Sugar Hearts

Disclaimer: These characters are all original, created by me. (With the exception of James, whose author gave me express permission to use him in this story.) Any resemblence to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. This story was written for my enjoyment, and the enjoyment of my readers, and I am not making any money from it.

Sugar Hearts

Part One

The confectionary shop known as Sugar Hearts is located on Lakeshore Drive, inconspicuously nestled between several other high-end stores. At this moment in time, the store has closed for the night, and sheets of thick red velvet are drawn across each window, like theater curtains dropped into place after the evening’s final act. Behind them, all is still. The twinkling golden lights have been turned off. The candies – truffles wrapped in a rainbow of brightly colored foils, amazingly realistic marzipan fruits, and sugar snowflakes so delicate that the slightest breeze could send them fluttering around the shop -- have been taken from their display cases and placed into carefully monitored refrigerators. The staff has gone home. Only one spot of activity remains. Behind the main counter, a door leads into the kitchen. And, in the kitchen, a young woman with bright red hair practices her art...

Pepper chanted softly as she bent over the marble slab, carefully swirling melted chocolate across its smooth, stone surface. The chocolate had to be cooled to just the right temperature before it could be poured into the molds. And the incantation had to be recited with absolute accuracy. There was nothing worse than a love spell gone wrong – it turned the chocolate bitter and gave people an itchy rash in unfortunate places. Pepper knew, from past experience, that itchy patrons seldom returned to spend another hundred dollars on a box of candy. So she spoke slowly, precisely, patiently. And kept stirring the chocolate.

Finally, the chocolate was properly tempered, so Pepper began to scoop it into the waiting molds. Stars, hearts, the slightly sad faces of angels...each shape dictated by the holiday season and Pepper’s own personal aesthetics. One year, as an experiment, she had tried molding the chocolate into Christmas trees and Santa shapes, as her customers occasionally requested. A complete failure. Apparently, the spells worked on some level deeper than the simple mechanics of spoken word and material components. They needed to resonate. Unfortunately, most of the season’s modern symbols meant nothing to Pepper. Perhaps, she reasoned, when you’ve touched true magic, you don’t need to cling to the idea of some fat guy and his flying reindeer.

After filling the last mold, Pepper licked a bit of chocolate off her finger, and smiled. Another perfect batch. Of course, her own magic had no effect on her. But she could tell, by the quality of the sweetness, that her spell had taken hold. The person who ate these chocolates would be filled with warm feelings of affection toward whoever had given the candy to them. Pepper sighed. The love spells she cast never lasted more than a day or two, but she envied people who got to feel like that, however briefly. Maybe Marzi was right. Maybe she did spend too much time working.

Even as the thought passed through her mind, Pepper heard the back door open, and her older brother entered the kitchen.

Marzi was twenty-five, with long hair that had been dyed so many times that it now resembled autumn – mostly brown, but with strands of orange, red, and gold added to the mix. Despite the bitter cold outside, he wore his velvet coat open, with no shirt beneath it. A pair of gold hoop earrings, glinting like stolen halos, completed the ensemble. “Hey Pepper,” he greeted. “Got a minute?”

“For you? Always.” As usual, Marzi’s presence stirred deep feelings in Pepper, and she busied herself with cleaning up in an effort to bring them under control. Pepper liked to think of herself as independent, the absolute ruler of her own emotions. It bothered her to realize that the ties of blood had bound her so tightly to another person. Especially another person who seemed so likely to come to a spectacularly tragic end. “I suppose it’s futile to hope that you came to help me out?”

Marzi’s lips curved into a familiar smile. “That’s not how it works, is it? You inherited the talent, you inherited the business – fair is fair.”

But in his eyes, Pepper could see that Marzi thought it was anything except fair. He was the older brother. If anyone had inherited their parents’ gift for enchantment, it should have been him. But he hadn’t. He couldn’t cast even the simplest spell. And his inability to do so seemed to have pushed his attempts to prove his worth into strange, dangerous territory.

“Fair is fair,” Pepper echoed, although they both knew it was a lie. “So. What can I do for you?”

“I’m hitting the clubs tonight and I need some supplies.”

Pepper sighed as she started to walk across the kitchen, toward the refrigerators that stood in its far corner. “I wish you’d spend the occasional evening at home. It’s getting worse out there – more violent. Something bad is brewing. I can feel it.”

“You worry too much, Pepper. I’m safe. Everyone likes me.”

“Everyone likes you,” Pepper conceded. “But nobody trusts you.” Opening one of the refrigerators, Pepper began to gather a few of Marzi’s favorite treats. A few rum balls, their intoxicating properties enhanced to include mild, rather pleasant hallucinations. Two white sugar sticks, carrying a spell similar to what she had just cast on the chocolates, except that instead of producing feelings of warm affection, they triggered the sharp, sweet ache of lust. And a mixture of powdered cocoa powder and dried chilies that would keep Marzi warm, despite his apparent inability to dress for the weather.

Carefully, Pepper wrapped the various candies and placed them in a small box. “That police officer stopped by again. He asked me where you were on Saturday night.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I said you were with me. I don’t think he believed it, but he couldn’t prove that I was lying.” Pepper walked back to her brother and handed him the box of candy. “He always seems so lonely. A little sad. I offered him one of our truffle assortments.”

Marzi laughed. “You tried to bribe him?”

“I—“ Pepper blinked. “I didn’t think about it like that. It was just chocolate.”

“Chocolate that costs ten dollars a piece.” Marzi tucked the box into his coat pocket. “He sounds delicious. I wish I could be here the next time he drops by.”

“You’d better not be. I don’t think he’d be amused by your sort of games.”

“Pepper, my dear sister, you have no idea what sort of games I play.” Marzi leaned forward, and placed an affectionate kiss on her cheek. “Come with me? Just this once?”

Pepper shook her head. “I can’t. Christmas is one of our busiest seasons.”

“And it would be disastrous if we sold a hundred fewer chocolates? We would tumble into immediate bankruptcy?” Marzi leaned back against one of the counters, and his velvet coat fell further open, revealing skin the color of vanilla cream and crushed almonds. “Be honest with yourself, Pepper. What are you so afraid of?”

The same things you are, Pepper realized. I’m afraid of everything I can do. I’m afraid of everything I can’t. I’m afraid of what will happen if anyone ever really touches these strange sugar hearts of ours.

“Someone needs to finance your decadent lifestyle,” she answered.

“Then I suppose I should go live it, to maintain your excuse for hiding in this shop.” Marzi swept his body into a low bow. “Take care, sister. I’ll see you soon.”

Pepper watched the kitchen door swing shut behind him. And she wished, once again, that her parents had taught her some spell capable of healing a person’s soul. But her magic affected sugar, not spirit. So she walked over to the ovens and began to melt another batch of chocolate.