A Date with a Witch is part 4 of Witches and True Love Bleed my Heart series.

• Witches and True Love Bleed my Heart Part 1
• Witch? I did not Fall for a Witch #AWitchSaga – Witches and True Love Bleed my Heart Part 2
• Warlocks love Feisty Witches #AWitchSaga – Witches and True Love Bleed my Heart Part 3

Megan

This had to be the worst date in the whole world. One could just smell the boredom. As much as I hated the warlocks, I had never met one so insanely boring. But, I needed him to take me under his wing. My only hope for survival was openly flirting with our waitress. He was easy on the eye, though. Whenever he smiled, a rare occurrence done only to impress the waitress, his deep dimples enhanced his appeal. If I had the luxury of wasting time, I would have loved to waste a couple of hours on him. As boring as the date was, his dreamy looks helped me stay.

I cleared my throat in an attempt to bring his lusty ocean blue eyes back to me. My subtle action failed miserably. I swallowed my pride and put my hand on his hand that was resting on our table. Finally, his gaze landed on me. “Joseph, you realize that we are here to get to know each other.” Despite my irritation, I managed to maintain a smile.

“Oh, I apologize. Listen, Carol, you are a stunning woman. Any warlock would be lucky to have you as his companion, but that is not me. I don’t want to be lucky. I want to enjoy my misfortune for as long as I can,” he chuckled while his eyes drifted back to the waitress who conveniently stood next to our table. She was definitely interested in him.

I breathed deeply to hold back on cursing him. An expression of fury would not help my case. Instead, I gulped down my wine and waved at the waitress. However, she was too busy eyeing my date to do her job. So, I slammed my hand on the table with a loud thud. The sound seemed to echo in the dreary establishment for far too long or perhaps, it was my regret at making a scene. Each patrons’ eyes landed on me. Even, Joseph appeared startled. His eyes lingered on me for just a few moments. Then, without saying a word, he just got up and walked out the door. What a moron!

I had never regretted anything the way I was regretting my action right now. The woman sitting next to me was openly gawking me, and I just wanted to gouge out her eyes. Nevertheless, I swallowed my anger for the second time that evening and grinned like a Cheshire cat for her benefit. “Bad dates do bring out the worst in me,” I said in a polite tone. In response, the woman threw a sympathetic I-know smile in my direction and turned her attention back to her friend or date or whatever.

“And absurd remarks put a damper on my jolly mood.” A velvet voice came from behind me.

Slowly, I looked over my shoulder to see Philip standing right behind me. How long was he standing over there? I mumbled under my breath and turned my gaze on my empty glass. Speaking of an empty glass, where was that waitress?

“Judging by the passionate kiss that I saw your date sharing with a waitress outside this dull tavern, I suggest you not to wait for him to come back.” He winked at me and plonked down on the seat right in front of me. In one swift motion, he waved his hand at a waitress and pointed at my glass with a nod. The waitress obliged and moved toward the bar. “Bad date, huh?” His penetrating eyes bored into me.

Regardless of numerous questions spinning in my head, I put on my best poker face. Besides, who was he to throw my failure in my face? “By what stretch of imbecile imagination did you draw the conclusion that he was my date? Please, do tell. Oh, and before you do that, start minding your own business.” I pushed the table toward him and started to get up. As I turned around, my shoulder bumped into the waitress who had fetched my wine. Clumsy as hell, she dropped the bottle on the floor causing red wine to splatter all over the floor and a few drops near the hem of my mint-colored maxi dress. The mess bore an uncanny resemblance to Mike’s blood that I used for my selfish cause. A coldness seeped through me at the memory.

“I am really sorry, miss.” The apologetic mutterings of the waitress brought me out of the haze. Focusing my eyes on her, I tapped her on the shoulder and said, “Do not worry about it. Let me help you clean the mess.”

“That is wonderful of you, but I would be out of the job the minute I let you be anywhere near the mess,” the waitress conveyed with a nervous smile.

