Magical Spice - Part Five
This episode is part of a larger story, Soft Touch. If you haven’t yet, you can go back and read it from the beginning right here.
Aiden and I hesitate nervously in the doorway of Gabby’s office. I think neither of us has any idea if we’re in trouble or not.
My ears are ringing, my heart pounding against my ribs, cold sweat making my t-shirt stick to me beneath my flannel.
Aiden must be even more anxious and stressed out than I am, because he forgets the concessions demanded by his height and promptly smacks his head into the top of Gabby’s door frame with a loud thunk. He stops, cursing, rubbing his forehead. I was rushing in my anxiety, so I crash right into him, then stagger backwards with a startled little noise.
Gabby presses her manicured fingertips over her mouth, then closes her eyes, smiling behind her hands.
“Just come in!” she groans.
Flushing crimson with embarrassment, Aiden bends down and hurries the rest of the way into her office. I follow him in, then shut the door behind myself with trembling fingers, trying my hardest to read the expression on Gabby’s face.
But she’s too well-composed to give any of her thoughts away, even in the light of what she’s figured out. If anything, I get the impression that her piercing, perceptive eyes are reading all kinds of answers off of me and Aiden. Despite the fact that we’re both silent, and struggling our hardest to stay calm.
We stop before Gabby’s desk and stand there, not sure what to do.
“Is, um - is anyone gonna come by?” I ask, glancing at the closed door of the office. “Didn’t you say you had a meeting coming up that you needed to prepare for?”
Gabby breathes out a soft laugh, then picks up her planner and turns it around to show us something. On today’s date, scheduled to start in five minutes - Meeting with Aiden Callahan and Jamie Keane.
“Wh-?” Aiden finally finds his voice. He draws back sharply, staring at Gabby with a wounded, indignant expression in his blue eyes. “Aw, come on, boss! You were that sure I’d go through something confidential that you forgot in my office?”
“No, although it did occur to me that if it had your employee review inside of it, Jamie might not be able to resist.” Gabby gives her shoulders a delicate little shrug. “I wasn’t sure, of course, but I set aside time for this meeting just in case. Jamie, do you understand that you were not officially allowed to see anything in that folder? That would go against quite a few rules.”
I blush all the way to my ears, then let out a flustered, feeble sound of protest. “I - I didn’t know it was confidential!”
“My fault, for forgetting to mark it as such. How forgetful of me! It sounds like you seeing all of those private City Hall communications was simply a mistake. No one’s fault.” Gabby shoots me a meaningful look, then extends a hand to Aiden, who’s hugging the file to his chest. “Have you had time to review the contents of that folder, Aiden? Something tells me the answer is yes.”
Aiden is obviously anxious about letting the file out of his hands, but he nods, then reluctantly gives it over to Gabby. We both blink in surprise when she immediately feeds the entire thing into the paper shredder behind her desk.
“No need to keep your copy, then,” she says lightly, turning back to face us.
“Are - are there any other copies?” Aiden manages.
Gabby pushes her braid over her shoulder, shakes her head no, and gestures for us to sit down.
Aiden and I look at each other, then slowly sink down into the chairs in front of Gabby’s desk. Relieved, but still half in a panic. It’s impossible to guess what Gabby is thinking.
She sits back in her big chair, her thoughtful eyes observing us. She should be swallowed by that chair, being tiny in comparison, but somehow with her stately posture and up-tilted chin she seems to easily hold the whole thing.
A gentle rain begins to fall outside. One of those brief, lazy sunshowers that barely even darken the sky, but make everything seem more vivid in color. Droplets tumble down on the climbing honeysuckle that grows around Gabby’s windows, sending up a muffled rushing noise. Layered waves of green-gold sunshine dance across the office, moving with the leaves in the downpour. The taste of summer rain drifts in on a slow breeze that ruffles my hair.
I’m not sure why, but the cover of the rainfall seems to safely seal off Gabby’s office, making it even cozier and more calming than it was before.
Maybe it’s that, or maybe I’m picking up on some change in the way Gabby is looking at us. Her brisk, professional demeanor, which she usually keeps to at City Hall even around us, her friends - it’s fallen to the wayside. She’s leaning back in her chair with her arms folded over her chest, some mixture of affection, exasperation, and amazement in her eyes.
