A Witch's Guide to a Good Brew Read online

  “Did you bring food for the rest of us?” she said.

  “It’s not food,” I said, putting the brown paper bags over the counter. “It’s our new money-making machine.”

  “What are you talking about?” said Elise.

  I pulled out the two bottles of liquor and mixer. While the girls ogled at my purchase, I grabbed some honey and coffee beans.

  “We’re making espresso martini,” I said.

  “It’s barely noon… You should try this at home first,” said Elise.

  “Are you sure about this?” said Tessa.

  “Most definitely,” I said. I poured a shot of espresso into the titanium-colored shaker, along with a generous serving of the espresso vodka and liquor mix. Then I added two spoonfuls of honey and some ice cubes. I held the shaker firmly between my hands and shook. The contents inside the shaker made loud noises as I stirred them in place, causing the nearest tables to turn their attention to us. The whole scene, of café staffers preparing a martini in the middle of a weekday, must have looked bizarre. Then again, most geniuses are misunderstood.

  I then poured the contents into a glass, making sure that no leftover chunks of ice made it to the drink. The result was a drink that was chestnut brown, with a light frothy crema on top. I sprinkled six coffee beans on top to finish.

  “Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?” I said.

  “It actually does,” said Elise.

  “I want a taste of it. Can you make it after work?” said Tessa. She bent her knees to bring herself eye-level with the drink.

  “Why wait? You can try it now,” I said.

  “Are you sure?” said Tessa.

  “Raul, I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

  “What’s the worst that could happen? Tessa gets a little tipsy? We can handle it.”

  I put the drink in Tessa’s hands. She eyed the drink, then put it to her mouth. Froth bubbles gathered on her upper lip as she took in sips. Those sips became gulps, and in the flinch of an eye she had downed the whole thing.

  “You went… a little faster than I was expecting,” I said. “How was it?”

  “It was a little too strong—hyuk. Masks the bitterness of the espresso pretty well.”

  “That’s good,” I said, grabbing the two bottles of liquor in my hand. “Let me get a notepad so I can get more of your thoughts.”

  I put the two bottles of liquor near the back of the storage closet. I wouldn’t want more people seeing them than necessary. I grabbed a pen and notepad and jotted down Tessa’s comments. The espresso martini would be a good drink to serve after 4 PM on certain days. I could see Jane Everywoman stopping by the Twisted Cauldron on her way home from work. It’s an entirely new market! The possibilities were endless.

  When I returned, I saw Elise attending to a customer. Tessa, however, was nowhere to be seen.

  “Have you seen Tessa?” I said to Elise as soon as she was free.

  “Nope. Wasn’t she with you?”

  Anxiety started to set in. I waited by the women’s bathroom, only to see a customer walk out of it. She wasn’t in the men’s bathroom either. Which could only mean that she ran out the door.

  Where did that witch go? I hurried out, telling Elise to handle things while I looked for her. Desperately I called Tessa’s number, but she didn’t pick up. Why do you have a cell phone if you’re never going to pick up the phone?

  I looked up and down the block, but there was no Tessa in sight. I took a deep breath. Tessa is an adult. She can handle herself. I need to find her but she’s no child. If I start with a clear head, things would get better.

  And that’s coming from the guy who asked his employees to drink during work.

  Next to Twisted Cauldron was a quaint flower shop. Maria, the old woman who runs the shop, stood outside its front door, her clippers in hand.

  “Hello Maria,” I said. “Have you seen—”

  Sitting outside her store window was a table full of flowers. One of the roses stood above the rest, its petals the size of my head.

  “You’re seeing this too, right?” she said. “It’s not just me.”

  “No, Maria, it’s not just you. Have you… have you seen Tessa?”

  “That the girl you hired a few weeks ago? Heard her talking a little loopy. Something about how pretty the flowers are. Then I come out and see this.”

  There was no doubt in my mind that this was Tessa’s doing. She was usually so careful about using magic around other people. Seems like her inhibitions were gone.

