Heart of the Ocean

Chapter 8 - Glamour

As if reading my mind, Nate brought set down his fork and gave me a hard stare.

“Something on your mind, Clio?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I shrugged awkwardly, “Not really. Nice pancakes”. Lame, Clio.

“You’re not very forthright, are you?” Nate replied, “I can see it written all over your face. I was wondering if you had the guts to bring the topic up yourself.”

Nate resumed wolfing down his food while I sat abashed.

“Of course, it’s written all over my face!” I finally whispered, not wanting anyone to overhear our conversation, “Its not ever day you meet a guy who claims to be a witch. Has it ever occurred to you that its not a normal conversation starter?”

Nate nodded and chuckled again, he clearly enjoyed watching me struggling with his revelation.

“So?” I demanded.

“So, what?” Nate countered.

“Sooo, are you witch or are you screwing with me for kicks” I hissed.

By this point Nate had finished his five stack and was eyeing up the remaining food on my plate. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms behind his head. In the tiny café his presence was dominating, and I noticed several curious eyes look in his direction. Maybe not the best place to have a conversation about whether or not your new friend was a witch.

But somehow, this didn’t put Nate off in the slightest. He gave a casual wink and the air around him seemed to shiver and wave like tarmac in summer. My eyes suddenly felt tired looking at Nate and all I wanted to do was go back to my pancakes. Nate suddenly seemed unimportant. Why were we even talking? I was starving.

I dove into my pancakes with sudden abandon, drizzling more syrup as I went.

Smack Smack went my lips.

I sucked the sweet sugar from my fingers.

“Mmmmm soooo goooood” I groaned passionately.

I was wondering if I should order some more, maybe with a side of bacon, when a hot hand I hadn’t noticed suddenly grabbed my wrist.

Startled and wondering who was interrupting my good pancakes times I swung my head round to hiss at the culprit.

Holy s**t, Nate.

How could I forget I was having brunch with Nate? I groaned internally. I had been shovelling food down my throat like a disgusting pig. He must have just loved my display.

“What the hell was that?!” I demanded, confusion filling my voice.

Nate’s lips twisted into a cunning grin, “Good isn’t it? It is called a glamour. It allows me to distort people’s perception of reality. One minute we’re having pancakes, the next you might think your having dinner with the Queen. Or in your case, I made you more interested in food than me. Or in the case of everyone else, more interested in their food, conversation, phones, etc. Anything but me.”

I looked around the room. It was as though everyone was deliberately trying to ignore you. Kinda like when someone is having a juicy argument so you look busy, just so you can enjoy the show. People had fixed stares on their phones or company. Even the conversation was louder, like they were trying to drown out any other conversation with their noise.

Nate seemed satisfied like the cat with cream, but I felt a twist of fear in my stomach. Magic was real? There was no way in hell I would let my guard like that and shovel food down my face like that ever, let alone in front of the guy I clearly had a crush on.

I hadn’t been in control, Nate was.

Not good.

“So that was magic?” I whispered, afraid to be overheard.

Nate shrugged, “A pretty basic spell for someone like me but yeah. I told you, I’m a witch. Also, you don’t need to whisper, everyone in here is under my glamour. Watch.”

Nate casually strolled round the café, took a bite of one woman’s untouched danish, complimented one guy on his handlebar moustache and took a pot of tea of the waitress before joining me.

No one batted an eyelash.

“Woah,” I breathed.

“Pretty cool, no? I could take whatever I wanted. Do whatever I wanted and they couldn’t stop me” Nate laughed, pouring me more tea from his poached teapot.

I’m not sure cool was the right word. It was scary seeing these people at Nate’s mercy. He hadn’t hurt them, even the waitress who was missing a teapot didn’t seem alarmed. But it was still unnerving.

“Stop it.” I didn’t ask, my voice was firm.

Nate raised both his eyebrows at me- come to think of it, they seemed to have a mind of their own. “But now we can speak in private. Why should I stop?”

I considered for a moment. The fact that these people couldn’t hear or see us wasn’t really the problem – it was Nate’s attitude, I realised. This was like a game to him.

Deciding to be bold, I lay my hand on Nate’s in an attempt to connect, “I don’t like the way you’re playing with these people, Nate.”

I looked into his face, hoping to see some sort of understanding or empathy. But the black holes that were his eyes were unreadable.

Finally, “Only for you, Clio”.

The air seemed to shimmer again; the room became stifling hot. Slowly the shimmering calmed down and the punters overzealous chit chat calmed down.

I breathed a deep sigh of relief. I was kind of shocked that Nate had listened to me but thankful that he did.

I smiled in thanks at Nate.

“I’m so sorry, Clio. I guess I got a little carried away showing off.” Nate apologised, pushing his fingers through his thick, cropped hair.

I realised that running his hands through his hair was something he did when he was nervous. It was super cute.

My smile deepened, charmed by his shyness.

“At least now I believe you,” I replied.

“I’ll take that as a win.” Nate grinned, “Lets get out of here. I know the glamour was a bit much, but I want to show you more of magic.”

The thought of more magic made my hair stand on end. The cooling spell was kinda handy but this glamour magic was dangerous. Or at least it brought out a dangerous side in Nate. And I wasn’t sure I liked it.

I realised I hadn’t let go of Nate’s hand but now he had flipped my hand over and was gripping my hand with intensity. His hand radiated heat and his grip was strong. My eyes traced the creases of his skin. He had a pearly, crescent scar running from wrist to the base of his thumb. I wondered how he got it.

I huge part of me wanted to know everything about him. I was hungry to know more of his secrets, even if they were scary.

And again, it was like he read my mind.

“It is a part of me It is the world and everyone in it Its part of you beautiful powerful limitless” Nate gushed, mushing his sentences together.

 It almost sounded like he called me beautiful.

My breathing hitched.

“Only on one promise” I said, my mind made up.

Nate leaned in, his gaze intense, “Anything”.

“No more controlling people.”

“It goes without saying,” Nate grinned.

Our hands still entwined, and our heads bowed together like conspirators our bargain was struck.

Nate was going to lead me into the world of magic.