Magic Tricks 🔮 Book 2 || gxg

Old Wounds

The outer doors yielded with ease; warm, stale air rushing around her. Through the second set of doors Ada could see the top of Sam's head peeking over the counter as she pored over something on the desk. Ada smiled, and as the second handle creaked, Sam glanced up quickly, professionalism schooling her features before she broke out in a wide grin.

"What are you doing here?" she murmured as Ada approached. There was a smudge of old book ink on the tip of her nose and a magnifying glass in her left hand.

Ada swiped the mark away with her thumb, earning her a brief blush. "Got off early, Arthur forgot to pay the hydro bill and we can't work in the dark."

"Wow, cool though. What are you going to do, then?" The book open before her was badly damaged, the pages stained and warped so badly the words were nearly invisible.

"I thought I might hang out here for a bit, I don't feel like going home yet." Ada knew Jocelyn didn't get her address from the file, but she got a lot she could work with. It made Ada unnecessarily nervous to be home alone. "What are you reading?"

Sam glanced down at the pages. "It's one of Aidan's history books. It's one of a kind. I thought I'd try rewriting it, but it's a lot worse than I was expecting."

"No kidding." Ada squinted at it, but could make out nothing. "Can I help out with anything?"

Her grin returned. "Really?"—Ada nodded—"Okay, um ... oh, these books need their stickers replaced."

She dragged a box out from beneath the counter, beckoning Ada to join her as she explained what would need to be done. Sam scooted over so Ada could type up the labels and print them as she pored over page after damaged page. In the interim in which pages printed loudly beneath the desk, Ada would smooth her palm over Sam's hunched spine, and she would relax for a moment. It sure explained why her shoulders ached so often.

She let Ada use the good rolling chair, since she had to scoot back each time a customer needed her help. Ada couldn't very well check them out. She would sit awkwardly and try to figure out what to look at in those moments as Sam typed away at the computer and worked her magic.

It was a nice alternative to crawling under dirty cars, a welcome break from tools and noise. They mostly kept to themselves, though that was mainly thanks to Sam's riveted attention. Honestly, Ada was just happy to enjoy her company. The thirty-six hour car ride she had so feared had revealed as much to her, if not both of them. Collectively, they had talked for maybe half the trip, but not once did she feel like the had to fill the conversation. It was the same then.

An hour before close, Ada's phone rang. She was getting used to the intermittent buzzes in her pocket, jumping less frequently as they came, so this call only gave her a small jolt as she fished for her phone. Then she saw the screen.

"Be right back," Ada whispered, trailing her fingers over Sam's back as she passed. The doors were closest, and Ada shouldered her way outside as she tapped the answer button. She said nothing.

The number was Unknown. Now, she got those from time to time, but these days they popped up with a scam warning. This one did not. Ada had a strong feeling about who was on the other end, but the question at hand was how the fuck did they get her number? She wasn't stupid enough to keep her old one.

"That's it? You're just going to make me dive into it? No 'how are you?'" The snark was both familiar and sickening. In the pause she could fairly hear Jocelyn's eye roll. "That's pretty fucking rude, you know."

"So is stalking people."

She scoffed. "It's not stalking if you're blood."

"How did you get this number?"