Thursday morning. It was just another day. It was probably Miyani’s least favourite day of the week nowadays. Rose would be busy, there was no lesson with Ramona and all Miyani really had planned was work. 

    As per usual, Miyani entered the lift to go down and sighed. The more she began learning and improving herself as a witch, the more she started dreading going to work at the library. It felt so… so dull and normal compared to her secret life. She didn’t even get to bring Whiskers with her which she found was becoming more problematic for her as time went on. After all, ever since learning that the cat was her familiar, not to mention them fusing the week before, Miyani kind of didn’t want to be apart from her at all anymore. At the very least, she hadn’t seen the witch hunter again since last friday.

    But alas, she had to keep up appearances. To make it seem as if she was just another normal woman with a normal life. Not that that was any fun.

    When the lift came to a stop on the fifth floor, Miyani held her breath. Someone entering on the fifth floor, that could only be…

    “Oh… Morning,” Gary Olsen said as the lift doors opened and came face to face with Miyani. He looked startled more than repulsed this time at least.

    Miyani stared at him for a moment. She really didn’t want Gary to spoil her good mood but if she made a wrong move now, she’d only end up antagonizing him again. Sighing, she took a step back to allow him entrance into the lift. “Morning…” she muttered.

    For a moment, Gary seemed to weigh his options while adjusting his glasses but then he just wordlessly entered the lift and turned his back towards Miyani. Just as most of their lift rides together, there was an awkward silence at first. Miyani guessed that he was thinking of another clever insult or something but as they got to the second floor, Gary actually surprised her.

    “... You’ve been hanging out with Rose…” he said while turning to face Miyani.

    “Uh… yeah?” Miyani asked.

    “What uh… does she… ah, never mind. Forget it,” Gary huffed. He turned away from the witch again, trying his best to hide what was clearly a blush on his face.

    Miyani frowned. He always spoke his mind about Miyani but now all of a sudden he was getting cold feet? “Come on, say it,” she demanded.

    Gary was actually surprised there as he turned to eye her again. He did not expect the timid goth girl from upstairs to suddenly be so forceful. “What does she think of me?” he finally asked. He spoke softly, as if suspecting that Rose was listening in on their conversation.

    “Wha-huh?” Miyani stammered.

    “You heard me. Does she like me…?” Gary asked.

    Miyani frowned. Was this Gary’s reason for being a lot nicer to Rose than he was to her? “We don’t really talk about you…” she said truthfully.

    There was a mix of emotions visible on Gary’s face that Miyani couldn’t make heads or tails from. “... Right…” he muttered angrily as he looked to the ground. He then faced the doors of the lift again and Miyani noticed that he balled his fist.

    Miyani didn’t really know what to do with herself there. She couldn’t believe that the bully Gary Olsen could even have a soft side in the first place. Now he was asking Miyani of all people about romance?

    When the doors to the lift opened again on ground floor, Gary lingered for a moment longer. “It’s your fault…” he said.

    Miyani lifted her eyebrow. “What is?”

    “You’ve been shittalking me, haven’t you?!” Gary yelled.

    Miyani’s mouth went agape. A few weeks earlier, she would have been scared but now, she actually felt confident. Maybe it was her growing aptitude as a witch, or maybe it was Rose’s suggestion that she’d come out as a person to the outside world more, but Gary Olsen no longer scared her, no matter what he tried to do. She just brushed past him and looked at him over her shoulder. “Maybe you should stop being such a dick first,” she said.

    Gary made what sounded like a growling voice and he wanted to say something back but he apparently decided against it. Miyani didn’t care. She left the apartment building and went on her usual walk towards the library.

While at work, Miyani usually just went about her business, sorting books and trying not to stand out too much. However, throughout this week, she had actually been rather forthcoming just as Rose had suggested. She was happy to help customers and she even felt confident to help out at the book checkout counter, much to the surprise of Miyani’s coworkers and especially her manager.

    “Okay… what’s his name?” Bethany asked during their lunch break. She was a head taller than Miyani but slightly younger than she was. She usually took care of books that were returned and sent out late fees for those that weren’t.

