Ashley was an unremarkable woman in her early thirties. She had an average complexion, body size, body type, with light brown hair. Her eyes, however, were as blue as the clear summer sky, captivating to say the least. Ashley also had a mundane job working as a barista at To Bean or Not to Bean, a coffee shop downtown. The shop itself being as hip, rustic, and indie as every other coffee shop on Main Street. Perhaps it was her lackluster lifestyle that led her to the dark arts.
You see, Ashley is a wiccan, or as some might say, a witch. She became a member of this particular faith during her college years and used some of their rituals to attract boyfriends, pass a class here and there, and obtain a scholarship. She used spells and incantations sparingly because she felt it the best way to keep her soul intact. In fact, the last spell, which got her the barista job, was two years before our story takes place.
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"Ma'am, I didn't like this, could I have a caramel frappe instead, please?" a polite voice came from behind the pick-up counter. Ashley turned to see how she could help this customer. She noticed an attractive boy, probably a college student, holding a 24 ounce cup which contained only about 2 ounces of frappe. Ashley responded to his request, "this almost empty drink? Is that what you're talking about?"
"Well, I just didn't like it," said the boy.
"You didn't like the other 22 ounces of it, so we need to make you a caramel frappe, is that it?"
"Mhmm, yup."
To this response, which sounded oddly feminine, Ashley became mildly aggravated, but calmly responded, "that's cute, okay." She took his cup and made him the caramel frappe that was requested. She took a mental note of the name "Stephen" written on the cup, and for fun she spit a little into the drink. She then covered the drink with a dome lid and filled the top with whipped cream.
"Here you are, enjoy." Ashley smiled coyly at the boy.
"Thank you," Stephen chirped back, then walked triumphantly out the door. He stopped outside the shop, took the lid off the drink, and without taking a single sip proceeded to dump the caramel frappe out on the sidewalk. To this, Ashley became livid, but restrained herself from kicking this Stephen kid's ass. She would wait and get her revenge in a more creative manner.
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That night Ashley stayed late at work to clean up the sidewalk. Once finished she walked back to her apartment on the second floor of a 4-story apartment complex. The walk gave her enough time to calculate her revenge for the boy that had humiliated her at work that day. She dropped her things at the door, placed her keys on the kitchen counter-top, and immediately retreated to her bedroom. From her tall oak bookshelf she pulled out one of the four dozen books found there. This particular tome was titled "Spells for the Solitary Witch". She turned deep into its pages, to a spell simply listed as "Obedience". Armed with the boy's name and the lid of the his first drink which was so disliked, Ashley began her revenge. After an hour of preparation and chanting, the spell had been cast and Ashley was exhausted. She slept well that night.
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The next day at work Ashley wen through her duties with anticipation for the end of the day. You see, she had instilled a command that the boy from the day before return at the end of her shift for another caramel frappe. This would convince her the spell had worked and that she could test out his "Obedience".
Sure enough, he arrived just ten minutes before the work day was over and approached the counter. Ashley made sure to be there to take his order. The cute college-aged boy placed an order for a 24 ounce caramel frappe, neglecting to mention the events from the day before. "What's the name for that drink?"
"Stephen, and could I get that with extra caramel drizzle?"
"Sure thing. Now, obey," Ashley spoke that final word quietly, yet with assertion. As she did the boy's eyes became vacant and he stared expressionless at her. Routinely she said to him, "have a seat, I'll call you when it's done." So, Stephen sat down on the couch by the pick-up counter, and when his order was called he came and got it, still in a trance-like state. "Wait outside for me," she spoke to him softly. To which he responded by following the order.