  I ran out in the same direction. The flower shop was west so that’s the direction I took. My eyes shot around me, trying to cover every inch of the street for any sign of magic.

  What’s the worst that could happen? That someone saw Tessa and outed her as a witch. The police would definitely detain someone for that, right? And if not them, then her witch colony would surely try to fix the mess. How they would do it is anyone’s guess, but I can’t see it being a pleasant experience for her.

  Rounding the corner was a large oak tree. Etched into its bark was a cauldron, identical to the one in the Twisted Cauldron logo save for the lettering. I was getting close.

  “Tessa!” I said, screaming. No response. Damn it, where did she go? I saw a group of people strolling by the sidewalk and showed them my phone.

  “Excuse me,” I said, beads of sweat rolling down my forehead. “Do you recognize this woman?”

  I showed them a picture Elise took of Tessa and I some time back. Tessa asked her to do it on my phone. I just wanted to go back to work, but she insisted. Eventually she won out and I posed.

  “Haven’t seen her bro, sorry,” said one. The rest of them agreed.

  I continued down several more blocks, turning random corners. Eventually I found my second clue. In a row of bike stands, one of the n-shaped stands had been twisted into a heart.

  This is ridiculous. What could have caused her to be so weird? It couldn’t have been the alcohol, couldn’t it?

  I slapped my forehead. Of course. I gave her the espresso martini. She hesitated to drink it and I gave her the go-ahead. I insisted that Tessa get drunk and now she’s on some subdued magical rampage. Given I have no idea what she’s capable of, it might turn into a real problem soon. I needed to find her, and fast.

  I pushed further into the city, emerging at the center. The skyline was dotted with gleaming office buildings. Scattered at the foot of them were hundreds of suited employees. I recognized one as Mr. Johnson.

  “Mr. Johnson,” I said, pausing to catch my breath. “Have you seen Tessa?”

  “She ran out on you?” he said, scratching his bald head. “She rejected you, huh.”

  “No, that’s not it. Did y-you see anything weird? Anytime in the last thirty minutes?”

  “Now that you mention it… when I got out of lunch and was walking over, I could swear there were plants breaking through the sidewalk. Like, literally growing right in front of my eyes. I’m sure it was the dumplings I had for lunch, but wow.”

  “And where was this?” I said.

  “I went to lunch at Gustavo’s,” he said.

  “Thank you,” I shouted as I left.

  Gustavo’s was a pub just off Main Street. The lunch rush ended, leaving the storefront uncrowded. Why anyone would get dumplings at a pub is beyond me. I followed the sidewalk and found, to my amazement, a series of brightly colored flowers growing through cracks in the pavement. They weren’t growing like Mr. Johnson described them, but they were all nearly half a foot off the ground. The flowers were all different, with different colors. They were all beautiful.

  But there was no time to stop. I continued my manic run down the street, wondering what the limits of Tessa’s powers were. Could she turn one of those 50-story buildings into a flower? Or maybe she was powerful enough to animate the whole thing, turning it into a skyscraper monster. I honestly didn’t know.

  I asked random people if they had seen Tessa, but none did. I ran around the tow
n like a maniac. By this point it had been nearly two hours since I started.

  “Are you looking for a girl with a pointy black hat?” said a woman. “I overheard you asking those people over there.”

  “Was it this girl?” I said, showing her my phone screen.

  “Yeah, that’s the one! She helped get my engagement ring off the street drain. Don’t ask me how, though. I was just crying by the curb when she offered to help me out. I looked up and there was the ring.”

  “Do you know where she went?”

  “She asked me where she could find a park, so I pointed her in the direction of Elm Park. That was like fifteen minutes ago.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Is she your girlfriend? She seemed a little… drunk,” she said.

  “No. She works with me. She’s also my roommate… which sounds really weird to say.”

  “Well, I hope everything’s OK.”

