French Cup: A Neighborhood Story

Chapter 4: -Kazuya- Witches in the Attic

My fingers went to my tie again and Nikki's hand met them immediately, sweeping them downward and away from my clothes. 

"Stop picking at yourself," he said in a hushed way, as we both stared at the back of the handsome stranger who I'd bumped into this morning. I'd explained to him in whispers what had happened when we'd gotten behind the counter and well away from him. My fingers went to my shirt collar. "I said stop it," he said again in an even harsher whisper, throwing my hand back down. "You look fine."

The stranger had taken out his laptop, now working in here. He'd been here for about thirty minutes, and there was no sign he'd be leaving. The blush on my cheeks was terribly real. No way to hide it. Thank god he wasn't looking at us. The things I'd said to him. You broke my sugar animals. What had I been thinking?!

"Is my hat dumb?" I asked, suddenly self conscious. Should I have worn this today? My hands went up to it next, trying desperately to adjust it in my anxiety.

"Of course it is, but that isn't the point."

"Hey..."

The bell chimed above the door and we snapped right up, grinning together. "Welcome to French Cup!" We called out. 

"Oh, false alarm," Nikki said, still grinning and waving. Our friend Miyuki came inside wearing her usual handmade attire, a 1930's kind of dress in a bold red and white candy striped pattern, four large buttons on the front, the skirt of it going to her knees over dark nylons and red heels pulling it all together. Her short, black hair was of the time period also, in curled, neat waves. She could have stepped out of an American Sears catalog from about 1938. She waved to us, too, and I saw a matching red and white beaded bracelet on her wrist. 

She came over. "What are you hiding back here for?" She eyed my shirt and smiled. "I like your shirt."

"Thank you," I replied, looking at it like it was new to me. Was it really okay?

"We're hiding because of that." Nikki pointed his long arm at the stranger, who was clearly looking at some kind of listing program on his computer. He'd been staring at it for a while, clicking around, changing the screen every now and again. Both of us were too afraid to go fill his cup again.

"Oh, what's that?" Miyuki asked, her hand going up to her cheek upon seeing him. She pressed her back to our glass showcase, immediately seeing how handsome he is even from behind.

"We don't know, he just came in here," Nikki tried to explain. "Kazu said he bumped into him this morning in the dark."

"Reeeally," Miyuki sighed dreamily. 

"Yes, really, and I'm mad at him. I had some sugar animals from Yuko, and when he bumped into me I dropped them and they shattered. I have no idea what to do. Now he's here. Why is he here?" My thoughts were now on the shattered animals still in their cellophane, shamefully laid on my work counter in the back. There was no way I could display them. They were a terrible loss.

"Give them to Julia and Colette. They'll love them. They'll pay you for them, too. They like broken things."

"Wow, that's genius." Oh, I could smile again. Miyuki was much smarter than me. She was completely right. Julia and Colette. They owned a magick store in our neighborhood. Both were witches, and adored old and abandoned things. Their shop was full of dolls with missing arms and legs, hand painted tarot cards, antique anatomical models, mannequin heads from the 50's, unique taxidermy, and beautiful boxes that once were musical but no longer worked and might just be haunted. They'd love my broken sugar creatures.

Miyuki nodded like she'd known even before I told her. She was just that smart. 

The handsome stranger went for another sip of coffee, and all of our heads moved with him, straining to see. He put the cup down, clearly staring into it. It was empty.