Jackson’s face was pinched as he tried to search his mostly-empty mind. “Linetta… That doesn’t ring a bell.”
Jade scrunched up her face. “Of course not. You said you forgot.”
I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing.
“Yes, but I was hoping that if you told me her name, it would spark something in my memory.”
“Well, I hope you find her. And I hope you get the job — you’ll do well at it. And I hope you get the crystals and candles you want. Ruby sells everything you might ever need. She’s the best. She’s an expert in the field.” She looked around the shop, her eyes going wide. “Where’s Ruby? Doesn’t she work here anymore?”
My heart went out to her. “Ruby is out today, but you don’t have to worry. She still owns the shop.”
She seemed to calm down at that. “I…” She looked at the clock. “I have to go home. It’s time to go home.”
She practically ran out of the shop and we just stood open-mouthed, watching her go.
Jackson recovered first. “Well, that was…”
“Sad.”
“Yeah.”
I turned to him. “Well, at least now you know your mother’s name.”
“Yeah. That’s if Jade’s remembering right. She might not know my mother at all. Maybe it’s just a weird fantasy in her head.”
“Maybe, but she did know your name.”
He nodded. Scratched his head. Rubbed his face. “I just can’t match up the name, Linetta. I mean, as soon as she said Jackson, it just felt right. I knew that was my name. But Linetta doesn’t spark anything.”
“That is odd.”
I noticed the time on the cat clock. It was almost one. “I need to go to lunch. I thought maybe Ruby would come back, or maybe the other lady, Garnet.”
“What do you do if they don’t show?”
“Close the shop and put a sign on the door.”
I found myself smiling just thinking about Blake coming to take me to lunch.
“What are you smiling at?”
“Oh, Blake is taking me to lunch. I guess I’m just excited, that’s all.”
“Blake? The rich dude? I thought you weren’t interested.”
I frowned. “I wasn’t. Now I am. What’s wrong with that?”
“You said you weren’t looking for a boyfriend.”
“I did.”
“You said you didn’t really like him.”
“I did.”
“So why are you going to lunch with him?”
That’s a stupid question. “Because he asked me and he’s kind of sweet when you get to know him.”
He crossed his arms. “When did you get to know him?”
“He was in here before when you were looking for Jade.”
“You got to know him in twenty minutes?”
Why do you have to be so annoying? “Yes. What’s your problem?”
“Nothing. It’s just a sudden change.” He ran a hand through his hair, his shirt pulling taut over his muscular arms. “He’s… he’s bad news, Maddie.”
“No, he’s not.”
“I know the type. He’s only after one thing.”
“Aren’t all guys?”
His eyes snapped to mine. “No.”
“How do you know his type if you can’t remember anything?”
He glared at me. “I just know, alright! There are lots of things — life things — that I can remember. Like the existence of magic. Just not specific things about my life.”
I remembered Jackson raving about cloaks and glamours when he first appeared at Mirrabooka. “You’re a Descendant too, aren’t you?”
“I must be if I remember magic is real. I also remember using magic.”
“You were talking about being cloaked when you first came to Mirrabooka.”
“Yeah…”
We stood there in silence for a while and I gave up on Ruby or Garnet coming to watch the shop. I would have to close up.
I sighed. “I’m gonna lock up. You’re not going to talk me out of having lunch with Blake, and you’re not going to ruin it for me.”
It was his turn to sigh, then he walked out of the shop, right through the front window.
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Blake leaned forward in his chair, fork still in his left hand. “So, where are you from?”
He’d taken me to a fancy restaurant for lunch and I kept looking around at the modern furnishings and crystal chandeliers, feeling like I didn’t belong. Soft classical music played through speakers in the ceiling and the smells from whatever they were cooking in the kitchen was divine.
But this was the kind of thing that Mum liked. The thing that she always insisted on from all the guys she dated. This wasn’t my thing.
“Um… I’m not sure really.”
He raised an eyebrow. “How can you not know where you’re from?”
“Mum and I have travelled around so much all my life that I don’t even know where she was living when I was born.”
“Oh. Okay, well, I kinda meant where you were living before you moved out here to our lovely little town.”
“Oh.” I felt silly. Of course that was what he meant. “We were living in Katoomba. Mum’s still there.”
My face and neck heated. I was such a dork.
He grinned as he moved a piece of almost-raw steak around on his plate. “Okay. Katoomba’s a bit touristy, but it’s a nice place. Were you still at school?”
“No. I’d been working in a supermarket as a ticket girl and was aiming to work my way up to manager.”
I kept watching him playing with his food.
“And they made you quit your job to move into Waratah?”
I looked up into those blue eyes. “No. I haven’t been there for months.” He frowned and I tried not to squirm. I didn’t like to tell anyone about the accident. Didn’t want to even think about it. “I, um, was hit by a car. Ended up in hospital for two months. They gave my job to someone else.”
He put his fork down. “That sucks. But they can’t do that just because you were in hospital. That’s not right. You could go to the Department of Fair Trading. They could help you get your job back.”
I wasn’t about to tell him that they gave my job away because I was at the funny farm. “Don’t worry about it. I have a much better job now at Mystical Encounters, and commuting to Katoomba by bus every day would suck. Plus, there’d be bad blood between me and my ex-boss if I got the law to make him give me my job back. No one wants to work in that kind of environment.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
My life had changed so much since then. I tried to picture me hanging price tickets on shelves with a ghost trying to get me to help them talk to their relatives or something. It would be too hard. I didn’t know how I was going to be able to work at this new job without sorting out my ghost problem first, but at least Ruby knew about it. That was half the problem solved.
“Maddie?”
“Oh, sorry. I zoned out.”
I couldn’t read his expression for a few moments, then he smiled. “That’s okay. I was just asking if the food was okay.”
I looked down at my burger and chips. “Oh, yes. It’s good. Really good. Thanks again for the invite.”
I meant it. The food was just perfect. Different from Herbie’s Burgers, which made the best classic Aussie burger. This one had some caramelized onion on it, but no beetroot. Still so good, though.
I looked across at his sirloin steak and vegetables and felt even more out of place. Maybe I should have ordered something else.
As Blake started talking again, I felt a tingle and quickly looked around. There was a spirit nearby, and if it was Jackson, I was going to kill him. Okay, I was going to be furious with him.
My stomach dropped. It wasn’t Jackson.
There was a waiter dressed in black with a handlebar moustache making his way through the tables in the restaurant, smiling to himself. I quickly looked away. The last thing I needed was for a ghost to ruin everything. Again.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbPBA2JUNxh
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Author's Note: What do you think of Blake as a character? Yeah, nah, or meh?
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