Irma was the last to arrive. She wore her customary eccentric clothing. Today, it was a muumuu in multiple colors, with heavy clay beads around her neck, and copper bracelets on her wrists. Her thick hair was knotted in multiple braids, and feathers hung from her ears. She carried a massive tote bag.
“I have candles, incense, crystals, a Tarot deck, a Ouija board, and some lavender to cleanse the space before we start,” she said.
“All for dinner?” Aubrey said, after hugging Irma. She was almost as close with Irma as Gabriel was.
“Was I supposed to bring something?” Evan asked, looking worried.
“Not for dinner, silly,” Irma said, waving a hand. Her copper bangles clattered. “For the séance.”
“Right,” Evan deadpanned. “Right before the dessert course. Excuse me,séance?”
Drew emerged with another bottle of wine. “Sounds like time for more wine. Evan, my friend, we’re conducting a séance after dinner to try and contact whatever spirits might be haunting the hockey camp.”
“Wouldn’t we need to be at the camp to do that?” Aubrey said.
“No,” Irma said sagely. “Spirits aren’t like people. They’re not bound by space and time. Intention matters more to them. If someone, or something, is at the camp, we can contact it here.”
Evan shivered, looking thoroughly unnerved. “I’ll definitely need a drink before this.”
—
Drew was an excellent cook and an excellent host. The food was amazing, and they paired it with good wine, most of which was locally grown at the vineyards around Orion.
After their second glasses of wine, both Evan and Aubrey relaxed, and Gabriel liked seeing how comfortable they became around each other. It was clear that their feelings for each other were mutual. They often looked at each other and got caught up in their own conversation, separate from the others at the table.
Gabriel and Drew were open about their affection for each other. After they’d finished the food, a delicious meal of pasta in a spicy sauce, with sautéed vegetables and sausages and dirty rice, they leaned towards each other and held hands. They were drawn together magnetically and couldn’t keep their hands off each other. They sat with their fingers laced together, drinking wine and talking easily with Irma and with Evan and Aubrey, when the latter two engaged with the others.
Gabriel felt very grown-up having dinner with them, and he enjoyed it. It felt like a glimpse into an impossible future, a life he and Drew could never have together because their relationship had a built-in expiration date. No matter what they might feel for each other, Drew would leave at the end of the summer, and Gabriel would still be in Orion.
“So, how long has this been going on?” Irma asked when they were eating their dessert: homemade creme brûlée with fresh strawberries. She pointed her spoon at Gabriel and Drew. “And, am I the one to thank for it by introducing you at my store?”
Gabriel and Drew exchanged a look. “I think you are to thank,” Gabriel said. “Thank you. We might’ve met anyway, because Drew went to the hockey camp later that day.” He smiled. “But we had our ‘meet-cute’ because of you.”
“What’s a ‘meet-cute’?” Evan asked.
Aubrey answered. “It’s when the two romantic leads meet in a rom-com movie, at the start of the film.”
“That’s cute,” Evan said. “What did you do?”
“He took me on a ghost tour of the town,” Drew said. “Taught me all about the spiritual world.”
“Notallabout it,” Gabriel said. “Just the basics.”
He liked talking about how they had met. It felt so normal, and made their relationship seem so real, not like something that had to be temporary. He could imagine them telling the story again and again in the future. Maybe they would embellish the story as time went on, and it would become a well-rehearsed routine. People would laugh, and they would love it.
He blinked, his eyes suddenly stinging with tears that he wouldn’t let himself shed. He knew what he was getting himself into, here. It would be silly to expect more out of his arrangement with Drew.
“I think it’s time to talk to some spirits,” he said.
The others loudly agreed. As Gabriel and Drew cleared the dishes, and Irma went to the living room to set up for the séance, Drew leaned in close and whispered to Gabriel, “Everything okay?”
“Yes,” Gabriel said, but it sounded disingenuous even to him. “Just a lot on my mind.”
Drew kissed him gently. “If you need to talk about anything, let me know.”
Gabriel kissed him back. “I will. Should we go see what witchy fuckery Irma has set up in the living room?”
Almost everything Gabriel knew about witchcraft, he had learned from Irma. He considered her more of a witch than he was. His practice was still young, but part of witchcraft was the belief that your practice was always changing and evolving, because your spirit was always changing and evolving. All that was required to practice the occult in earnest was a genuine curiosity and a spirit of integrity.
