“you can call me Samson.” He said as he took his glasses off and shook her hand. His eyes were just a touch to pale to be truly natural. Taking a deep breath as he entered the shop he sighed. “I always love the smell of these small time magic shops. You can always tell when the owner or the person who is running them knows their stuff.” He smiled at her his eyes not fully in line with looking at her. As she walked around talking to him his smile grew larger as if he was trying not to laugh at a joke she did not understand. As they came to the end of the tour of the place he bowed a little bit. “ this is the best introduction I have gotten for taking over at a shop and I don’t even think he told you.” Pulling out a pair of glasses he placed them on his nose. The lenses shifted their color and the patterns printed on them to match with the décor of the shop. “I have been blind from birth but no one really realized it till my eyes started not tracking right. I like you are a mage, but I have been using my magic all my life to get around.” Walking behind the counter he ran his hand slowly over everything. “how does your mistress like the money and sales lists? Is there a color of ink she likes in the book, does she keep books?”

Carla blinked. He is blind?She should have figured that out, what with him wearing sunglasses and all. She laughed sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that." She watched him as he ran his hand over everything, familiarizing with the shop. She always felt that nobody should take their life for granted, whenever she saw differently-abled people getting on amidst all their difficulties. He even knew magic! But it must be kind of sad, she thought, being able to do magic but unable to see it with his own eyes. "We do keep a book, and colour of ink is okay. And the book is in the small drawer on the counter. Let me take it out for you." she said, pulling the drawer and drawing out a simple sales book. "My mistress withdraws the money from the shop once in every 2 months or so, and there's no need for you to go to her, she'll stop by on her way home or send somebody to collect it." she explained.

"And do you want me to take you to my mistress now? Or sometime after lunch, perhaps?"

“I move around well enough that most don’t notice that I am blind. In fact most people never realize it until I take off my glasses and look at them, which is why I have these.” He tapped his pair of glasses with the holographic view on them, they hid his eyes well enough but did not look like sun glasses. “you sound like something has sadden you. If its that I can’t see don’t feel sad for me. I have my own ways of seeing all that goes around me.” Reaching out he followed her hand to where the book was. “I had only asked about the color of the ink because I have an ink that I can see quite well but its not truly blue and some people have problems with it.” Opening the book he ran his hands barely over the writing on the page his brows furrowed. “not making much are you? Has your mistress thought to try to sell online as well as here? If you think she would be open to it I could set it up for her.” He smiled looking over at her.

“it is good to know that she will come here not me having to go there with money. I just don’t like moving about town with some one else’s money on me. Not that I have ever been robbed by any one I just have this fear that I will. But in here no one is going to even try to rob the story, and if they do they are going to get a nasty surprise.” Taking in a deep breath and sighing he smirked. “how about you show me how to work the register and everything, then at lunch we can pick something up to eat and go see her. Maybe bring her a nice meal?”

"Oh. Any color of ink you find preferable, that is okay" she smiled. Her mistress never checked the sales, not much anyway. It was rare for her, if any, to check the sales. But of course, even then, Carla made sure to write the correct sales list, without cheating.

She laughed lightly as he told her about how they were not making much money. "We don't, that's true." she pondered. "Maybe we could ask her about opening an online shop, though I'm not sure whether she'll take any serious consideration. But of course, she would be okay for as long as it can reap more cash, I suppose."

"That's a good idea. Then let me run you a little tutorial on working the cash register." she said eagerly, liking this little job already. She found that the shop didn't seem much like a stuffed up smelly shop, after all. "This is the usual kind of cash register, if you know how to work it. It will prompt you a password, and the pass code is 9825. And you also have a credit card register at the side of it. It will print out the receipt for you, when you input the stuff. All the items in the shop also has bar code in them" she explained, and then frowned. "But if you find working it out difficult, and you find writing more easier, then that too is okay, the mistress won't mind and usually the customers don't care."

Making sure he knew which drawer the book went into he marked the page where the last entry was put into and put it back into the drawer. he had worked enough small business' that he knew he had to keep it like it was with the last employee or there would be problems. the less differences there was in the way it was run then the less problems he would have with the owner. "I have known some shops to stay open just for special customers and only brake even. your mistress may be doing that just because she likes some of them. but let us just talk to her frist about you going tonight to your new teacher, I can talk to her later on in time about the online sales. also i have a few other ideas that I might be able to get into effect later that will help this place. if and when you come back you will not know this place if she is up to it." he smiled as he leaned on the counter for a moment before she spoke again.

