Page 59 of Sigils & Spells

CHAPTER6

Pandora

After work, I took the wad of what was supposed to be a scarf and headed back to the Craft Guild. Merle said he would call. I needed a distraction. I had things to do, and I couldn’t wait around for him.

That was a complete lie. I had already been waiting around for him for years. The difference now was that I knew he was interested. And hell, the way he kissed me, he was really interested. I headed to the Guild, more to keep myself distracted than any real concern over my failed attempt at crochet.

The bells over the shop tinkled and a collection of curious faces looked up from the stitching circle to see who had walked in the door.

“Pandora, so nice to see you. Have you decided to come crochet with us?” Peggy asked.

“Yes, but I have an ulterior motive,” I admitted. I pulled the rat’s nest from my messenger bag and displayed my work in shame. “I’m not sure what went wrong.”

“Oh, honey, come sit next to me. We’ll get you situated.” Maureen scooted her chair a bit to the side, so I could pull a folding chair up to the group.

She had me pull all the yarn out, what was called frogging. And now I understood what Claudette had meant. Not turning it into a frog, but pulling it apart. The choice of terms didn’t make much sense. This was all new to me.

I sat with them and didn’t listen to the gossip nearly as much, as I focused hard on counting my stitches and making sure I stopped and started a new row when it was time. Apparently that’s where I had gone wrong.

With each stitched row, my confidence grew. I still had to count, but I could simply work for a length of time before I had to check my work. This was easier than I had made it. Until it wasn’t. I cursed under my breath as I started to yank the last few stitches out.

“Now be sure whoever you are making that for, you don’t get too stressed, and whatever you do, don’t curse your work and then give it to someone as a gift,” Nan said from across the circle.

“What do you mean?”

“We all put our intentions into what we make. Some of us have a little more intention than others, like you.” She eyed me knowingly. That was her way of saying everyone had power, even if they didn’t have magic, and she knew I had magic. “If you want that to be a gift for someone you love, you need to remember that love as you work. You don’t want to unintentionally give a cursed gift.”

I laughed and held up the scarf. “Are you saying I’m in danger of turning this into a bad luck charm?”

“More than you realize.”

I guess it was a good thing I had never gotten into making jewelry. I could just see myself turning out nothing but cursed amulets. With a sigh, I looked at the beginnings of my scarf and cooed at it, “You are a beautiful learning experience, I rescind my bad words.”

“Nan, you’re going to turn her into a crazy hooker,” Chris’s mom laughed.

My expression had to have been crazy shocked, with wide eyes and mouth contorted in horror as I looked up at her. Why was she calling me a hooker? A million thoughts ping-ponged through my head. Of all the bad things I may have done, I had never… and there was nothing wrong with sex work, only the societal misconceptions. I slammed my mouth shut before I said something rude.

All the women burst out in giggles as Maureen held up a crochet hook. “Hooker.”

“Oh,” I said slowly as realization dawned on me. Yeah, I definitely had some guilt issues I needed to work through.

Merle didn’t call the next day, but I didn’t called him either. We didn’t need to be playing this game. Instead of facing the situation head on like a logical adult— which, to be fair, I was not when it came to my feelings for Merle—I hyper focused on my new crochet skills and finished my first scarf. It wasn’t very good, but it gave me an idea, and I was back in the Craft Guild after work buying more yarn.

When Merle didn’t call the next day either, I decided it was time to take things into my own hands. The man had kissed me. I hadn’t imagined that. Well, I had, lots. Lots and lots, but not that time. That was really us on the floor in a scatter of dropped magazines. My imagination tended to put us in more comfortable situations.

I sat back in my corner behind the rows of shelves. Letting out a deep breath, I picked up the phone and hit an outgoing line. My stomach flipped. It made no sense to be nervous. I called Merle all the time.

“This is Merle,” his deep voice rumbled through the phone. It sounded scratchy, deeper in his chest than normal.

“Uh, hi. It’s Pan,” I said.

“Oh, Pandora, hello.”

There was something about the way he said my name. His voice went soft, and I swear it lowered an octave. I gulped, and my toes curled.

“Did that request come in?” he asked.

And just like that, my nerves were gone, the knot in my stomach relaxed, and my toes squirmed back into my shoes. He thought this was a work call. Maybe I had imagined that kiss?

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