Anna snorts mockingly, she couldn't believe this guy's ridiculous words.
"Wait, so if you're not a psychic, explain to me how you know my name and why I came to your store. I'm curious to see what you come up with." She crossed her arms, an amused and slightly mean smile on her face.
The store owner didn't flinch and maintained his amiable, friendly demeanor. "If you wish to know I'll tell you. Please keep an open mind though, Anna. I am not a psychic however I am a Wizard."
Anna giggles, amused. "A Wizard, like in the Harry Potter movies you mean? Come on man, be serious!"
"I'm sorry I do not watch television, young lady, so I'm not sure what you are referring to. I am a practitioner of the magickal arts and I offer my services of spellbinding and enchanted trinkets for an honest fee. I specialize in Transfiguration charms." The old man explains and he seems serious about it.
Anna wasn't sure if he was just joking around to keep in theme with his store or if he was just plain crazy at this point. He did sound like he meant it though so she decides to humor him. "Okay... so you're a magic man and you're an expert on... transfiguration? As in transforming people into frogs or something? I uh, don't want to be a frog, thank you. Sorry I think I made a mistake in coming here, I should go..."
The old man stroked his long beard and let out a heartfelt laugh. "Please do stay, I didn't mean to scare you. I have no intention of doing anything of the sort, believe me. I do not practice malicious hexes and curses!"
"Well, good Wizard or bad, I don't believe in magic sir, sorry! I think you're just cuckoo, again sorry..."
"Let me show you." The Wizard declared with confidence and waved his bony hands around himself. Before Anna's eyes the old man's weathered brown suit changed into a flashy, stereotypical Wizard's robes like something out of a fantasy fairytale.
Anna went wide-eyed and slack-jawed for a couple of seconds. "What the fuck! No fucking way!"
The wizard smiled and quickly morphed his robes back into the boring brown 3 piece suit he previously had. "I take it you're a believer now, my girl? But allow an old man to tell you you shouldn't swear like that."
Anna just laughed. "Okay, okay! So what else can you do?" She sounded kind of excited now. A real, honest to God Wizard! She was instantly hooked.
The Wizard went serious for only a moment. "I can do anything." That came off a bit grim and scary, but he immediately followed up with his usual friendly grandfather demeanor. "But you're not here to watch a magic show now are you, Anna? No, you're here because you want to shake up your relationship with your boyfriend, Joe. Am I correct?"
Anna clapped like a giddy child. "Wow, how the fuck do you know that? I mean, yeah that's correct, so you can help me? I mean of course you can help me you're a fucking Wizard!!" She grinned mirthfully feeling a rush.
"Language young lady, please! I only ask this of you."
"Okay, right. Sorry."
"As I said I know exactly what you need from my store. You believe your Joe is hiding something from you, that he might not really like you anymore and that maybe he even has been thinking of other women, am I correct?"
"Yes..." Anna nods in wide eyed amazement of how he just knows her thoughts like that.
"And you think that the way to fix that is by being sexier, more attractive, more provocative to recapture his attention, correct?"
"Once again yes..."
The Wizard shakes his head. "Wrong. Anna have you seen yourself? You're already a very attractive woman and you're anything but prudish. A sexy nurse outfit or a latex catsuit would not really make any difference for Joe. He already sees you as sexy."
"Well, thanks for the compliment I guess. So then, what should I do?" Anna asks.
"The opposite. You my dear should switch things up by challenging his idea of you. Subvert his expectations. A shock to the system. Anna, I think you should become someone totally different, someone plain and subdued for a day and see how Joe reacts. This way not only will you shake things up but you will know if he truly loves you for who you are... on the inside, as opposed to how you present outwardly."
Anna reflects for a moment. She pulls a strand of her shoulder length, wine-red hair behind the ear and shrugs. "You really think so? Well I do have doubts about him being with me only for my looks, so I would like to prove that wrong... I mean I hope I'm wrong... So, be someone else, someone not sexy... I don't know if I really like the sound of that though. Heh, but Joe's gonna totally freak out I do want to see that! But how would I become someone else and who should I be? Also, this won't hurt will it? I don't like pain!"
The old man gently takes Anna by the hand and walks her into the back of the musty store, in a dimly lit area behind some tall wooden bookcases.
"Here, I will now show you just what you need to make the Transfiguration possible, Anna..."
The Wizard presents Anna with...