"Sufficiently high inside, otherwise–"
"Seriously, stop! Just stop!" I took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "It's nearly five, you guys keep going. I'll reconcile the till . . . and stuff."
"Want to be waiting when lover boy turns up?" Jez asked with a grin.
"No, I want to go home and have a long hot bath."
I emerged out into the shop, struck by the golden evening light coming in the front window after spending most of the day in the storeroom. I opened the till and counted it out. A few people had come to buy some semi-precious stones, there were a few book sales, so it was up slightly, but not by much. I forced myself to go through the motions, steadily and methodically, but my head snapped up, a smile already spreading across my face when I heard the door jingle. It fell when I saw it was just Flea. “How’d you do today?” he asked, settling against the counter.
“More than yesterday, so that’s a plus.”
“Business’ll pick up. We’re having a grand opening in a week, that’s sure to bring you guys a lot of attention.”
I gave him a wary smile, “You think people who want a tattoo want to also buy crystals and smudge sticks to cleanse their auras?”
He snorted at this, “No, but you saw Amber, we both deal with people who are a bit alternative, who are looking for other ways of being. I think there’s a lot of room for cross-marketing, seriously.”
I shrugged, “We can only hope.”
“Do you mind me giving you some advice?”
“Sure.”
“Get more of the clothes and jewellery lines going. Our stuff tends to be a bit more butch, but a lot of girls come in our doors. If you can get them in, you’ve got a whole new market.” I nodded, thinking. Jez would have a shit fit, she hated the whole stereotypical ‘witchy’ fashion that got sold around the city. “Alright, I’ll be back in, in the morning.”
“We won’t be. It’s Saturday, but you’ve got keys, so you’re all good,” I said.
“Catch you Monday then.”
I watched him walk out the door, then locked it. I looked out at the car parks in front of the shop; they were all empty, not a black Harley Davidson in sight. He's not coming, I realised and a tension I'd been unconsciously holding all day released, leaving me feeling sore and kind of rubbery. I shook my head at expecting anything less. I went back to the counter, squared the money away and started polishing the glass with a soft cloth, trying to lose myself in the repetitive, meaningless movement.
"You still here?" Jez asked, coming out to the front and picking up her bag. It was now after six and the sun was well and truly setting.
"Uh, yeah," I said.
"Well, my couch is calling me. See you Monday."
"See you."
"Ash."
"What?"
"He'll turn up."
"It's cool, have a well-deserved break."
"Ash, I can stay."
"I'm fine, really. Is Tess ready? I so wanna go home."
She wasn't. I walked in on Merlin correcting her movement slightly. It looked very cosy. He was talking her through what she'd done wrong, both of them chuckling when she tried again and stumbled. There was something going on here, it occurred to me. She'd been quiet, I assumed because of the disappointment around the delay in portal travel. Watching them, I saw it for the first time. She wasn't on edge or pulling away from his touch, he'd done it enough that they were comfortable with each other. Yet, when she clarified what she was supposed to, moving partially through the sequence, they couldn’t seem to hold the other’s gaze. Their eyes met, flicked away and met again. I saw her look up at him through her lashes, a shy smile spreading across her face.
“Tess." Her eyes snapped to me, her body going stiff. He dropped his hands away. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to head home, I'm dead."
"Go, I want to keep trying. I think I've nearly nailed the gnome realm movement."