ChapterOne
Clara pulled a pan of freshly baked blueberry muffins from the oven. Quickly spinning, she set the pan on the cooling rack as a second oven timer went off. “I only have one set of hands. Can I get some help back here?” she begged, performing a ninja-like move to retrieve two additional pans of muffins from the oven.
“Can’t! I’ve got a griddle full of pancakes, and Annie is outside. Every table is full,” Maggie shouted.
“That settles it. We’re hiring someone to help out around here,” Clara mumbled, tired of feeling like they were at their wit’s end with all the work that needed to be done. She loved the fact that their café had taken off, but a little more help would be nice.
The morning rush eventually slowed to a trickle. Clara slumped down in an empty booth, and Annie joined her with a pitcher of sweet tea.
Maggie poured three glasses and shared them with her friends. “Did you say something about bringing someone else on board?” she asked.
“I sure did. Let’s face it, we all know we could use some help. Especially during the breakfast rush,” Clara replied.
“Oh, thank God. I thought I was the only one thinking that,” Maggie sighed.
Annie perked up. “It’s a great idea. Besides, we’re doing well, so why shouldn’t we get some more help and lighten the workload on ourselves? We’ve been burning the candle at both ends these days. I don’t know about you girls, but I’m tired as fuck and almost too tired to fuck by the time I get home at night. Something’s gotta give.”
“The only question is how do we go about hiring someone? I mean, I don’t think we should just bring in someone off the street. We can’t risk exposing our magic to the wrong person. Can you imagine trying to interview people? Like, how do you feel about witches?” Maggie said.
“The answer is clear,” Annie replied.
Clara and Maggie both shrugged, totally puzzled as to what Annie was getting at.
“We use witchcraft to do the work for us. And I know just how to do it. Leave it to me,” Annie said.
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Clara groaned.
“Don’t worry. You can both help. We’ll do it after closing.” Annie hopped up and disappeared into the back.
That evening, Annie brought out paper, a marker, and her wand. “Gather around, witches. Time to get creative.”
“Seems like a ‘Help Wanted’ sign would be a good start,” Clara replied, carefully creating the message with neon-green block letters.
Twirling her wand like a little baton, Annie nodded. “Yes, but now allow me.” She swept the wand over the sign and recited her spell. “There is one we call, a cheerful soul, a believer in magic, and a helper to all.”
The sign shimmered, and Clara’s writing disappeared. “Hold on, what happened? You ruined the sign.”
“No, it speaks to only the right type of person. Only the one person who we’ll hire will be able to see what it says,” Annie explained.
Maggie sighed, examining the paper under the light. “If we’re waiting to find another witch, we could be waiting for years.”
“No, not another witch. Just someone who is a believer in magic. That’s all we need; someone who at least is open-minded. Not that we are going to reveal our talents, but if she does suspect something, it won’t turn into Salem around here. Is that okay with you ladies?” Annie asked.
“I hope you’re right about all of this,” Clara said, placing the blank sign in the window.
As each day passed without a single inquiry, they all became skeptical of Annie’s idea and her spell. After two weeks, even Annie began to doubt her idea. “I don’t get it. There has to be at least one person in this town who has seen the words on that sign. What do you think? Less than half? Maybe thirty percent?” she said, trying to decide what percentage of the pedestrian population could see the sign’s hidden message and respond.
Maggie glanced up and down the street, eyeing various groups of people carrying on with their day. “I’m still an optimist. I’m sure most of these people are witch-friendly, cheerful people. But maybe it’s just that the larger issue would be more related to them not being interested in working here. I guess we need to be patient.”
“And an extra sprinkle of magic just to draw more attention to the right candidate,” Annie said, zapping the sign with her wand.
ChapterTwo
The alarm clock blared angrily, stirring Gina Malone from her deep slumber. Pawing at the nightstand, she slapped it until she silenced it for five sweet minutes of additional sleep.
Only those five minutes magically turned into forty. And when she next caught a glimpse of the clock, she flew from the bed to commence her routine morning battle against time. But the scramble wasn’t as chaotic as it looked. She knew exactly how long it took to get dressed and look halfway presentable for her boring receptionist job at the boring financial services company in the boring part of the city.
Glancing at the time in her car was a reminder that the clock was her master, controlling her every move. Even her grueling commute was perfectly calculated, based on the known delay of each stop light, the average time in the drive-thru coffee shack, and exactly which lanes to travel in. It was all part of her morning ritual, carefully choreographed down to the second.