    “His name? What do you mean?” Miyani asked.

    “There’s been a stride in your step all week! You’ve got it good, girl,” Bethany said excitedly.

    “I don’t know what you mean…” Miyani muttered while taking out her lunch.

    “Come oooon, don’t leave me in the dark. It’s obvious that you’re in love!” Bethany said, loud enough for the other people in the cafeteria to hear.

    Miyani gritted her teeth and went pale. Was that truly the vibe she was giving off? “I’m not…” she started but then she began thinking. She couldn’t exactly tell her coworkers about her experiences as of late. That she flew on a broom and fused with her cat. Then again, if she were to lie and tell her that she was in love, then that could only further cause trouble… Thus, she just shook her head. “I’m just… in a better place, that’s all,” she said.

    Bethany eyed Miyani suspiciously. “Hmm… I’ll get you to talk, one way or another,” she said.

    Miyani was not looking forward to that, alright…

Miyani’s afternoon shift went by decently well. Nothing major happened aside from one moment where a little kid began screaming and yelling because he was upset at his mother. However, that all changed just a few minutes before closing time. Miyani was once again tending to the checkout counter when one last guest approached her with a stack of books.

    “Good afternoon, si- GARY?!” Miyani gasped.

    “M-Miyani?!” Gary gasped just as loudly. It caused a few heads to turn their way.

    “What are you…” Miyani asked when she caught a glimpse of the books that Gary was checking out: a small collection of romantic stories.

    Gary went completely pale. “You… work here?” he asked.

    Miyani nodded silently. Was this really his way of learning about romance? Reading about it in a bunch of fictional stories? Not that she herself knew anything about romance. Regardless, she took the stack of books and began scanning them.

    Gary just looked around himself, trying to avoid eye contact. “Not a word about this!” he hissed.

    Miyani looked up at him momentarily and gave him the side eye but then just went on with scanning. “Your library card please, sir,” she said.

    Gary muttered something to himself and then pulled out a crumpled card out of his pocket.

    Miyani scanned it as well and began placing the books into a bag. “You may keep them for two weeks. Any later and there’ll be a late fee,” she said.

    “Right…” Gary mumbled. With that, he grabbed the bag and left the scene again, trying his best not to make himself stand out at all. It was almost like a complete reversal had happened between him and Miyani.

    Miyani shook her head and started making preparations to close up for the day when who else but Bethany came over with the biggest, smuggest grin on her face.

    “That’s him, isn’t it?!” she asked excitedly.

    Miyani almost jumped in surprise. “Wha-... Gary?! No way!” she hissed. She felt repulsed even thinking about it!

    “I saw the way you two looked. Your awkward stares. Just admit it. You two are in love!” Bethany said eagerly.

    Miyani eyed her coworker angrily. “I am not in love with Gary! We just live in the same apartment building,” she said.

    “Uhuh, uhuh,” Bethany nodded. She had already made up her mind and nothing that Miyani said was going to change that it seemed. The witch was quickly losing the energy to even argue beyond this point.

    “Cut it out! I’m not in love… I don’t even know anything about what love is,” Miyani blurted out. Perhaps that wasn’t the best thing to say as this only seemed to make Bethany smile more and more.

    “I can give you advice,” she proposed.

    “W-what now?” Miyani gasped.

    “I can tell you all about what love is and what you can do to make that special someone feel extra special,” Bethany said.

    Miyani took a step back. She wasn’t going to get rid of Bethany that easily, was she… She let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes. “Fine… if that’s what’ll make you feel better,” she muttered.

    Bethany let out an eager giggle and gave Miyani a quick hug. “We’ll get you strolling arm in arm with him yet!” she said excitedly.

    “But he’s not…” Miyani tried but gave up halfway through her sentence. There was no point in arguing it seemed. What had she even agreed to just now?

When Miyani arrived back at her apartment building, she was pretty glad that she didn’t run into Gary Olsen again. Two encounters were more than enough for one day. Today had been a strange day and Miyani wasn’t yet sure what to really do from here on out. What would she even say to Rose?

