Page 16 of A Witch in Notting Hill

Oliver

W hen you own an occult bookshop in a popular neighborhood of a major tourist city, there are few things left to surprise you. Really, you start to think you’ve seen it all.

And yet . . . I was shocked.

Which didn’t make proper sense, given how little I knew about this woman, but something wasn’t clicking in my brain.

This woman thought she was a witch? This celebrity, famous for dramas and thrillers and films Lo and Minho informed me were serious, no-nonsense affairs.

Though I supposed it was acting, after all. She was merely playing a role.

The same way she’d been with me, running the story about her gran. How stupid was I that I didn’t see what was really going on? Maybe this was why she was nominated for an Oscar or whatever Lola said.

My head was spinning, and before I knew it, I was headed in the direction of the pub. I would have to confess the whole thing to Min and Lo at some point, so, much like telling them about the search in the first place, I figured I’d get it over with.

They’d dropped a pin in our group text when they left, so it was easy to find them at Mack’s, just up the street from the station.

“That was fast,” Lola said when I slid onto a stool beside them.

“Yeah, well, we had nothing left to say to each other, so.” I drank half her pint in one gulp, ignoring her raised eyebrows and her open mouth. “I’ll get the next round,” I said.

“Are you going to fill us in?” she asked. “Or are we going to have to guess why you look like smoke is about to come out of your ears?”

“Nothing to fill you in on,” I said, finishing her beer.

“Might as well just tell us whatever it is now, mate,” Min said. “You know you’re going to have to eventually. Let’s have at it, then.”

“She lied,” I exhaled. “And she thinks she’s a witch. Are we ready to move on now? Have another pint and go back to living our lives like this never happened?”

“She what?” Min asked.

“And she what ?” Lola added.

“Please don’t make me repeat myself,” I said.

“We’re going to need a little more information,” Minho said. “She lied about what? And what do you mean she’s a witch?”

“She thinks she’s a witch,” I corrected him. “She can’t be an actual witch because witches aren’t real.”

“But what about her gran?” Lola asked.

“There is no gran,” I said. “Or maybe there is... I don’t know. But Willow was looking for the book for herself the whole time.”

“Which means—” Min started.

“Which means she has to do the tasks,” Lola said, a note of excitement creeping into her voice.

“Which also means she’s going to be in London for at least six more months, doesn’t it?

” That piece I had yet to acknowledge, even to myself.

I’d mentally prepared for her to leave after today, and I had no idea what to do now that she was staying.

Surely I’d run into her. And surely I didn’t want to. Or at least I shouldn’t have wanted to.

“Oliver, you have to keep helping her.”

“Are you mad? Absolutely not.”

“Are you mad? Meeting Willow James in the first place was the opportunity of a lifetime. And now you get to help her do a whole lot of witchy tasks to turn someone back into a person? Come on.”

“You come on. Are you even listening to yourself right now?” I argued. “None of this is real, Lo. And even if it was, it doesn’t take away from the fact that she lied.”

“Oh, boo-hoo. She told you she was helping her gran and she wasn’t. Hardly a lie, is it? Min, help me out here.”

He raised his palms and his eyebrows: a universal signal for Leave me out of this.

“I’m pretty sure every non-truth counts as a lie, doesn’t it?” I said. “What else is she hiding, you know?”

“We’ll never find out if we don’t help her.”

“When did this become a we situation?”

“When you made it perfectly clear you weren’t capable of doing this on your own,” she said. “And we haven’t even cracked the surface of the real issues here, so you need all the help you can get.”

“What are you talking about? What real issues? And can we at least have another beer before this conversation? I’m not exactly keen on the direction it’s going and I’d love a pint or twenty to make it through to the end, if you don’t mind.”

“It’s my turn,” Min said, jumping up from the table and headed toward the bar, undoubtedly thrilled to get away. I envied him.

“The fact that you feel you have to protect her,” Lola said, counting off “issues” on her fingers. “And the fact that you fancy her.”

“You’ve officially lost the plot.”

“God, Oliver, for someone who’s so upset about lying, would it kill you to be honest for a second?”

“It might, yes,” I said, but she didn’t laugh. “I don’t fancy her. And I don’t feel the need to protect her from anything. She’s fine on her own. I was just doing my job.”

“And a hell of a job you were doing,” she said, gratefully accepting a pint as Min returned.

“It’s not a crime to fancy her, you know.

Everyone else does.” For some reason, hearing that felt like jumping into a freezing lake.

Of course everyone fancied her. She was a celebrity, for Christ’s sake.

And a beautiful one. A kind, down-to-earth one. Or so I thought.

“We definitely do.” Min shrugged.

“ Now you decide you want to contribute?” I said.

“I’m just saying, mate. Not the end of the world if you fancy her.”

“Can we stop talking about if I fancy her?” Because obviously I fancy her.

“We can talk about why you seem to feel obligated to protect her, instead,” Lola suggested. “Is that better?”

“Hardly.”

“Why? Because it’s also true?”

“You lot are bloody irritating, d’you know that?”

“That’s why you’re friends with us.” Lola smiled, a hand placed delicately under her chin.

“I can assure you, it isn’t.”

“No, it isn’t,” Min agreed. “You’re friends with us because we’re always here for you, without judgment.

” He cut his eyes to Lola, and she mouthed something incomprehensible, then dropped her gaze to her beer.

“Which means it’s okay if you fancy her.

More than the general population, I mean.

And it’s okay if you want to protect her from the paparazzi or the fans or whatever.

