice comforted the excited hickory horse-dog. “I know, boy. I know,” she said as she touched the slanted front of Galahad’s broom handle.

She scratched its chin and down the top of Galahad’s head, trying to soothe the excited flying broomstick. “You wait up here. I’ll go see who it is. You be good.”

Alice glanced back toward the mirror. The shocked expression on her reflection’s face was now a beaming smile. Her reflection tilted her head toward the exit, beckoning her to leave. Alice rushed through the bedroom, closing the door behind her, before pausing at the top of the stairs to compose herself.

A third set of knocks greeted Alice as she descended toward the door. A dark figure appeared through the black veil curtain. She paused.

Alice wiped her face once more. She ran her fingers through her hair to hide any clue of her bathroom therapy session. She took a deep breath. Her heart skipped a beat. She pulled back the curtain to see a rain drenched Hugo standing on the other side. She giggled and opened the door.

“Hugo!” Alice said. “You’re soaked.”

The short walk over had drenched Hugo. His hair was dripping wet. Beads of water flowed down the smooth leather of his jacket. His shoes were soaked. Hugo stood there like a love scorned puppy. A somber frown on his face. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For leaving you the other night,” he replied.

“You don’t have to apologize. I—” Alice paused. “I should apologize to you. I shouldn’t have put you in that situation if you’re not comfortable yet.”

“No. I want to make it up to you. ”

“This is now twice you’re having to make things up to me,” Alice replied with a smirk. “One more, and I’ll think it’s a habit with you.”

Hugo chuckled. “Can I come in?”

“Of course,” she replied. “Get out of the rain.”

Alice shut the door after he entered. Water pooled on the hardwood entryway.

“I’m making a mess,” Hugo said.

Alice snapped her fingers. The water evaporated from the floor and his jacket. His hair was still damp.

“I like the wet hair look on you,” she said with a smile.

Hugo rummaged his fingers through his hair, creating a messy hairdo. “How does it look now?”

“Perfect,” Alice replied with a grin that betrayed her excitement. “What can I do for you?”

“I thought maybe we could spend the day together or something,” Hugo said. “If you didn’t have other plans.”

Alice paused, unsure of what to say next. She immediately erased all other plans the moment he wanted to spend the day with her. “I was going to make some more wine—”

“I can help,” he interrupted as he took off his jacket and placed it on her coat rack.

“Yeah. I can always use… help,” Alice replied. “Head downstairs. I need to finish something upstairs first.”

He strutted toward the basement door. “Don’t keep me waiting too long,” he said before he disappeared into the darkness.

Alice bit her lip with a delightful grin as she wiped away a single tear.

The candlelight from the wall sconces danced and flickered off the stone walls, which gave the dark, damp place a welcoming warmth. The room was dimly lit, yet everything was visible in the low light. Hugo carried a cardboard box of destemmed grapes up a small set of wooden steps leading to the top of the platform. He dumped the contents into the wooden vats. They disappeared into the dark, purplish, liquid wine must. The stompers worked their unseen magick to liquify the grapes. He set the box down and turned toward Alice at her workbench.

Alice worked her witchy magick as she brewed a potion. Her shadow danced across the wall in the flickering light. He traced the arch in her back as she bent over to speak her dark, forbidden language into the bubbling cauldron.

His heart skipped a beat as he took in a breath and held it. Her every curve enthralled his eyes. Time disappeared. He couldn’t look away. He was enraptured by her beauty.

Have I been holding my breath for eternity?

He didn’t know.

Hugo relinquished the breath to ask a question, “Have you ever made wine the old-fashioned way?”

Alice paused her work and turned around. She leaned back against the edge of the workbench. Her hands placed on her hips accentuated her curves. Hugo held that breath once more.

She tilted her head. “The old-fashioned way? No one’s ever asked me that.”

“Yeah.” Hugo peered into the vat closest to him. “You know. Stomping the grapes. With your feet.”

“Why would I do that when I have the stompers do it for me?”

Hugo locked onto her emerald green eyes. He never took his eyes off of her as he descended the platform steps with the confidence and swagger of a tango dance enticing his partner. Each phrase lingered as he took the next step.