    She sighed as she entered her apartment where Whiskers was already awaiting her. The cat sat by the door and she had actually dragged her empty food bowl with her.

    “Happy to see you again too, Whisk,” Miyani muttered as she moved on over to her kitchen to fulfill her familiar’s wishes. All the while, the events of the day kept replaying in her mind. She wasn’t sure whether she liked all of this extra attention that she was given by the people around her just yet. She liked it from Rose and Ramona but Bethany and Gary?

    Miyani absentmindedly placed a filled bowl on the floor and began stroking the cat’s back while she dove in when there was a knock on the door. The witch frowned. Today was thursday and she knew that Rose was busy. So then… who could this have been? Tentatively, she stood up and opened the door, only to be faced with Gary for the third time that day.

    Miyani stared at him with disbelief. This was the last thing she had expected to happen that day. And the strangest thing was that Gary looked like a nervous wreck.

    “... I’m sorry…” he mumbled.

    Only now did Miyani find her voice again. “What?” she asked.

    “I’m sorry,” Gary repeated.

    Miyani eyed him curiously. What was he doing?

    “I’m sorry for… for acting the way I do around you,” he said.

    Miyani’s jaw dropped. If someone had told her last week that Gary would apologize to her today, she would have called them a liar.

    “Uh… so yeah… that’s it,” Gary said. With that, he turned around and made to walk back towards the lift again.

    For a moment, Miyani just watched him leave. Rose’s words echoed in her mind then, about coming out as a person more. About reaching out to the outside world. Besides, she couldn’t just let him walk away after that! “Wait!” she called after him.

    Gary looked back at her curiously.

    “Do… you want some tea?” Miyani asked. What in the world was she doing?!

    Gary looked around himself and then questioningly pointed at himself. Then he looked to the lift and finally turned to Miyani fully. “... alright…” he said.

    Miyani opened her door fully and allowed him entrance. It had to be the first time that a man had actually come here. Why, of all men, did it have to be Gary Olsen? Yet here he was.

    Gary took a few tentative steps while looking around the apartment. The first thing he noticed, of course, were the various different kinds of exotic plants placed haphazardly all around the room. There was Whiskers, casually eating her food and ignoring Gary completely. Miyani’s broomstick stood by the door to the balcony which made her worry slightly but calmed again when she realized that, to an outsider, it was just a broom. There was no indication that it could possibly be used to fly by a witch such as herself.

    Miyani walked past Gary and went over to her kitchen where she began heating some water. “What kind do you like?” she asked.

    Gary was still looking around when she asked that. “Uh… what do you have?” she asked.

    “Look around you. What don’t I have,” Miyani mused.

    “Then uh… surprise me, I guess,” Gary stammered.

    Miyani nodded and looked around. She went over to several different plants and plucked some of their leaves. “Take a seat,” she said.

    Gary nodded and sat down on one of the chairs. “You have a lot of uh… plants, huh,” he asked awkwardly.

    Miyani nodded. “I like gardening,” she said.

    “Then why live on the eighth floor?” Gary asked.

    Miyani shrugged. “It was affordable,” she replied. Though she wasn’t really looking at him, she knew that he was probably still just curiously looking around Miyani’s apartment. She was glad that she didn’t have any blatantly obvious witch things lying around aside from maybe her broom.

    There was a sudden gasp from Gary. Turning around, Miyani saw that it was only caused by Whiskers, who had jumped up on the table and was making some hostile noises while eyeing Gary with mistrust.

    “Lay off him, Whisk,” Miyani said while picking her up.

    “He uh… doesn’t like me…” Gary said. He had actually shifted in his seat a little to try and back off from this ferocious kitty.

    “It’s a she, and I don’t blame her. You called her fat once or twice if you recall,” Miyani said with a hint of a snide voice.

    “Right… I’m uh… sorry about that,” Gary said.

    Miyani rolled her eyes. “Well don’t apologize to me, apologize to Whiskers,” she said.

    Gary blinked “I’m sorry, Whiskers?” he said, a little uncertain about himself.