  “It will be,” I said, sighing. “Have a good afternoon.”

  By the time I made it to Elm Park, the sun was finishing its shift. The blue sky had turned a shade of orange, making it just as colorful as Tessa’s brightest plants. The park was the biggest one in the city and, as its namesake suggests, was littered with elms. The park was composed of several wide walkways that spread through the area like arteries. Each of them was lined with trees.

  I looked through many of the walkways but failed to find her. Whatever buzz Tessa had was likely long gone. If she had her phone, she could just call me and I would come find her, wherever she was. Even if she lost it, she was more than capable of asking for directions and getting back home herself. So why did I set off on this wild chase?

  It was so obvious. It was because I didn’t want to lose her. I know nothing of witches and their magic, but I was afraid that Tessa might go too wild and reveal herself, forcing the witch colony to take her back home. I ran off because I was selfish. She’s only been a part of your life for one month, Raul.

  “Is that you, Raul?”

  I turned to see Julie sitting in a bench. Her white hair rested immaculately over her shoulder.

  “It is. Mind if I take a seat next to you?”

  “Of course,” she said. “I saw you running down the park earlier. Missing something?”

  “It’s Tessa,” I said.

  “She ran off on you? What did you do?”

  “I might’ve asked her to try a new drink for the café. Seems like it made her go a little overboard.”

  “So you’ve been going all over town trying to find her?” she said.

  “That’s right,” I said. Makes me feel stupid when she says it.

  “Sounds like a lot of fun.”

  “It… what?”

  “When Don and I went on our first date, he ran out on me. Made some ridiculous excuse and left me there. Only later did I find out that he was trying to play hard to get. Earned a good slap out of me.”

  “That sounds like Don,” I said. Not sure what that has to do with anything, though.

  “The reason I told you that is because you look anxious. Some problems might seem like they threaten to such you in, but after taking a step back, they aren’t so bad.”

  “I chased after Tessa because I wanted to protect her,” I said. “But that doesn’t feel right.”

  “Could it be that you went after her because you wanted to protect yourself?” said Julie.

  “What do you mean?” I said. I knew what she meant, but I didn’t want to accept it.

  “I go into your shop several times a week, Raul. Before Tessa came along, you used to be this husk of a man. You were polite and sweet, but I could look into your eyes and tell there was nothing keeping you here. Now, whenever Tessa is around, you’re constantly smiling. When Don first noticed he asked me if I thought you were taking any weird medication.”

  She took a long pause, allowing it all to sink in. Had my attitude really changed that much in such a short time? Julie seemed to think so. There was no doubt that my life was livelier with Tessa around. It could have been something I first felt during the second night she came here, when I took her to see the mall.

  “You’re falling in love with her, Raul.”

  I felt my mind leave my body for a brief moment. It was frozen in time, staring ahead but not looking at anything. I couldn’t deny it. Tessa was smart and beautiful, but that wasn’t why I was falling for her. I was falling in love with Tessa because of the way she made me feel. More than anything, being with her gave me purpose. For the past month, I’ve been trying to help her acclimate to life here. Helped navigate her through all these new discoveries. In turn, she’s made me question who I am and what I do.

  But I wasn’t ready to admit it.

  “I—”

  Tessa dropped from the elm tree above us. She landed on my lap, sending a wave of searing pain throughout my body. This girl!

  “How’s—hyuk—everything?” she said. I pushed her to the side and flung myself off the bench.

  “What the hell? You were up in that tree the whole time? And you’re still drunk?”

  More importantly: how much did she hear?

  “Relaaax,” said Tessa, cocking her head back. “I went to chase after a squirrel… but then it disappeared. Soooo I just stayed up there for a while. Then I saw you down there and went ‘Ah!’ Raul must be a comfy place to land. So I went swoosh and here we are.”

  “Seems like you’ve had a long day. honey,” said Julie. “Raul will take you home, alright?”

  “And I can watch more episodes!” she said.

