The Fate Date (Glengarry Curse #1)

13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Sabrina

“ A little higher, don’t you think, Tania?”

“Yep,” Tania said, though she still didn’t look up from her phone. Sabrina yanked on the chain that she was using to hoist the modern light fixture upwards. Satisfied with its placement, she drilled it in place.

She wiped her brow with her flannel sleeve as she hopped down from the ladder to see Gavin in the doorway. He was backlit by the setting sun streaming in from the street, still dressed in his suit, making him even more menacing than she remembered.

Sabrina had been replaying their conversation from the other night, trying to figure out what triggered his sudden sourness. The whole scenario had been a good reminder of the real Gavin, not the one she’d been idealizing in her head. Their arrangement was business, it would be ending in two weeks and she needed to plug her nose and make the most of it.

“It looks great in here,” he said.

Sabrina crossed over to see him better, searching his face for the usual skepticism. She found none though.

His eyes roved over the newly painted lilac cash register. “I like the colour scheme, it feels a lot less ‘spooky’ and more approachable.”

“That’s what I was going for.” She tried to quell the enthusiasm that was rippling through her.

“How much did all this cost? ”

She wanted to play it cool and composed. But she was too gosh darn excited. “Nothing.”

“Pardon?” He crossed his arms and eyed her from head to toe, and fuck, if it wasn’t sexy.

“I scoured the local Buy Nothing group for a lot of the artwork. I got the light fixture from the trash. There is a bakery a few blocks over and I’d always admired their pastel colour scheme. I asked for their leftover paint in exchange for a tarot reading.” She was rocking on her heels she was so hyped.

Gavin’s tongue darted out to touch his lip, like she’d said something seductive. She wanted to laugh. Only Gavin Glengarry would be turned on by frugality.

Aaaand it had taken her all of thirty seconds in Gavin’s presence before her mind circled the gutter once again. Sabrina whooshed the butterflies away with a deep breath. “Anyway, I’m glad you like it. Let’s get to work.”

He nodded without saying anything and followed her up the death-trap wooden staircase at the back of the shop to the second floor. She hadn’t bothered with coaching cookies this time, or the crystal centrepiece. She’d kept the glitter pens though, because she wasn’t a monster. She opened her laptop to her dutifully completed homework. Typically, she would engage in small talk. But he’d made it clear that it was to be nothing but business from here on out. He settled in beside her, either comfortable with or oblivious to the silence that stretched between them. Bold as anything, Elgin hopped up in Gavin’s lap again, and after a brief freeze Gavin began to stroke him absentmindedly.

“So, I’ve already seen sales growth in—”

“Sabrina, before we get started, I wanted to say sorry for how things ended the other night.”

His words felt like a shard being pulled from her chest. Normally she might brush off an apology with a “no worries” to avoid the awkwardness of conflict, but with Gavin Glengarry it didn’t quite fit. She wanted an apology for how he’d behaved.

“I said those things to intentionally push you away. You didn’t deserve that. It was my own insecurities coming back to bite me.”

Sabrina blinked for a moment. It was quite a genuine statement—no excuses—just ownership.

“Thanks, I appreciate you saying that.” Then she added, “I shouldn’t have teased you like that after such a weird night anyway.”

He shook his head. “I knew you were joking. Besides, I like that you call me on my bullshit.” He offered her a little half-smile, which in Gavin-speak was a silent plea for her to forgive him.

“Gavin Glengarry, does this mean we’re friends?”

His nostrils flared, clearly uncomfortable with the label but recognizing the tenuous ground he held. “I suppose so.”

“Good.” She shut her laptop. “We have so much to catch up on, how is work? How is your family?”

“Sabrina, I saw you two days ago.”

She gave him a meaningful look, determined to milk whatever goodwill she could from him while the odds were in her favour.

He sighed and leaned back in his seat, capitulating. “I tried your spreadsheet.”

“And?”

“I had some mild early successes, nothing that would be statistically significant—”

“Yes, I knew it. Tell me everything.”

Sabrina peeled the story about Nila and Alfred out of Gavin, and was delighted as he started to come alive as he described it to her. She swapped her stories next about how she was trying to re-create the community space in the shop through the decor and upcoming events. She aimed to draw new customers in, while capitalizing on the expertise of some of their loyal ones like Gladys. She pointed to the Post-it wall. “You can see all my ideas over here—I pop ’em up when they come into my head.”

