Page 2 of Love Potions and Paperwork

My addition was the plants dotting every available surface—standing proudly in pots, stands, and hanging from the exposed wooden beams of the ceiling in a cascade of olives and jades. I moved from pot to pot, touching the soil, and watering as needed.

“Looking good, Judy.” I praised the huge birds of paradise that sat near the back, its new leaf nearly ready to unfurl.

Plants weren’t hard work. All they needed was a little water, sunlight, and time. Oh, and they didn’t mind being sung to once in a while either. Even if it was a little off-key.

The smell of fresh coffee beans became more potent as Talia fired up the grinder, the loud whirring breaking our companionable silence.

I finished up my watering and replaced the can under the fern by the door, stopping to flip our sign from closed to open.

Talia flipped on the radio, a soft pop melody gently filling the space as the machine’s angry growl ended.

“Ready?” I asked.

“Let’s do this,boss.” She flashed a double thumbs up and I smiled weakly, giving myself a shake.

Boss.

Come on Clover! Nowallowing.Nomoping. Gran would want me to help everyone to the best of my abilities.

I tightened my ponytail, the long coppery strands swaying behind me in their black ribbon.

Sure, I wasn’t themosttalented witch. But I could totally do this, run the shop by myself. Keep Gran’s legacy alive. I loved this cafe. I loved our customers. And I knewthe recipes inside out. This would be a piece of lemon chiffon cake.

I was just behind the counter digging out name tags for Talia and me when a tall, thin mantis stepped through the door with the chime of the bell. His cheeks pinked and a faint chirping noise came from him as he took me in.

“Oh thank goodness! Good morning, Clover!”

I smiled, leaning my forearm over the top of the cash register. “Hi, Eugine.”

“I’m sorry about your Gran,” he said sheepishly as he wound through the narrow spaces between tables towards the counter.

Eugine was a regular, we saw him Monday to Friday for the last few months. According to Gran he worked at some big, fancy magazine and was one in a very long line of assistants to come through that office. He was charming, if not a little shy. It wasn’t polite to ask what kind of monster someone was, but given his antennae and jewelled toned skin were on full display, it was easy to see he was some sort of bug-man.

He was handsome either way, though maybe it was mostly because he was so polite.

“Thank you,” I said, my lips fixing into a smile I didn’t feel. “The usual?”

“Yes, please,” he chirped, pulling out a glistening black credit card as I punched his order into the cash register. I turned the payment terminal towards him and went to start his drinks.

“I’ll be right back!” Talia called with a wave. “We need more lids. Nice to see you, Eugine!”

I nodded, pulling two paper cups. With a glance at our supplies on the back counter, I twisted my head to look back towards the storeroom Talia was disappearing inside. “Grab some extra lavender syrup too please!”

“Yep!”

“How’s work been?” I asked, looking over at Eugine as I pulled espresso shots.

Eugine’s order was simple. A medium lavender latte and a large—extra hot—caramel latte, both with a temperament tonic.

He sighed, wringing his hands nervously. “As good as I can expect.”

I added a couple of pumps of lavender into his cup before dumping in the espresso. When possible, we made our syrups with our own botanicals and my lavender bush was due for another massive trim. I made a mental note to do it sooner rather than later as I steamed milk.

“Keep at it Eugine, she must be warming up to you by now.”

He laughed, running a hand over his smooth head with a twitch of his long, spindly antennae. “Maybe.”

I finished his drink and was halfway through the temperament tonic when the bell chimed again.

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