THE MAGIC OF HEARTBREAK

THE MAGIC OF HEARTBREAK

Melody Murphy gazed at herself in the rear view mirror. People found her so pretty. Everything about her was soft and gentle. She had long brown glossy curly hair, hazel eyes and tanned skin, it was true she was beautiful, inside and out. She decided she didn’t want the colour of lipstick she had chosen, moving her hand over her mouth she changed it. Melody was a witch, a good witch, unless somebody crossed her. She was quite a delicate flower but her powers were anything but.

Caden Harvey looked in his mirror and saw Melody in the car behind. He got that warm loving feeling he felt every time he looked at her. He longed to know if she felt the same, he had certain ‘gifts’ but unfortunately for him reading minds wasn’t one of them. When he wasn’t with her he longed to be and when he was with her he didn’t want the moment to end. He loved everything about her but most of all he loved the way she cared for people and went out of her way to help them. He looked at her now in her beaten up old car, the only car she had ever owned. It could have been held together with sellotape and she still would have driven it. Melody could easily afford to buy a new car but she loved to bomb around in that old thing even though it was a complete heap, the thought made him smile.

“Here” Ten minutes later he put a cup of coffee on her desk. They ran a company called Entwined. It was a magical Marriage Guidance. Couples would come in for counselling and under a magical hypnosis Caden and Melody would go back in time with them through their relationship and see the problems for themselves. Some couples could work it out but some couples should never have been together in the first place and Caden especially never held back from telling them that.
The first couple of the day arrived, they were Caden’s clients and he took them through into his room. Melody sat back and pondered, doing this job had totally put her off relationships. She was happy to live alone with her cat, Thomas. He gave her all the love a man could, was loyal and didn’t leave his dirty socks on the bedroom floor.

“Mel, there’s a lady to see you” Zoe the receptionist buzzed through.
Melody reached for her diary and frowned, “I haven’t anything in the diary”. They did not take walk in clients as their services were so specialized and so widely known there was a long waiting list.
“She says she will only take a minute of your time” Zoe sounded a bit embarrassed.
Melody went out to reception. She did not want to get someone in her office then not be able to get them to leave. As Melody approached she could see the old lady standing there, she looked at her and could of sworn she had seen her somewhere before but could not quite put her finger on it.
The old lady approached. Hunched over she reached out her hand to Melody and passed her something “read it” was all she said, then hurried from the building. Melody glanced at Zoe and did not know what to make of it. Going back to her office she shut the door and looked at what the old lady had handed her, it looked to be a diary.

Melody sat down with confusion, on the inside cover it said ‘The Diary of Melody Murphy’. Freaky, then it all made sense. In some weird way she knew that the woman in the foyer had been herself. Strange but then when you were a witch strange was a normality.

Melody started reading.
“Today my heart was broken. Caden Harvey, my longest and oldest friend died.”
Melody went cold all over and started shaking, she slammed the book shut. Then she opened it again.

“I realised today when I was standing there looking at his picture how much and how long I had loved him and what a loss it now was for me. We had been friends for so long but I never realised all I really wanted was his love. I have wasted so many years being lonely when I could have had him. I knew how he felt and yet I chose to do nothing. I guess I thought he would always be there and then one day he moved on with his life and I wasn’t in it”.

Melody looked at the door as if expecting Caden to appear, she realised she was shaking and her eyes had welled up.

“Caden met Trudy and then he married her. On his wedding day I made a joke that it could have been us and then he told me. He had been in love with me from the moment we first met. He had wanted to build a life with me but I never seemed interested in him in that way and he did not want to lose me as a friend. He should have told me! I was cross with him then but being his wedding day it was too late. He didn’t really love Trudy, I could tell and so could she but he did not want to be alone either. Best friends up until that point, always together, never apart but once he was married things changed. He did not laugh at my jokes anymore. The light had gone out of his eyes. Something changed between us. His wife had changed it, then the children. He wanted me as godmother, she did not. She must have known how he really felt about me and wanted me as far away as possible from her family. She was probably right to do this. I couldn’t blame her not really. Eventually she wore him down so much that it was easier for him to leave the business. They moved away. That was more than thirty years ago. Occasionally we would hear from each other, ringing a couple of times a year or swap the odd birthday and Christmas card. We always had a magical connection though and Trudy could never take that away. Even when we were not in contact we still felt close to each other and when I was in trouble, he would pick up the phone, secretly, and reassure me that everything would be o.k. Even after all those years of being apart we were still together. A friendship which could never be broken by time or distance”.

