“Bound, like a love spell?”
“Bingo.”
“Now I know you’re playing.” He glanced around the room as though looking for hidden cameras. “How’d you do that pulling thing? I know! My boots are steel toed! It’s magnets, isn’t it?”
Sarah rolled her eyes heavenward. “Yeah, Paul.” She moved her hand as though lifting something and Paul rose two feet into the air, sliding up the wall. “It’s magnets.”
“Stop! Put me down!”
Sarah made sure he landed gently, but his brows drew together and he glared.
“You said you wouldn’t do it again!” he protested.
“I’m sorry. But you won’t believe me for more than two minutes.”
“Maybe I don’t want to believe you.”
Sarah crossed her arms. “I only told you because I thought maybe it would help!”
“Help?”
“Yes, help you understand why you’ll spend the next twenty years making excuses not to go home so you can stay here and stalk me. You won’t be able to stop yourself.”
“Oh, wow, really? You basically hit and ran on me, and I needed to make an insurance claim. The body shop wouldn’t even file with your insurance because I didn’t have the right paperwork.”
“Why’d you come back today?”
“I was being nice returning your insurance card!”
“Yeah, right. Why were you being nice?”
“I don’t know, Sarah. Maybe because I’m from Oklahoma.”
“If you say so. But wait until you try to leave. You won’t be able to. You won’t be able to stop thinking about me. You’ll want to do anything to spend time with me.”
“Seriously?”
“You know it’s true! If right this minute I asked you to pluck my chin hairs, you’d do it, wouldn’t you?”
“You have chin hairs?”
“That’s not the point. It was a gross example. My point was that you can’t bear to leave! Thoughts of me will consume your entire life. Anything that was important to you before will disappear. You’ll think only of me.”
“Okay, well, watch this.” Paul walked out the bedroom door and Sarah followed.
“I figured if you knew the truth, you’d understand what was happening to you, and maybe we’d be able to figure out what to do about it together.”
Paul hurried down the wide staircase. “If you stay here, and I get the hell out of Dodge, I’d say we’re off to a good start breaking this love spell of yours.”
“But you’re not listening, because it isn’t my love spell.” Sarah followed him to the front door. “It’s from the dark side and you won’t be able to resist.”
“You do realize I think you’re insane, right?”
“No, you don’t.”
Paul yanked the front door open. “Goodbye, Sarah. Watch me resist coming back, okay?”
“Just try calling instead of coming over next time the urge hits. Let’s see if distance helps. My number is all 7’s and 1’s, you know, 7-1-7, 1-7—”
“It’s been real.” Paul galloped across the front porch and down the steps as Sarah shouted her number after him.
S arah called off work on Tuesday, in case Paul came by. It was her first sick day in two years of working for Mass Power and Light. They sent her flowers. For the first time in her life she received flowers that she hadn’t ordered herself. They came in a little yellow cup with a smiley face on it, all daisies and greenery. The coffee sucks without you. MP&L Billing Dept . For a brief moment Sarah was the happiest woman alive. She wondered if Paul was the kind of guy who’d send flowers, and checked her phone again for missed calls.
She hadn’t slept last night, preoccupied with watching her phone. Twice she’d called 611 and asked them to call her to make sure nothing was wrong with it. By four in the morning, she had looked up hotels in the area and called them looking for Paul. She hated her stupidity for not asking which one he was staying at. Two of the hotels had hung up on her when she’d asked for Paul Revere Longfellow.
She’d taken a bath instead of a shower that
“Bingo.”
“Now I know you’re playing.” He glanced around the room as though looking for hidden cameras. “How’d you do that pulling thing? I know! My boots are steel toed! It’s magnets, isn’t it?”
Sarah rolled her eyes heavenward. “Yeah, Paul.” She moved her hand as though lifting something and Paul rose two feet into the air, sliding up the wall. “It’s magnets.”
“Stop! Put me down!”
Sarah made sure he landed gently, but his brows drew together and he glared.
“You said you wouldn’t do it again!” he protested.
“I’m sorry. But you won’t believe me for more than two minutes.”
“Maybe I don’t want to believe you.”
Sarah crossed her arms. “I only told you because I thought maybe it would help!”
“Help?”
“Yes, help you understand why you’ll spend the next twenty years making excuses not to go home so you can stay here and stalk me. You won’t be able to stop yourself.”
“Oh, wow, really? You basically hit and ran on me, and I needed to make an insurance claim. The body shop wouldn’t even file with your insurance because I didn’t have the right paperwork.”
“Why’d you come back today?”
“I was being nice returning your insurance card!”
“Yeah, right. Why were you being nice?”
“I don’t know, Sarah. Maybe because I’m from Oklahoma.”
“If you say so. But wait until you try to leave. You won’t be able to. You won’t be able to stop thinking about me. You’ll want to do anything to spend time with me.”
“Seriously?”
“You know it’s true! If right this minute I asked you to pluck my chin hairs, you’d do it, wouldn’t you?”
“You have chin hairs?”
“That’s not the point. It was a gross example. My point was that you can’t bear to leave! Thoughts of me will consume your entire life. Anything that was important to you before will disappear. You’ll think only of me.”
“Okay, well, watch this.” Paul walked out the bedroom door and Sarah followed.
“I figured if you knew the truth, you’d understand what was happening to you, and maybe we’d be able to figure out what to do about it together.”
Paul hurried down the wide staircase. “If you stay here, and I get the hell out of Dodge, I’d say we’re off to a good start breaking this love spell of yours.”
“But you’re not listening, because it isn’t my love spell.” Sarah followed him to the front door. “It’s from the dark side and you won’t be able to resist.”
“You do realize I think you’re insane, right?”
“No, you don’t.”
Paul yanked the front door open. “Goodbye, Sarah. Watch me resist coming back, okay?”
“Just try calling instead of coming over next time the urge hits. Let’s see if distance helps. My number is all 7’s and 1’s, you know, 7-1-7, 1-7—”
“It’s been real.” Paul galloped across the front porch and down the steps as Sarah shouted her number after him.
S arah called off work on Tuesday, in case Paul came by. It was her first sick day in two years of working for Mass Power and Light. They sent her flowers. For the first time in her life she received flowers that she hadn’t ordered herself. They came in a little yellow cup with a smiley face on it, all daisies and greenery. The coffee sucks without you. MP&L Billing Dept . For a brief moment Sarah was the happiest woman alive. She wondered if Paul was the kind of guy who’d send flowers, and checked her phone again for missed calls.
She hadn’t slept last night, preoccupied with watching her phone. Twice she’d called 611 and asked them to call her to make sure nothing was wrong with it. By four in the morning, she had looked up hotels in the area and called them looking for Paul. She hated her stupidity for not asking which one he was staying at. Two of the hotels had hung up on her when she’d asked for Paul Revere Longfellow.
She’d taken a bath instead of a shower that
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