Chapter Seven “ Cell Phones and Goodnight Kisses
“Sorry I’m late.” Justin approached Mina with his customary greeting. She was sitting at a table on the sidewalk outside a café they’d agreed to meet at for lunch during their last date.
“It’s okay,” she replied, as usual, taking a sip of her iced tea and peering out at him from behind her sunglasses. Justin sat down across from her and took a deep breath. He’d been going non-stop since 9 o’clock that morning and it was nice to finally sit down and take a break.
“I stopped by the photo shop on my way here to pick up some pictures I dropped off about a week ago,” he explained.
“Ooh, pictures! Can I see?” It had been about a week since she’d first asked to see some of his pictures and he had yet to deliver, so she was anxious for the opportunity. Justin pulled an envelope out of his messenger bag and slid it across the table to her in response. “Thanks. You look really nice, by the way. How’d the interview go?”
“Thanks. I do look good, don’t I?” he teased with a grin. Mina laughed and shook her head, though her eyes lingered briefly on the black slacks and white dress shirt he was wearing. He’d loosened his tie and rolled the sleeves up, giving him that messy after work kind of look. It worked for him, she had to admit. “And I think it went really well. Mr. Delaney seemed really impressed by my resume and my knowledge of his films. I feel good about it.”
“Good.” Mina glanced up from Justin’s photos briefly to smile at him. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.”
“Thank you kindly.” Justin paused to order a ham on rye from the waiter who had approached their table before turning his attention back to Mina, who was completely focused on the black and white photographs in front of her. “What are you doing tonight?”
“Um, I’m not sure exactly,” Mina replied, her gaze not shifting. “Ivy’s been complaining that she hardly sees me anymore with all the studying and research that I’ve been doing lately, so I think I’m going to hang out with her or something.”
“Oh.” Justin frowned slightly, though Mina didn’t notice. “Well, my friend Trace is having a party, so if you two want to stop by, you’re more than welcome.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Mina agreed distractedly. “I’ll see what Ivy wants to do.”
“Okay.”
In the week since their date at the aquarium, which had ended surprisingly well despite Mina’s outburst about the Wizard of Oz, Justin had been out to the movies three more times. Twice to dinner and a movie, and once to the pool hall that Justin frequented with Trace and Izzie. He had enjoyed himself all three times “ Mina was easy to talk to, and had a great sense of humor “ but he was beginning to feel as though he was just hanging out with a friend rather than going on dates with the woman in question. Every date ended the same way, with unwelcoming body language from Mina and with Justin leaving without a goodnight kiss. He’d stopped talking to Izzie and Trace about it, since he didn’t think his ego could handle any more of their taunting. He wasn’t willing to give up on her just yet, though.
“Justin, these are really beautiful,” Mina finally spoke to him again as his food arrived and she grabbed one of his fries. “Have you ever thought about just doing something with photography? Career wise, I mean.”
“I don’t know.” Justin bit into his sandwich pensively. He’d been so set on film school that the thought of pursuing photography full time had never occurred to him. Photography had always been his first love, but he’d always figured there was more of a future in movies.
“Well, you should think about it,” Mina told him seriously. She returned the photographs to their envelope and slid them back across the table to her companion. “I mean, I’m sure you’re good at film stuff too, and if that’s what you want to do then you should do it, but you’re really good at this photography thing, Justin. Really.”
“I’ll think about it,” Justin agreed as he fingered his French fries thoughtfully.
“Good.” Mina nearly jumped out of her skin as a loud ringing came from the general direction of her purse. “What the hell is that?”
“I think it’s your cell phone,” Justin informed her, trying to suppress the laughter that was threatening to escape his lips. “Damn hippie.”
“Oh. Right.” Mina began rummaging in her purse trying to find the offending object. Ivy had bought it for her a few days earlier, and she still was not used to having it. She had never needed a phone before since most people she knew had more distinctly magical means of communication. “Hello?”
“Mina?” a familiar male voice yelled.
“Yes. Who is this?”
