"No fireworks, huh?" Rachel said, clearly understanding better what you were getting at. "How about we grab a bite somewhere and you can tell me what you expected?" Perhaps some fresh air would do you good.

Owen shrugged. "I do not know if I can leave the shop. My brother is somewhere and there's no one to watch the shop. We could talk here. I expected to be able to do more than move a small cup and then spill the cup..." He complained sounding miserable.

"Until what time does the store stay open then?" It was pretty much closing time.

"For a few more minutes. I suppose it's fine if I left..." He said as he saw no one else was in the shop so Owen started to close up the shop.

Rachel waited patiently for you to finish, then walked out with you. She started walking and pretty much just assumed you would follow. It wasn't very warm outside, but at least it was dry

Owen locked the door and ran after the woman. "So what were you expecting me to have done in a single night?" He asked with worry in jos voice.

"Not much." Was her answer as she hunched het shoulders clearly she was cold. She also wasn't very forthcoming, for she continued walking at a brisk pace, not volunteering any information as of yet.

Owen just followed her in sullen silence. She wasn't going to give any answers and that bothered him. He needed answers right now. "Where are we going?"

"Just over there." She pointed at a door a just up ahead, a door you had never before noticed was there. It wasn't surprising, considering there was absolutely nothing that would make the door stand out. Still, this was pretty close to the shop.

She held the door open for you to enter a lit but otherwise empty hallway. A pleasant temperature greeted you as you stepped inside. She passed you, letting the door fall shut. In the distance you could hear a couple of voices, which grew louder as you followed her down the halway towards another door. The door led to a second halway, but this one was, on the right hand side, decorated with posters showing various performances that had at one time played on a stage On the left hand were a few rather normal-looking offices. Every now and then someone was present and working.

At the end of this hallway you turned left to3ards yet another door. The space beyond that looked like a cafeteria. They served some simple meals, soup, bread, vegetables, meat, potatoes. There was a small coffee corner where you could get drinks. It was nothing fancy but it smelled pretty good. "The food here isn't bad." Was the first thing Rachel spoke since you'd askes her where you were going. "Take whatever you like. It's on me."

Owen followed after Rachel towards wherever they were going. Owen looked around the room clearly confused as to why he was here. "What kind of food do they have here? How about you order for me?" He said with a soft smile still on his face.

It was the kind of cafeteria that belonged to a company. You could gather what you wanted on a tray and pay at the counter. Rachel took you past the different foods, got herself today's special which was spaghetti. She got a cola and let you have what you wanted. At the counter though, rather than taking her wallet, she swiped her hand over a small device. The lady at the counter sid it was alright and Rachel took you to a table in the back.

The place was nearly empty. Only a handful of people were seated and other than Rachel's special way of paying for the food there wasn't anything odd about this place at first glance.

Rachel waited for you to be seated before she spoke. "I apologise for not being as forthcoming." She started. "We can talk freely here. You must have a lot of questions. I can't promise I can answer them all, but perhaps I can help you on some issues?"

Owen must have been too tired to notice the blamtsnly obvious. He was out of his mind with how exhausted he was. He looked over at Rachel with confusion in his eyes. Everything just felt wrong.

"First,what did you mean by what you said before you left? The whole belief thing didn't work at all. How did you know that I had anything? What can I do to get better?" Owen babbled off his questions clearly
Not hungry as he ate a piece of bread. The whole thing made it hard to eat.

Your questions were considered for a moment. Then Rachel said "Have you ever learned a new language? You can't expect to be capable of in-depth conversations from day one. Especially with a language that is not related to your own, your brain needs to be rewired first before you can start making sentences. And then it takes a lot of time before you are fluent with it.

"The same goes for magic. You say you can move things without touching them, right?" She paused to see if you nodded, then continued. "But for years you've been moving objects only by touching them -save perhaps the odd accident. Your brain doesn't just flip a switch and know how to do function differently because it gains access to another source of energy. It's like it needs to speak a whole new language. It takes practise."

Jack nodded his head. "I have learned a new language but by the end of that first class, I could say hello at least. If we are using that same metaphor then this time was me starring at a book learning the letter A." He said clearly down heated from the fact that he had failed in his attempts.

"I wish you had said that before you left yesterday. I tried to do the whole belief thing but nothing happened. It was a little sad to say the least. " he continued sounding just plain broken.

"'Do the whole belief thing?'" Rachel repeated your words. "Owen, you don't 'try to do the whole belief thing'. You either believe or you don't. And when you believe, you believe unconditionally or you fail. And you say you moved a mug. Sounds like a pretty decent 'hello' to me."

She looked at your plate and saw you were only nipping your food. "If you want to develop your power, you should start by taking better care of yourself. You look tired, you're not eating. Performing magic costs energy. You need to be well-fed and rested when you practise. Otherwise you'll fail for sure." Sensing your foul mood she added "I'm sorry, but that's just the way it works." Kind of a 'don't blame the messenger' type of comment.

"I was taught to always believe that I should touch something if I want to believe in." he said sounding like a doubting Thomas. "I doubt how that will help me. I mean I try to keep eating but I have so much on my plate. I need something more if I am going to take care of my brother and all of my responsibility.

"I tried when I was... I suppose you are right. So all it takes is eating a nice meal?" He said still eating his bread for now. He was clearly too drained to eat any more.

Rachel sighed. Clearly you weren't listening. "No, all it takes is not one nice meal." She answered, a little exasparated. "There is no 'all it takes'. You need to be in good shape. You need to be well-rested, well-fed, or you'll block up. You don't nees to be bloated, you'll block up. You need to be comfortable or you'll block up. You can try and try and try and never acchieve anything because you're not comfortable with the idea or because you're getting frustrated for failing. You need to..." She aighed.

"Look, magic is not a parlor trick. It's not something you can just do one day. If you want to practise it, do so at a time when you feel like you could easily run a couple of miles without being all out of breath. And if you get frustrated becauase you're not succeeding, stop and try again later when you're feeling better again."