Derick stood in front of his altar, carefully inscribing the last of the designs on the piece of copper foil. He checked his work against the illustration in the book, and smiled when he saw that it was perfect. He took the vial of rose-oil and anointed the charm, reciting the accompanying text, which ended, "Most holy and revered Goddess, Laughter-loving Aphrodite, I beseech you, grant me the object of my affection. By your most holy name PASIPHAESSA KYTHEREIA I ask this." He brought the charm up to his lips, kissed it, and then began to string it with a white silk chord. He tied it around his neck, and then tucked the little amulet underneath his shirt. The amulet was warm as it touched his skin, and immediately he began to feel a pleasant stirring in his stomach and some dizziness.
He was almost giddy with excitement as he extinguished the candles on his altar, and gathered up his things. He threw on his old coat, and paused to lock his door, then he rushed down the stairs and burst out onto the street. Lost in his own world, he raced towards Orion's Belt, crossing streets and cutting down alleys to get there sooner. He had been to the little Occult shop so many times that he knew the way without even having to think about it. Which was good, because his mind was racing. It was going to happen. It was really going to happen! He almost couldn't believe it, and then he felt the charm against his chest, and thought of Autumn, and his heart began to race and visions filled his head, and there was no longer any room for his doubts and insecurities.
Derick had been going to Orion's Belt for years now, to get incense and Occult supplies, rare books and copies of the local Pagan papers. But ever since Autumn had started working there, his visits had grown more frequent. She was incredibly beautiful, but that wasn't it. It was her personality that really drew him in. She was very knowledgeable, especially concerning Ceremonial Magic and the Golden Dawn, but unlike most students of the Occult, she wasn't a complete stick in the mud, and had a wonderfully twisted sense of humor. He loved to watch her as she handled the little Goth kids who came in to oooh and awe over the latest Silver RavenWolf books. She would often try to get them to read more advanced stuff, like Crowley or Regardie or even the Farrars, and if that failed, she'd berate them mercilessly.
Of course they often didn't catch her barbs, but Derick did, and it was always an effort to restrain himself from laughing aloud. They had talked several times, and were even on a first name basis, but Derick had never been able to express his growing feelings for Autumn. Every time he approached her to ask her out for coffee or something, his words got caught in his throat, and he'd start to blush. He would just grab a pack of incense from the counter and hurriedly pay for it so that he could escape the store and learn to breathe again. He now had more incense then he knew what to do with, yet every week - and sometimes twice a week - he would come back to Orion's Belt.
Derick might have continued on indefinitely in this hopeless manner had he not stumbled across the Charm of Aphrodite in one of his books on Greek magic. Something about the spell called out to him. Most love spells and rituals were pretty hokey - yet there was something about this one that felt different some how. As soon as he read the text, he knew that he had to create the amulet. And so he collected all of the materials, went through the rigorous disciplines that the spell suggested, and today he was going to test it out, on the woman he loved.
Derick stopped outside Orion's Belt to gather himself. He looked at his reflection in the storefront window, running his hands through his thick hair, trying to comb down the unruly tufts that never seemed to lay straight. Derick didn't have the kind of face that gets noticed in a crowd, but he was handsome, with large, sensitive eyes and a mouth that naturally fell into a smile. He was of average height and build, with a slight belly from too much time spent in front of the computer or reading books. He was dressed in black jeans and a pentagram T-shirt, underneath his long grey coat. Derick took a deep breath and opened the door, letting a young woman in a flowing gypsy skirt pass.
"Derick!" A voice called out to him as he stepped inside the shop. "How are you doing, man?"
It was Autumn, and his heart caught in his throat. He swallowed hard and waved to her, managing to mumble something coherent after a couple tries.
"Good to hear," she replied with a smile, and went back to helping a guy with a hexagram tattooed on his bald head sift through a box of quartz crystals.
Derick went back to the new book section, and absently scanned the titles. He didn't see anything he needed, but then he hadn't come here for new books. Surreptitiously, he watched Autumn as she waited on various customers.
