His tongue flicked out and he turned his face so that he was looking behind him, as if he were planning on running off.
“It’s okay,” Maya said, reaching out and patting him on the top of his head. “I won’t tell anyone you snuck into the treats.” He looked at her, his long eyelashes brushing against his cheeks as he blinked a few times. It was clear that he wanted to argue that he had done no such thing, but he was too shy to utter the lie. Maya smiled. “Hold on a minute.”
Closing her eyes, she sent out a small blast of her magic. It spread out until it reached someone who was frantically looking for a child. When she sensed the person getting a “hunch” where the kid had gone, Maya knew that she needed to stall the boy.
“I love chocolate too. My favorite is mint chocolate, especially in ice cream.”
The boy looked at her nervously. “I like ice cream,” his voice was small as he spoke.
“Summer will be here soon enough. What kind of ice cream would you like?”
“Wendell! There you are!” A frantic mother dressed for the wedding rushed toward them.
Maya looked at the boy, and with a quick motion, she removed the chocolate stains. As soon as the mother reached them, she lifted up the boy. “Wendell, I told you to wait for me outside of the bathroom!”
Maya rose and pointed toward one of the hallways in the opposite direction from where the mother had entered. “There is a restroom designated for families over that way. Should you need to use it again.”
“Thank you so much for taking care of him.” The woman finally looked at Maya, and for a second she stared. “I’m so sorry that he interrupted you.”
“It’s quite alright,” Maya said, smiling at the little boy. “He was no trouble.”
“Always better for strangers,” the mother said, bouncing the boy on her hip. “Thank you again. And, um, you have a bit of chocolate or mud on your legs.”
Maya looked down to see where the child had bumped into her. “Thank you. I will make sure to take care of that before the wedding starts. And you, mister, remember what I told you.”
The boy smiled and buried his face in his mother’s neck. They walked off toward the hallway Maya had pointed out.
“I’m really sorry about that.”
Maya turned and looked at the teen, who was shifting uncomfortably on his feet. The short interaction with the child had relaxed her a little, and she smiled. “It’s quite alright, Mr. Honeysett. And I apologize for being so snappish.”
She started looking over the remaining tasks, but she already knew there was little left that he could do. This was the homestretch, and since he was a member of the wedding party, he would need to get ready all too soon. Reaching up to push a couple of loose strands of her tightly styled blonde hair behind her ear, Maya thought quickly as she looked up into the teen’s hopeful face. There was only one thing she could think of that he could do.
“Fire?” she asked him.
The teen blinked at her a few times, then said, “Oh, you mean do I breathe fire?”
“Yes. Because if you do, I have something very special that you and a couple of your siblings could do.”
“Well, yeah. All of us are fire breathers.”
“Very good.” Maya immediately pulled up another app on the tablet and started sketching her studio. “Here’s what I would like you to do.”
“I’m no good at drawing.”
Her face still tilted down, the wedding planner looked at the teen, who was at least a good foot taller than her. “No, I’m drawing something, and then I’ll explain.”
“Oh. Okay.” The kid stepped up next to her and watched as Maya quickly sketched everything in the studio behind her house.
As he stood beside her, she was slightly distracted by his comforting smell. She had noticed the same thing whenever she was near Noel, so she appreciated it for the few moments while the teen stood near her. After the way the rest of the day had gone, she appreciated a few moments of relative peace as she focused on a task she had feared might be missed with the amount of time remaining. When she finished the drawing, Maya turned the tablet around and held it against her chest as she pointed at the studio behind her home.
The teen watched as she directed him. “This is my shop, where I put together a lot of the decorations. And right here,” she pointed to the corner, “this is my fire-working area. For things like glasswork, my kiln, things like that.” She looked up and paused, giving the kid time to ask questions. He looked up at her, and his cheeks were a little pink. When he didn’t say anything, Maya looked down again and tapped on the area, enlarging it a little. “I need you to go there and run through my checklist. When I get there, I’ll have you help me make the piece that will be the centerpiece for the gift table.”
His cheeks were a bit rosier as he looked at her.
“Any questions?” she asked him.
“How do I get there?”