  “That’s right,” I said. How come she’s fine with a beer but liquor gives her the world’s longest hangover? At least she didn’t seem to hear anything about Julie’s conversation with me.

  “Can you walk?” I said, holding out my hand.

  “I’m perfectly fine,” said Tessa, but she used my hand to boost herself up anyway.

  “See you later, Julie,” I said.

  “Good night!” said Tessa.

  “Have fun you two,” she said.

  I navigated Tessa out of the park. The streets and surrounding sidewalk were filled with people walking out of their jobs.

  “I’m so tired,” she said, fidgeting with the brim of her hat.

  “Yeah, well, you’ve been all over town. We need to undo some of the magic you’ve left around town,” I said.

  “Do we have to?” she looked at my nodding face and scoffed. “Fine.”

  Tessa snapped her fingers. No colors or weird sounds followed.

  “Did that work?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “Probably.”

  We walked to my apartment. By the time we arrived, it was nearly closing time at the Twisted Cauldron. I sent Elise a message letting her know that I would be there to clean up in a few minutes.

  Tessa put her hat on the foot of her bed and threw herself on top of it.

  “Are you OK?”

  “I’m doin’ good,” she said, her words muffled by the pillow.

  “I need to go lock up the café. Want me to make you something for dinner?”

  “I can manage,” she said. “See ya.”

  I swept the floors by myself, just like I had hundreds of nights before. All the café’s lights were off, save for one in the middle. I stopped to look at the surrounding decorations. At Tessa’s behest, I added more decorations. She had seen several witch movies and found their obsession with bats particularly fascinating. Now paper cutouts of them were taped to the wall. We were decorated for Halloween even though the day was still a few months away.

  I put the broom aside and laid against the counter. I lived in the same place and worked at the same job, yet Julie was right: I felt like a completely different person. Maybe I should try visiting my mom sometime.

  Chapter 6

  Raul told Elise and myself that we would need to handle café operations by ourselves for most of the day. He was in the Twisted Cauldron, occupying one of the corner tables. Something about how he wa
s going to make vendor calls? I wasn’t really listening.

  I prepared the first three cappuccinos of the morning, sneaking glances at Raul whenever I was away from the espresso machine. Every time I looked, I found him giggling or smiling while talking on the phone.

  “Hey,” I said, tugging Elise’s sleeve.

  “Tessa…”

  “Hey,” I said, again tugging at her sleeve.

  “Can you stop that?” said Elise.

  “Does Raul have a girlfriend we don’t know about? He seems a little too perky over there on the phone,” I said.

  “Raul? Secret mistress? Oh boy, that’s a good one,” said Elise. She threw a laughing fit that lasted a minute, maybe more.

  “Are you done?” I said.

  “Raul’s so daft he once let it slip that he was planning a birthday party for me… two months in advance.”

  “That’s sad,” I said.

  “It’s one of his character quirks, I guess,” said Elise.

  By mid-morning, Raul decided to take a break. He took a seat at the bar.

  “How are the calls going?” said Elise.

  “Convinced the muffin people to finally give me a bulk discount,” said Raul. “Other than that, just checking in.”

  “You looked pretty happy out there,” I said, throwing him one of my high-brow side-eyes. The protagonist of one of my favorite shows does it a lot.

  “Is me smiling so weird?” said Raul.

  “No…” I said.

  “A little,” said Elise.

  “I’m just trying to be a good businessperson. Nobody wants to do business with a sad sack.”

  “Fair enough,” I said, before turning to complete a customer’s latte order.

  “One complaint I’m getting from our suppliers is that our website sucks,” said Raul.

  “We have a website?” said Elise.

  “See? That’s the problem.”

  Raul went to great lengths to explain to me what a website was just a short time ago.

  “Elise, what do you know about web design?” said Raul.

  “What kind of website are we talking about?” she said. Her brown eyes lit up. For the first time since I started working here, Elise looked genuinely interested in what Raul had to say.