He scrubbed his face in horror. “If you don’t want to use a spreadsheet, have you thought of using an actual planner? With dates and things? You could track all the planets there too, along with your homework.”

The statement electrified her. She grabbed his hands.

“That is a brilliant idea. Could you imagine?” She was starting to. It was coming to her in perfect pastels. A notebook for setting intentions based on planetary transits. A way to make predictive astrology practical and personalized.

She ran to her room and started rooting through her scarves, costume jewelry, and collection of Beanie Babies to find an old notebook. Gavin stood at the entrance to her room, unwilling to cross the threshold of her vibrantly coloured, cat-themed space.

“This is your bedroom?” He was holding in a smile.

“Back to the table, we have work to do.”

She pushed him back into the main sitting area and had him say his idea again, recording the different aspects that popped into her mind on Post-its which she arranged on the table.

“OK, this is what I’m picturing.”

“Pitch it to me, Tink.” Gavin wasn’t even hiding his delight anymore, it shone out, boosting her self-assurance.

“OK, what I love most about astrology and tarot is using it as a tool to help people understand themselves and their place in the world. I love that moment where something resonates, helping them with their own self-awareness.”

“Good start, making it relevant, explaining why this has you more excited than a kid on Christmas.”

“Or a witch on Samhain. ”

“Uh, sure. You’re good at helping others,” he stated, as an objective fact.

“Thanks.” She tried to hide how much she loved his compliments. He said them so matter-of-factly it was impossible not to believe them. “What excites me the most about a planner is the ability to do that for a wide group of people. It could have two sections—the first bit a fill-in-the blank deep dive into the user’s natal chart. Then the rest of it would be an agenda to understand how the transits affect them. It could include high-level info about the energies at play, guiding questions, crystal recommendations, tarot spreads…”

“It sounds very useful.”

“With glittery cat stickers.”

“With a touch of Sabrina whimsy.”

She floated over to her Post-it wall and pulled a note off. “Maybe a few helpful words of advice from Eugenia too.”

“I like that,” he said, voice softening.

“Can you,” she waved her hand like a magic wand at his laptop, “spreadsheet it?”

“We can workshop it, yeah.”

They spent the next hour with Sabrina bossing Gavin around, having him create blocks in his software. They had a ten-minute argument over fonts, and eventually compromised on Arial. Sabrina pulled Post-its off the wall, chuckling at the hilarious advice her mother had given her over the years. Gavin was right: it was hard to find things—some of the best reminders had been buried deep under layers of Post-its, which she got to rediscover with him.

“Defying garment labels is how Virgos live dangerously.”

“If you didn’t get a visit from Marty and Doc, it can’t be that bad a decision.”

“Peanut butter first. Then jam.”

“Marry for money and you’ll earn every penny.”

“Why is there a stack of twenty Post-its that say ‘Team Edward’ and ‘Team Jacob’?” Gavin asked as he helped her peruse the wall.

“You know from Twilight ?” He still looked confused. “It was an ongoing feud, we’d try and sneak a Post-it on top when the other hadn’t noticed after a couple of days.”

Before she knew it, it was pitch black outside, and her belly ached from laughing and maybe a little from hunger too.

“I can have the graphics department take a look at this.” Gavin fiddled with one of the sections of his spreadsheet. “They could make it look a little less boxy at least. They owe me a few favours.”

“That would be amazing.” She beamed at him.

Her smile had him returning it, leaning closer. “You know what would be neat too, is if you had an app to go with it, for people who don’t permanently live in the early 2000s.”

Sabrina felt like she was going to burst. Her psychie-senses were buzzing. “You really think we could do that?”

“We could build it into the business plan. It’d be a great idea for scaling your idea after the initial launch.”

Her mind caught on the word “we”. Gavin was usually so discerning, that his support made her think that this could work. He tethered her ideas in reality—not to hold her back, but to help her harness the gust of inspiration before it blew away. She might like an excuse to keep working with him. Keep seeing him. Her body leaned further towards him, but her proximity made his features harden.

“What is it?” she asked.

He scratched his jaw, like he did when he was holding something back. Sabrina didn’t want to ruin the good rapport they’d had all evening, but she needed to make the most of this business coaching—especially as it had gone completely off the rails tonight .