“Justin Hayes,” she says quietly.
There’s a silence, broken when Aiden nods, and Gabby draws in a sharp little breath.
“Yeah, that - that was us,” Aiden admits, not looking at her, his deep voice barely above a whisper. “With some help.”
Gabby slowly closes her eyes until her dark lashes sweep her cheekbones. “The others in that folder. The little boy, the firefighter?”
“All of them.”
“I’m guessing there are also more that I don’t know about.”
“There - yeah. Yes.”
“And the flood that happened here?”
“We’re so sorry about that,” I jump in, wringing my fingers anxiously. “It’s a long story, but it was an accident! We felt really terrible about it, especially since you’d just asked us not to cause you any headaches…”
I trail off, not sure if I’m helping.
Gabby stares blankly at me. She presses her fingertips to her temple and catches her lip between her teeth. There’s a silence while she sits perfectly still, and then - she lets out a sudden, helpless laugh, like she just doesn’t know what else to do.
“¿Lo dices en serio?” She stares at us with perfectly round eyes, then puts her elbows on her desk and slumps into them. “You went out in that storm, and you-? You two - you honestly - you just - you two! I should have known right from the start! Who else would be out doing something so reckless and ridiculous and dangerous and - kind?”
Aiden and I stop, watching Gabby in surprise, then exchange a swift, hopeful glance. Gabby’s voice is full of disbelief, and a little bit of a scold, but - also undeniably threaded with fond warmth.
“You figured it out just from the stuff in the folder, Gabby?” I blurt out, unable to stop myself.
“Not solely from that.” She lifts her head from her hands, looking dazed. “Kent and Ellen lived with Aiden, remember? I’ve heard little comments and stories from them that made me wonder. But really, what got me thinking was - the night I crashed my car.”
At this she meets my eyes, then Aiden’s.
“You two boys just so happened to be out on a late-night drive for fun, in your pajamas, in the middle of an intense storm which, to my memory, was making driving a very not-fun experience. You went to almost exactly the same place where I drove off the road trying to avoid a deer, and you got there just in time to help me before my car sank into the river. What are the odds of that? Unless… you knew I was in trouble, and you came there to save me.”
She stops there, waiting in case either of us wants to say anything.
Aiden swallows, then answers, all in a rush - “Look, I know you don’t know exactly what we’ve been doing, but I can-”
“Do you know what you’re doing?” Gabby interrupts gently, catching his gaze with hers. “That’s my primary concern.”
“Yeah, he does!” I answer earnestly, then look over at Aiden. “You do!”
“I-” Aiden nibbles his lip fretfully, then nods at Gabby. “Yeah, sure.”
I beam proudly at Aiden before I turn back to Gabby. “See? He’s got this!”
“So it’s you?” she asks, speaking very softly, staring at Aiden. “You’re the one who knew where to find me? You’re the one with…?”
“I - yeah,” Aiden answers uncomfortably. “Jamie’s got his own, um - skillset. But I gave it to him.”
Gabby falls silent for a long moment, absorbing that. She takes off her sleek golden watch and begins absent-mindedly turning it over in her fingers. Revealing the two little tattooed words on her inner wrist, facing her. Eres Arte.
“I’m still not exactly sure what you are, or how you’re doing what you’ve been doing,” she murmurs quietly, gazing at us searchingly from across her desk. “What I do understand is that you saved my life, and that I’m far from the only one. Maybe that’s all I need to understand, but I will say - the idea that the people who rescued me would bring me right to Kent…”
Gabby blushes a little, but forges on.
“You two don’t know. Kent was the one person in Ketterbridge whose house I would have felt even remotely okay waking up in. He was my high school crush, who I was secretly hoping to reconnect with anyways, if he happened to be single, but that wasn’t why. He’d given me reason to feel safe with him in the past, even if he didn’t realize it. When I tried to imagine someone I could relax enough around that I could actually appreciate things like calm, and safety, and love, instead of just worrying that it all might go away - I remembered him. What I remembered of him made it seem possible.”