“It’s Charlie! Awesome. I can’t believe this is really working,” Mina’s oldest brother exclaimed, his voice reflecting a child like excitement.
“Charlie? Why the hell are you calling me on a phone?”
“How else would he call you?” Justin muttered from across the table. Mina ignored him, not able to think of a response quickly enough.
“Ivy told me how to do it, so I thought I’d try it out. Pretty freaky, huh?”
“Yeah, freaky,” Mina sighed. “Is there something you wanted or can I go?”
“You can go, I guess.” Charlie sounded slightly dejected. “I just wanted to try it out.”
“Okay,” Mina replied with a laugh. She couldn’t help shaking her head at him despite the fact that he couldn’t see her. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Fine. Bye.”
“Bye, Charlie.”
“Who was that?” Justin inquired as she hung up.
“Just my brother. Listen, I have to get going, but I’ll try to convince Ivy to come to your friend’s party tonight,” she assured him as she stood up. Justin looked crestfallen.
“You’re leaving already? I just got here!”
“You were late!” Mina pointed out, sighing when the only response she got was a pout from Justin. “I’m sorry. I’d stay, but I have an appointment. I’ll see you later okay?” She leaned down and gave him a kiss on the cheek before heading down the sidewalk.
***
“Okay, let’s get started,” Mina began. She was about to start another interview, this time with a witch named Anna, who had been dumped by her non-magic boyfriend a few months earlier. They were sitting at a table in the Daily Brew, and Mina’s pen was positioned above her paper waiting for relevant information to record. “How did you and David meet?”
A small smile immediately appeared on Ana’s face and a distant look came into her eye. “It was a total fluke meeting, actually. I’d just moved to Los Angeles and I was totally lost. I ended up at this bookshop and David was working there. I asked for directions to Beverly Hills because I had a friend there I was supposed to be meeting and he told me he’d only tell me how to get there if I gave him my phone number in return. I of course had no phone number to give, which I told him, and he thought I was lying, but he gave me the directions anyway. He was really charming and I couldn’t stop thinking about him, so I came back the next day to thank him and we went out to coffee. It was all downhill from there.”
“And how long were you guys together?”
“Four months.”
“And you didn’t tell him you were a witch at all during those four months?”
“No.” Ana shook her head fervently to emphasize. “I kept wanting to, but I didn’t think he’d understand, you know? I’d heard all these horror stories about how much non-magics hate witches. You know, it’s been a problem for centuries. Witch burnings and all that, and now just the complete denial that we even exist. I didn’t know how to tell him, or if he’d even believe me. So I just kept my mouth shut and didn’t let him meet any of my friends. I think he thought I was anti-social or something.”
“But other than that, everything was good? I mean, you guys didn’t have any other major problems?” Mina inquired as Ralph brought her another glass of iced tea. She was quickly becoming addicted to the cold beverage.
“No, we didn’t have any other problems. Things were great. We had a lot in common. We both loved the outdoors, reading, stuff like that. He was really caring and affectionate. He’d buy me flowers, come by my house just to see how my day had been. He was the nicest guy I’d ever dated. I think I might have even been in love with him. I could have seen myself spending my life with him.”
“So how did you finally tell him?” Mina asked, biting her fingernails in subconscious suspense. Listening to the woman recount how good her relationship had been made it hard to believe that the simple confession that she was a witch could have destroyed it.
“Well.” Ana paused to take a deep breath. She seemed on the verge of tears and Mina pulled a package of Kleenex out of her purse. “I decided one day that if the relationship was going to work, I couldn’t keep lying to him. I mean, we couldn’t get married or something if I was keeping a huge part of myself from him. So I invited him over, made him dinner, and then I told him that I had something really important to tell him. I think he thought I was going to announce that I was pregnant or something.” She laughed a little, wistfully. “And I told him.”
“How did he react?”
“At first he started laughing. He thought I was kidding. Then when he realized I was serious he just thought there was something wrong with me. He thought I was on drugs, then he suggested that we get me psychiatric help. It was awful. I finally had to pull out my wand and do a few random spells for him to believe me.”