“I love that you’re so excited about this, Sabrina. I don’t think I’ve ever been this enthused about anything at my work—” He stopped, as if he was equally shocked by that statement.

“But?” she knew it was there. And she didn’t have time to bury her head in the sand anymore.

“You only have so much time and resources. You might want to consider where your energy is best spent.”

He was dancing around something, but Sabrina didn’t understand what.

“I’m not saying you have to, but you should evaluate if running a brick-and-mortar shop is really your calling. Would you have more time for a project that really inspired you if you didn’t have the shop?”

“You’re right.” She felt like she’d been catapulted back to earth from the wild journey through the clouds she’d taken all evening. “This is me getting swept away on a whim. This isn’t what my mother would have wanted.”

He looked pained as he stared at the spreadsheet before saying, “What about what you want?”

Did he think she wasn’t capable of managing everything? Or, that despite his business coaching, the shop was a doomed endeavour? How dare he underestimate her, judge her abilities when he was in the same situation. “You’re one to talk.”

He nodded, accepting the criticism, but instead of their usual devolving arguments, he said, “You’re right. I’m the world’s greatest hypocrite. Forget I said anything.”

She instantly regretted her words. In his own Gavin way, he was looking out for her best interests. But he was missing the heart of the matter.

“It’s just that, the shop is all I have left of her.”

And before she could stop them, those pesky tears burst forward through the dam she had carefully constructed. Her vision was too blurred as she tried to control them, without success, so she didn’t see Gavin’s reaction. Probably horror mixed with his usual judgment.

But then she felt a tissue pressed to her hands, and strong arms around her. The effect made her sob harder. “I’m s-s-so sorry,” she said. But his hands only squeezed her tighter, and she let herself sink into the protectiveness of his embrace, which was holding her together as her body fell to pieces. The smooth tempo of his hand as he stroked her back was a soothing constant. He wasn’t rushing her through the moment, or trying, impossibly, to take the pain away. He was just there. Supporting her through every hiccupping breath.

When the worst of the agony had subsided, she cut the moment with a joke. “Sorry, you’re supposed to be a business coach, not a snot rag.”

“It’s OK, I’ll take the cost of my shirt out of your signing bonus.”

“Will not.”

He pulled back slightly and wiped a tear from under her eye. She sniffed loudly.

“You’re right, you know,” he said.

“I’m always right, about all things, all the time. That’s what you said in the car the other day, remember?”

He pursed his lips. “Well then, in this case you’re extra right. My family home is a burden. It’s a reminder of my father that I can’t let go of. And I would hate for your goals to be tainted by resentment—no house, or store is worth that price. I only suggested the idea because you’re a hell of a lot braver than I am.”

Her earlier insecurities abated. Gavin, better than anyone, understood the true meaning behind the shop as she did. Though his body had retreated, one arm was still around her, his fingers lightly stroking the small of her back. Only a second ago his touch had been comforting, but that lingering brush of contact had her body heating again. His proximity was blurring all the thoughts in her head that warned he was only being friendly. But the way he looked at her, brow furrowed in concern, his eyes staring at her puffy cheeks, in the safety of his arms—it seemed like he cared. And she wanted him to.

“Homework for this week.” He cleared his throat and pulled his arms away. “I’m not saying you need to close the shop—but if you could take the income from renting this space out, and apply it to another project—is there another way you could honour your mother that incorporates your wants and wishes too?”

She nodded and took a moment to blow her nose again, effectively killing any sort of allure she might possess. “I’ll consider it. Here, I’ll walk you out. I’d offer to feed you but I’m probably going to have Kraft Dinner.”

Marie was giving the shop a final dusting as they came down the stairs.

“Did you come up with a grand plan to save the shop yet?” she said, chuckling to herself.

Guilt stabbed through Sabrina. “We were working hard,” she said, evasively.

Gavin gave her shoulder a little squeeze, before he leaned down over her and whispered, “Don’t forget about your homework, Tink.” His breathy words tickled her ear and made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She wanted more of these tender moments, was craving them. Her body wanted to lean back into him again.

There was no way she was coming out of this arrangement unscathed, was there?

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said a little louder. Her body almost melted on the spot as she felt him kiss her hair before disappearing into the darkness.