Page 42 of Witch You Would

“She taught my mom and my aunts how to cast, and then she taught my sister and me. I spent so much time in her kitchen, and her garden, and she had a little casting room that was basically just a corner of the garage. We had so much fun together, and I learned so much. I want to . . .” I swallowed again, swiping at the tear that had rolled down my face.

“I want to translate her spellbook, and cast all the spells. See how well they work, and maybe experiment with some of my own changes to them. I even thought maybe it would be cool to write about it and publish a recipe book. So other people can try her spells, too.”

There was more I could say, maybe even more I wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t come out anymore. Just tears.

Gil kept holding my hand, and I knew it was all he could do since we were only supposed to be flirting. I couldn’t even look

at him. I stared at the floor and wished it would swallow me.

Then he made a little noise, like a frustrated growl, and he pulled me into his arms. I hid my face in his ridiculous orange

shirt, with its weird red ink blots, and I sniffled and tried not to get mocos on him.

“Should I stop rolling?” Nate asked.

“No, this is good, keep going,” Tori replied.

Gil’s arms tightened. “Come the fuck on, Tori.”

I pushed away and fumbled for my backpack, pulling out a pack of tissues. Head down, I blew my nose and wiped my eyes.

“Sorry, Penelope,” Tori said. I couldn’t tell if she was serious. “I thought you were giving us drama for the show. We’ve

got enough for the segment; you can go.”

I nodded, struggling with a raw throat as I breathed through my mouth. Gil helped me up and we left the casting room.

“I can’t believe she thought you were faking,” he grumbled.

“We agreed to fake other stuff,” I said quietly. “She probably thinks we’re doing a great job with that, so why not this?”

Gil shook his head, lips pressed together like he was keeping what he wanted to say inside.

“Thanks,” I told him.

“For what?”

“For having my back.” I gave him a watery smile. “I’m going to wash my face so I can get made-up again before it’s kid time.”

“I’ll go prep, then. See you in a few.” He gave me a one-armed side hug and left.

Signs directed me to the bathroom, which was the same old-new fancy as the rest of the place. Copper sinks, granite counters,

big stalls with actual doors and walls that went all the way to the floor. A pair of padded plastic chairs and a table took

up one corner, so I dropped my backpack there while I splashed water on my red eyes and nose.

It took a lot of cold water to get the color and swelling under control, and even then, I had a feeling makeup would be extra

necessary for skin tone purposes. Fina might even have to use a charm...

The door opened. I flinched and splashed water on my shirt. Great. Was there a hand dryer?

To make my embarrassment complete, Charlotte walked in. Looking perfect, as usual, in a silk shirt and pencil skirt.

“Penelope,” she said in her musical voice. “I’m so glad I ran into you. I wanted to have a private chat after the other night.”

In the bathroom? “Oh?”

“Your performance in the semifinal round made a decision for me.” She sat in one of the chairs, lounging back with her knees

together, as if we were in some private club or office instead of the pee room. “I’d like to offer you a position at Athame

Arts, in our Miami location.”

A job. Oh my god. I was saved! The rest of my life flashed in front of my eyes like a near-death experience, except it involved a real apartment, my student loans finally being paid, and a bank account with four digits in it.

“What position?” I asked. Please don’t say sales.

“We can work out the exact details after the show is finished filming,” Charlotte said. “I’m willing to be flexible, to ensure

you’re in a role that you find fulfilling.”

“That sounds amazing.” Should I ask about money? It had to be more than Espinosa’s.

“Our salaries are quite competitive, in case you were wondering.”

Could she read my mind?

“I can have a contract for you to review by later tonight if you’re interested.”

“Yeah. Sure. Thank you.”

“There’s one small condition,” she said. “For your own benefit, of course.”

“Oh?”

“If you do win the competition, you’ll be stuck here in your residency for a year. I’m afraid the company can’t be expected

to wait that long for a new hire to start.”

Charlotte smiled, baring her teeth in a way that suddenly reminded me of a shark. It was the cold eyes.

“So this offer is only if I lose?” I asked.

“In a manner of speaking.”

No, I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what she meant. Worse, actually. “You’re asking me to lose if I want to work for you.”

“I wouldn’t dream of saying any such thing,” she said patiently. “That would be illegal, not to mention a violation of our

respective contracts.”

She wouldn’t say it, but she would sure as hell imply it. And I needed the money. Whether she knew my life or was just guessing didn’t matter. I was sinking, and she was throwing me a boat.

Was there a downside to accepting? If we lost, she wouldn’t know whether it was on purpose or not. I’d have a job, and she’d

have what she wanted. If we won, she’d tear up the contract and... Wait.

“I assume there would be some clause that would cause me problems if I won after signing it?” I asked.

“That would be prudent,” Charlotte said. “It wouldn’t be quite as you describe; more of a... penalty for early termination.”

Was that even legal? In Florida, probably. Our labor laws sucked.

“I’ll have to think about it,” I said.

“I’ll have the paperwork brought to your room later,” she replied. “I’ll need an answer by... let’s say midnight, Cinderella.”

“Okay.”

Charlotte stood gracefully and smoothed her skirt. “So good to chat with you again, Penelope. I know you’ll make the right

choice.” She paused near the door. “A word of advice, from one career-minded woman to another.”

“Yes?”

“Stop throwing yourself at Leandro. It makes you look desperate, and he’s not exactly a winner. You’d be better off trying

for Isaac if you want to sleep your way up.” With another dead-eyed smile, she walked out.