Aiden and I are listening intently, surprised and silent.
“Then I wake up confused and freaked out after a car crash on my first night back in town, and there he is. Smiling at me, looking even better now that he’s all grown up, telling me that everything is okay.” Gabby hesitates, then says softly - “It was enough to make any girl believe in… magic?”
Aiden and I hold perfectly still, and somehow I guess that answers Gabby’s question.
Her eyes widen, her fingers fluttering up to press against her lips.
“Can I see?” she whispers, with the tone of someone losing a battle with themselves.
Aiden glances at the windows, then at the door, but no one is watching. He nibbles his lip, then quickly reaches over to take my hand. His eyes glitter with a shimmering rush of icy white-blue, and I sense his magic pushing gently at me through the connection.
He supercharged my Vision last night. It wasn’t on purpose. We were just laying in bed speaking through the connection for a long time, his magic flowing in and out of me. This little burst of magic from him now charges my Vision up to its max, turning my eyes white and making them glow. I know without having to see. It’s a familiar feeling by now.
We both look at Gabby with busted expressions. Aiden’s eyes shining and glittering with pale blue light, mine completely whited out.
Gabby draws back with a sharp little intake of breath, her hands flying up to her mouth. She must have had some time to sit with her realization already, but seeing it in person is different. She stares at our glowing eyes in shocked silence until Aiden lets me go, and everything goes back to normal.
Gabby slowly drops her gaze to her desk, taking a second to compose herself.
“I knew it,” she whispers, then glances up at us with a wounded pout on her face. “Although I didn’t want to look like that when I saw Kent for the first time! That wasn’t exactly magical!”
“If it makes you feel better, I still had my getting-sober beard when I got to see Jamie for the first time,” Aiden says apologetically. “Probably one of the worst things that’s ever happened to me.”
Gabby laughs softly, completely dazed.
“Gabby,” I add earnestly, leaning forward. “Would you believe us if I said that we were planning to tell you, eventually? We didn’t realize you’d unravel it on your own first, but - we were always going to. We have a list, you’re on it.”
“That’s nice to hear.” Gabby is slowly recovering some of her composure. “Although you don’t need to tell me much more than I already know. I can only imagine that knowing what you two are up to would stress me out. Besides, if you tell me a bunch of details that I can’t sanction as City Manager, then I’ll have to tell you to stop. I’d rather do what I can to help.”
Aiden blinks hard at her, then tips his head slightly to the side. “Help?”
“Mhm. Look, I understand why that child’s parents didn’t take him to the hospital to find out why he thought an angel saved him. When a miracle happens to you, you take it.” Gabby smiles at us across her desk, with obvious gratitude in her eyes. “I’ve taken my miracle. Please let me know if I can help you two, if you’re working on one for someone else.”
Aiden and I stare at her in amazement, then simultaneously collapse into boneless heaps of relief in our chairs.
“Gabby,” Aiden stammers, reflecting back all the warm appreciation and gratitude in her expression. “Holy shit, you can’t think what a relief it is to hear - and you’re not gonna make me sit here and explain everything?”
“I’m sure the details will unavoidably reveal themselves with time,” Gabby murmurs thoughtfully, then stops, her gaze flitting to me. “Actually, no. One question. What was the thing with the cookie? Jamie, why, in god’s name?”
“He was allergic, time was ticking down, I panicked!” I press my fingers to my cheeks, a dismayed blush crawling up my face. “Aw, Gabby - won’t you please take that off of Aiden’s employee review? I’ll do anything! It was my fault, not his!”
“I mean - it was kind of my fault.” Aiden winces deeply at me. “I’m the one who sensed him about to go through some misery. You wouldn’t have slapped his hand if I wasn’t already looking for him.”
“Sensed…?” Gabby blinks hard, then sinks back in her chair, shaking her head. “This is what I meant about the details revealing themselves. This may be the most efficient way for me to gain any further insight. I’ve heard what happens when I ask you two to explain something directly to me. I inevitably end up more confused. Like - why the flood?”
