Trial Period (1)
Artemis POV
Artemis straightened her work shirt, grabbing her phone before she headed to the front door to put her shoes on. As she was putting her boots on, she heard footsteps on the wooden floor and turned around to see Jayce walking to the door.
"Want a lift?" He asked, shaking the car keys in his hands.
"Nah, I like riding my bike in the mornings. Besides, you won't be able to drive properly wearing that bandage over your eyes." Artemis smiled, standing up.
Jayce touched the bandage covering his eyes, realizing she was right. "Seems I've forgotten about this thing. Well, alright then. Guess I'll be going then."
Artemis nodded her head in understanding as Jayce passed her to head to the door. However, before he left, he quickly turned around and planted a kiss on her lips.
"See you later sweetheart." Jayce grinned before hurrying out.
Artemis stared at the door, a little shocked at what had just happened. She touched her lips with her fingers, the feeling of Jayce's soft lips on hers still coursing through her head. She knew they were doing a trial period but Jayce was acting like a fish in water…
"Artemis are you okay?"
The sudden sound of her name broke her from her daze and she turned to see Xander standing in the hallway. He had a look of worry on his face as he stared at her.
"Huh…oh I'm fine." Artemis laughed. "Anyway, I'm gonna get going. Make sure to rest up."
Xander nodded his head and Artemis smiled back, a slight awkwardness between the two. Their relationship had changed drastically over two days and they were trying to figure out a way to work around it.
Not wanting to continue standing around, Artemis quickly waved goodbye to Xander and headed out, riding her bike to work.
When she arrived a few minutes later, she parked her bike against the side of the building and hurried to the bookstore. Opening the glass door, she went inside, spotting a scrawny, blond haired boy shelving books.
"Marius?" Artemis said in surprise.
The boy turned to her and smiled. "Hey Artemis."
Placing her things behind the counter, Artemis walked over to Marius and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Marius was Becky's sister's son, a senior in high school. He usually worked Sundays, Artemis's day off and sometimes helped out during the week when the store got busy. Seeing as it was a Saturday and in the middle of the month, Artemis was confused as to why he was working in the bookstore.
"Oh…Aunt Becky heard about yesterday and was worried about you being here alone. So she asked me to come over." Marius explained, handing some books to Artemis. "Anyway, how is everything?"
"It's fine. Just got a mate bond yesterday." Artemis sighed. "Sorry about the trouble. Everything got sorted out yesterday already…"
"No worries…Because of this Aunt Becky owes me one of her spell recipes now. I'd say it's a win. Besides, I'd like to see the ogre who scared the crap out of you."
Artemis laughed, imagining Marius's shock when he realized Jayce was the furthest thing from an ogre. "Don't be surprised when the ogre turns out to be a handsome man."
"Did you release him from his curse with true love's first kiss?" Marius joked as the two finished up shelving some books.
"No…" Artemis murmured, her head going back to this morning. Shaking her head, she turned to Marius, a serious look on her face. "Marius, do you know any adjustment spells?"
"Adjustment? Like making things-"
Artemis, knowing where he was going, glared at the younger boy. "No, I meant a spell that would slowly reveal something."
"Oh…that type of adjustment. Yeah, I know one but I'll need an object to place the spell on it."
Artemis looked out the window to see the costume shop across the street. She smiled. "Alright, let me go get you the object and you can do the spell for me. Usual payment?"
"Yip."
***
As Marius left with a box to go to the backroom, the bell above the door rang and Artemis looked up to see who had entered the shop.
"Sorry but we're clo-" Artemis stopped mid sentence seeing that Jayce was the one entering the store. "Oh…hey Jayce."
"Hey babe." Jayce greeted back, planting a kiss on Artemis' lips as he stood in front of the counter. "How was work?"
"It was nice…Quiet."
"That's good. By the way, who's the witch?" Jayce asked, looking at Marius who was neatening things at the back of the shop.
"Oh…That's Becky's nephew. He sometimes works here when it's busy or I have a day off."
"I don't like him." Jayce huffed, frowning as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"He has a girlfriend and is quite happy being with her." Artemis rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I got you something."
