Page 33 of A Witch in Notting Hill

“You come on. Are you even listening to yourself right now?” I argued. “None of this is real, Lo. And even if it was, it doesn’t take away from the fact that she lied.”

“Oh, boo-hoo. She told you she was helping her gran and she wasn’t. Hardly a lie, is it? Min, help me out here.”

He raised his palms and his eyebrows: a universal signal forLeave me out of this.

“I’m pretty sure every non-truth counts as a lie, doesn’t it?” I said. “What else is she hiding, you know?”

“We’ll never find out if we don’t help her.”

“When did this become awesituation?”

“When you made it perfectly clear you weren’t capable of doing this on your own,” she said. “And we haven’t even cracked the surface of the real issues here, so you need all the help you can get.”

“What are you talking about? What real issues? And can we at least have another beer before this conversation? I’m not exactly keen on the direction it’s going and I’d love a pint or twenty to make it through to the end, if you don’t mind.”

“It’s my turn,” Min said, jumping up from the table and headed toward the bar, undoubtedly thrilled to get away. I envied him.

“The fact that you feel you have to protect her,” Lola said, counting off “issues” on her fingers. “And the fact that you fancy her.”

“You’ve officially lost the plot.”

“God, Oliver, for someone who’s so upset about lying, would it kill you to be honest for a second?”

“It might, yes,” I said, but she didn’t laugh. “I don’t fancy her. And I don’t feel the need to protect her from anything. She’s fine on her own. I was just doing my job.”

“And a hell of a job you were doing,” she said, gratefully accepting a pint as Min returned. “It’s not a crime to fancy her, you know. Everyone else does.” For some reason, hearing that felt like jumping into a freezing lake. Of course everyone fancied her. She was a celebrity, for Christ’s sake. And a beautiful one. A kind, down-to-earth one. Or so I thought.

“We definitely do.” Min shrugged.

“Nowyou decide you want to contribute?” I said.

“I’m just saying, mate. Not the end of the world if you fancy her.”

“Can we stop talking about if I fancy her?”Because obviously I fancy her.

“We can talk about why you seem to feel obligated to protect her, instead,” Lola suggested. “Is that better?”

“Hardly.”

“Why? Because it’s also true?”

“You lot are bloody irritating, d’you know that?”

“That’s why you’re friends with us.” Lola smiled, a hand placed delicately under her chin.

“I can assure you, it isn’t.”

“No, it isn’t,” Min agreed. “You’re friends with us because we’re always here for you, without judgment.” He cut his eyes to Lola, and she mouthed something incomprehensible, then dropped her gaze to her beer. “Which means it’s okay if youfancy her. More than the general population, I mean. And it’s okay if you want to protect her from the paparazzi or the fans or whatever. I don’t blame you. And that doesn’t mean she can’t take care of herself. It just means you want to do what you can to help. Nothing wrong with any of that.”

“What he said,” Lola said with a sigh.

I wanted to be comforted by what Min had said—and I was, in a sense—but it didn’tfeellike there was nothing wrong. I wasn’t usually charmed, which meant I wasn’t usually disappointed, which meant I had no idea where to put myself now that I was experiencing both. It had only been a day. Three, maybe, if you counted from when she first came into the shop.

And I should have counted from when she first came into the shop, because I hadn’t stopped thinking about her since. I didn’twantto care. But that didn’t mean I didn’t.

“I can’t possibly help her,” I said eventually, resigned to the truth. “I don’t believe in anything she’s doing, and I think I hurt her feelings when I tried to explain that before.” It really wasn’t my finest moment, come to think of it. “If I tried to help, I’m sure I’d only hurt her more. And I’m not even sure where I’d begin. I doubt she even wants my help at this point, anyway.” I was spiraling, and I needed to stop. I wasn’t someone who spiraled, and I wasn’t keen on starting now.

“One thing at a time,” Lola said. “Do youwantto help her? Yes or no.”