Autumn looked positively elfin. She was a small woman, coming no higher than Derick's shoulders, but every inch of her was compressed energy, bursting at the seam. She had a round, cherubic face, with large sea-green almond eyes, a pixie nose, and full red lips she was constantly moistening. There was no controlling the mane of wild dishwater blond curls that fell down her back, so that she was often pushing ringlets off her face, which she would do with a slight smile when she caught Derick watching her. Her eyebrow and lip were pierced, and she had almost a dozen tiny loops in her ears. She had a tangle of necklaces and charms around her neck, and wore a tight black t-shirt that read Fuck Your God in bright red letters and came short to reveal her tanned midriff and pierced belly button. Her black jeans hung low on her rounded hips, ending in rainbow laced combat boots that had a series of tiny white pentagrams painted on them. Her every line, her every movement, her every breath, and word, and laugh, and thought stirred something deep within Derick. The whole store, hell, the whole world receded into the background as he watched her.
When Autumn had finished selling some ditzy teen her first tarot deck - Robin Wood, of course - she sidled up to Derick, and asked, her voice caressing him like silk, "Find anything interesting?"
"Uhm, yeah, this," Derick said, fumbling to grab the nearest book.
Autumn arched a brow, and smiled at him. "Oh really?"
Derick looked down at the glossy, high quality trade paperback he held in his hands, and groaned. It was Silver RavenWolf's New Aeon Scottish Rite Masonry.
"I wouldn't have pegged you as a Silver kind of guy." She chuckled.
He shuddered and put the book back, wiping his hands on his jeans. "What the hell will they think of next? 'The Complete Guide to Tantra for Teens?'"
"Oh, that came in last week. We have it back behind the counter." Autumn slid her fingers in her belt loops, and began rocking in place.
"Seriously?"
"Hell no, Llewellyn does have some business ethics."
Derick narrowed his brow.
"Okay, the idiots probably haven't thought of it yet. I'll go halfies on it with you. We can split the proceeds," she stopped rocking and her grin broadened, "and the research."
Derick felt his face turn bright red, and he mumbled, "I'd like that."
Autumn leaned in closer. She smelled of the store's thick incense, ivory soap, and rose oil. "Would you?" She asked, her breath warm in his ear.
He almost died then. She was so close, and his heart was beating so fast, and he felt so good - he could have easily passed beyond in that very instant, and he wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between this moment and Elysium. Instead, he swallowed hard, and found his voice. "Yeah, I would."
"Why's that?" Autumn asked, pulling back a bit. Her slender hand went up, and she absently played with one of the many charms she wore around her neck.
Derick wanted to make some excuse, or better yet, to push past her and run out of the store, and never come back. But good Occult stores are hard to come by, and he wanted her so badly his whole body ached. He clasped the amulet around his own neck, and prayed silently to Aphrodite. Then he muttered, "Well, I kind of like you."
A look of surprise briefly flashed across her face, and then she bit her lower lip, and regained control. "I like you too," she smiled.
Derick gripped the charm harder between his fingers, and hoped with his whole being that it would give him the strength, and the boldness - or stupidity - to say what he needed to, what he had longed to say for so long. "I don't think you understand. I really, really like you. You're the main reason I've been coming in here lately. I come just to talk to you."
"I was beginning to wonder why you needed that much incense." She grinned, dropping her hands to her hips, where she tugged on her belt loops again.
"Well, yeah. I didn't want you to think I was some freaky guy stalking you. So I'd always buy something - and well, on a student's budget, I couldn't exactly afford a new book every time. Even the incense was getting a tad expensive - so I had to say something, if only for my finances."
Autumn blushed, and reached out, grabbing his hands in hers. Her skin was soft, her hands warm. They sent an electric thrill through him, and he had to remind himself to breathe. "I'm so glad you finally said something. Every time you come in, I get all gooey inside. You turn me into a blushing, laughing little girl. I hate that. My boss teases me constantly about how I am around you, and she said that if I didn't make a move, she was going to have to do something drastic to get us together."
Autumn leaned up and kissed him. He had imagined this moment a thousand times before. None of them came close to what it was actually like. As her lips touched his, he felt a warmth spread out from his mouth and his belly at the same time. His skin tingled, and time stopped. Finally, breathless, they broke the kiss and Derick stared down into the green pools of her eyes. He lost himself in their depths, and was happy to be lost.
"Wow," she whispered, "you're a good kisser."
