You go back downstairs and down the road, coming to Hecate's Magic Shop again. Hecate was still at the counter, and you were lucky enough to come at lunchtime, so there don't seem to be any customers inside.
"So, how were the shirts?" Hecate asks, as you walk through the door.
"Absolutely amazing!"
The owner smiles again, and you find you can't help but smile as well.
"I must say, you're really cute." she asks, out of the blue. Even she seems stunned that she said that, and she looks like she's about to stammer her lips off, when you reply.
"You're looking pretty good, yourself." Now it's your turn to be shocked. Both of you had just blurted that out, but it seems like it's true regardless. Hecate is blushing a bit, but composes herself, and pulls out a note.
"In that case, come to this address at 8. Oh, and bring the pink shirt. I have something new in the works that you might like to try." You take the sheet, and it has both her address, which actually appears to be just upstairs, and her phone number.
"It's a date, then." you say, and are about to leave, but Hecate calls out.
"Wait!" she asks, causing you to turn around, "are you busy now?"
"Not particularly..."
"In that case, how about staying behind for a while? It gets awfully lonely here at times." You realise that with so few customers, she really is quite alone, so you go back to her.
"Is there anything that needs doing?" You ask, although you wouldn't be doing much besides wearing shirts otherwise.
"Well, I had an idea... the reason that the old location shut down was that the old clerk, whom I assume you saw when you visited, let some friends in two days before and had the place vandalised. Well, she was also the landlord's daughter, and got me evicted. I want revenge. At the back of the store is a fridge with some sodas in them. Unlike the shirts, these only have an effect for a week, and can't mix. How about you go and pick her a poison for me when she gets here?" Both of you now have a cunning smile. You remember how terse the old cashier was, and decide that if she would harm someone'e business for no good reason, she was deserving of some punishment. Hecate called up the cashier, named Diana, and tells her she left a necklace the last store and to come to the new one to get it back. She tells you to stay out of eyeshot until she goes behind the counter.
Five minutes later, Diana comes.
"Where's my necklace?" she asks, dismissively.
"Give me a moment to get it." responds Hecate. You go up and make conversation.
"So, come here often?" She looks at you with a sneer.
"No. Ever wonder why?" she asks, looking you over with the same sneering look. You take no notice.
"Want a soda?" you ask, hoping for a yes.
"I am pretty thirsty... why not?"
You go past the T-shirt racks to the fridge and open the door. Inside are a series of soda cans. At first, you think that Hecate had only enchanted the sodas, but these are unlike any other sodas on the market. Whatever her powers are, they're good. You notice that they all seem to be of the same brand – Bimb-O-Max. You find five different kinds of soda:
Rear Beer, in a red can;
Funbag Vanilla, in a white can;
Doctor Pee-er, in a yellow can;
Squirter, in a lavender can; and
Mental-Do, in a pink can.
You take one and go back to Diana, who snatches it from your hand, pops it open and downs it in one go, having drunk...
NOTE: the URL linking to the image in the last chapter is