    Satisfied, Miyani placed her cat down on the ground again before turning back to her tea making effort. Whiskers, in the meantime, still eyed Gary as if expecting him to explode at any moment.

    When Miyani was done, she placed two mugs of tea on the table and then sat down opposite her guest. “It’s best to leave it standing for a few minutes, to really bring out the flavours and to, well, let it cool a little,” she said.

    Gary nodded and eyed his mug for a moment. He looked very uneasy and adjusted his glasses almost constantly. Well, if he wasn’t going to try and say anything, then it was up to miyani to start talking about what she wanted to discuss with him.

    “You like Rose, huh?” she asked.

    Gary looked up in surprise. “Yeah… yeah I do,” he stammered.

    Miyani looked down at Whiskers for a moment and then back to Gary. “What’s her favourite colour?”

    Gary frowned. “What?” he asked.

    “What’s her favourite colour?” Miyani repeated.

    “Uhm… pink?” Gary said.

    “Yellow,” Miyani answered. “What is she trying to study for?” she asked next.

    Gary got a little annoyed there. “Why are you asking me these-”

    “Just answer the question,” Miyani interrupted.

    “Well… uhm… psychology?” Gary guessed.

    “She’s trying to become a clothing designer,” Miyani corrected him. “What’s her middle name?”

    Gary stared daggers at his own tea mug. “... Mary?” he finally guessed.

    “She doesn’t have a middle name,” Miyani said truthfully.

    “Gah! Did you just invite me in for a trivia quiz?!” Gary huffed.

    Miyani shook her head. “Here’s my real question: How can you know you love someone who you do not know in the slightest? I don’t know anything about what love is but even I know that one,” she stated.

    Gary opened his mouth to try and say something but he stopped himself. He let out a deep sigh and placed his hands on the sides of his head. It almost made Miyani feel a little bad. Maybe she had overdone it? Then again, this was Gary Olsen. Sure, he had apologized earlier but that didn’t automatically mean that she would forgive him. Not to mention the fact that Miyani wasn’t sure whether that apology was sincere or if he just wanted to get good credits in front of Rose.

    “The… tea should be good now,” Miyani said, trying to ease the tension a little bit.

    Gary did not respond at first, likely just thinking to himself. Eventually though, he picked up his mug and took a careful sip. For a moment he looked a little dumbfounded and finally, he looked up at Miyani again.

    “You really grew this yourself?” he asked. His voice was trembling slightly.

    Miyani nodded. “It’s my hobby. Been growing all this for years and experimenting with them to see what works in a tea and what doesn’t,” she explained.

    “Whoah,” Gary said in awe. “It’s really good.”

    Miyani… actually felt herself get a little flustered there. She let out a nervous chuckle and quickly looked away. “Thanks…” she stammered awkwardly. A compliment from Gary was not what she had expected. As much confidence as she had gained over the past few weeks, she was still bad at receiving praise. Coming out to the outside world as a person was harder than she thought! “Do you have hobbies like that?” she asked, quickly trying to change the subject.

    Gary scratched his neck awkwardly. “I paint miniature figures,” he said.

    “Figures?” Miyani asked.

    “Yeah. Like little elves and dwarves. It’s for tabletop games,” Gary explained.

    Miyani tilted her head. That actually sounded pretty cool. “And do you use them for games or just to display them?” she asked.

    “Oh, they see a lot of use! Most of the ones I paint are for friends but several I keep for myself as well. We use them for, well, for roleplaying,” Gary said.

    Miyani took a sip of her tea and then leaned slightly forwards. “That sounds pretty cool,” she said. There was a confused mewl from somewhere under the table but Miyani ignored it for now.

    “Heh, really? I always thought it’d sound pretty lame to others,” Gary said. Was it just Miyani or was his face getting slightly red?

    Miyani gave him a modest smile. “We all have our eccentricities, don’t we? Don’t think there’s anything wrong with that,” she said.

    Gary grinned. “I’ve always loved roleplaying characters in fantasy worlds! Worlds where warriors go to fight dragons, where fairies come out at night to make dew appear in the morning, where dwarves mine deep into the earth for jewels.” 

