Page 6 of The Heartbreak Hex

She tugs the string and I find myself getting pulled out of bed. I’m only wearing pajama bottoms, my chest bare, but Gertrude doesn’t even seem to notice my state of undress as she makes her way downstairs to the kitchen dragging me behind her by the string, much to my dismay. I’m an attractive guy andI keep myself fit. I’d like to think that she would at least sneak a peek at my abs or pecs, but I’m out of luck. Me being half-dressed doesn’t seem to affect her as much as her being half-dressed affects me.Damn.Oh well, I guess that’s not the focus of the moment. We need to get separated and then maybe I can figure out how to get the witch of my dreams to notice me.

∞∞∞

AN HOUR LATER it’s firmly morning and we’re no closer to cutting the string than before. An array of sharp objects are on the kitchen island between us, along with magic ingredients and a burning sage bundle. Nothing has made the string go away. It’s obvious at this point that it’s something metaphysical. Objects pass through it like mist, but both Gertrude and I can both grab it and if one of us moves too far away from the other, roughly six feet, it pulls taut and we get yanked back together.

Finally, after a lot of trial and error, I ask, “What was this spell supposed to do, anyway?”

Gertrude flushes a dark green, a charming blush, and mumbles something that I can't quite make out.

“What?”

If anything Gertrude gets a darker green and bites her lip again. “It was supposed to be a cure for heartache.”

My stomach turns over unhappily at the thought that this brilliant, sparkling individual would ever have heartache because ofHarry Moonkin. Truly, I have no idea what she saw in him for all those years. The guy can’t hold onto a job for more than a month and spends most of his time writing absolutely abysmal music to sing at the neighborhood’s open mic nights hoping to gain a following, which he never does. Gertrude has always deserved more than that. She deservessomeone dependable, who supportsherdreams, not the other way around. If that someone can’t be me, at least it shouldn’t be Harry Moonkin.

Still, I can’t say all that aloud. Instead, I say sympathetically, “Tough break up?”

She laughs with a bitter tinge. “You could say that. When he came to the shop yesterday ‘to talk,’ that was him breaking up with me so that he could go be with Calliope Aetos.”

“He wascheatingon you?” I spit out incredulously.I’m going to kill him.

“He says no. That they’ve just been ‘talking,’ but I don’t know what to believe. He was a lot less interested in me this past month, but I thought he was just giving me space because this is such a busy time of year. I should have known something was up.”

“You can’t blame yourself for his bad behavior. He’s a big boy, he can make his own decisions, especially the stupid ones,” I say firmly.

Gertrude sends me a little smile. “Thanks. I needed the reminder.”

“Anytime,” I reply sincerely. Changing the subject back, I continue, “But I don’t get it. Why would a spell for heartbreak bring me into this?”

The witch flushes again, the deepest shade of green I’ve seen so far. What could that mean? “I may have, uh,” she begins, clearing her throat, before talking so fast that all her words slur together, “Imayhaveaskedforanewboyfriend.”

“What?” I ask again. I can’t have heard what I thought I heard.

The deep green flush is reaching all the way up to the tips of her ears now. “I . . . in my incantation, may have asked for a, ahem, new, uh, boyfriend.”

A grin grows on my face. I can’t help it. Something akin to pure joy skitters in my veins. My voice comes out teasing, flirtatious, when I ask, “So, this makes me your new boyfriend, does it?”

“No!” she burst out. “I mean, I wouldn’tmind, but, I mean, you have a choice. Just because a spell put us together doesn’t mean that you have to date me. I mean, I know you don’t want to date me, err, I mean, I think you don’t. I mean, why would you? I’m a mess. I mean . . .”

“Gertrude, Gertrude,” I interrupt her nervous chatter, even as the smile stays on my face. She’s just so cute when she’s embarrassed. And she couldn't be more wrong. I’d be fucking honored to be her boyfriend. More than that. I’ve been dreaming of it, pining after her for years. But I don’t want her to be uncomfortable, even if this is the most hope I’ve felt in years. I continue, “It’s fine. I’m teasing you. We don’t have to rush into anything.”

“Right,” she says, smiling sheepishly. “Anyway, that’s probably why you got summoned here. The spell went haywire and grabbed a guy that I . . . know.”

That doesn’t sound like what she was originally going to say. I’d pay a lot of money to hear what she wasactually going to say, but I instinctively know that pushing on that won’t get me anywhere and will just make Gertrude more self-conscious, so I drop it.For now.

“Well,” I say, getting back to the matter at hand, “what are we going to do about this string? We can’t cut it, burn it, untie it, blow it away, or dispel it. What next? I’ve got to get to work soon and so do you. In fact, even if we hurry, we’ll probably both be late.”

“You’re right,” she sighs, leaning against the kitchen island. “I’m going to have to reverse engineer the potion. Which is hard because I drank the whole thing and I don’t really rememberanything about making it. But I can take stock of all the missing ingredients and see if there’s any residue that I can test in my cauldron. But all that will have to wait. We need to get you to City Hall.”

“What about your shop?” I ask, loathe to make her miss a day of work. I know how hard she’s worked to make Eye of Newt a success.

“I’ll call Gretchen and have her watch the counter for me today. Most of my orders are already made and the ones that aren’t are simple enough that she should be able to make them even though potions aren’t her specialty. Plus, she owes me after getting me wasted and causing this mess.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I agree. “There’s only one problem.”

“What’s that?” Gertrude asks innocently.

“I can’t go into the office like this,” I say, spreading my arms wide, showing my bare torso.

---