Under His Spell

Chapter One

Chapter One

I don’t like men.

Sorry, let me insert three more words.

I don’t like men who are assholes.

Well, I don’t like men that ruin a girl and move onto something better. I don’t like men who find it hilarious to rip a girl’s heart out and stomp all over it. I don’t like men that deny your undying love for them and decide to leave that night and never show up in your life again.

In my situation four years ago, any girl would understand.

“Do you have any ideas for a new topic, Sara?”

I tap my pen against the wood table in a small coffee shop right across from my job. I work as a journalist for TeenUSA Weekly magazine. Well, I come up with the ideas, but I don’t write any of the topics. I find it very rude that I do most of the work and the person who happens to write it gets the credit even though they didn’t come up with it.

Quinn, my partner in crime, stares at me with her chocolate brown eyes, waiting for a response. She has her notebook plastered on her lap, on top of her red skirt. Her short brown hair is clipped behind her ears.

“The best 10 ways to sock your boyfriend in the cock.” A smirk is making its way onto my face, knowing Quinn will blush at the word ‘cock’. She’ll probably scold me for it, too.

“Sara!” Told you so. And her face is a bright tomato color.

Quinn has never liked the topic of men. Actually, anything to do with them, she hates. Not like my type of hate. She’s just never been on a real date. She hasn’t even had a boyfriend yet, and she’s 22.

I’m 22 and I’ve had three boyfriends. One who is not to be named, Christian who I dated in college only to find out he was dating me for my looks, which to be honest, I already knew. I closed my heart off before then so it wasn’t a big deal to me. And Tim who was such a sweetheart, but had no backbone. Such a shame.

A small round of laughter erupts from my mouth. “Okay, okay, sorry. I just love seeing your reactions.”

Quinn is the only person who can ever get me to laugh and genuinely smile. She is the only person I have let in since high school. She will always be the only person because I am never allowing another man to touch my heart in any type of way. After all, he would have to pick up the pieces and glue them back together, which is too much of a hassle for any guy.

Quinn’s face goes even darker. “A realistic topic please.”

“That is realistic.”

“Yeah, but do you honestly think little kids would like that?”

“Quite frankly, yes I do.” She gives me her horror face. I chuckle. “Kidding. And kids rarely read our magazine. It’s more for 18 years and older.”

“No its not and you know it, Sara. It’s a teen magazine. Key word: teen.”

“Yeah, I know. But I bet many girls would love to sock the—”

“Don’t!” Quinn covers her ears. I smirk in triumph. I don’t know why I find it funny that I can easily make her squirm; must be her reactions. She acts just like a little kid sometimes.

I take a sip of my latte before moving on. “Okay. Realistic topic.” I continue tapping my pen on the counter. Quinn, after pulling her hands from her ears, does the same. The door to the coffee shop opens and a gush of wind pours inside, squishing my long brown hair behind me. A young man walks in a black business suit with short black hair and glasses that cover up his blue eyes.

Tristan. He works at the same magazine as us.

Quinn sees him too and calls him over. He smiles at us when he takes a seat next to Quinn. She blushes but hides her face from him. I grimace on the inside. I’ve never liked him. Granted, he is a man and he already starts off low on the charts, but his personality just yells ‘manwhore!’ and well, asshole, too. But those are kind of the same.

I don’t see how Quinn can possibly like him.

“Hey ladies. How’s the work coming?” Tristan flashes his 100 watt smile toward me and all I want to do is roll my eyes and flick him off. Unfortunately, for him being my boss, he always gets away lucky.

I keep my face blank, no emotion once so ever. “Fine.”

“Got any ideas?” Like he really cares.

“None so far,” I say, crossing my arms.

“Well, keep working on it. Want you back at the office in twenty minutes.” He gets up and is about to walk away when he quickly turns around and looks at Quinn, saying, “Would you mind picking up my regular coffee for me?” He says it in a seductive tone, which quite honestly, is forbidden! No seducing the workers, Mr. I-have-every-girl-wrapped-around-my-middle-finger. But damn, he can get away with it. Not until I catch it on tape, which I will and get his ass fired. And hopefully their hire someone less rude and more nice; a woman perhaps. I’ve had a lifetime full of men already and I’m not even halfway through my life.

Quinn nods her head curtly. Tristan smiles and says, “Thank you,” even though I highly doubt he means it. He struts out, keeping his briefcase secured to his side.

Quinn peeks up when he’s gone and her face is redder than any tomato I have ever seen.

“Don’t get his coffee,” I tell her. She gives me a look that pretty much says “Do you want to get fired?”

“Okay, get his coffee. Just put salt in it instead of sugar.”

“Sara Amelia Hart!” Quinn scolds me, pointing a finger at me. I don’t like it when she says my full name. I especially hate it when she says my middle name; it brings up too many painful memories.

I glare at you, then smirk at the thought of a topic. “How to piss your boss off. Yeah, that would definitely be on the list.” Quinn lets out a loud sigh before drinking her latte and collecting her stuff together. She marches to the counter and waits in line. My laughter rings through the shop when she unexpectedly sticks her tongue out at me.

While she waits in line, I drink the rest of my latte while thinking about different topics. Good topics, this time.

But I always end up drifting off to the side, finding different topics that are too personal to me to even say out loud. To even think is more like it.

How to snatch that perfect man.

10 ways to get your man wrapped around your finger.

How to tell your boyfriend you love him without making him run away.

How to get rid of the everlasting ache in your heart when it hits the four year anniversary mark of the day your first love walked out of your life.

That last one hit home big time.

Everything is in the past, I tell myself. And I know it is. But I can’t help but conjure up that last topic. Four years it’s been. Four years since that bastard walked out on me. Four years since my heart has locked itself up. Four years since I’ve felt the pain of losing love.

Hmm…this sounds good.

How to take revenge on the asshole that broke your heart.

Yeah, that sounds more like it.

***

Hey! So tell me what you think and please vote and message me!!! It means a lot to me! Sorry if there are errors, haha. Thank you for reading. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon! :)