‘You don’t have to do that.’
He shakes his head. ‘I want to.’
As I retrieve the box filled with broken vase pieces from my room, I think back to what Jamie said about Oliver and this Molly person. Is there something going on between him and Molly that is causing his erratic behaviour? Now that my curse has returned, I could use my curse to find out how his love for Molly ends.
As I hand him the box, I make sure our fingers touch.
My body flinches. I wait for the flash of white light.
Nothing.
‘Nelly, why are you closing your eyes?’
I flick them open. ‘Oh, I didn’t realise they were shut.’
‘This can be fixed, Nelly,’ he says, taking the box from me as my mind once again goes into freefall. My curse has stopped working again. The living room starts to spin. What’s going on? Reaching out, I steady myself by gripping onto the arms of the sofa. Why does it keep glitching? Maybe it’s losing power? None of the books on curses mention a period of a curse acting like faulty Wi-Fi, but then again, I have always wondered whether the authors have ever experienced a curse. J.K. Fielding’s book springs to mind.
‘Nelly, are you okay? You look deathly white.’ Oliver comes over to me.
‘I’m fine,’ I mumble. ‘Just a little dizzy.’
He goes to make me a sugary cup of tea, and I sit in my chair in the living room.
Lenny comes to sit on my lap. He senses I might need emotional support. Have I been given another chance at a curse-free life?
‘We’re missing a piece,’ Oliver says after handing me a mug of tea. ‘I’ll go look for it.’ He studies my face. ‘You’ve got your colour back.’
I smile while nibbling on my thumbnail.
‘I’ll be in the hallway on my hands and knees if you need me.’ He beams.
‘Oliver, you don’t have to do this.’
‘Nelly, I do.’
I’m busy searching Google for faulty curses when he comes back with the missing piece. ‘I’ll find some glue. I won’t let you down, Nelly.’
I want to believe him, but he keeps letting me down.
20
I boarded the train to Aunt Polly’s, wondering whether this would be my first-ever normal train journey. There would be no need to squeeze myself against the window to avoid touching anyone or any unwanted romantic visions. Excitement ripped through me.
When a handsome young man with a crooked smile, styled brown hair and piercing blue eyes asked me if the seat beside me was free, I beamed. ‘Yes, it is.’ He grinned and sat down, clutching his vape and an energy drink. For a few fleeting moments, I told myself to appreciate this new experience – sitting next to someone cute on a train, without an annoying curse to spoil things.
‘Are you going far?’ he asked, making me jolt with surprise. My heart went berserk. Not only was I curse-free, but I was also about to start an engaging conversation with someone of the opposite sex. The train jolted, and we both reached out to the seat in front to steady ourselves, accidentally touching hands.
I held my breath. My curse was gone, so there would be no more visions.
White light flashed behind my eyes, and when it cleared, I saw him sitting in a café, explaining to a heavily pregnant young woman why he was texting someone called Carrie. My vision remained long enough for me to read the text. The pregnant woman was scrolling through his phone with a look of horror on her face. ‘You were hooking up to have sex with Carrie in the back of your car,’ she exclaimed. ‘Our baby is due any day and you’re having sex with other women.’
He’s shaking his head. ‘Zoe, calm down, it’s not what you think.’
Sadness enveloped me. My curse was back.
I silently vowed to stop getting my hopes up and accept the fact that it’s either glitching like Miranda’s Wi-Fi or… it’s running out of cursed energy. This was a new angle. I took out my phone and asked Google for its view. Wow – according to Google, the energy behind a curse can diminish over time, although this can take years.
‘Well? Are you going far?’ The young man repeated his question, casting me that dangerous crooked smile of his. ‘If you are, we could keep each other company.’
