Magically Together

Marcos brushed the strand of long dark curly hair out of his face and looked around the room. The living room he shared with Harmony, his girlfriend of two years, had taken on many of her charming characteristics. It didn’t bother him in the least that his second-hand brown leather couch had been sold off and replaced with a much warmer color sectional. He actually loved all the pictures of their adventures that Harmony had hung around the room. 

Right now though, Marcos wasn’t sure about anything that pertained to Harmony. 

He had felt lucky to have met the beautiful woman. Unlike most of his friends who met their friends on-line, he and Harmony had actually met in person. 

By day, he was a late-twenties businessman, looking at numbers and figures, trying to figure out how much money you could save. By night, he played the drums in a band that he and his high school friends had created so many years ago. 

At a gig, Marcos noticed the beautiful blonde-haired girl in the crowd. Her blue eyes stood out from all the others. They felt like spotlights in a dark room. 

After the show, she was waiting at the bar.  He and the boys posted up at the bar. The bartender brought over a whiskey sour “for the best drummer in the world” from a fan. Marcos looked over into those beautiful blue eyes and knew immediately who sent the drink over. He flowed with excitement and nervousness.  

Her smile was as infectious as her laugh. They talked about everything, and he had never felt more comfortable with someone before. Before he knew it, they were the last ones in the bar. Neither of them waiting the night to end. 

That was the beginning of the change in Marcos’s life. Harmony and Marcos went on their second date just two days later. The next week, Marcos was promoted at work. The following week, his band was asked to play a music festival that they had tried to play since high school. 

Things continued to get better for Marcos. Bigger venues asked for the band, work was giving him more money and less responsibility. Things were going so well that he and Harmony decided to move in together.

Everything seemed to be going so well and happening so fast that Marcos chalked it up to magic. Sitting on the couch right now, waiting for Harmony to get home, he hadn’t realized how close he was to the truth.

He had trusted Harmony, but now with what he had learned, he wasn’t sure what to believe. He felt like a fool as he thought back through the last year. Little things that hadn’t seen that big were suddenly magnified. 

He remembered the time that he couldn’t find his keys. He had looked all over the apartment in a panic. He threw the cute frilly pillows that had come to adorn the couch since Harmony had moved in. He didn’t see any keys. 

Moments later when she checked though, the keys were magically there. 

He scratched his head for a long time about that. Things got even weirder once he got into the car and found the keys in the cupholder. He was sure that he hadn’t put them there when he got in the car, he was sure he had put them in the ignition. As he sat there, the keys sat where his cup should have. 

Once again, he just chalked it up to magic.

Magic, he chuckled again as he waited. His jaw clenched in anger and doubt. His mind was going a million miles so he couldn’t focus on anything else. 

Marcos and his sister hardly ever went to dinner these days, but Anita had called him up and demanded to talk to him at a public place. That had raised red flags.  

Sitting here on the couch right now, the entire meeting with his sister was burned into his mind. He found her sitting in a booth in the back of the dark pizza place. The arcade games and pizza ovens providing most of the light. 

“Hola hermano,” she whispered into his ear as she kissed both his cheeks as he approached the booth.

“Hola, hermana bonita,” he held her at arm's length, examining her. She looked nervous and worried. She looked over her shoulder, and inspected the room. “What’s this about?” 

They both sat back down. Anita looked deep into Marcos’s eyes. She swallowed and glanced around the room one more time. 

“You’re alone right?” she asked. 

“Of course,” he said with an edge of frustration. 

“I wanted to talk to you about Harmony,” she finally got the words out. Each syllable seemed to be a struggle. 

He sighed. He had known that his relationship was probably the catalyst for this meeting. “I don’t really care what you have to say about her,” he started. “I don’t care if you and mom don’t like her because she’s white. I love her.”

Anita raised her eyebrows questioningly, “Are you sure about that?” 

Marcos narrowed his eyebrows and looked at her. “Of course, I’m sure.”

“Marcos,” Anita’s voice pierced through his tough defense he put up, “she’s a witch.” 

Marcos’s anger started to boil over. He wondered if he had heard his sister correctly. Anita didn’t usually like the women he dated, and she had tried to talk him when she thought he was making a mistake, but she didn’t look angry or spiteful this time. Now though, she looked worried, and kept looking over her shoulder.

Marcos laughed. “She’s not a witch, she’s nice.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Anita shook her head. “She’s a bruha. She uses magic.” 

Confusion smacked him in the face. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard, but somehow he already knew. It felt like a memory that was playing hide and seek from the front of his brain. Anita would go on to tell him about how her friend had run into Harmony and actually saw her use magic. 

Marcos and Anita finished lunch without saying much. Anita would rest her hand on his, and they would smile and share a memory. Things weren’t the same though.

He had walked home thinking about his lost keys from that day. He knew that he had left them in the car when he saw them in the cup holder, but he couldn’t explain how she had given him the same set of keys. He tried to rack his brain about any other time something strange like that had happened. He couldn’t focus on anything though. It was a fog that had run over his memories.

So when he got home, he sat and waited. 

