“CAN YOU HEAR ME?”

“Shit,” Kit said under his breath as he frantically mashed the volume button to turn down Arthur’s voice. He rubbed his head and the back of his neck as he said, “Yeah, we hear you, you’re coming through.”

“Oh, ok. You weren’t answering, so…”

“Yeah man, sorry, we were on mute.” Kit adjusted the laptop as Rosa joined them.

Arthur was sitting in his home office— evidenced by the five foot rubber plant in the corner— with the lights down low. It looked to Mel as though a little lamp on his desk was all he had going. She could hardly even make out the greasy, put-upon rectangle that was his face.

“Good evening,” Rosa chirped, waving.

“Hi, everyone,” Arthur responded. “I know it’s going to be a busy night, so I’ll try to keep things brief. I don’t know if Kit already mentioned it, but we got an exciting order in. It’s an assortment of three dozen basic-level potions that could lead to a whole lot of future business if it goes well. Pay special attention while you’re brewing these, team. I mean it. Read and reread and reread the order slip. We can’t afford any mistakes.”

Rosa nodded along. Mel told herself to do the same, but against her better judgment, she said, “I’m not entirely sure we can fit three dozen potions into the schedule tonight. We were already over the order limit.”

Her voice came out shakier than she wanted. If she was going to speak up, she needed to do so confidently, convincingly, or it would only piss him off more. Mel sat up straight and quickly added, “We’re happy to help the business grow, I’m just worried about how to get this one done.”

“I’m not worried,” Arthur laughed. “If it has to get done, it will get done. And guess what? It has to. Rosa was already nice enough to come in and help out tonight, like you asked, and now you’re saying that’s not good enough? We’re talking about basic-level potions, here.”

Under the table, Rosa reached out to grab Mel’s hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. They made brief eye contact, and Mel knew Rosa hadn’t taken her concerns the wrong way.

Kit said, “I can stay another couple of hours.”

“Absolutely not,” Arthur shot him down. “You already worked your shift for the day. Mel, Rosa, quit overthinking things and just get the work done. Understood?”

Rosa nodded again, and this time, Mel followed suit.

“Understood??” Arthur repeated, louder and angrier.

“We got it,” Mel replied. “Understood.”

“Thank you. Now, let’s move on to the rest of our agenda. Did everybody remember to put their phones in the basket?”

“Yes,” the three of them answered in varying tones.

“Good. I know we were having a little trouble remembering to do that. I don’t have to tell you that potion making is a very dangerous job, and I can’t have you getting distracted by your texts while you’re in the middle of brewing. Wolston’s in Old Orchard won’t even let you bring a phone into the building, did you know that?”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Wolston’s also had the highest turnover rate in the state, but Mel didn’t see the need to stir up any more shit than she already had.

Arthur went on, “We got the new bottles in today. They’re about half as expensive as the old ones, so try them out, see what you think, and we’ll make the switch next month if there aren’t any problems.”

“That’s great,” Mel replied, genuinely excited. At half the cost, they could afford to stock as many as they needed instead of bridging the gap with plastic tupperware and waiting for customers to return their used bottles.

Many of the potions could handle storage in plastic, so long as you didn’t pour them in too hot, but some were undeniably altered by the material. A perfect batch of energy boosting potion had faded from its usual brilliant silver to a dull grey in the tupperware last week, and the energy it provided decreased noticeably. It was still above the minimum legal requirement, however, and had been sold at the usual price. Mel hated putting out an inferior product. Arthur claimed to as well, but his idea of quality seemed to change by the hour, usually depending more on his mood than any kind of cost-benefit analysis.

“We’ll see if they work,” Arthur remarked with some skepticism. The new bottles had been Kit’s find. It didn’t sit well with him that he hadn’t come up with the idea. “Moving on, let’s all keep an eye on our stock levels. I can’t order more if I don’t know we’re out. Can anyone think of anything off the top of their head that we need more of?”

“I mentioned the rose water already,” Kit noted.

“Uh huh.”

Mel put her hand to her chin to show that she was thinking it over. Rosa said, “I haven’t noticed anything.”

“All right,” Arthur said, “just make sure you tell me. You forget and we run out, you better be ready to go forage in the woods. Next, I’ve got three interviews lined up next week for a new brewer. I’ll keep everyone posted on how that goes. I’ve sent you all the resumes, so take a look and tell me if you see anything I should be worried about. Hopefully we can get back to a full crew pretty quick here.”

Mel braced for the topic of Gus to finally come up, but Arthur moved seamlessly to going over an upcoming health, safety, and magical compliance inspection. She looked to Kit, who didn’t notice, and Rosa, who only offered her a supportive smile.

“…So keep it tight, ok? Ok. Well, did anyone else have anything they wanted to bring before the team? It’s getting pretty late, so we should wrap up soon.”

Kit looked ready to leave, while Rosa tilted her head in Mel’s direction, inviting her to speak up. Mel cleared her throat. “I thought it might be good to say a few words about Gus.”

Rosa and Kit both looked down. Arthur pursed his lips, then asked, “What did you want to say?”

“Oh… I didn’t have anything prepared, exactly, I just thought… it would be good to make space for it? We haven’t really talked about what happened.”

“Well, I don’t have anything to say. You don’t have anything to say. Kit? Rosa?”

Neither of them answered; Rosa wouldn’t even raise her eyes.

Arthur said, “Ok then. Mel, Rosa, see you in the morning. Kit, see you tomorrow afternoon. Good night.”

Arthur disappeared from the screen before any of them could answer.

“He used to be… different, right?” Mel asked. Stress could answer for a lot, but the Arthur she’d met six years ago- the funny, sympathetic, and eager-to-help man who’d hired her- didn’t resemble this one in the slightest.

Neither Kit nor Rosa answer. Mel allowed herself a sigh, then stood up with renewed determination to salvage the night.

“Rosa,” she said, clapping her hands. “It’s you and me. Dream team. Let’s knock out some brews.”

“I’ll start pulling ingredients if you want to organize the orders!”

“Perfect.”

Kit tucked the laptop away in a metal cabinet against the back wall. He squeezed Mel’s shoulder on the way out the door.

“Oh, wait, Kit.” Mel took the shop key from her pocket and handed it over. “Almost forgot.”

“Boss man would’ve eaten me alive.” Kit took it gratefully. “Hey, I’m sorry about earlier. I knew you were asking me about Gus. The fish stuff is true,” he clarified with a helpless laugh, “but obviously not the real problem. I’m not ready to talk about it yet.”

“Take care of yourself, Kit.” She squeezed his arm. “You’ve been through a lot.”

“You, too.”