Page 19 of The Heartbreak Hex

“Alright, Mr. Mayor, you need to tell me what’s up,” demands Bridget. “Why are you and Ms. Nightshade ‘shadowing’ each other? I need the real reason. May I remindyou that you’re up for reelection next year? People are starting to talk. If you’re too distracted right before the biggest day of the year, your constituents may lose their confidence in your dedication.”

Gertrude and I exchange a look. I don’t want to put her into a vulnerable position by telling the truth, but Gertrude gives me a small nod, giving me the go-ahead.

“Look, Bridget, I need you to listen to this calmly . . .”

“I’m always calm,” snaps my secretary.

“Yes, but what I’m going to tell you may be the slightest bit distressing,” I warn.

“Just tell me, Mr. Mayor. I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me.”

I work to keep myself from smirking at her words. Trust Bridget to be absolutely confident that she can fix anything I throw at her. But I know that she wouldn’t appreciate my amusement, so I keep it to myself.

“Well . . . it would seem that Ms. Nightshade and I have come to be under a fairly benign hex.”

“A HEX!” shrieks Bridget. Both Gertrude and I wince at the banshee’s shrill scream.

“Bridget, you said you would be calm,” I chide.

“That’s before you said that there was a hex involved!” exclaims my banshee secretary. “Who did this? Was it one of your political rivals? I know you’ve been butting heads with Old Nick lately . . .”

“It wasn’t Old Nick,” Gertrude interjects. “It was me. A spell of mine went haywire and somehow bound me and the mayor together. There’s a string that connects us that only we can see. No one else has noticed it, but it makes it so that we can’t go farther than six feet apart.”

Bridget fixes Gertrude with a withering stare. “A spell of yours went awry? We should go after your shop’s license! We . . .”

“We will do no such thing,” I declare firmly. “It was a mistake, is all. We’re handling it. Ms. Nightshade is figuring out how to break the curse. Until then, we are making it work.”

“Making it work?You’ve missed two full days of meetings! Right before Halloween, I might add. The Ball is tonight and . . .”

“Bridget,” I say sternly. “Stop.” I can see Gertrude wilting under Bridget’s words and I’ll be damned before I let that happen. “It’s fine. Halloween will come like it does every year, even if the celebration is a teensy bit smaller than it has been in the past. Most of those meetings I missed weren’t that important and you know it. Stop laying it on so thick. It’s not helping”

My secretary takes a deep breath like she wants to explode, her usually blue glow going a touch purple with her anger, but then she sighs, all the fight going out of her. “You’re right, sir,” she says. “Sorry. Let’s focus on how to break this hex, shall we?”

“I’ve been searching all my family’s spellbooks for the past four days and can’t find anything about invisible strings binding people together,” Gertrude tells her.

“Let me see if I can see it when I enter the metaphysical realm,” Bridget says, before going completely translucent, only her blue glow remaining in the room.

“Hmm . . .” Bridget says, her voice eerily echoing. “It’s faint, but Icansee a red glow between the two of you.”

“You can?” I ask, surprised.

“It doesn’t look like a string to me, just a glowing line between the two of you. It reminds me . . .”

“Remind you of what?” Getrude asks.

“There’s an old Chinese myth about the red string of fate that ties together two people destined to meet. It’s supposed to be invisible, but it means that you’re meant to meet your one true love. The myth doesn't say anything about the string literally tying you together though, or not being able to go apart.”

One true love. Bridget’s words fill me with hope. Is that what this string is? Does that mean . . . Gertrude is really my soul mate? I turn to look at her, but her face is turned away from me, her pointed hat blocking my view of her face.

“In the myth,” Gertrude asks, her voice sounding unaffected, unlike me, “Is there anything about how to dispel the string?”

“There’s no way to ‘dispel’ fate,” Bridget responds derisively, coming back into view. “If this means that you’re supposed to get together, I’d stop fighting it and give it what it wants. Just kiss or something, already.”

Gertrude goes stiff at my secretary’s words and instantly I think of a few days ago when the house made us kiss. It didn't dispel the string when we did. Does that mean that we aren’t actually soul mates or did we just do it wrong?

“That’s enough, Bridget,” I say. “I need to talk to Gertrude. Please hold my meetings and let us have some time alone.”

My secretary just shrugs and exits the office, carefully shutting the door behind her.

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