“Oh, god,” I groan, running an agonized hand through my hair. “We’re so sorry about that, Gabby! We didn’t mean to, but there was a whole - fiasco - it’s going to sound incredibly dumb, and I actually think it’s going to sound even worse the more we tell you about it, but - you need the context!”
Gabby spreads her hands. “Which is?”
“Magic is hard.”
Gabby’s frown suggests that this explanation from Aiden is inadequate, so I add to it a little.
“We had to steal something from ourselves, and it didn’t quite go as planned. Not that we had a plan, I guess, or our plan went out the window at the last second - we brought a flood with us from somewhere else, by mistake.”
“Yeah, and then we had to rush out of there,” Aiden rumbles apologetically. “Because Jamie and I were with you in the doorway, but Jamie was also right at the front gate, where he could see himself, and I was also with Ralph, ‘cause he was unconscious in the parking lot. But don’t worry, nothing like that is gonna happen again. We already used up our whole supply of - of - um…”
Aiden trails off, realizing that Gabby is staring at us in baffled, open-mouthed silence.
“Okay…” She lets a helpless laugh, then waves a hand at us, making her bangles jingle. “Stop. No more explaining from you two. I’ll learn as we go. I think I can only get my mind around it in little pieces at a time, anyways.”
“Fine by us,” Aiden says, relieved all over again.
Gabby looks over at the window, at the summer rainfall outside, the dappled light through the trees.
“I’ve always thought there was something magical about this town,” she says softly, watching the breeze sway the dripping flowers. “Not - quite so literally, of course. But there was always something. That’s part of why I came back as soon as I heard that my family had moved away. You can just feel something special in the air, here. Maybe that’s why I’m capable of grasping this at all.”
Gabby closes her eyes, smiling to herself. “How nice to think that now I can contribute to it directly.”
Aiden and I stare at her, overwhelmed with relief and affection.
“Is there anything you want, Gabby?” Aiden asks, after a moment. “Something small I can do for you with magic? Like - within reason? I made the same offer to Noah and Ralph. I’m happy to do it.”
“No, thank you. There’s nothing in my life I’d like to change right now. At least, nothing that I wouldn’t prefer to accomplish myself. And you’ve already given me quite a gift.” Gabby casts him an appreciative, half-exasperated smile. “I had a feeling you were the one who caused all this, Aiden. I noticed in my digging that the Callahan family appears to have lived in Ketterbridge for as long as anyone can remember, but the Keane family only moved here with Jamie’s parents.”
“My mom moved us here, looking to get us away from my biological father,” I explain. “I was a baby, so I don’t remember, but I guess she and I had been living in her car for a little while. She happened to stop in Ketterbridge while we were driving around looking for somewhere to go. She said she just had a feeling we’d be safe here, at least for a little bit. Then she met my real dad, and we stayed.”
Gabby’s eyes linger on mine for a long moment, full of understanding.
“I see,” she says gently. “Well - let’s try to keep that feeling in the air, boys. It appears you’re uniquely qualified.”
“You won’t tell anyone?” Aiden asks gratefully.
“No, of course not. However…” Gabby tucks a stray strand from her braid behind her ear. “I like to think that I’m a good judge of who can be spoken to with discretion. When Ripley started here, for example, he told me it was fine to tell people that he’s trans, but he also said that I should only do it if I saw a reason. I told you and Aiden because I thought you three might get along. I also thought it might be easier for Ripley to open up to a friendship with you if he didn’t feel any internalized pressure to have that conversation with you, himself. He’d just come out, and he’d already had to have that talk with a lot of people. I could tell he was sick of doing it. This way you already knew, and he already knew it wasn’t going to be a problem.”
“We’re glad you told us,” I answer earnestly. “I don’t think he ended up feeling any pressure to talk about it at all.”
“Good. My point is, I do think I can tell who to trust with sensitive information, generally speaking. Unfortunately I’ve had to learn by necessity, but - I’ve had a lot of practice.” Gabby pauses, leaning forward to let us see the sincerity in her eyes. “You can trust Kent with this. I’m completely convinced of that. And to tell you the truth, I’d prefer not to have to keep secrets from him.”
