magical cures 07 - a charming fatality Read Online Free PDF Page B

she stopped at a door with my name engraved on a door plaque. She opened it and gestured for me to step inside.
    “He really does mean well. After all, he does put up with my little tantrums.” Her words went in one ear and out the other.
    When I stepped inside the room, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The office was amazing. The grey palette and fluffy furniture was better than the furniture in my cottage. There was a large grey area rug with a diamond pattern in the middle of the room. A grey sofa was place on the edge of the rug facing the desk and behind the desk was the most amazing view of Locust Grove.
    There was a kitchenette with a coffee maker and a pile of June’s Gems on a covered pastry dish. A picture of Gentle June’s Stress Relief was framed and hung on the wall in the exact bottle I had sent them.
    “Gorgeous!” I ran over to the picture and gazed at it. It was the first time I had seen a promo.
    “It will be in all the store windows and we did a big ad campaign in all the top national magazines,” Tiffany’s voice escalated.
    “And this is why it is important to use my bottles.” I continued to stare at it.
    “But not at those costs with all the ads we are running.” Burt trailed in the office behind us. “Listen, I know we kind of got off on the wrong foot, but I know business. Ask my wife.”
    “Oh, she assured me.” I doubled over and put my hand on the edge of my desk to brace myself.
    “Are you okay?” Tiffany asked.
    I opened my eyes and looked down at the ground to see if I could get a reading on my gut feeling. Madame Torres glowed from the small opening in my bag. The potion bottle charm raged with boiling liquid. Something was wrong.
    “I’m fine.” I shook my head and stood back up. It was all wrong. But what? “I’m not worried now that we have the bottle situation straightened out.”
    “It’s straight, but I’m telling you,” Burt’s voice escalated, he pointed his finger at me.
    “Stop it,” Tiffany growled and shoved his finger down toward the ground. “It will be fine.”
    He reached out and swung her face to him. “It better,” he spat through gritted teeth and dropped his hand from her face.
    “Hey!” Anger boiled deep in me. I sucked in a deep breath and envisioned my fist punching him as hard as I could in the gut. I had only been able to draw from this gift that was deep rooted in me once before. When I was a student at Hidden Hall, I was in a compromising situation and made a picture fly off the wall to knock someone out. Surely I could do it again.
    “Ugh!”  Burt doubled over. His face rose to mine. His eyes blazed down into my soul. I wasn’t about to let him get the best of me. Even though I wanted to desperately look away, I knew I had to be the strong one here.
    He stalked out of the office and slammed the door behind him.
    “I’m sorry you had to witness that.” Tiffany turned to me. The red marks on her cheeks told me how hard he had pinched her face when he grabbed it. “He really wants us to have the best life possible and truth be told, we are hanging on by a thread. There have been so many companies established, doing what we are doing and going overseas to co-pack or even make the product. I promised him that your product was gold and going to put us back into profits.” Tears welled in her eyes. “You are our last hope. We have sunk every dollar into Gentle June’s.”
    “Tiffany,” a wave of apprehension swept through me. I wondered if I should keep my mouth shut, but I just couldn’t. “You really don’t have to put up with that type of abuse.”
    “Burt,” she brushed it off, pfft, she waved her hand. “We can get a little loud, but I know he loves me.”
    “Are you sure because that didn’t look like love to me.” I sure didn’t want to stick my nose where it didn’t belong but I felt it was my duty to at least bring it to her attention that it wasn’t normal for anyone to put their hands on anyone else.