“You know. For fun.”

“For fun?” Alice smirked.

“Yeah.” He grinned back. “Fun.”

She paused and crossed her arms. “Would you like to make wine the old-fashioned way, Hugo Dodds?”

He arrived at the bottom of the platform steps. His gaze was unrelenting. Hugo pulled his shoulders back, tightening his shirt against his muscular chest. “Sounds like fun to me.”

She stood upright and beguiled him with her swaying hips as she moved closer. She was inches away. He could feel her aura. Her presence. He wanted it to last.

“It can be messy,” Alice pleaded in a hushed tone.

“I’m not afraid to get a little messy,” he answered as he matched her volume.

She pulled away, never breaking eye contact with him. “You might want to put on some shorts. It’d be a shame to stain those pants of yours.”

The belt buckle echoed against the stone floor after Hugo unzipped and dropped his pants. Alice watched him remove his socks, toss the clothing aside with his foot, and stand there in the cold, damp cellar, with his boxer briefs and black, long sleeve T-shirt. She smiled at him and bit her lip.

“I’m okay like this,” he replied. “That is, if you don’t mind.”

Her leggings dropped to the floor with a snap of her fingers. Alice stood there in the chilly dampness of the cellar in her gray, long sleeve shirt and black underwear that exposed enough skin to indulge Hugo’s desires. She moved closer.

“Not at all.” Their bodies barely touched as she leaned to whisper into his ear. Her breath teased Hugo with tantalizing delight, as if she was enrapturing him under one of her spells. “I like it when it’s messy.”

“I have a feeling it could get very messy,” he whispered back to regain control.

Alice stood there in silence and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Hugo backed away and took her left hand with his. Firm, yet gentle. He cupped her fingers and steadied her hand with his thumb against her knuckles. Alice opened her eyes.

He led her up the steps to the top of the wooden platform to the waiting vat. One step at a time. He was cautious, methodical, and teasing. He dared not rush her, lest she slip and fall. His eyes locked and focused on hers. She gazed at his icy blues. He guided her with the fingertips of his other hand placed on her back. They slipped down to the small of her back with each step. She let out a small moan as his fingers glided along her spine.

They made their way to the top of the platform. She snapped her fingers with her free hand. The stompers lifted and exited the vat. They took their normal resting place, free of any liquid. Hugo firmly placed his hand on the small of her back. He led her toward the wooden vat.

He slid his hand across her back to let the fingers graze over the shirt. He grabbed onto her upper arm to support her as she stepped over the vat wall and into the murky liquid. Hugo let go of Alice and joined her as they sloshed around in the frothy wine must. His toes dug into slippery chunks of smashed grapes. Bits of grapes squeezed under his feet. An odd, slimy sensation.

“I feel silly,” Alice said.

“That’s okay,” he replied. “We can be silly together.”

Alice pulled her hair back behind her ears. “Now what?”

“Now, I’m going to work my magic,” he replied. “That’s magic with a C , by the way.”

Alice did not hide her smile as she let out a giddy laugh.

“Phone,” Hugo called out to his phone resting on the workbench across the cellar. “Play my WORK MY MAGIC ON ALICE playlist.”

“Now playing your playlist,” the phone replied in its automated female voice.

The sultry sounds of Nina Simone’s “I Put a Spell on You” echoed off the stone walls.

“Really?” she replied. “I should be offended by this.”

“But, honestly, are you?” he replied with a cunning smile.

“No, not really. It’s cute.”

“Just cute?”

“It’s adorable.”

Hugo moved closer. He placed his hands around her waist. He teased her with small taps as he worked his fingers down to the tops of her hips. She placed her hands on his shoulders.

She leaned in closer toward his ear and asked a loaded question, to which he felt she already knew the answer. “Now what?”

“Now we stomp the grapes.”

They began their waltzing dance across the wooden vat. The soft grape skin gave way under each slow step. The liquid and soft grapes oozed under their feet and between their toes. They moved with purpose as to not slip and fall into the liquid. Hugo wanted to wrap his hands around her back and pull her closer. He strained at the thought, but he needed to wait. They danced around as the music swelled to a finish, never taking their eyes off each other. The liquid wine must sashayed with every seductive step.