She pulled out a eyewear case from beneath the counter and handed it to Jayce who looked at it curiously.
"What is this?"
"Glasses. I thought they would be better instead of wearing bandages all the time. They have an adjustment spell on them, so by the time I can see your eyes, I'll have adjusted to your eyes without getting a panic attack." Artemis explained quickly.
Jayce opened the case, pulling out the circular glasses. He smirked. "H*rry P*tter glasses?"
"Turns out that's the only fake glasses the costume store sold." Artemis muttered.
Jayce turned around, quickly removing the bandage and put the glasses on. "It's fine. Do I look good?"
Artemis stared at Jayce, able to see his eyes now although she could see his eye color. The glasses made his eyes look black.
"You look…smart." Artemis finally answered.
"Really?!"
"Artemis, I didn't realize your boyfriend was a H*rry P*tter geek." Marius laughed, reappearing and saving Artemis from having to respond to Jayce's question.
"I'm actually a L*rd of the R*ngs fan." Jayce smirked, pushing the glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Which reminds me, do you guys have the X series?"
"By Rebecca Smith?" Marius asked.
"Yeah."
"We have a few copies in the back. Want me to show you?"
"Sure." Jayce grinned, the two disappearing to the fantasy section.
Artemis shook her head as the two started talking about the series, both excited to find someone else who enjoyed the series.
After a few minutes of talking, Jayce and Artemis left the store with a bag full of books, Marius closing up the store. Jayce was grinning madly, looking like a kid who had just bought the candy store.
"Is that series really that good?" Artemis asked as they made their way to a silver pickup truck across the street.
"Yip. It's the best fantasy series since L*rd of the R*ngs. Although the series is hard to find."
"Why not get the ebook?"
Jayce stared at her in horror. "The blasphemy!"
"Okay nerd…" Artemis giggled. "I shall not speak of the ebook henceforth."
Jayce grumbled, shaking his head. "What do you read anyway?"
"Classical romance. Like Pr*de and Pr*judice."
"Oh... Then will you be the Elizab*th to my Mr. D*rcy?" Jayce smiled, holding his hand out.
"You know Elizab*th rejected D*rcy twice."
"Then I'm fifty percent of the way there. Besides, she accepted the third proposal."
Artemis shook her head at Jayce, taking his hand. "Alright, then good sir, you can escort me home."
Jayce smiled, the two standing in front of the truck a few seconds later. As Jayce opened the passenger door for Artemis, Xander appeared with a brown bag of groceries.
"Good day at work?" Xander asked as he opened the driver's door.
"Yeah." Artemis replied before heading inside the truck.
Jayce followed Artemis, the bench seat of the truck allowing all three to sit inside. However, Artemis found herself squashed between both males, despite the space.
After a bit of moving around, the three were finally comfortable, the bags on Jayce's and Artemis' laps.
"So, what's with the glasses?" Xander asked as he started the car.
"It's the improvement to the bandage so Jayce doesn't have to be half blind whenever he's around me." Artemis answered.
"Although I'm already blind with love for you." Jayce joked.
Artemis and Xander groaned at the joke and Jayce coughed. "Alright, I'll leave the cheesiness for the pizza."
"Please make him stop…" Artemis groaned.
Jayce laughed as Xander shook his head at the bad joke.
"Alright, I'll stop." Jayce laughed.
"Thank you…" Artemis murmured. "You're like a Golden Retriever."
Jayce looked at Artemis in horror as Xander laughed at the comment. Artemis realizing that she had just compared Jayce to a dog breed, the worst type of insult for a werewolf, grasped in shock.
"I'm so sorry!" Artemis cried out. "Please forgive me…I didn't mean it like that…"
"Okay I will but you have to tell me what dog breed Xander reminds of…" Jayce smirked.
Artemis looked at Xander, who nodded his head, curious too. "Appease the baby."
"Okay…well…a German Shepard then." Artemis answered, putting her face in her hands embarrassed.
It was Jayce's turn to laugh and Xander had a blank look on his face. Afterwards, the trio drove home in silence, Artemis not wanting to further embarrass herself.