Page 28 of A Witch in Notting Hill

“Maybe you pissed off more than just those blokes in the museum,” Lola said, fanning herself with the bottom of her shirt.

“Bothered the whole animal kingdom there, did you?” Min laughed. “God, that was weird. Has anyone ever seen that happen before?”

“Not outside of a horror movie.” Lola shuddered.

“Are you okay?” Oliver asked, returning to his full height and taking a step closer to me.

“Fine,” I said. The last thing I needed was to cause any more drama today, which meant the last thing I needed was Oliver this close. Even if it did feel good to have him check on me. To be the one he gave a shit about. “Ready to call it a day on step two.”

“Yeah?” he asked. “You’ve got whatever it is you need?”

I nodded. “We’re headed northwest for the ritualistic cleansing, and that’s about all we need to know.”

“Grand. Sounds like the Heath to me, doesn’t it, lads?”

Lola and Minho nodded, like the Heath was obvious. I didn’t know what that meant, and judging by how today had gone, I wasn’t sure I was ready to find out.

When I finally got back to my flat, I found Vera listening to an audiobook on the porch. She was stretched on a chaise even though it was starting to get cold, and her eyes were closed but her ears were up, telling me she was awake.

I flopped on the chaise next to her, closing my own eyes and matching my breathing to hers. The book was some kind of mystery, and the small-town detective was about to approach the victim’s father in a bar.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Vera asked.

“Not now,” I said. “We’re about to get to the good part.”

“Hey, Google, pause this chapter,” she said, and I groaned. “Let’s hear it.”

“I let loose a swarm of birds today.”

“You what?”

“We were in the museum so I could do the spell with the pendulum, which seemed to just be tracking Oliver, so I don’t even know if that worked, then he was supposed to be standing guard with Minho and they got into some confrontation with these guys who recognized me, then Oliver said he has something to give a shit about now, and that something is me, I guess, then I tried to thank him and he confessed this was all way beyond his job description, and I got overwhelmed by the subtext and tried to put some distance between us, and then the birds happened. ” I sighed.

“That is... a lot to unpack.” She sat up, and I did the same. “Did the spell work?”

“I think so. Or I hope so, anyway.”

“Did the guys talk to you?”

“No, Oliver and Min held down the fort. They recognized me, but I think Oliver fed them the same lie we’ve been feeding everyone else, so it was probably fine. Either way, they didn’t get pictures or anything, so I doubt anyone would believe them even if they said something.”

“So I can cross PR nightmare off the list of things we have to handle today?”

I nodded.

“Excellent. Next order of business.”

“Don’t say Oliver.”

“Oliver.”

“Please, can we skip right to the birds? I’d love to talk about the birds.”

“In this new form, I’d hate to talk about the birds,” she said, glancing down at her body. Couldn’t blame her for that. “Doesn’t he think you’re with Kit?”

“He thinks . . . well . . . he thinks it’s early days. Not important, really.”

“Willow,” she scolded. “You were supposed to make him think you guys were together.”

“I know, I know. I just... I like the way he looks at me,” I confessed. “And we were alone in that inn and I got carried away and I just didn’t want him to stop flirting with me.” Leave it to Vera to get me to say things out loud I’d yet to say to myself. “Is that so bad?”

“It is when you release a swarm of birds!” she cried. “What’s next? Locusts? The slaying of the firstborn?”

“Maybe you want a career in the dramatic arts,” I said. “Someone get this woman an Oscar.”

“I’m serious, Willow. We don’t know what’s next, and the more of a scene you create, the more you run the risk of being noticed.

Everyone at home thinks we’re on some post-awards-season retreat, remember?

Spas, unplugging, the whole nine. Not running around Notting Hill with some handsome local and endangering the entire population. ”

“Okay, that’s an exaggeration,” I said. “Four people is not exactly the entire population. And we aren’t running around , either. Lest you’ve forgotten, we’re trying to find everything I need to get us out of this mess.”

“And where exactly does developing feelings for each other slot into those plans, hmm? Did the spell say Fall in love with the handsome local ?”

“Who’s in love?” I asked. “Is that what you think this is? I blush one time talking about a man and now I’m in love?”

“Oh, don’t be so literal.” She waved a paw. “You know what I mean. This just wasn’t part of the plan, that’s all.”

“And it isn’t going to get in the way of the plan, either. Trust me. I have the whole thing under control.”

“For an actor, my dear, you are a terrible liar.”

“That’s because I’m telling the truth.”

“You don’t think I know you well enough by now to know when you have things under control and when you don’t?”

I groaned, flopping back onto the chaise. If I wanted this treatment, I would have called Ivy.

“If you’re really into him, Willow, then perhaps we need to be having a different conversation altogether.”

“It doesn’t matter either way.” I sighed. “My focus needs to be getting my magic under control. And we both know focusing on Oliver would do the opposite. And we’re going back to LA at the end of this, so.”

“Why do you sound disappointed?” she asked. “We are going back to LA, aren’t we?”

“Of course we are,” I said. Though I had to admit, I wasn’t as excited about the idea as I was when we first arrived. It was my home, of course, and it was where my career was, but did I feel like myself there the way I was starting to here?

“You know, maybe I should meet him,” Vera said, thankfully moving on from that topic. Though I wasn’t sure this one was much better. “Get out of the flat, do some sightseeing... What do you think?”

I could already tell there was no getting out of this.

It wasn’t like anyone but me could hear her speak, so it wouldn’t be the end of the world to bring her along.

Especially to the Heath, which I’d learned by now was a park with a few ponds and acres upon acres of grassy fields.

It would be cruel to say no. Even if the real reason she wanted to come was to spy on Oliver on my behalf.

“Fine,” I said, throwing up my hands. “But don’t be too critical, okay?”

“Am I ever?”

“Almost every time you meet someone, yes.”

“For your own good,” she said, putting her paw over my hand. “This way we can figure out what’s really going on here. Because at the end of the day, if you’re going to lie to yourself, Willow, the least you could do is tell the truth to me.”

The problem was, I didn’t know the truth. Was this a harmless flirtation? Or was my infatuation with Oliver on the brink of turning into something more legitimate? Did it even matter?

But I couldn’t stop spending every day apart from him wondering what he was doing, wondering if he was thinking of me.

Couldn’t stop dreaming about what it would really be like to be his to protect, to take care of, to share things with.

I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to shed my identity as Willow James, Celebrity, and just be plain old Willow.

Either way, it was beginning to feel like I had to add “seeking the truth” to my list of things to do before I left London. With only five months left to go, I had to get a move on. I had a feeling this step was going to be the hardest yet.