Page 43 of Pushing Daisy
The walk is only a couple of blocks, but they remain silent for the duration. Daisy spends the entire walk trying to start a conversation, but all she can think about is Sloan’s body pressed against hers. However, she doesn’t feel that would be a suitable topic. So she keeps quiet, only glancing at Sloan periodically. Despite the silence, the short walk is oddly comfortable.
Sloan steps ahead of Daisy and opens the door for her. “Thank you,” Daisy says, smiling at her.
“Welcome to Flaming Cauldron. Table for two?”
“Yes, please,” Daisy answers.
The hostess looks down at her restaurant map, collects two menus, and instructs them to follow. “Your waitress will be Olive. She’ll be around shortly,” she says as she hands them their menus once they are seated.
“Thank you,” they answer in unison.
They open their menus and continue the comfortable quiet as they peruse the items. Olive comes and takes their drink orders and disappears as quickly as she appeared.
“Have you been here before?” Sloan asks.
“Yeah, once,” Daisy says flatly.
“How you say that sounds like it wasn’t that great of an experience.”
Daisy picks up her water, taking a long and slow slip. “With my ex. The night she decided to end things.”
“Ah. Well, hopefully, this experience is a bit better,” Sloan says, smiling back at her.
Olive returns, breaking their little conversation, and takes their orders. She’s a bubbly one, seeming to flit from table to table. Daisy watches her, wondering if she is part fae or maybe pixie. She sees Sloan’s head tilt slightly out of the corner of her eye, appearing curious about something. “Something wrong?” Daisy asks.
“Hmm?”
“It looked like you were watching me with concern.”
“Oh. No. Sorry. I got lost in my thoughts as you followed Olive from table to table,” Sloan clarifies.
“And what were you thinking about?” Daisy asks before she takes another sip.
“That your profile is breathtaking.”
The world seems to stop. The bustling activity around them falls away, and Daisy has to ask Sloan to repeat what she said to be sure it is real. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I said, your profile is breathtaking. I got lost in the curve of your nose and the rise of your lips, wondering what it would be like to feel them against mine. Here. Now.”
Daisy’s breath stops. She has never had anyone say anything like that to her. No one has ever said she was breathtaking or that they got lost in thoughts of her. “I…I don’t even know what to say. Thank you.”
“Here you are, ladies. Anything else I can get you?” Olive asks, punctuating the moment.
“No, thank you. This looks great,” Sloan answers, while Daisy can only shake her head in response, still struck by Sloan’s openness.
How this woman can be so infuriating and wonderful is beyond Daisy. She came into this weekend hating Sloan with every fiber of her being, and now she’s ending it being nearly intoxicated by her. Her essence practically glows around her, drawing Daisy in further and further despite her effort to remain detached. She did everything she could this weekend to keep her distance, yet the universe kept pushing them together. Putting them in situations that caused them to become closer. She fought it as much as she could. But seeing this side of Sloan, this person who wasn’t what she thought she was. This witch is continually pushing Daisy out of her comfort zone.
“Can I ask you something?” Daisy says cautiously.
“Sure.”
“What do you know about power from grimoires?”
“Probably not as much as I should. Why?” Sloan asks, her gaze following the lines of Daisy’s face as if she is trying to find some deeper meaning.
Using her fork, Daisy pushes some food around her plate, eyes practically boring a hole into the center of it all. Not having proper guardians to train her as a young witch has had its downsides, not the least being a lack of standard knowledge about traditions. “Well, I mentioned the other night that I recently acquired my family tome from some mystery gift-giver. It was after everything went down with my parents. I’m still unsure why the gift-giver felt I should have it. Anyway, I’ve bonded with it, and even though it’s been a couple of weeks, as you may have noticed, I seem to be having challenges adjusting to the increased power. How long does the adjustment period go on for? When can I expect to be able to rely on my abilities again?” She sees something flash across Sloan’s features, but then her expression steels again, hiding whatever is there.
“That’s a good question. I think it’s a bit different for everyone, and it can depend on your ability beforehand. A more well-trained witch will have an easier time with it.”