“What did he do then?”
“He totally freaked out. He wouldn’t let me come near him, he kept asking me what I was, like I was some sort of alien or something.” A few tears trickled down her cheeks as she spoke, and Mina handed her a tissue. “Thanks. Um…eventually he just bolted out of the house and I never heard from him again. I tried to go to his work, I tried to call him, I tried everything. He won’t talk to me. I don’t even know where he is anymore.”
“I’m sorry,” Mina commiserated softly. The pen slowly stopped flying across the page as the conversation hit a lull. Mina took a deep breath and the pen prepared itself to continue. “Do you think you should have told him earlier?”
“I don’t know how it would have helped.” Ana shrugged. “I mean, he was always going to think I was some sort of crazy freak, right? I don’t think telling him earlier would have done anything, except that I wouldn’t have been so attached to him yet. I dunno.”
“Yeah.” Mina nodded thoughtfully. She wanted to think there was something that could have been done for Ana’s story to end differently, but she didn’t know what. It seemed as though nothing could have been done to change David’s mind.
“Can I be done now?” Ana asked, her voice sounding quiet and small. Mina had a few more questions that she wanted to ask, but she didn’t want to make Ana talk more if she didn’t feel up to it, so she nodded.
“Yeah. Thanks so much for coming.”
“No problem.” Ana stood up, slinging her purse over her shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think I would get so emotional over this. Maybe we can talk more later if there’s more you want to know?”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” Mina smiled at her and thanked her as Ana headed back out into the big unaccepting world.
“That looked intense,” Ivy commented, sliding into the seat Ana had left unoccupied when she left.
“Yeah.” Mina nodded, biting her lip thoughtfully. She quickly shook herself out of her pensive state to look across the table at her cousin. “What’s up?”
“Oh, Ralph, Belle, and I were talking about going to the Howling Werewolf tonight and we want you to come along.”
“The Howling Werewolf?” Mina raised an eyebrow skeptically.
“Yeah, it’s some club they like.” Ivy waved a hand dismissively, though she was secretly excited about going. She didn’t always get invited to the wizard clubs. Most people were okay hanging around with her at work, but didn’t want to be seen with a member of a wizarding family who couldn’t do magic.
“It’s called the Howling Werewolf?”
“Yes.”
“Why would someone name a club the Howling Werewolf? Last I checked werewolves weren’t exactly a favored race. Although, I do have some feelings about that if you would like me to share.”
“No, I do not want you to share.” Ivy rolled her eyes in open irritation. “Do you want to come or not?”
“Sure.” Mina shrugged. “Could be fun. Oh…wait. Justin’s friend is having this party tonight and I told him-“
“Mina!” Ivy whined. “The whole point was for you to spend time with us and away from research.”
“I told him I’d try and I don’t have to go, so I will go with you guys,” Mina finished.
“Good.”
***
It had been a long time since Mina had been to a wizard’s nightclub. She hadn’t realized just how long until she’d stepped foot in the Howling Werewolf and been nearly knocked over by the noise and smoke. She had only been to a non-magic club once, and it was pretty similar, the only difference being that places like the Howling Werewolf came complete with ghosts floating around among the living, bar fights included curses flying out of wands, and live entertainment often included dancing leprechauns. Mina had learned the hard way in her first year at Wigglesworth that it was a bad idea to join the leprechauns in their dancing unless you wanted two days to pass without even realizing that it had been more than two hours.
Belle, Ralph, and Ivy headed straight for the dance floor, but Mina settled on a barstool, not quite ready to enter into the masses of sweaty people.
“What can I get for you, love?” the bartender, a tall, blonde wizard with a gold tooth, asked the moment she sat down.
“Jack-O-Lantern, please,” Mina ordered her favorite drink. She hadn’t had it since she’d left Wigglesworth.
“Coming right up.” He flicked his wand towards two bottles and a glass and the finished drink soon slid itself in front of Mina.
“Thanks,” she thanked him with a smile as he turned to another customer who had just sat down next to her.
