The Faerie Key

Chapter One

"I quit," Selcouth cut her boss off mid-sentence.

She almost felt bad for the brittle older lady. She probably thought Selcouth would take over the business and she could finally retire from calming the bridezillas.

"But I'm promoting you," her boss insisted.

"Thank you for thinking of me, but I think May would be a better choice, she genuinely likes interacting with those monsters," Selcouth mumbled the last part.

"I don't understand," her boss finally looked her age. She reminded Selcouth of her grandma, but much nicer.

"Nancy, it has been a pleasure working for you these last 8 years. Your grace and ease in dealing with all the drama always amazed me, but I no longer have the patience to listen to their petty complains and I just feel sorry that one day is the highlight of their insignificant lives," she knew she had said to much.

"Well then thank you for all your work," Nancy puckered her lips like she did when she was dealing with an especially difficult bride.

Selcouth smiled, Nancy hating her made leaving easier.

"Good luck and I really do think May would be the best," she added as she left Nancy's office.

May was still young so she believed in love and all that fairy tale crap. Working as a wedding planner would cure her of that disease. Selcouth often felt bad for the idiots, as she referred to soon to be husbands, but once they hit on her she knew that bridezillas and the idiots were perfect for each other.

She packed her things into a shoe box. She said goodbye to May who cried. Maybe she shouldn't have recommended her, May deserved better.

Selcouth handed her the shoe box filled with her essential oil blends and small gifts that past couples had given her.

"It's not much, but you can have it. When Nancy gets the constipated look, spray the store with the purple bottle," she told May. It led to more crying and a snotty hug. She didn't bother saying goodbye to anyone else.

The smoldering heat crushed her when she left the building. Everyone strolled down the street unlike rush hour when they crushed you if you weren't fast enough. Selcouth imitated the unemployed meandering but found herself rushing past all the window shoppers. She knew she now belonged to their kind but she hated their aimless walking.

She headed back to her apartment. She lived in a studio apartment, really a closet with a bathroom and a kitchen. Her walls were covered with wedding vision boards. They all looked the identical. She often played the guess difference game, only noticing a different flower arrangement or different swatch colors.

It amused her that every bride always told her that they were going for something unique but then described a standard wedding. The world was too normal for anything extraordinary to happen.

She took pictures of the boards on her phone before taking them down. They were garbage now. One vision board remained on the wall, it only had a picture of a couple and a heart around it.

Selcouth emailed the vision board pictures to Nancy. She would work her calming and assuring magic on the brides that Selcouth had as clients.

"At least I won't have to deal with Miss Beckums," Selcouth told Amethyst, her lavender plant, the only thing that remained of Risa.

Miss Beckums was on Selcouth's top annoying brides of the century. She referred to herself in the third person as she complained about the minute details.

"Miss Beckums wants her wedding day to be perfect since it's Miss Beckums most important day," Selcouth could still hear that nasal voice.

After she packed all the vision boards in a clear bag she headed out to her favorite bar to meet her best friend.