Strings of Fate by Kit Bryan
Chapter 283

Strings of Fate

Cam 40- Paint and presents

We arrive at my bar and I’m immediately struck by rage. Right across the front door and the bricks of the building is a huge. Graffit

drawing of some unidentifiable symbol or tag or something. I can’t help but reach out to touch it and my fingers come back sticky with black paint that hasn’t quite dried yet. For goodness sakes, why would someone even vandalise the front of my building? This is ridiculous! What were they hoping to accomplish? It’s not even GOOD graffiti!

“Do you think it will wash off? It’s not quite dry yet so I reckon there’s a good chance we can get it clean.” Harry says softly. He seems concerned that I might be really upset or delicate.

No, mostly I’m just pissed off.

“I know a potion that should get it off, I’m just angry that someone would waste my time like this.” I grumble, waving a hand dismissively. Harry brightens.

“Oh, well I can help with the cleaning. Do you have any ideas who might have done this?” He queries. I consider who might have an issue with me or my bar. My family might have problems. But they’re big rule followers. Breaking the law like this to make a point isn’t their style, plus they know how easy it will be for me to get it clean. They wouldn’t waste their time. Besides, they consider themselves too ‘classy‘ for something like graffiti. Simon is another option, but again I suspect that he thinks far too much of himself to stoop to something as petty as vandalism. He’s more likely to try to ruin my reputation with nasty rumours or reviews. The only other arguments I’ve had lately would be with those Witches. who opposed me using magic in public and giving it away for free. Maybe it was them? The graffiti DOES kind of look like a symbol, maybe they attempted a spell and just failed.

“I’m not really sure, those Witches were pretty angry with me. Maybe they, or someone else from their coven, decided to try to make a point. Although in a very childish and immature way.” I sigh. Harry crosses his arms over his chest grumpily.

“You should put in a police report. We can’t just let them get away with this.” He suggests. I

shake my head.

“There’s no point. We don’t know for sure who did it. I don’t want to make a big deal out of it.” I reason. Harry frowns and I can tell that he doesn’t agree but he also doesn’t argue. I’ll let it be this once. If it happens again THEN I’ll take the issue further. As it is, I need to make

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Cam 40- Paint and presents

a cleaning potion. I unlock the door (thankfully there’s no paint over the actual lock.) and we head inside. I direct Harry to bring me a sample of the paint mess. He uses a spoon and scrapes off a little of the black paint and brings it to me in my work room where I am already mixing the ingredients for the simple potion. Cleaning potions work great for hard to remove messes, but they’re a little pointless for regular cleaning. Usually soap and water will do the job just fine. Plus they require à sample of the mess you’re cleaning to add to the potion which just isn’t always possible.

Twenty minutes later, I’m just waiting for the potion to cool enough that I can tip it on a rag and apply it to the paint. A spray bottle would probably work too but I don’t think I have a spare one right now so a rag it is. Harry insists on helping me with the cleaning. I would insist on doing it myself but as he helpfully points out, I would need to stand on a ladder or something just to reach the top edges of the graffiti and it is much faster for him to do it. I sigh and give in, but I promise myself that I’ll get him dinner on the house tonight. Even with the potion, it takes almost an hour to remove all the paint. When Harry comes back inside he’s sweaty and his clothes are a mess with streaks of black paint over them as well as the usual dust and dirt that you would replace on the outside of a building. I haven’t gotten anything much done because I was too busy fretting and feeling bad about Harry basically doing my job for me. Seeing how messy he is now, I feel even more guilty.

“Hey, I might run home for a bit to have a quick shower and to grab my work stuff. Do you need me to bring anything?” Harry asks, heading for the door. Impulsively I chase after him. He turns to me expectantly, not sure what I want. I pause, not sure what my goal was in following him. Just that I wanted to thank him. Screw it, risking the paint, I throw myself at him in a hug. He seems startled but immediately wraps his arms around me. He’s warm from working outside and he smells like my cleaning potion. I stay there for a minute before releasing him and stepping back.

“Okay, you go get cleaned up. Thanks for your help.” I thank him, trying to act natural. Harry seems a little bewildered as he heads out the front doors, but there’s a bounce to his step and as the doors close I can hear him beginning to hum to himself. It really is very validating to have such an attractive guy always seem so elated from just the smallest gesture from me. Actually, I probably owe Harry a lot more than a hug at this point. Sure, he annoys me sometimes, but he’s been helping me out for weeks. What is he even getting from this relationship? I’m prickly and sarcastic and I come with a whole slew of emotional baggage and trust issues. I’m still trying to figure it out when Harry returns. Sick of contemplating the problem, I just ask him.

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Cam 40- Paint and presents

“Harry, why do you like me? I’m rude and untrusting and I just don’t see why you’re trying so

hard.” I tell him bluntly. Harry raises an eyebrow.

“You’re not as awful as you’re making yourself sound. You’re funny and generous, true you trust slowly but you’re also quick to forgive and once you care about someone you put in the work. Your family have been horrible to you lately and you haven’t given up on them. You defend me when people are jerks and you don’t treat me like some dumb piece of arm candy. I could go on but basically what it comes down to is that I’m working so hard because I want your acceptance. If you trusted me right away I wouldn’t believe it anyway because you can’t really trust someone you don’t know. So I’m happy to prove myself until I have your unconditional love too.” He says firmly. Woah, he thought this through a lot more than I expected. I figured he would give me a sentence or two about how I can be nice, or how I’m so capable or some rubbish like that. I don’t know how to respond so I just nod and. Gesture for Harry to set up his stuff in my work room. He complies, apparently unaffected by the heavy atmosphere. He settles in on the floor where he usually sits and I frown. This might be my

work room, but there’s no reason I can’t make it comfortable for him too. I grab my phone and after a few minutes of scrolling, I place an order for a comfortable looking beanbag to be delivered with same day delivery. I can store it under the work bench when he isn’t using it, but at least he won’t have to sit on the floor anymore.

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