Leaning back and taking a sip of her drink, Mina surveyed the club. A witch across the room was shouting at a ghost who had apparently floated straight through her, which, she assured him, was very rude indeed. A mass of people on the dance floor gyrated to the sounds of Toil and Trouble, a very popular rap duo who had been on the top of the wizarding charts for weeks, according to their number one fan Ralph, who often told Mina more about them than she really needed to know. As she sipped, Mina found herself wondering whether Justin could ever fit into this world. She thought he could. She thought he might even enjoy it. He seemed easy going enough.
“Excuse me,” a deep male voice broke Mina out of her thoughts and she turned to see a dark-haired wizard with creamy caramel skin sitting next to her.
“Yeah?” she responded, surprised that a stranger was already talking to her. It usually took a while before anyone approached her.
“Did you go to Evans Prep?” the man asked and Mina nodded. He had to yell to be heard over the music.
“Yeah, I did,” she confirmed, trying to remember if she had known this man in high school. She didn’t recognize him, but she had only had a few close friends at school that she would have recognized immediately. “Did you go there too?”
“Yeah.” He nodded, flashing a set of perfectly straight, pearly white teeth. “You’re the girl who started Students for the Equal Treatment of All Magic and Non-Magic Peoples, right?”
“Oh my God,” Mina groaned. She didn’t think anyone other than her remembered that group. It had only lasted one year since she couldn’t find anyone other than her best friend to join. “Yes, thank you. I’m glad my failure is still remembered by all.”
The man laughed. “I always wanted to join, but my friends made fun of me so I didn’t,” he confessed. “I’m Adam, by the way. I think you were a year below me.”
“Adam Jones?” Mina asked as she took his hand and shook it. He nodded, confirming her suspicions. “You were captain of the broom racing team! All the girls in my year were in love with you.”
“Good to know,” Adam replied, chuckling.
“Oh, and I’m Mina,” she added, realized that she had been rude and omitted her name. “Wow. It’s so weird to see you.”
“Thank you. It’s weird to see you too.”
Mina laughed. “No, I just mean…I never talked to you in high school, but all of my friends talked about you all the time and…weird. I would never have thought I’d run into you here. What are you doing in L.A.?”
“Oh, I’m actually working with the Magical Equality Commission. We’re working on equal rights for werewolves right now. It’s kind of an uphill fight, but it’s a good cause. I believe in it.”
“Wow.” Mina’s voice reflected how truly impressed she was. She would have never expected the biggest jock in high school to be working for equal rights. “That’s awesome.”
“Thanks,” Adam accepted the compliment with a sincere smile. “What are you-“
Mina’s cell phone suddenly began its shrill ring, cutting off the question that Adam had been about to ask. As usual, she jumped before she realized what it was. “I’m sorry,” she apologized quickly as she once again fished the electronic device out of her purse. “Hello?”
“Mina?” Justin’s voice came floating across the line.
“Justin?”
“Yeah! Hey, guess what? I got the job!”
“What?” She was having difficulty hearing him over the noise in the club, but she was pretty sure he’d just said “I got robbed.”
“I got the job!” he repeated. “Where the hell are you?”
“You got the job?” She ignored the question.
“Yes!”
“That’s awesome! Congratulations!”
“Yeah!” Justin exclaimed and Mina could hear the excitement in his voice. She smiled as he continued talking. “Listen, I’m at Trace’s party but it’s kind of lame and I was wondering if you wanted to meet me somewhere to celebrate?”
“Well,” Mina hesitated, glancing at the man sitting next to her who was probably wondering why she was talking on this distinctly non-magical device. “Sure. Just tell me where and I’ll be there.”
“Venice Beach.”
“Where?” she yelled over the music and the yells of a man running by after a flock of pixies.
“Venice Beach!”
“Okay. I’ll take a cab and meet you there in twenty, okay?”
After receiving confirmation from Justin, Mina hung up the phone and tossed it back in her purse. She turned her direction back to Adam. “I’m really sorry to cut this short, but I have to go. Hopefully I’ll see you around, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Adam nodded, looking slightly confused. “See you.”