“Nobody can let me do anything I don’t want,” I said with a raised brow.

“The lady is right. She is way too self-sufficient and almighty to succumb to anybody’s wishes. In fact, she doesn’t even bolt her door because of those two powerful reasons.”

I felt a brush of his fingers on my forearm. Angrily, I glanced back toward Philip. He was holding out a piece of white cloth, I guessed for me to clean up the mess. He made no effort to hide mischief from his eyes. That moment he looked more like an innocent boy than a full-grown pompous man that he truly was. Despite a grim turn of events, a hint of a smile made its way on my face. Quickly, I grabbed the cloth and pretended to busy myself in rubbing the unrelenting wine stain off the side of the table. I could not give him the satisfaction of being the reason for my smile.

The terrified waitress ran toward the bar, most likely to inform the manager of a patron insisting on cleaning the mess. From the corner of my eyes, I observed that Philip was busy signaling a waitress to take his order. With no eyes on me, I whispered a spell and the stains vanished. Subsequently, I got up with the sole intention of leaving the place before any further drama crept up on my already lousy life.

“That’s not the most efficient way of hiding your identity,” Philip yelled from behind me.

I whirled around and faced him. “And I suppose you know my identity.” I cocked my head to convey my intimidating look. If it delivered the desired effect, Philip hid it pretty well.

“Well, I can yell from here, but you would not like that,” he scoffed.

I stepped toward my table — I guess it was his table, now — and hovered over him. “Is this close enough to share secrets?” What secret could a mere mortal have on me, anyway? I wanted to wipe that smug look off his face. Clearly, he had a natural ability to get on my nerves.

He took his time finishing his wine, while I stood there like a pole. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he looked up. Definitely, my trick to unnerve him failed miserably. He flashed his disarming smile and spoke in a soft tone, “Obviously, you think of me as some stupid human, but I am more brilliant than a witch.” He paused and observed my wide-eyed surprise. “Now, I have no problem transforming your miserable evening into an unforgettable experience. We could also call it a date. Besides, I have no objection to dating a witch.”

I knew that I had no choice but to sit back down. The cat was out of the bag, and I wasn’t ready for the world to know about me. Not yet, at least. Especially after that disturbing date, I deserved a little fun. Besides, Philip had intrigued me from the first encounter. How bad could he be? I watched him smirk and order another glass of wine for me.

Philip

There was more to Megan that met the eyes. Firstly, she did not want the people of her town to know that she was a witch, even though the town appeared quite open to the idea of co-existing with magical beings. Perhaps, she was hiding her identity from everybody, and not just humans. Secondly, she was too good to be dating a jerk like Joseph. I had observed her enough to know that she would not put up with the crap of his size. Even then she stuck around until the warlock walked out on her. Again, I was sure there was more to this story than what I comprehended firsthand. I was going to find out the reason, sooner rather than later.

On top of all those mysteries, her reaction to the spilled wine was not normal. She was taken aback by the spattered red liquid more than her awful date. I could not quite figure out whether I noticed fear or regret on her face. I just knew that I wanted to change her expression back to normal. And when she smiled, which she thought I didn’t notice, I desired to be the only person who could make her eyes twinkle like that. Never in decades did I feel this way toward anyone.

I wanted to know everything about her. If she were not so secretive, things would have been much easier. Nevertheless, something told me that she was worth the effort. I was in trouble, and I did not appreciate my heart turning on me like that. In a flash, I imagined a tantalizing future with her. To be honest, I was enamored with the idea of spending my life with her. I shook off the feelings and cursed my heart. This was our first date, and I would be damned if I would let such distracting thoughts spoil it for me. With this in mind, I drew my attention back to her piercing green eyes. Just like that, the noise of the tavern and its patrons seemed to disappear. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Featured Image Credit: Photo by Kayla Maurais on Unsplash