The Secret Ingredient

As I walked down the stairs, I see my daughter and step son bickering.

“Good morning you too. What are you fighting about now?”

“Hey mom. I was just telling Noah that he keeps eating all the food for the guests. Just for breakfast he ate 4 cupcakes” my daughter Allison said.

“I was hungry Ally. I love the cupcakes you and your mom make. Besides, you can make more food for the guests. And didn’t you say that there is also a first come first serve rule” Noah said.

“It’s okay Ally, we can make more. There is plenty of food for the guests. Check the fridge and cupboards or you can order something from the bakery or bistro” I said and went to the kitchen to get some breakfast.  

“Good morning Sam” I greet my husband.

“Morning Abigail. I wanted to tell you that I will be helping a few new doctors today and I am going to have lunch at the Bistro with them.”

“Okay. I will be in my shop if you need me.”

After I had my breakfast, I went to my shop. I started bringing out the new arrivals and I made two cups of herbal tea. I knew that Mia and Emily were going to come in with a problem of their own. Just as I had predicted, Mia comes bustling in the door like a hurricane.

“Hello Mia. Please slow down, you might hurt yourself” but by the time I said it, she was already beside me.

“Abigail, I have an emergency. I need your help.”

“I am at your service madam mayor. But first, please drink this herbal which I made right now. It helps calm your nerves and some people also say it brings luck to you.”

“Thank you, Abigail. Today is the day that I have no time to breathe. I have meetings upon meetings and a million applications to approve and decline. I think it is going to take up my whole week to approve the applications. There are millions of piles all over my office.”

“Well, I know someone who can do it.”

“Who is this someone?”

“That someone is you, Mia.”

“I doubt that.”

“You do the impossible everyday Madam Mayor” I try to cheer you up.

“Well, thank you for the tea Abigail. It did calm my nerves. But I need to hurry to my office. A mayor’s work is never done. See you later.”

“Bye Mia.”

After she left, I went to help out the other customers. After half an hour, Emily stormed into my shop.

“Hello Abigail.”

“Hi cuz” she said.

“What are you so worried about?”

“I am going to the mayor’s office to get something approved. I want to start a delivery system and I need to go to Mia’s office to get the approval.”

“Okay, slow down. Have this herbal tea I made just now. It calms the nerves and some people say it also brings luck.”

“I don’t have time right now.”

“Then why did you come here?” I joked.

“Okay fine. Give it to me please.”

“Here you go Emily.”

“That was not that bad. I actually liked it. Well, I am not that stressed that much now. I am feeling much better.”

“That’s good. And be a little friendly to Mia. She is having a very hard day.”

“Okay, I will try.”

“Thank you, Emily. She will appreciate it.”

“Thanks for the tea cuz.”

“No problem Emily. Good luck on getting your application approved.”

A few hours later I go close the shop to go have lunch at the Bistro. I see my husband Sam there with the new doctors.

“Hello Sam, hello chaplain.”

“Hello Abigail.” The chaplain, Adam, said.

“Oh, hey Abigail. Doctors, this is my wife, Abigail. This is Dr. Hawkins, Dr. Yoshida and Dr. Sharma.”

“Nice to meet you all.”

“Nice to meet you too”, all the doctors said.

“Well, I will not disturb you any further, I will let you go back to your discussions.”

“You can have your lunch with us” Sam said.

“No, it’s okay. I am having lunch with Noah and Ally today. They need help with something.”

“No problem” Sam said.

I said bye to all of them and then went to the table where Noah and Ally were sitting.

We had a fun lunch and then I headed to my shop. After I opened up my shop, customers started coming in again. I had a few deliveries and I helped out some customers. Then Mia came bustling in.

“Hello Mia. What brings you here?”

“Some of my meetings were cancelled today and some of them are rescheduled. I came to ask you, what was in the tea?”

“Why do you ask Mia?”

“I have a strong feeling that you had something to do with all my meetings being cancelled. I had wished for a free day today. I think that there was something in the tea you made.”

“Well, I did say that it brought luck to people who drank it. But I didn’t do anything to cancel all your meetings.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

After she left, Emily comes in.

“Okay cuz, what was in the tea? I had more than one problem today and all of them were fixed. I was also given things that I didn’t ask for but only I knew I wanted. I am pretty sure you had something to do with it.”

“Some people call that magic but I only gave you that tea.”

“But how did you know that I was coming and that I needed the tea? You and I both know that it was what you gave me. What was there in the tea Abigail?”

“I don’t know? I just followed the instructions written on the packet.”

“You said that it brings you luck.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about Emily.”

“What was the secret ingredient, Abigail?”

“I have no idea, Emily. Just stop stressing about something that is not even real. The tea was just to calm your nerves. I have nothing to do with your luck today.”

“Okay, I believe you.”

After she left, I was relieved. It was a good thing that they didn’t find out that I was a good witch and that it was because of my spells that they are very lucky today.