***
“So then I had to spend the rest of the day in my gym shorts because I had laughed a little too hard and soiled myself,” Justin finished his story quickly and with a distinct air of solemnity. Of course, the fact that the woman next to him was collapsed on the sand in a fit of laughter slightly ruined the solemn effect. He shook his head at the amount of amusement she got from his 10-year-old pain and took the bottle of champagne that she passed to him. They had met at the beach with celebratory champagne and cheese and crackers, and had been sitting there talking for the past hour. “Okay. Your turn.”
“My turn?” Mina repeated, raising her eyebrows and sitting up to lay a piece of cheese down on a Ritz cracker. “Who said I was going to take a turn?”
“Um, those are the rules of the game, Mina. I tell an embarrassing story, and then you have to tell me one.” Justin took a sip of champagne from the bottle, glancing over it at Mina as she pondered what he’d said.
“What game is this?”
“The Embarrassing Story Game,” he replied in exasperation. “Come on, now. Why you gotta be so difficult?”
Mina couldn’t help giggling at his apparent frustration, a good half of which she suspected was all in good fun. “I don’t recall agreeing to play this game,” she continued until Justin threw up his hands in exasperation.
“Okay, this is how it’s going to be? I’m going to tell you about how I pissed my pants in the 5th grade, and you are going to give me nothing in return? Okay, fine. I’ll just keep the champagne to myself then.” He took another swig of the bubbly liquid as a pout formed on Mina’s lips.
“Oh, come on,” she whined, turning her pout towards him and giving him her fool proof puppy dog eyes. “The punishment does not fit the crime.”
“Oh, it does,” Justin assured her. “It most certainly does. Please pass the cheese.”
“Yeah, right. No champagne for me, no cheese for you. That’s how it’s going to be.”
“Okay, fine, fine, fine!” Justin threw his hands into the air again, the amount of alcohol he’d consumed contributing to the unusual amount of gesticulation he was doing. “Here’s the deal. I get cheese, you get champagne, and we start a new game.”
“What kind of new game?”
“Um, an awesome one called…What’s in Mina’s Purse?” He snatched up the medium sized bag that sat between them before he’d even finished the sentence, not giving Mina time to protest.
“Hey!” she protested after the fact.
“It’s either this or you tell me an embarrassing story,” Justin issued his ultimatum, clutching the purse to his chest so that Mina couldn’t grab it away from him.
“Fine,” she agreed, grudgingly. “Pass me the bottle.”
Justin obliged, handing her the champagne as she passed him a few slices of cheese. He slid one of the orange squares into his mouth as he began rummaging through her purse. There was the usual “ a package of Kleenex, a wallet, keys to her apartment…and a stick. Justin held it up to her.
“Why do you have a stick in your purse?” he questioned, his amusement apparent on his face.
Mina’s eyes widened slightly in response when she realized he was holding her wand and she nearly choked on the sip of champagne she’d just taken. She swallowed quickly and shrugged. “Because every woman needs some wood in her life.”
“Dirty!”
“You know what I mean.” Mina gave him a playful shove as she rolled her eyes at him.
“No, I don’t.” Justin shook his head. “Enlighten me.”
“Well,” Mina began slowly, her mind working wildly to try and come up with a believable explanation. “It’s for protection.”
“Protection?” Justin repeated, raising an eyebrow. “So, if someone tries to attack you, you just poke ‘em in the eye with your stick?” He demonstrated by poking the stick at the air, and Mina held her breath as a few red sparks flew from the end. Justin didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy being proud of his wit.
“Give that to me before you hurt yourself,” Mina ordered, holding her hand out for it.
“Are you worried I’m going to poke myself in the eye?”
“I wouldn’t put it past you,” she teased him as she grabbed the wand from him and set it on the other side of her where he couldn’t reach. The last thing she needed was for him to realize that it was not just a stick.
“Okay, okay.” Justin raised his hands in surrender. “I’ll stop questioning the Stick of Protection. Apparently it’s a touchy subject.”