A sultry cover of “Wicked Game” played next.

“I want to thank you,” Hugo said.

“For what?”

“For these past few weeks. For helping me to remember excitement again. To remember joy. To remember living again.”

Alice choked up. “You’re welcome, Hugo. I want to thank you too. Thank you for accepting me. For not freaking out… over who I am.”

“Your secret is safe with me.”

Alice smiled. The liquid poured down the chute and into the press below as they continued their dance.

The Cure’s “Lovesong” played next.

“I need you to know one thing,” Hugo said. “Elizabeth will always be part of my life.”

Alice peered right into his icy blue eyes. Her face was no longer giddy with excitement. “I would never replace her. I don’t want to replace her. She is a part of your life just as much as magick is a part of mine.”

A tear rolled down Hugo’s face as he smiled. Alice wiped away the tear.

She added, “I would never ask you to forget her. Ever.”

Hugo moved his hands around Alice’s back. He felt a shiver course through her body as he pulled her closer. Alice slid her arms under his and wrapped them around his back. She buried her head into his shoulder. She exhaled in the comfort of his chest, and Hugo rested his head on hers. They continued their dance, now interlocked as one.

A slow, almost spell-like cover version of “ Witchcraft ” played next.

“I really should be offended by this one,” Alice said.

“You like it,” Hugo retorted.

His fingers lightly tapped on her back as they worked their way down and stopped short of the end of her shirt. A heat surged inside of him. He wanted to continue further; to reach under her shirt and work his way further down along the softness of her skin. He wanted so much more in that moment.

“I like it,” Alice replied.

“And I like you, Alice Primrose.”

Alice pulled back at the words he spoke. Their slow dance through the liquid grapes stopped. The music faded into the background. His breath caught in his chest, worried he said something wrong. She glared at him, blinking.

He waited for a response. Each passing moment felt like his calculated risk was imploding before his eyes. Her lip quivered. Each breath was shorter than his last until he was no longer breathing. A flood of emotions overtook his body.

She responded before their magical moment disappeared into ruin, “I like you too, Hugo Dodds.”

“May I kiss—” his words trailed as she nodded profusely.

Hugo slid his hands around the back of her neck to cup her head. His fingers wove into her purple hair. He leaned in to kiss her soft, purple lips. Slow and soft at first before pushing forward with more intensity—fire and passion. He tugged ever so slightly on her purple hair. Their tongues introduced themselves to each other and quickly found familiar forbidden desires.

A pulse rippled through his body. He melted away, lost in the thought of pure bliss—bliss he hadn’t felt in ages. He lost track of time and space and what was real. His mind and soul were ablaze with ecstasy. He wanted to live in that moment for eternity.

He pulled his hand away from her hair. In that moment, they stopped kissing, stopping to catch their breaths. His chest rose and fell, breathing deeply to quell the fire within his soul. It was too late. He wanted more. He needed more.

They leaned against each other, forehead to forehead. Hugo had not felt the fulfilling embrace of another soul in months. The embrace deluged the dry, cavernous hole in his soul with the flood waters of bliss. They locked eyes. Desire blazed within him. They matched each other breath for breath.

In a hushed tone, whispering a secret only they would know, Hugo asked, “Should we go upstairs?”

Alice let go of Hugo and snapped her fingers. A bottle flew across the room. She snatched it out of midair. With another snap, the cork jumped out and ricocheted off the ceiling. She downed a gulp straight from the neck of the bottle. She slammed the bottle against Hugo’s chest.

“Drink,” she commanded.

Hugo did as he was told. He drank the magical elixir held within the green bottle. “What now?”

Alice snapped her fingers. The bottle flew out of Hugo’s hand and landed on the wooden platform. She grabbed Hugo’s arms and turned him around, so his back faced the open room. With a shove of pure magical force emanating from Alice’s hands, Hugo stumbled backward.

He tripped over the vat wall and fell onto what he thought would be the stone floor. Instead, it was as if gentle hands cradled and placed him on a cushioned cloud. He glided across the room like being on ice. A familiar sensation from his days of playing youth hockey.

