Page 54 of The Nowhere Witch

I walked into the office. The monkeys took one look at my face and lifted their instruments. They broke into “She’s a Dandy,” and I didn’t even want to crush their little drum set.

The room smiled at me—even Bibbi looked happy that things were working out. We might be able to be friends now that the bitterness was washed away a bit.

“I guess you’re back to work,” Zab said, getting out of his chair.

“Temporarily.” I was actively fighting the urge to skip around the office, and it hurt my cheeks to keep the smile off my face. This was not a permanent situation. This was a necessity only. There could be no celebrating.

“This definitely deserves a cocoa,” Zab said. “Musso? Bibbi?”

“Place is empty. Might as well,” Musso said.

“Definitely,” Bibbi said.

Well, it was a cocoa, and I couldn’t very well not go when it was for me. Plus, I’d started a list of names for immigration references, and what better time to hit up Gilli, the owner? And maybe a couple of her employees, too?

Zab held the door open for me. “Feels a little like old times, doesn’t it?”

I was afraid to agree with him as I walked out the door.

I took a step outside, and the sun was shining down on me, my shadow as crisp as ever. Just like that, I had my shadow back. The black cloud had disappeared.

“It’s gone,” I said, looking overhead.

Zab was squinting in my direction.

“Why are you looking at me like there’s something off? This is good.”

Zab shook his head. “No, not the cloud. I just…” He was looking at me this way and that. “I don’t know exactly. Maybe it’s just a residue from the deal. Musso?”

Musso took a good look at me. “There’s something there, but it’s probably just a residue, like Zab said. Happens sometimes with a longstanding spell. Wouldn’t worry about it,” he said, turning and heading toward the Sweet Shop.

That bastard. He’d done something else. Knew I shouldn’t trust him.

21

I walked into the office where Zab, Musso, and Bibbi were already seated. Seemed all three of them were compulsively early, even as I’d tried to beat them all here. The idea of being first to work had settled my nerves about the new position.

Zab nodded. Musso gave me a halfhearted grunt.

Bibbi eyed up my outfit. “Very cute. I saw that on the mannequin and loved it.”

I smoothed down the dark blue velvet of my fitted dress. It was something I never would’ve worn in Salem. It had a little too muchlook at mefor what I typically would wear. But being a broker, they’d all be looking at me anyway, as if they weren’t already. If they were all going to look at me, maybe it was time to own it? After all, I wasn’t the girl who hid anymore.

Didn’t hide, didn’t hide, didn’t hide.It was going to stick one of these times.

I walked to Belinda’s…to my desk and ran a hand over the surface. There was already a pile of sorted slips sitting on it.

“You can sit at it too if you want,” Musso said.

“Oh, there’s a note for you too. Came this morning,” Bibbi said, pointing to the folded sheet of memo paper.

Don’t forget our cocoa date tonight.

Gregor

I had forgotten we were going for cocoa. But had I forgotten it was a date? Was that what I’d agreed to? I’d thought we were just friends. I slipped the note in the drawer.

“So what should I do?” I asked.