"I have found that over the years there have been many Registers made that work differently, and most small business have the odd ones that you have to get used to." an idea popped into his head and he smiled. "I have an idea, since this place is dead right now and i do need some of the supplies you have in here. how about I pick out all the stuff that I need without your help and then I give you my card and we act as if your the one buying all the stuff and you walk me through the transaction." slowly he moved from behind the counter and walked towards one of the shelf's. "we could also split it up so I can do half cash and half credit."

Suddenly a feeling of fright that swiped up all her excitement of the day came into her as he spoke about going to talk to the mistress. "I'm quite scared about speaking to the mistress." she admitted, in a tiny, frightened voice. Carla was just scared about what her reaction would be. She was kind to her, yes, but at the same time, she protected her too. She didn't know how she could logically explain that some stranger had become her friend and she wanted to go with him so that she could learn magic from a teacher. It frightened her too, a teeny tiny bit.

"Oh okay" she said, her earlier tension easing away a bit. It felt as if they were playing 'shop' when she was young, with her best friends, Adrianna and Luke. It has been a long time since she had met them. What would they be doing now? Living happy? Or ran off to somewhere, like me? She wondered. "So.. you're now picking up the things you want?" she asked, smiling.

“do not worry about your mistress, we will find a way to help you get where you need to be.” Simon said as he reached out and touched her shoulder in comfort. He wanted her not to be scared about what was to come. He was trying he best to drive the fear from her before they had to go. “don’t think about it. If you are meant to leave then the words will come to you that will sway her heart.”

Walking around the shop he slowly picked out different things. As he handed them to her he listed off what they should have been. He only made one set of mistakes, the items he misnamed were sitting right next to each other and he had grabbed both of them. So his list of items he was buying was still correct. By the time he was done there was enough ingredients for two spells. “it has been some time since I have been in a shop that had such a selection. A few of these things I have been looking for a bit and did not even think to come into this little shop. I usually do my shopping through the internet that is why I think she might make more money if she were to allow the items to be put onto the internet.”

"Thank you" she said, feeling grateful for his comfort. It seemed as if Orly came into her life for good. She had made more friends than she had made in the 5 years since she had ran away after meeting Orly.

She felt happy that her shop held many things that he seemed to have wanted. She guessed that she had done quite a good job. "Mistress would be interested in opening a shop online, I suppose." she guessed. "Nowadays people shop more online than on these types of stores I guess." she laughed.

She took all the things he had given to her and walked to the counter. "Will you be the cashier, sir?" she asked playfully.

"oh you will find that there are many of the older generation that will not go on line to buy their supplies for spells. part of that is they cant get a feel for the person running the shop and how good the ingredients are, but believe me I know a few people to tell that would make the shop boom online." he smiled at the thought of little things that he could put in to the web page that would make it clear to some of the older spell casters he knew that this shop was run by some one that could be trusted with their spell needs. there were family like Orlando's that would order from those that they trusted just because it was convenient. they might even assign one of their own to be the delivery man for the shop if they could swing it.

"must happily dear lady." stepping around the counter again he entered the code and placed his fingers on the key pad. "did you find everything you were looking for today miss." he said in a kind and caring tone. it would feel almost like he did this only for her. like she was the most important person in his world. taking that she would say yes as it was he that had picked everything out and he had found every thing he went on. "would you like this to be bagged or would you be wanting to place it in your bag?" since all the stuff was small a young woman of her age would most likely have a purse that would fit all of the supplies.

"Yes, I looked everything I was looking for." she said, in a bright and cheerful tone like a customer, or so she hoped. His tone seemed to be so kind, she thought. "I'll be placing them in my bag." she replied, taking out the bag she had slung across her shoulder, not knowing whether he wanted the items put in his own bag or in another bag. If he wanted them in another bag they could put it so later.

"very good." he said sounding rather please that she was happy with what was picked out. scanning each item he smiled and seemed to look at each one. "I see you have sage here, will you be need some red candles?" he said referring to one of the common ingredients of a common spell. he did this with a few other spell items showing his knowledge of spells and their components. as they came to the end he looked back up to her and smiled. "and how would you like to pay for this?" he said as he handed over to her his card and some money. as they had planned he set it up so that the card would only be charged a set amount. the number of bills that he gave her would match what was not payed for by his card.