Drops of reddish, purple liquid fell onto the stone floor from Hugo’s wine must stained feet. He realized he was no longer touching anything solid. Instead, he was floating in the air. He smiled with ecstasy and anticipation.

He glanced over to where he once stood. Alice’s eyes locked onto him with a sense of passion, desire, and hunger. She trudged through the wine must. Each step sloshed more liquid down the chute into the press below. Not even the vat wall could break her stride. She strutted into the air as if the platform had extended itself above the stone flooring. Alice’s pace quickened as she moved closer.

Hugo stood up. An invisible force held him in the air. He removed his shirt and tossed it to the floor below. His toned chest was bare to the cold, damp air. He rushed toward Alice. She leapt into his waiting arms. The grape juices dripped down Hugo’s backside as she wrapped her legs around his waist. They kissed again with renewed passion and hunger for more.

Hugo held Alice closely to his chest as he dropped to his knees. He worked his hands down her back and under her shirt. She softly bit his bottom lip as each of Hugo’s fingertips traced their way up her spine. His hands worked to remove her shirt. She pulled away and threw up her arms to allow him to remove another barrier to their delight. He removed her shirt and cast it aside.

His firm yet gentle hands laid her down on the soft, invisible floor. Fingertips dug sensual paths down her back. They caught the elastic band to pull down the last barrier between them. He relished the moment as she writhed in anticipation, trying to wiggle her way out faster. She pressed her lips together as she was now fully exposed to the cold air. He grabbed the elastic band of his underwear and flung them off.

He lay on top of her, on top of her soft body. He gazed into her emerald green eyes. Hugo gently kissed her sweet purple lips. He moved his hands down her body until they rested on the curves of her hips. He pulled her closer. As close as they could be. She wrapped her arms and legs around Hugo in ecstasy. They breathed as one. They moved as one. They became one.

Hugo pulled up his pants and gazed at the spot in the air where they had been moments before. He was now on solid ground. He allowed himself to smile.

“That is definitely a first for me,” Hugo said.

“Me too,” Alice replied. “Come here. I need your help.”

Hugo sauntered over to the semi-clothed Alice Primrose toiling away at her workbench.

“What are you working on?” Hugo peered over her shoulder.

She hunched over, carefully reading from a spell scroll that was set out. Her fingers held her current place in the spell. The cauldron was ready to receive her next ingredient. “Next, two items coming together as one. Open the third drawer from the right in the top row, and hand me the stick inside.” Alice pointed to the apothecary drawers.

Hugo did as instructed. He pulled out the stick with black gaffer tape wrapped around the middle. “Hey, it’s our stick. Our perfectly broken stick.”

“Throw it in,” Alice said, never taking her eyes away from the spell.

Hugo tossed the stick into the cauldron. It sunk below the bubbling water inside.

“Next, grab that bottle of powder.” She motioned with her free hand to a bottle sitting on a shelf. She never broke her gaze or moved her fingers.

“This one?” Hugo placed the bottle in Alice’s view.

“Dump it in. The entire bottle.”

Hugo poured the powder into the cauldron.

“Spit into the cauldron,” Alice instructed.

“What’s with you and spitting?”

“The spell calls for us to both spit into the cauldron. It’s like we are kissing… in the cauldron. Now spit.”

Hugo hovered over the cauldron .

“Stick your head in and do it,” Alice interrupted.

Hugo stuck as much of his head into the cauldron as he could, but he never took his eyes off of Alice. He spit into the bubbling liquid.

“Now my turn.”

Alice picked up the spell scroll and kept her eyes focused on it. She stuck her face into the cauldron, but kept one eye focused on the spell. Setting the spell back down on the table, she bent over the cauldron and recited ancient, arcane words.

Hugo stood and watched as she worked her magick. He loved to watch her work, invoking her arcane abilities and speaking a language he didn’t understand. He smiled.

Alice pulled away and wrapped up the scroll. She placed it into an open rectangular box on the backside of the workbench. She closed the lid and locked it shut with a clasp on the front. With a snap of her fingers, a stone in the wall of the wine cellar above her apothecary drawers opened to reveal a hidden compartment. She placed the box inside and snapped her fingers again to close it.

