Witchy Days 17: Last Straw

Warning: NSFW for nudity.

Several days later…

After Ophelia had so rudely interrupted her attempt at making things happen between herself and Matthew, Elspeth decided to forego magical methods and opt for the most direct one – show him what he’s missing.

After all, a picture was worth a thousand words, right? And she already had Matthew’s number, after peeking it from her father’s phone.

Chilling at home, doing some easy chores, enjoying yourself, receiving a text message and carelessly opening it up…

“What the hell!”

“When you finally realize you want a real woman, you know where to find me.”

Matthew didn’t know whether the pictures or the message made him more furious. But one thing he did know for sure.

He was done being nice about this.

He went out to the garden, where Terra was busy trimming the weeds from their plants. The past few days have been kind of uncomfortable, with both them and their families constantly staying on high alert after Coryn’s reappearance, but after the ghost chased him out, he seemed to have disappeared again.

Slowly, they were breathing easier and getting back to the usual order of things.

“How are the plants?” Matthew asked, neutrally.

“Oh, good! These are certainly the reddest tomatoes I’ve ever seen,” she laughed. “I may not have a green thumb, but I guess all these books taught me something.”

“Cool. Hey, I want to ask you something. We’re doing really well in terms of finances right now – would you care much if I quit my job and took a break to look for something else?”

“Not at all,” she smiled, relieved. “To be honest, I’m kind of amazed you’ve lasted in that toxic work environment for so long. I would’ve told you to quit on day one, but really, it’s not up to me to decide.”

“Oh good! Because I’m over that place. I’m going to go give Jedediah my resignation,” he told her, heading out.

“Can’t you just call or email him?”

“I’d rather do it in person,” Matt explained.

Luckily, the potions shop was empty when Matthew came in. He didn’t want to involve anyone extra in this.

“Mr. Aleister, hello.”

“Hello, Matthew. What brings you here? It’s your day off.”

“About that, Mr. Aleister – we need to talk. I’m quitting, effective now. And I really want to tell you why, or rather show you. And I really am sorry about doing this, but I want you to realize why your employees keep quitting on you.”

“Is this about Elspeth?”

“Yes.”

He pulled out his phone and opened up Elspeth’s message so that Jedediah could see exactly what sort of behavior his daughter was involved in. He almost regretted showing him, when he observed the man’s reaction. Almost.

“Goodness…” Jed whispered. “She did this after I talked to her?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Aleister. But I’m guessing, she took your talk with her for proof that I was actually secretly into her. Now look.” He made it extremely visible and clear to Jedediah that he was deleting the message, the pictures, and any cache files related to them. “I’m not keeping this. I only came in to make you aware of what’s happening. And once again, I’m super sorry that I made you see this.”

His message to Jed was clear: Matthew was willing to let this go, but a different person would bring him a sexual harassment lawsuit.

“No, thank you for making me aware of this,” Jed told him grimly. “I wouldn’t expect you to keep working here after this. If anything, I should’ve realized what the problem was.”

“Is everything going to be ok?” Matt worried.

“Oh, yes!” Jed nodded. “Don’t worry about it. And you should probably block her number. I seems I can’t guarantee what she will or won’t do. But it’s high time something changed in the way she’s been living and I guarantee that it will.”

“What do you have in mind?” Matthew asked.

“It appears my daughter has far too much free time on her hands.”

---

After Matthew left, Jedediah thought long and hard about how he and Fiona let their daughter’s behavior get to this point.

He knew they spoiled her. But after they lost Emrys in such a tragic way, both he and Fiona couldn’t bring themselves to ever chide Elspeth for anything. If anything, they lived in constant fear of losing her as well.

Except now, Jed realized, they were losing their daughter while she was alive, by failing to instill any decent values in her.

They were far too soft.

“Hi, Daddy!” Elspeth pranced in, unaware of Matthew’s visit to her father. “Why are you still here? I thought we were going out to dinner.”

“Hello, Elspeth,” he turned around, studying her. Yes, indeed, she was a grown woman. But sometimes, he wondered if there was much going on in that head of hers at all. “No, we’re not going to dinner today.”

“But Dad!!!”

“Elspeth, sit down.”

“So…so… if someone ‘wants a real woman,’ they know where to find you? Is that how it is?” he asked.

“Daddy?!” her eyes grew big.

“Don’t ‘Daddy’ me, Elspeth. Why were you sending your nudes to this boy? Especially after both he and I told you to leave him be? Which part of him not being interested in you do you not understand?”

“What? I’m not a minor, it’s not a crime. And everyone does this!”

“First of, not everyone. Many people don’t do it because they realize how easy it is for their nudes to end up in the hands of a wrong person and be used against them. And those who do exchange them do so with people who have actually asked for them. And this boy most certainly did not. Elspeth, today you’ve lost me the best employee I’ve ever had, all because you don’t understand the concept of basic consent.”

“You fired him?!”

“He quit!!! And before he did so, he made it clear he won’t be keeping the pictures and will not pursuing legal action against us. Do you understand how gracious of him this is, Elspeth? You are not a minor, you are a legal adult. In other words, you can be taken to court for sexual harassment. And frankly, I won’t be able to help you – pretty much all of our clients saw how you behaved with him during these past months. They would all be witnesses, even without those pictures.”

“I’m sorry,” she told him, but he wasn’t too sure she meant it. “So what now, you’re going to need a new employee for the shop?”

“Oh, that’s alright, I already found one.”

“Really? Who?!” she perked up and he realized that he was absolutely right about her not getting any of this.

“I’m looking at her as we speak,” he smiled.

“What? No! I can’t work at the shop!” Elspeth exclaimed.

“Why not? Are you illiterate? Do you have no knowledge of potions and how they are made? Are you unable to measure servings for our clients?” Jed asked her. “I know your mother and I have taught you everything. Now is as good a time as ever to put your learned skills to use. Besides, you’re going to need to, if you want to keep on shopping at all your favorite stores on a regular basis, because, like you’ve said yourself, you are an adult. And adults don’t get allowances, they earn their own money.”

“But Daddy!”

“Be here at 9 straight tomorrow morning, Elspeth. Tardiness in the workplace is not acceptable and will be taken out of your pay.”