I don’t blame you. And that doesn’t mean she can’t take care of herself.

It just means you want to do what you can to help. Nothing wrong with any of that.”

“What he said,” Lola said with a sigh.

I wanted to be comforted by what Min had said—and I was, in a sense—but it didn’t feel like there was nothing wrong.

I wasn’t usually charmed, which meant I wasn’t usually disappointed, which meant I had no idea where to put myself now that I was experiencing both.

It had only been a day. Three, maybe, if you counted from when she first came into the shop.

And I should have counted from when she first came into the shop, because I hadn’t stopped thinking about her since. I didn’t want to care. But that didn’t mean I didn’t.

“I can’t possibly help her,” I said eventually, resigned to the truth.

“I don’t believe in anything she’s doing, and I think I hurt her feelings when I tried to explain that before.

” It really wasn’t my finest moment, come to think of it.

“If I tried to help, I’m sure I’d only hurt her more.

And I’m not even sure where I’d begin. I doubt she even wants my help at this point, anyway.

” I was spiraling, and I needed to stop.

I wasn’t someone who spiraled, and I wasn’t keen on starting now.

“One thing at a time,” Lola said. “Do you want to help her? Yes or no.”

“I mean—”

“Yes,” she said, “or no.”

“Yes.” There was so much more to it than just that one word, but it appeared I wasn’t going to have the chance to explain that.

“Right.” Lola nodded. “So on to the next. What happened when you tried to talk to her about it before?”

“I said some shite about science—which is true, by the way—and I might have implied she was stupid. Or at least she thought I was calling her stupid.”

Lola dropped her head into her hands, and Min bit his lip trying not to laugh. “You’re hopeless,” he said.

“He is not,” Lola said. “And we’re going to help him. And then we’re all going to help Willow.”

I wasn’t going to touch that just yet, but I did not plan for this to be a group activity.

“So it sounds like the first thing you need to do is apologize,” Lola said.

“I don’t even know how to get a hold of her.”

“She’s staying at the Charter.”

“How the hell you do know that?”

“Saw the key card in her wallet when she went for her Oyster card.”

“You’re a creep, Lo.” She only shrugged. “Still, it’s not like I can just show up to the hotel and ask for Willow James. Hi, yes, would you mind terribly giving out the room information for a high-profile guest? Just want to apologize for being a wanker and then I’ll be on my way. ”

“Ye of so little faith.” Lola tutted. “You let me worry about how we’re meant to get in touch with her. You worry about what you’re going to say when you see her.”

“I’m capable of a proper apology, you know.”

“I’m not the one who needs convincing.”

“Thank god.”

“Then what?” Min asked.

“Then we offer our help on the quest,” Lola said.

“Must you always talk like we’re in a video game?”

“Must you always try to change the topic?”

“How’s this for staying on topic,” I said. “It isn’t our help on the quest. If she’s willing to accept any help at all, it’ll be from me. Seeing as I work in the occult industry, after all.”

Lola laughed, but not because anything was funny. “If you think we’re letting her try to complete that list with only the help of someone who doesn’t believe in magic, you’re even more delusional than I thought.”

“I don’t have to believe in magic to make sure she does what she needs to do without being hounded by fans,” I said.

“But you do need someone to believe in magic to keep morale up when times get tough,” Lola argued. “She needs support, not just a bodyguard and a couple connections.”

“You don’t know what she needs.”

“Neither do you.”

“Only one way to find out,” Min said, clapping his hands.

“We can’t really be doing this,” I said. “This whole thing is absurd.”

“You can’t change your mind now,” Lola said. “You’re just scared.”

“What could I possibly be scared of?”

“I don’t know,” Lo said. “You fancy her, she’s going to go back to America eventually, she ‘lied,’ which is problematic to you even though it wasn’t really a big one and it was kind of her prerogative anyway, and maybe you’re afraid you’re not actually going to be able to help her, which would be quite the hit to your ego—”

“We get it,” I said.

“You asked.”

“And I regret it.”

“Before we leave, I do feel like we have to address the elephant in the room,” Min said. “Or the cat, rather.”

“Please don’t,” I groaned. “I can assure you, whatever cat there is has always been a cat and will always be a cat.”

“In your world, maybe,” Lola said.

“There’s only one world.”

“Try telling that to the cat.”

“You guys are about to get yourselves banned from the quest.”

“Does that mean we’re officially allowed to be part of the quest?”

“Doesn’t seem like I could have said no if I wanted to, does it?” Even though I really, really wanted to.

“We’re going to be helpful, you know,” Lola said.

“Min has just as many connections as you do around the city and I know everything there is to know about the hero’s journey.

And I believe in magic. And Min doesn’t care enough one way or another.

So we’ll be great for moral support. We’re trying to help you both, Oliver.

We aren’t just fans of Willow or meant to be a thorn in your side. ”

The softness in her voice made me feel bad for giving her such a hard time, even though she had been doing the same to me. But she was right. They were trying to help, and it seemed Willow and I both needed all the help we could get.

“I know.” I sighed, scrubbing my hands over my jaw. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank us yet,” Minho said. “We’ve got quite a bit to do first. Starting with a trip to the Charter.”

We clinked our glasses together and gulped down the rest of our pints, for liquid courage or because we were suddenly racing against the clock, I wasn’t sure.

All I was sure of was that I was on my way to a hotel to attempt to track down a celebrity to apologize and to propose we help her on her quest to complete a list of tasks to perform a spell to turn a cat back into a person. There weren’t enough pints in the world.