    The picture he painted of his fantastical world was… nice. It sure sounded nice at least. Miyani just let out some soft musings as she lost herself into her own fantasies for a moment.

    “Of course, the most important part would have to be magic and witchcraft,” Gary continued.

    This snapped Miyani back to attention. “W-witchcraft?” she stammered.

    “Yeah. Wouldn’t it be cool if witches were real? Imagine what you could do?” Gary proposed.

    Miyani gulped and she felt herself starting to sweat a little bit. “Eheh… a lot, I can imagine,” she said.

    Luckily, it seemed that Gary didn’t notice for he just went off on his own tangent. “I reckon you could… turn someone you don’t like into a toad,” he proposed.

    Miyani snorted. If only he knew how close she had been in the past to making that a reality for him.

    “Or… you could use that broom over there to fly around town,” Gary continued.

    Miyani went pale. “It’s just a broom,” she said quickly. She was probably making herself look more suspicious right now.

    “I know, but it’s fun to imagine,” Gary laughed.

    Miyani felt a paw brush up against her leg at that moment. “Ah… Whiskers, you’ve already had your food,” she said. She was actually quite happy for her cat to cause this interruption.

    “Speaking of food, I should probably head off soon. Haven’t had dinner yet,” Gary nodded. He started taking bigger sips of his tea but he still appeared to be savouring the taste of each gulp.

    Miyani nodded. “Same,” she said.

    “Again, I’m really sorry for how I’ve been acting. I had no idea you were so cool,” Gary said.

    Miyani felt herself get flustered once again. “T-thanks,” she stammered.

    “I… did a lot of thinking after this morning. You were right. I was being a dick… and you’re right again now. I don’t know Rose. I should change that but… well I don’t know how to approach her,” Gary said.

    Miyani blinked a few times. “I don’t really know how to help you there… The way Rose and I met was kinda by happenstance. In the park, when I was… uh, picking flowers,” she said.

    Gary chuckled. “Guess I should start doing that as well then,” he joked. He made his way back over to the door and Miyani followed him slowly. “Thanks again for the tea!”

    Miyani nodded. “You’re welcome,” she said and opened the door for him.

    “I’d like some more another time… if that’s okay?” Gary asked.

    Miyani’s eyes went a little wide. “S-sure… My evenings tend to be free on… on thursday,” she said.

    Gary grinned again while backing off towards the lift. “It’s a date then,” he said before chuckling to himself.

    Miyani gulped. “Y-yeah…” she said absentmindedly.

    With that, Gary entered the lift and vanished inside.

    Miyani closed her door and stood with her back against it for a solid minute. It wasn’t until Whiskers poked her head around the corner and into the hallway that the young witch finally snapped herself out of it. “What just happened…?” she asked out loud.

When Miyani met back up with Rose on the following evening to head off to the new lesson with Ramona, she was still kind of reliving the conversation she’d had the day before.

    “Are you alright, Miyani?” Rose asked as they entered the lift down.

    “Huh? What?” the witch gasped.

    “You’re looking kinda out of it,” Rose said.

    “Ah… sorry. Something happened that uh… uhm…” Miyani stammered. She wanted to tell her about Gary and about her encounters with him on the day before but… it was kind of embarrassing. Still, she didn’t want to keep secrets from her best friend. She was about to speak up again when the lift doors opened on the ground floor and who else but Gary Olsen was there once again.

    “Oh, hey Miyani! And hey Rose!” he said. He was sounding very friendly. And how come he greeted Miyani first that time before Rose?

    “Hey… Gary,” Miyani stammered while awkwardly waving her hand.

    “Off together again?” he asked.

    Rose nodded. “It’s friday night. We always go out today,” she replied.

    “Well, have fun!” Gary said. With that, he entered the lift and closed its doors to go up.

    For a moment, Miyani stared at the closed doors and was only really shaken out of it again when Whiskers used her tail to brush over the witch’s face.

    Rose eyed her with suspicion. “What… happened?” she asked. She was onto the whole ordeal alright.

    Miyani gulped and bit her lip. “It’s a long story…” she said.