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“Stop.” Odai holds an arm out as we near the end of the block in front of Cold Stone. I have been explaining the businesses as we walk, and there is one more to go.
The Magic Shop.
It’s tucked around the corner, butted up against the back of Cold Stone, like an odd protrusion into the parking lot behind the strip. It’s always seemed a little out of place, as if it was simply dropped there, but I can’t remember a time when it didn’t exist.
“What?” I peer down the street, really more of an alley, at the red sign that simply states its name: The Magic Shop. “The Owner,” I say, since that’s as close to a name as I’ve ever gotten out of the man who runs the place, “isn’t one of our detractors. He likes us. He’s probably more likely to get bought out than we are—”
“That store will not be sold off like others.” Odai takes a step back and pulls me with him.
“Why so sure?”
“It is protected. The others I can work with.” He turns around and heads back toward Tony’s.
I stare down the alley at The Magic Shop. It isn’t actually magic…
Is it?
The fact that an incubus just implied it is has me questioning everything I’ve ever thought about the place and the somewhat weird and intimidating owner. A panic attack for another time, I figure, and hurry to catch up to Odai.
“You said Tony’s is the business that is most your friend?” He stops in front of it.
“Yes.”
“Then we start here and leave the ones who are not your friend for last.” He glances farther down the street at the church, with a packed parking lot given it’s Sunday morning. Then he glances across the street at Curves. It’s closed on Sundays, but I can see Mrs. Sherman putzing around inside.
“Hang on.” I grab Odai’s arm before he can enter Tony’s. “Can you first make sure that anyone who signed Mrs. Sherman’s petition, those who wouldn’t want to run us out of business, realize her shady wording and decide to retract having signed it? That’s another wish because I know several of them would never want to oust us.”
“Granted.” Odai snaps his fingers. “If they did not intend that part of the petition, it will simply dawn on them that they were duped.”
Maybe some of this can be easy. “Let’s check in with Tony.”
Odai
I can tell for sure now that Jeffrey is the sensible sort. No immediate wishes for anything. He is taking his time, thinking things through, and while saving the tour that was once Mattie’s enterprise benefits Jeffrey, it is also a partially selfless wish in that it can benefit others too.
Also, his friend was right. The braid is very becoming on him. He is almost buried in these clothes compared to the undressed state of his seamstress attire. His costume. That is not him, and yet there was a spark about him while dressed that way that seems muted behind his spectacles and oversized top.
I long to delve deeper into his mind to discover why, but as I told him, I have not lied and will not; things he wishes to keep hidden from me or does not understand himself cannot be plucked from the surface of his mind.
His wishes so far, however small, have me feeling content, but I will need more. I crave more already. Especially his taste.
I am always compelled toward carnal activity, often with my masters and mistresses, but not always. Certainly not if they do not wish for it. But with Jeffrey, I want him in a way that almost feels… new.
Or perhaps old again.
Not being able to tell Jeffrey the entire truth about me without the correct prompting first is out of my control. I should not get my hopes up, not for a savior or for something more, but I would like to feel the coil of his fingers in mine again.
“Jeffrey! I was just thinking about you,” a man I assume to be Tony greets us as we near the front counter of the antique shop. He is middle aged but a bit younger, taller, and burlier than Mr. Bevilaqua. “I think I did something stupid the other day. That Mrs. Sherman from Curves had me all upside down about unwanted influences in the neighborhood. Figured she meant theft was up, or maybe too many evangelists were blowing through again, and I signed her clipboard without a thought. I think she pulled a fast one on me and it’s really a ploy to eject Madame Mattie’s. I’ll be sure to set her straight next time I see her.”
“Thanks, Tony,” Jeffrey says. “I had a feeling that was what happened.”
“Don’t go holding it against me! She caught me during a rush of business like a real snake. I swear, that woman has actual scales beneath her skin.”
Jeffrey laughs, and I like this man immediately. He is blunt but clearly kind and makes Jeffrey appear at ease in a way he isn’t always.
I scan the business’s inventory. Some of it I recognize as once being Mattie’s, something Jeffrey prepared me for. It is as wrapped up in history as the tour, and with Tony already a friend, this is the best candidate for partnership.
“This is Odai. He’s going to be helping me with ideas to get the tour more business,” Jeffrey introduces me, and I keep a cordial smile and demeanor, despite analyzing this man like the tool he is to support the wants of my owner.