Melody was in floods of tears now, her heart ached. She read on.

“Today I felt him die, nobody told me, I just knew. I realised I had wasted my life waiting for him, I never married, never had children and now I have lost Caden. I am alone in the world apart from a few good friends. I want to die too, to be with him. What have I done? I am a magical being, I must fix this before it is too late, I have to save us, I have to save him.”

The diary ended there.

Melody shook. She could not breathe. Yelling to Zoe to tell Caden she would see him that night, she grabbed her coat and left.


Caden raised the Champagne glass to his lips and looked at Melody, she seemed different somehow. Why was it so hard, why could he not just tell her how he felt.
They were holding a charity slave auction, Caden was on stage and Melody stood up to bid for him. She was not really in the mood but knew she had to play the part of hostess she started to bid. Another woman started to bid, Melody did not recognise her and asked Zoe who she was.

“Trudy Laws, she’s an antiques specialist or something”. The name echoed in Melody’s head like a death toll. Melody felt her throat restrict ‘Trudy’, no, she had to stop this, she carried on bidding but so did Trudy, Trudy won. Caden smiled at the lady and then he saw Melody’s face, it was stricken.

“You coward, why don’t you just get a life” Melody stood up and yelled. Caden clearly embarrassed by her outburst did not know what to say.

Melody grabbed her bag and stormed over to the bar with everyone watching and grabbed another drink, she could feel their eyes on her but she did not care.
Caden was furious, what the hell was wrong with her. Walking over he grabbed her arm “a word” was all he said. Melody could see by his eyes that he was cross. He practically dragged her outside.

“Just what is your problem?” She had been funny with him all night but he was sure he hadn’t done anything wrong.
Melody was shaking. She looked at his angry eyes and could not move.
“Well?” He hadn’t taken his eyes from hers.
“You can’t marry her” was all she said.
He now looked at her as if she was completely insane. “You have to marry me”. She whispered. Out of her bag she took the diary, thrust it at him and went back in to the bar.

Caden read it, couldn’t quite believe it but then he saw, felt and lived through the pain. The heartache he felt nearly killed him.

The evening was at full throng and everyone was having fun. He saw Melody, she now stood amongst everybody and her face said it all. He walked over and stood in front of her, not saying anything. She could not read him his mind was closed to her. It always had been. Melody was scared that he would reject her now, when she knew how unhappy she would be.
“I’m sorry” was all she could think to say.
“So am I Mel. This shows me that you knew how I felt and yet you still let me go”. He walked away.
“No” she screamed and moved her hand in anger. A glass flew towards his head, then another. Things started swirling, like a tornado but only around him.
“I love you” she shouted amongst the chaos but he fought it and carried on walking.
Then he felt something whip against his face and a welt appeared. He turned to look at her, she looked wild, her eyes were huge and her hair was sticking to her face.
“Stop” he ordered.

Melody couldn’t meet his eyes. She couldn’t believe she had used her ‘gift’ against him. She was out of control and she knew it. The wind stopped and she took a step backwards.

Caden moved towards Melody, grabbing her, pinning her hands to her sides. Melody looked at the ground she was so ashamed she could not look at him. Caden shook her until she raised her head up then he looked deep into her eyes, she smiled and he could see the fragility there and knew she was scared. His eyes danced with amusement, he lent in and kissed her deeply, electricity crackling around them passing through them and it felt like all the love in the world was upon them.

They had helped so many people and in the end nobody had helped them more than themselves.