"I'm back!" I shout as I walk in the door. I then walk into the kitchen to start cooking. I make the pasta and put it on two plates, then I put sauce on one of them. I then smell the potion to make sure it will fit with the taste of the sauce. Smells like cilantro. Ah well, that'll work. I mix the potion in with the remaining sauce and put some on Mallory's pasta. Even if she doesn't like it, she only needs to eat a little bit of it for the potion to work.
"AMBER!" I hear Mallory scream, and suddenly I'm scared. I don't know how long it will take for the potion to work. If she tastes the sauce and hates it, she might destroy me. I serve dinner, and Mallory takes a bite. Just enough for the potion to work. "Did you put cilantro in this? It's disgusting! You little rat!"
She starts chasing me around the room. I'm praying for the potion to work as she tackles me to the ground. Knowing that this time nothing worse can happen, I fight back. We wrestle for a while until she traps my head under her leg. I figure out how to slide my head out and we wrestle again. Why isn't the potion working? She traps my upper arms and torso between her legs, and I know I can't get out of this one.
"Amber, honey? What are you doing?" I think the potion worked. Evil Mallory would never have called me honey.
"Kinda trapped here, Mal."
"Oh here, darling, let me get you out of there sweetheart." She lets me go and this time catches me in a close embrace. "I love you so much," she says, and kisses my forehead.
"I love you too, Mallory. But now I really have to go."
"Oh no, you don't have to go back to Regina, I love you, and I'll take good care of you now, I promise."
"It's not that. I just have to go, ok? I love you," I say, giving Mallory one more hug before I leave.
I walk outside. The night air is cool on my face. I don't know the next time I'll be outside, so I treasure this moment. I look and make sure there's no one around before I go into Gold's shop. I don't want anyone to see me going in there. I've had enough people trying to hunt me down, I don't need to add "enraged imp" to the list. No one is around. I open the door and just after it slams I hear someone speaking from across the dim room.
"Welcome, dearie."