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‘Is this you telling me I’m starting to bother you?’
‘Nah. Still amusing.’ She squeezed his hand.
‘And it still makes you smile. So, not pointless.’ He squeezed back before pulling away.
They sat in easy, companionable quiet for a while until Mia looked at him. ‘When you said reflexology is more hands-on, do you mean because it’s more massage and pressure whereas reiki is gentler?’
‘Yes. And in reiki you don’t touch your patient much.’
‘But that’s when you’re fully trained? You were touching me a lot today.’
‘Not really.’ He shook his head.
‘But my lower back… when you did the popping thing… you were touching me then.’
‘Nope.’
‘Really. You weren’t touching my lower back?’
‘Really, I wasn’t.’
‘Huh.’ She sipped her tea thoughtfully.
7
‘Your blood pressure looks good, Mr Fairhead. It looks like your new meds are working for you. How are you feeling?’
‘Much better thanks. Don’t mind admitting it got a bit scary for a while there!’
‘Never doubted we’d get you sorted!’ Mia smiled at him. ‘Stick to the meds regime, keep up the exercise, and the only place I should be seeing you for the next three months is out and around Hudsbury.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘But if you do get any symptoms…’
‘…I’ll call the surgery and book in with one of the doctors.’
‘Exactly. I wish all my patients were as good as you!’
‘One heart attack was more than enough, thanks. I’m not doing that again! Comes highly not recommended!’
‘I’ll bear that in mind.’ Mia laughed as she opened the door for him. ‘Book another appointment for about three months. OK?’
‘Thank you, Nurse.’ He shook her hand, but held on for a second. ‘You really are an angel.’
‘Just doing my job. But you’re more than welcome. Now take care.’ She held the door open for him, and hesitated when the smell of baking hit her, as strongly as if she’d walked past Sugar Rush, or stepped into Glimmers. Strange in the surgery, but a welcome reminder of Aiden that made her smile.
She went back to her desk, still smiling and thinking of him as she checked her notes to see which patient was next on her list and found a note attached to the file. She double-clicked it open, expecting a message from reception, or updated test results. Instead, it read:
Situations will often change depending on how you look at them – and who you are with, and your state of mind – when you look.
Weird. She clicked the info on the note, wanting to see which colleague had sent it, but found nothing. Thinking quickly, she attached it to an email and fired it off to the IT department – just in case it was some new hacking attempt.
Aiden pulled his last batch of biscuits out of the café’s huge oven and set about quickly moving them to the cooling racks.
‘You’re keen for a Monday.’ Cheryl had waved when she’d arrived, before disappearing to her office to deal with the kind of admin and paperwork Aiden didn’t miss at all.
She’d been right: he’d spent half the night buzzing with inspiration and scribbling down recipe ideas he couldn’t wait to try out in the modern, professional kitchen. He struggled to remember the last time he’d felt as inspired and excited as he had since his one-off favour with Mia, and since learning about magic, and everything in his life seemed to flow better. It was weird – still hard to believe at times – but it felt so natural that fighting it would have been stranger. He was more inspired, recipes came together better, and his bakes were tastier. Even his bike seemed to ride a little smoother.
