Strange Magic

Chapter 12

"I'm alright, honestly," Mary chided her long time friend, Catherine, as they sat in the very same booth where she and Zelda had met a week ago. She hadn't seen Zelda since she left her house late last Monday, a triple homicide in the neighboring town of Riverdale taking up the majority of her free time. Zelda had found time to text her; a behavior she hadn't expected from the younger woman. "It was just a really bad flu, I guess."

"Flu? From the sounds of it, you died and came back to life," Catherine laughed as she watched Mary check her phone, again, for the hundredth time since they'd sat down to dinner. "Is something... wrong? You've been on your phone all night. That's not like you."

Mary blushed visibly and slid her phone off the table and into her bag, embarrassed by her actions. She hated it when the teenagers she taught couldn't look her in the eye because their noses were buried in their devices, now here she was acting just like one of them. "Uh, no," Mary chirped, trying to sound casual, "just a uh... a friend. Not a friend, really - the uh, one of my student's aunts is helping me plan the dance next weekend and she's been texting me about food options, since she's making it all herself. I'm sorry. I'll put it away now, promise!" Mary held her hands up in surrender, a brilliant smile flashing across her face.

That was a complete lie. Zelda was in the bathtub, not the kitchen, and had just finished telling Mary about all the things she'd done to herself in anticipation of seeing her again. Mary crossed her legs tightly under the table and kept the smile plastered on her face, resisting the urge to reach for her phone again. She hadn't even told Zelda goodbye.

"You're a terrible liar, Mary Wardwell," Catherine laughed out loud as she took a sip of her red wine, raising both her eyebrows. "Now come on, who is this person that's got you so riled up and attached to your phone?"

"Oh, it is one of my student's aunts...." Mary smirked, "but you're right, we weren't discussing food."

"Mary, you dog, tell me everything." Catherine was Mary's oldest friend and greatest confidant; many times when she felt alone in Greendale, isolated by the small town and her position within it, Catherine had been there to keep her company, make her laugh, and remind her that she was in fact not alone in the world. They'd been friends since college, going on nearly twenty five years.

"Well...." Mary smiled, pulling her phone back out and looking for the last photo she had snapped of Zelda. "She's remarkable, Catherine. Everything about her is just.... everything I've ever needed or wanted." Mary handed the blond her phone to reveal a photo of Zelda, clad in her black turtleneck with her makeup smudged, sitting at her kitchen table staring out the window with a cup of coffee in her hand. The woman looked exquisite- otherworldly, even.

"Oh, Mar, she's a knockout," Catherine teased as she handed the phone back in favor of her wine. Mary couldn't quite place the look on her friend's face s they talked about her new lover; it seemed one more of concern than excitement.

"You don't look thrilled. Jealous?" Mary quipped and Catherine reached across the small table to smack her in the arm.

"No.... but what about Adam?"

Mary blinked several times and raised an eyebrow, confused. Something about the name in her life seemed familiar, but she didn't know why. Who was Adam?

"Adam?" She questioned, completely lost.

Catherine frowned and shook her head, "yes Mary, Adam? The man you were set to marry less than six months ago? The man you've been with for the last three years?"

Mary's heart sank into her stomach. She had no idea what Catherine was talking about. She didn't have a fiancée! She had never even been close to marriage, and she, surely, had not carried on a relationship with anyone for the last three years. Unless.... of course, it was something else she had forgotten.