"No, I wouldn't have need of red candles" she replied to his question. "I'll be paying for these items by card" she said, listing out some items that she had supposedly 'bought' so that his said amount would be filled. "And the remaining items will be paid by cash" she explained, handing out the credit card he had given her.

ringing it up he swiped the card and entered the pin number, then he took the money to pay the remaining balance. "there you go." he said handing her the respict with another smile that seemed to make her feel like she was the only one in the world. "have a very nice day and please do come again." he pocketed his card and stepped away from the counter, a raised eyebrow just barely peaking over the rim of his glasses. "so how did I do? is it well enough for your mistress to accept me as a worker?"

Samson can smile beautifully. Maybe he had learned to show all the emotions that he couldn't show with his dazzling smile. "Thank you" she said, playing the customer.

She clapped her hands excitedly as he asked about his performance. "You did great!" she exclaimed, smiling warmly. "You make a good cashier than me" she laughed. "I'm sure the mistress would like you" she said without no hint of doubt.

“and why would I like him?” her voice was soft and melodies. As she stepped into the shop. “who is this young man that is behind the counter and you buying items?” stepping into the shop she seemed to bring the air of jasmines and roses. “I hope that he is not your boyfriend, my dear.” Carla would know that she was displeased with that was going on and she would want an answer and quickly.

“you must be the Mistress.” Stepping forward he held out his hand in her direction. “we were planning on coming and talking to you at lunch time.” She did not shake his hand but turned to Carla and raised her eyebrow clearly questioning what was going on.

Carla quietly gasped. She didn't expect her mistress to come here, today, at this timing! It was so unexpected, and she didn't know what to do. She blinked, hoping it would clear away the noise of blood rushing in her ears. "I.. I.." she stammered, trying desperately to say something, anything, her face red. "He... is.. is.. not my boyfriend." she managed to say, waving feebly at the direction of Samson.

She was even more surprised when Samson stepped out coolly to shake the mistress's hand.She sucked in a breath as her mistress turned towards her, questioning what was going on in this shop. "Um... We.. were trying to talk to you at lunch time, yes" she nodded, trying to keep her words from stammering. She took a deep breath and started talking. "This is Samson." she introduced. "He came here to..." she dragged, looking over at Samson to see if he could be of any assistance in here.

"I am glad to hear that he is not your boyfriend, I would be displeased that you had not brought him by the house before bringing him here had he been." her anger seemed to lighten up as she finely looked at Samson and her eyes seemed to grow a bit wider for a few second before returning to their usual look. "and what is it that you two wished to talk to me about at lunch that you seem so uncomfortable to speak of now?" raising her eyebrow she tried to get a read on her young charge. she had thought that she was content enough here to lean slowly what she had to teach. yet now it seemed that Carla was looking else where for teachers, or did she not realize that this young man was covered in active spells. thinking about it she realized that she had not taught Carla how to tell a mage from a human, she would have to rectify that when he was gone.

"what we were going to talk to you about Miss is Carla here has gotten an offer for magic teaching and she wishes to take it." clasping his hands in front of him he then drew them apart till one was level with his waist palm up and the other was mid chest palm down. in between the two was the image of a black rose entwined with a red ribbon. her eyes grew wide as she saw the rose. "I was going to take her place for you in the shop until you could find another person that suited you better or she returned." he moved out of her way as she swiped at the rose. he was confused a little bit by her reaction to the black rose. most in the spell casters community knew of them but did not mind them. she reacted as if he had cast hot iron at her.

"and how did they find out about her?" her voice was cold and her attention was now fully on Samson.

Carla was glad that Samson spoke for her. She just kept her mouth shut and listened to what was going on-no, saw what was going on. She saw Samson making an image of some kind of a black rose in between his palms. But then she saw her mistress trying to swipe at the rose. Why? What for? Samson didn't do anything wrong now, did her? Carla didn't think so.

She flinched at the cold voice of mistress. All she could do was to watch the scene unfold, a scene she yet could not fully understand, right in front of her eyes.

"I.. recieved a magic book."she said lamely, trying to ease off the deadly glare her mistress was giving Samson. She did not like it.

Surprise flashed acrossed her face as she looked back at Carla. “you are tilling me that you were delivered a magic book by a privet messenger?” her voice was soft and gentle. Walking over to Carla she gently ran her hand down Carla’s face. “why did you not tell me about it when you received it? For it to have gotten this far” she waved at Samson. “you have been in contacted with them for a bit.”

“I think we have a miscommunication here.” Samson said as he stepped forward. “I actually am not a part of them, I only work with them and thought you would be more accepting of them then an independent.” She turned and snorted at Samson.

