I set the cat on the floor and got up to go fetch a few plates. I slid them on the bar top while Ivy took the food out of the bag. “What would you like to drink?”
“I’ll take some of that white wine.” Ivy said, setting a carton of rice on the counter.
I added a wine glass in front of her plate. “So how are your photography classes going?”
“Great,” Ivy said. “I’m glad the semester is almost over, and I am really excited to be graduating in May.” She plucked out a fat shrimp, leaned over and offered it to Tank, who pranced off with his treat.
“Well, the cat is happy now.” I poured the wine and joined her at the island. We divvied up the food and dug right in.
“Call me an intuitive,” Ivy said after a few moments. “But I’m betting the reason you’ve been in a funk for a while is because your talk with Professor Silver Fox didn’t go very well.”
I choked on my rice. “Professor Silver Fox?”
Ivy thumped me on the back. “That’s what the female students on campus are calling him.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “You neglected to mention that your ex is smoking hot.”
“Good god,” I managed. “I don’t think I ever told you that Matthew and I used to be a couple.”
“You didn’t. But the campus grape vine is filled with juicy information about the sexy widower.” Ivy leaned her arm on the counter. “So, how’d the ‘your daughter’s a Witch’ talk go?”
I decided the conversation called for more wine and topped off my glass. “Not well.”
Ivy smirked. “Not well, as in—I don’t believe you? Or not well, as in—the power of Christ compels you! Be gone foul demon—type of thing.”
My lips twitched. “He tossed me out, but refrained from the latter.”
“Well that’s something,” Ivy decided, swinging her foot. “Tell me everything.”
I sighed, gave up, and filled her in on my last conversation with Matthew. “...and I haven’t heard from him since that day. Which proves that he’s an intolerant idiot, after all.”
“Maybe not.” Ivy reached for her wine. “I heard his final assignment for the English Lit class was to write a paper on The Crucible, with an emphasis on the historical, and social ramifications of the Salem Witch Trials.”
“He did?” I dropped my fork in sheer shock. “Really?”
“Yeah, he did,” Ivy said.
Had he spoken to his mother’s relatives after all? I wondered, and cleared my throat. “Maybe he’ll actually learn something when he reads those papers.” I tried to tell myself it really didn’t matter. “You know, I don’t usually order from the Jade Dragon, but this food is really good.”
“Feast well my friend. You’ll need your strength for the dark days ahead,” Ivy said, deadpan.
Her comment had me chuckling. Her good humor was infectious and I enjoyed the meal and the camaraderie. Afterwards, we ended up in my room while Ivy raided my closet for a different Sugarplum Fairy outfit for the next day.
“Oh my goddess!” Ivy waved a purple and black corset. “This!”
I studied the satin fabric with the flocked black roses, vines and thorns. “Figures you’d like that one. It’s got the Gothic vibe you’d go for.”
“Yeah it does.” Ivy pulled a long black tiered broomstick skirt off a hanger and held it next to the corset. “I’ll bet you’d stop traffic in this.”
I titled my head as I considered her words. “Ivy, this whole Sugarplum Fairy thing is for the kids in town, not to ‘stop traffic’, as you so elegantly put it.”
“Hmmm.” Ivy tapped a finger to her lips.
“Last week we did casual,” I reminded her. “My dark jeans, a lilac and black sweater and my purple chucks. It was comfortable.”
“I agree. The subtle pastel-goth style went well with your hair worn in two pigtails and the more playful makeup,” Ivy said. “But...we need to switch it up. Trust me.” She dove back into my closet and pulled out a long sleeved, black lace shrug. “You could toss this over the corset.”
I took the shrug. “That could work.”
“Besides, Professor Silver Fox will show up tomorrow afternoon. I have a hunch Charlie’s been nagging him brainless.” Ivy grinned. “He’s gonna cave in and take her to see you again.”
“You think so?”
Ivy handed me the corset. “I know so.”
I held up the flocked satin and considered my reflection in the mirror. “Tomorrow, eh?”
“Looking hot is the best revenge, Violet.” Ivy appeared beside me in the mirror. “You’ll have him losing his mind, and the power of speech when he sees you in this little number.”
A slow smile started to spread across my face. “I like the sound of that.”
“Trust me.” Ivy winked. “Now, let’s talk jewelry.”
***
The Sugarplum Fairy made her third appearance. I pulled my long hair away from one side of my face and secured it with a fresh purple rose. Taking her clues from the outfit, Marie did a forest fairy theme makeup. She painted little black rose vines from the corner of my eye and down across my exposed jaw and neck. The makeup was a bit darker than I usually wore. The eyeliner was smoky and smudged, and my lips were painted a dark mauve.
We’d been crazy busy with holiday sales all afternoon. Decorated wreaths, tree ornaments, and potted poinsettias had been the hot ticket items. My younger brother, Eddie was manning the front counter, and between sales he’d been trying his hand at flirting with Ivy Bishop.
“Eddie, she’s seeing someone,” I tried to break it to him gently.
Eddie leaned an elbow on the counter and sighed over Ivy as she chatted up a young family. “She’s great.”
“You’re only sixteen, she’s almost twenty-two,” I said. “She’s too old for you anyway.”
I followed his gaze. The younger camera-toting Witch was wearing a Santa hat, with black fur trim of course. Her jeans were tucked into tall boots, and her red sweatshirt said: I’m not short. I’m