I stared at my reflection. Apparently, to Charlotte fucking Sharp, I was a sucker. And that comment about Isaac? Gross. Was

she wrong, though, about me looking desperate? I’d thought this might happen when we started fake flirting—

A toilet flushed, making me jump and shriek.

A stall door opened and Felicia came out, her lips scrunched together like she’d sucked on a lemon. She silently click-clacked her high heels to the sink and washed her hands, then dried them with the air dryer. I stood there, unable to speak while the motor roared and then died.

Felicia got halfway to the door, stopped, then turned around. Her fists clenched and unclenched like she was fighting herself.

“Watch your back,” she said. “Charlotte has been trying to get me to sabotage people since the show started. I told her I

wouldn’t, and she said I needed to put on my big-girl panties if I wanted to win.” Her lips curled up in a sneer. “I said

if I wanted underwear tips, I’d ask my personal stylist, not a washed-up CEO trying to avoid a hostile takeover.”

A what? “What do you mean, washed-up?”

“Her company is a hot mess. She expanded too fast in the last couple of years, tried to start a few trends that didn’t catch

on, tried to follow some that were over by the time she got there.” More details came spilling out of Felicia, stuff I didn’t

know about because I didn’t follow the right gossip, apparently. All I’d seen was Charlotte’s public face, the glam stories

and the hype.

Exaggerated. Fake. Word by word, Felicia took a sledgehammer to the statue of Charlotte Sharp I’d put on a pedestal, until

it was lying in pieces on the floor of my brain.

“Has she been sabotaging people’s spells?” I asked.

Felicia shrugged. “I never saw her do it. I don’t think she’d want to get caught. She might have tried to bribe some of the

others, though.”

“Like me.”

“Like you.” Felicia looked down her nose at me, which wasn’t hard since she was a half foot taller barefoot. “Your clothes say you desperately need money, but if I were you, I wouldn’t trust that witch. She’ll hug you with one hand so she can stab you in the back with the other.”

I grimaced. “Thanks for the tip.”

“Whatever. It’s your life.” With a flip of her hair, Felicia left.

My emotions swirled inside me like hurricane winds. Anger, disappointment, frustration, exhaustion... Charlotte was probably

the one who’d sent that dude with the check to Gil, too. I had no idea how we could prove it, and did it even matter? Only

if they tried something in the final round, I guess.

I’d talk to him as soon as I could. But first, spell time.

I almost decided to duck out of the demonstration. He’d understand. How was I supposed to get up the energy to be fun with

kids after the confessional and that little conversation?

No way. I wouldn’t let anything or anyone ruin this for me. Not Charlotte, and not Felicia, though unfortunately I had to

admit that she had been annoyingly helpful just now. Unless she was lying? But I didn’t think so. She didn’t get anything

out of it. She could have walked out and let me make bad choices, and she would have won the contest for sure. Instead, she’d

set me straight.

Ew. I didn’t want to feel grateful to her. One good deed didn’t change that she was an asshole.

“You’re going out there right now,” I told my reflection. “You’re going to have a good time, and make kids laugh, and teach

them magic. Then you’re going back to the hotel and fucking a hot guy’s brains out. Okay? Okay.”

Was I really the same person who’d spent years letting my boss make me feel like a loser? Was this what growing a spine felt like? I stood up straighter and gave myself a high five, because I’m a giant dork, and then I went to get my makeup fixed.

My abuela would have been proud.

The chattering and squeals of the kids echoed down the hall as I followed Rachel to one of the lecture rooms, my face and

hair repaired. As soon as I stepped inside, I saw Gil kneeling, surrounded by tiny people, kindergartners if I had to guess.

He was doing a card trick, and they were totally freaking out... Aha! He’d “lost” a card, except it was stuck to the back

of his head. Every time he turned around to look for it, the kids saw it and screamed, and he acted more and more confused

as he spun in circles like a dog chasing its tail. Finally he pulled the card off and showed it to them, apparently shocked.

Then, so smoothly I wasn’t sure if it was magic or sleight of hand, he made an identical card appear from behind a little

girl’s ear. She grabbed his hand and jumped up and down as he grinned at her.

He looked so, so happy. Like he was exactly where he should be, doing what he should be doing. I loved it. I loved... him?

Holy shit, did I?

How could I tell the difference between love and lust? Or a hardcore crush? Between something that would keep going and growing,

and something that would fizzle out fast like a mediocre enchantment?

I’d known him for months, and yet in some ways I’d only really known him for a week and a half. Less if you didn’t count the

time I thought he was just Leandro Presto. Logic said that wasn’t enough time for real feelings to develop. But since when

were feelings logical? Who said you had to know everything about a person before you were allowed to love them?

Didn’t we all have mysteries and secrets that lived inside us, and wasn’t discovering them part of the joy of a relationship? And even if we went as deep as we could go, found everything there was to find, couldn’t we still make new secrets together?

Gil waved me over, saying something to the kids as he pointed in my direction. A dozen faces turned the full force of their

sunny smiles on me, and I could almost feel the darkness Charlotte had dragged me into vanishing from their sweet light.

“Miz Belelobe!” a little boy said, yanking on my arm. “Come on, we wanna see the magic!”

“Show us the spell, miss!”

“Mister Leandro said it’s animal bubbles!”

“I wanna see a cat!”

“I have a cat!”

“I have a dog, miss. My dog’s name is Ginger, and she’s white and brown!”

They didn’t stop talking the entire time it took me to cross the room. Gil held out his hand, and I took it, and together

we faced the excited crowd.

If this wasn’t love, I didn’t know what else it could be.