“I would rather have an independent then one of them in here.” Her whole manner changed after Samson said he was independent. “so you want to lean magic from some one that is not as busy as I am?” she turned back to Carla. “I wished you had told me you were wanting to, I would have found you some one that I feel I could trust.” She sighed. “but if you have already gotten an agreement with one of them then you should keep it. Just make sure you get them to say they will not harm you three times.” A sharp intake of breath from Samson drew her gaze back to Samson. “I see you understand why that is. Just make sure you keep my shop just as well as she does.” Looking over at the bag of items he had bought she raised an eyebrow. “And I don’t want any spell work that is going to interfere with anything else here.”

"I...forgot." she answered lamely, trying to stay still, though she knew that she would not buy her story. She watched as Samson stepped forward and started speaking. Independent? What was that? she thought, but decided not to swell on it further.

Carla was dumbstruck at what she told her. She did want to learn magic, but she had not known before she met Orly that she had to have a teacher or anything. It wasn't her fault and if any, Carla would blame it all on her. But she decided that somethings were better left unsaid and kept her mouth shut, her face devoid of much emotion.

"Three times?" Carla didn't understand nor did she know the reason why Samson was surprised at this. But she nodded at her mistress.

"Little Flower, your jumping into a world that is much deeper then I have swam in a long time. it would be wise to keep your wits about you from now on." her Mistress said as she turned back to look at Carla. "one day you will understand why I tired to keep you from this deepened so soon in your life but there are things moving in this world and the other that have drawn my attention from you. I had so many plans when first I saw you and took you in." reaching out again she cupped Carla's face in her hands and smiled down at her. "In that I must ask your forgiveness, but at least I have kept you from some of the worst things out there." she sighed and looked to Samson again. "you will tell her of them will you not. I want her to know what she is getting into before she is beyond my protection but I have to rush away to a meeting, I had stop in here just for some supplies." she sounded almost sad knowing that Carla was leaving her.

"Lady you have my word that she will know what is needed to stay safe with the Black Rose's. there are things that I will not tell her because of what I have been oath bound to keep but what i can I will tell her." Samson smiled as her Mistress turned and walked through the store picking up different items that she needed. "I do have some ideas on what might bring in more customers if you wish to hear them later." she nodded before she turned and started to leave from the store.

turning back she looked wistfully back at Carla. "don't trust their decks." was all she said before she stepped out of the store. there was something final about the way she walked away from there.

Tears welled in her eyes as she spoke to her so gently. She tried to keep calm. It seemed as if she was being abandoned, yet again the second time. This was not what she expected when she met Orlando, or Samson. She simply nodded, not trusting her voice.

Carla did not know what dangers were out there that all these people seemed to talk about, but at this moment she didn't really care, except for the final statement made by her mistress. Not to trust their decks? she blankly thought, then realized that it meant the decks used by Orlando, and maybe there were others like him. Then who should I trust? she wanted to say screaming loud, but as always she kept shut. Her mistress was leaving her, and what she told her was not to trust 'their' decks. She did not know what to do. All she could think of doing was to curl up in a ball and cry. She just did that, when she heard the door of the shop close. She sat down and cried, hugging her knees to her chest, wondering why she was really crying in between sobs.

moving over to Carla Samson knelt down beside her. "are you ok? is there anything that I can do for your?" he could not understand why she was reacting like she had done something or that her mistress was so upset at her. reaching out he wrapped his arms around her and tried to comfort her. reaching out with his magic he flipped the sign to closed and locked the door so that no one would come into the shop while she was suffering this fit.

She cried and cried, clinging onto his shirt till she felt as if she had been crying for so long, though it must have been around a few minutes. She was thankful that there was someone to comfort her. After a few minutes of crying, mainly because she felt abandoned, while her words played back again and again in her mind. She wiped her tears, rubbing her face on her jeans as she had been curled up and looked up at Samson. "I'm acting rather childish, right? I'm sorry, I was just feeling in the dumps I suppose." she said, trying to smile. "So.. now we don't need to go to her place after all." she said bluntly, still shocked about her sudden arrival, and departure.

“you were not acting childish you were reacting to what you thought was her getting rid of you, am I right?” he said rubbing her back slowly trying to make her feel like she was not left in the dark. He had never expected it to come down to this when he said yes to Orlando’s request. “dear this job and her will be waiting for you when you come back from the training. I will make sure that she will not forget you. You know you could always write her letters while your away.” Gently lifting her up he took her into the back room where she would not be on view for any who peeked into the window.

“from her warnings she knows the family your going to and she cares for you deep enough to give you that warning. They have a geis on them that makes it so they have to keep their word if they give it three times when you ask it three times. And their deck of cards can be dangerous.”