“What was that?” Hugo asked.

“That’s why I’m here.” Alice picked up the cauldron and carried it over to the winepress. The reddish, purple wine must bubbled as the green liquid poured in from the cauldron. “This is a very special potion.”

She turned back to Hugo, holding the now empty cauldron. A few strands of purple hair draped over her face, nearly obscuring her left eye. She held an impish smile with her eyebrows furled in a sultry expression of lust, passion, and love. Like she was holding a secret. A secret that only the two of them knew.

Alice never broke her gaze from Hugo. She moved closer. Small steps at a time. Hugo was anguished in how long she took walking toward him. He could tell Alice relished in her seductive waltz, each step slow and languished. Her hips swayed to entice and tease his senses for more.

She continued, “You must always maintain your focus on the spell scroll, or else you forget what was written as soon as you look away. Many have tried to copy it, but it never worked. Some have died trying to obtain it. It’s very sought after in the magical world. I have the only known copy remaining. As far as everyone else is concerned, it’s lost forever.”

“What’s so special about it?” Hugo asked.

“It’s called The Lovers’ Kiss,” Alice said as she moved closer to Hugo.

An unseen force pulled them together. He wanted to indulge in their passions, their desires, for another round.

“How seductive,” Hugo said in a low voice. “What does it do?”

“Its properties are lost to time. No one knows exactly what it does. Few have attempted to make it. Everyone has failed. It can only be made after an expression of love between two individuals,” she said before leaning in closer. She whispered into his ear, “Wouldn’t it be great to find out together?”

The hairs on Hugo’s neck stood up as her warm words rushed over him. She kissed his ear, her tongue exploring the hidden inner labyrinths deep within, ever so gently, softly. Hugo closed his eyes and lost himself. All thoughts and emotions left him. Only a singular thought flowed through his body. How much he wanted her again at that moment.

She pulled back. Hugo opened his eyes to see her smile a Cheshire grin back at him. He laughed. He thought about taking her hand once again and indulging themselves for another session up in the air.

Hugo took the cauldron from Alice and placed it on the ground. He wrapped his arms behind her hips. He placed his hands on the small of her back and pulled her closer. Their mouths nearly touched in a physical embrace. He teased her and made her wait. She smiled a sultry expression. The anticipation filled the minuscule void between the two.

Hugo leaned in closer and asked into her ear, “So, why are you here because of it? ”

“Sam,” Alice responded as she pulled away.

The sultry expression vanished, and resentment replaced it. She picked up the cauldron. Hugo’s cheerful expression disappeared, realizing he blew the moment.

“I told Sam about the potion; she wanted us to make it together. I refused. Sam grew angry and furious. I still wouldn’t make it. She started talking, and people found out because she blabbed. The wrong people.”

Alice flung the cauldron on to the workstation. It rocked back and forth, nearly tipping over, before coming to a full stop.

“One night, some people came looking for me… for it,” Alice continued. “Luckily, Galahad alerted me. We got out of there and raced to Ez. She helped me hide and lay low. We moved around from place to place. Sometimes, I never knew where I was. Then, one day, Ez said she found a perfect place for me to hide. A small town, far from my home. I could hide out there and build a new life.”

“I’m so, so sorry,” Hugo said.

Alice focused her eyes down on the empty cauldron. “It’s okay,” she said. “I’m fine.”

Hugo rushed over and grabbed under her chin with his index finger. He gently pulled up to look her directly in the eyes. “Hey, what did I tell you? It’s okay to not be okay.”

“Thank you.” Alice closed her eyes as Hugo moved his index finger from under her chin and across her lips before finally pulling it away.

“So, want to speed this thing up and give it a try and see what happens?” Hugo picked up the hourglass from the workbench.

“That’s where people get it wrong,” Alice replied. Hugo placed the hourglass back down. “You can’t rush it. You have to let it age naturally.”

“So, how long are we talking? Weeks?”

“Months.”

“Well, I’m sure it will be worth the wait.”