He had sat there unfocused and yet supremely focused for hours. Then, he heard her keys hit the door as she unlocked it. She stood there in front of him, her beautiful blonde hair cascading down her shoulder in long curls. Her beautiful emerald eyes landed on him and her face changed. 

“What’s wrong?” She asked, worried. A quick couple of steps and she crossed the room - the heel from her shoe striking the hardwood floor with every step. She sat next to him on the couch and ran her gentle hand down his back. 

He looked at her and thought about how much he loved her. He reached up and caressed her chin. He brought his mouth to hers and they shared a kiss. As he closed his eyes, he had to wonder…

He broke the kiss. “Are you a witch?” 

“What are you talking about?” She giggled. 

His face remained stern. “Do you use magic?”

She leaned back and raised her eyebrows for a second. “Must have been some kiss.” 

He didn’t say anything. He kept his face firm and focused on her. 

“Where is this coming from?” She asked. 

“I started to realize that things were happening outside of reality,” he said. “And the more I thought about it, the hazier things got.” 

She sighed and ran her top lip between her teeth. She looked up at the sky. “It was when you lost your keys wasn’t it?” 

He gathered the inner edges of his mouth between his own teeth and nodded. Meanwhile his heart broke into a million pieces. “That was part of it.”

Tears were starting to form in the corner of her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

He grew curious. “So it’s true?” 

She nodded. 

“Did you ever use magic on me?” He asked.

This time, a slow nod. 

“Was anything ever real,” he asked. 

Her eyes went large and she leaned forward. “Of course this was real!” 

He wanted to believe her, but he wasn’t sure how he could. 

She dabbed at the corners of her eyes, careful not to smudge her eyeliner. “I love you and you seem to love me. What else is there?” 

“How can I believe you?” His temper was starting to rise. She jumped back with his question.

She reached out and placed trembling hand on his leg. “I have never done anything to alter your mind. Everything you have ever chosen to do has been you. I’ve only helped you.”

“Helped me?” He thought about the keys and then about work. “My promotion?” 

She closed her eyes tight, the makeup was starting to streak down her cheek with each tear. She nodded. “I helped, but you really did deserve it. Just like you deserved more progress with the band-“ each word had been a struggle. It wasn’t until the last word that she had just outed herself. 

“The band too?” He asked as he stood up. 

She sighed. “This happens every time.”

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t mess with men’s lives,” he could hardly contain his anger. He started to move past her and to the door. He wasn’t sure what he would do. He would have to come back and get his stuff some time. He could probably stay with his sister for now. 

He also couldn’t believe this was coming to this. He felt terrible about confronting her, but the trust was broken. He needed answers, and to find out that his entire life had been played with didn’t sit right with him. 

Her tears were coming out in full force now. Her shoulders which had been so strong just moments before started to slump. She looked defeated and small. “It’s not fair,” she whispered.

He stopped. At first, he wondered how she could think that this wasn’t fair to her. He was the one affected. It was his life that got altered. But something in the way that she slumped. 

They had never fought the entire time they had dated. He had seen her angry before, when someone tried to walk over her. This was different. She seemed defeated. 

And he felt for her. He placed his hand on her back. His large hands took over most of her back and rubbed. 

She looked up at him. The makeup was everywhere. She looked scared, but he could still that spark in her. 

“Why?” He pleaded. 

She shook her head. “It just happens. All the bonuses that you got, all the promotions and everything, it just follows me around.”

He wasn’t sure that he could believe her. “What about my memory though? The keys?” 

“The extra keys was me. I’ve done a little magic to help you,” she snorted, trying to keep everything back. “Whenever I did something magical, I didn’t want you to know. I wanted you to forget. The fog, that came from me.”

“But why?” He asked, confused. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Would you have believed me?” She asked. 

He wasn’t sure. It was farfetched. His mother and aunt had believed in spirits and the dark forces that surround them. His aunt had even blessed him with holy water. Still, he hadn’t ever believed in Harry Potter or muggles. But here he was, confronted with the truth. 

“No, probably not.”

She smiled, “See?” She was able to force a smile. “No one ever believes me. It always ends like this.” 

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“Everyone I’ve ever dated, everyone I’ve ever been close to, it always ends like this.” 

He sat back down next to her. He felt for her. She hadn’t really had many close friends. She had a large group of friends, but no one really came around too often. She didn’t talk about having a best friend ever. 

“Have you ever erased my memory?” he asked. 

She shook her head. “It doesn’t work like that. Most of the time, I can’t control it.” 

He leaned his head in towards hers. He wasn’t sure whose power he was under, his or hers, but he felt for her. He could only imagine not getting close to someone because of something like this.

“Can you be honest with me?” He asked.

She looked up at him, “What do you mean?” 

“I know the truth about your magic now,” he reached to the table to get a tissue. “So don’t hide it from me.” 

She leaned back and took the tissue. She dabbed at her eyes. “You aren’t mad?”

“Oh, I’m mad. I’m not sure that I can trust you anymore. You can mess with my mind, after all.” He looked at her and smiled. “But, I know how much fun I’ve had with you.”

She paused and looked at him. 

“You’re not going to leave me?” She asked.

He shrugged. “That depends. Tell me everything.” 

She smiled at him and he returned it.