“Kent is on our list,” I reassure her hastily. “We do trust him with this! It’s just…”
“Hard to talk about,” Aiden finishes quietly.
Gabby looks at him for a long moment, thinking.
“Then maybe this is the first way I can help,” she murmurs. “I think part of why I’ve been able to get my head around this is because I learned about it in little increments. Maybe it would be best if Kent learned about it that way, too?”
“Oh - really, Gabby?” I ask, resisting the urge to get out of my chair and hug her.
“Can you make that happen?” Aiden asks hopefully, then stops, letting out a sputter of laughter. “What a stupid question to ask you, of all people. You can make anything happen.”
Gabby smiles fondly at him, then swiftly snaps her watch back onto her wrist. “I’ll get on it. Are there any others like you, or are you two the only ones I need to worry about?”
“Just us.”
“I don’t need to worry about Ellen or Ripley being in danger by proximity, do I?”
“No,” Aiden says firmly.
“If anything, they might be safer,” I add.
Gabby is quite clearly taking mental notes. “Who else knows?”
I give her the list. “And there are a few others we’re hoping to tell soon, too. We’ve already given my parents a hint.”
“Should I be concerned about you two potentially putting yourselves in danger?” Gabby asks. And then, after waiting a while, “Aiden. An answer, please.”
“Sometimes,” he admits, his blue eyes apologetic. “Yeah. We have no choice, though. We have to.”
Gabby nibbles her lip anxiously, then nods, pulling herself back together.
“Alright,” she says in her usual brisk voice, picking up her pen. “Thank you, boys. That will be sufficient for now. I’ll get to work on my end of things, too. You’ll keep me updated if there’s something I should know about?”
“Yes,” we chorus, getting to our feet.
“Excellent. Oh - perfect timing.” Gabby breaks into a smile as Kent eases open the office door. “Hello, you!”
“Hey, beautiful,” he says brightly, crossing to her with his arms outstretched.
“Wait - do you have flower shop stuff all over your hands? Don’t get it on my new sweater! Do you like it, by the way?”
“You’re gorgeous in it,” Kent answers, frowning slightly, showing her his clean hands. “But if I’m not allowed to touch you while you’re wearing it, then I hate it.”
Gabby lets out an adoring giggle as Kent sweeps her up out of the chair and into his arms.
“Hey, you two,” he says, addressing us over the top of her head, wrapping his hand around her silky braid. “What are you doing here?”
“I was just about to give Jamie these forms.” Gabby nods at a folder next to her laptop on the desk. “If Ellen and Emmett continue their science lessons from here on out, it’s considered summer school. All parents have opted into that, Jamie, if you don’t mind continuing.”
“Oh - no, I don’t mind!” I answer, delighted to hear the parents all want to keep up with my lessons.
“Wonderful.” Gabby leans cozily against Kent as I scoop the folder off of her desk. “Then just sign those papers for the school.”
“Later, though.” Kent pushes his glasses further up his nose, looking at me appraisingly. “Shouldn’t you be on your way to the shop, Jamie? Destinee is off soon.”
“Oh - yes, I’m going!” I hastily take a few steps towards the door, then stop and swivel to face Gabby, twisting the heist ring around my finger, suddenly overcome. “Gabby - have we mentioned lately that you’re the best, and you do so much for this town, and for us, and we appreciate you like crazy-”
“Seriously,” Aiden says weakly, slumping against me. “I don’t even understand how this place was running before you got here, and you’re the greatest boss of all time, and so smart that it’s scary, so thorough and tireless and-”
“Boys!” Gabby jumps in, half-laughing, trying to warn us with her eyes.
But Kent doesn’t seem to find anything suspicious about any of this.
“This is the way people should be around you all the time,” he informs Gabby, pointing over his shoulder at us. “I’ve been saying so for ages. Don’t stop, you two. I love it when people rain compliments down on my girl. Then I get to be jealous.”
“My god - enough,” Gabby groans, giggling and smiling all the same. “Aiden, Jamie, get out of here, or you’ll use up the time I was going to spend revising part of Aiden’s employee review before I officially file it! The part concerning a certain cookie incident?”
Without another word, Aiden and I scramble for the door.
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