“Apparently,” Mina replied with a laugh.
“Where did you say you were before I called tonight?” Justin changed the subject as he began rummaging around in his messenger bag for something.
“At a club with Ivy,” she reminded him, leaving out any details, as she had the first time she’d answered this question.
“Well, you look very nice tonight.” He was slightly drunk, so his words slurred together a bit as he complimented her, but the sentiment was not lost. Mina was still wearing her going out clothes, but she’d put one of Justin’s sweatshirts on over the backless top she’d been wearing. It was chilly now that the sun had gone down.
“Thank you, sir.” She paused to frown as Justin held something out to her. “What’s this?”
“It’s half of my iPod’s headphones! Just take it!” Justin exclaimed. He was beginning to find it odd that he had to explain these things to her. “ ‘What’s this?’ I swear to God, woman…”
“Sorry! I can’t know everything!”
“Do you know what music is at least?”
“Oh shut up.” She glared at him, only partially serious, as she lodged the thing in her ear. The alcohol they’d had that evening was certainly serving to loosen both of them up and make them more comfortable around each other. Mina actually liked it. She was enjoying herself more than she’d thought she would when she’d left the Howling Werewolf to come meet Justin.
Justin hit play on his iPod and they both laid down on the sand, letting the sounds of the Plain White T’s drift into their ears. Neither spoke for a while, just listening and gazing up at the stars as the music played. Mina’s toes began to tap softly to the beat.
Well I don't mind waiting 'til you're comfortable with me
But what's it gonna take to prove that I'm for real?
'Cause you know how I feel about you
You know I can't live without you
I just wanna stay and make it real
“I have a job,” Justin’s awed voice finally broke the silence. “A good one that I might actually like.”
Mina turned her head to look at him, grinning. “I know!”
“That’s never happened to me before.”
“Well, it’s happening now,” Mina assured him, reaching over to give his arm a squeeze. “And a drop of rain definitely just fell in my eye.”
“Mine as well,” Justin observed, sitting up and pulling his side of the headphones out of his ear. He looked up at the sky as it slowly began drizzling. “What is up with this weather anyway? It’s June in California, guys!”
“Who are you yelling at?” Mina laughed.
“The gods,” Justin replied succinctly as the rain began falling a bit harder.
“Of course.” Pulling her legs up to her chest, she pushed herself off the sand to stand up. “Let’s get out of the rain.”
“Oh, fine,” Justin sighed playfully.
“I’ll race you back to the car.” She took off running as well as she could across the sand without even giving him a chance to respond. Justin thought this very unfair.
“Hey! Wait!” He gathered the remains of the champagne and food into his arms and took off after her. The combination of his inebriation and the loose sand under his feet made it difficult for him to run quickly, but he soon caught up with Mina at the car.
“So unfair,” he informed her immediately as he approached, trying to catch his breath.
“I am very wet,” she replied matter-of-factly, as though this countered his claim that it was unfair. The rain was continuing to pour down, effectively soaking both of them to the skin.
“True. You are. But I have sand in my pants.”
“I’m sorry.” The statement was undermined by the way Mina then proceeded to burst into a fit of laughter similar to the one she’d experienced after Justin’s embarrassing story earlier in the night.
“Okay. Good. Just laugh. That’s nice. Thank you.”
“Sorry!”
“Mina?”
“Hmm?” Her laughter began to die down as she glanced over at Justin, standing in the middle of the parking lot with her and looking something like a drowned rat. He just stared back at her as she waited for a response.
The response finally came in the form of Justin setting the champagne and food down on the hood of the car and grabbing Mina’s hand. “C’mere,” he muttered softly, pulling her towards him and lightly placing his lips on hers. There was an immediate response as Mina closed her eyes, increasing the pressure of her lips against his and sliding an arm around his waist to pull herself closer to him. His hand slid into her soaking wet hair and he felt her smile into his mouth as he moved to deepen the kiss, rainwater sliding down both pairs of lips and mingling together.
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