The Girl and the Genie (27 page)

Emily was stunned. Jack had fixed her wish after all, and now that it was happening all she felt was scared to death. But she nodded, her eyes glistening wet as she did so. Derek grinned wickedly seeing that, and jumped to his feet so he could take Emily into his arms and kiss her hard on the mouth.

“You’re trembling,” he whispered.

“I’m just so happy,” she whispered back.

“I’m so sorry I acted like such an ass before,” he said. “After I left you, I wanted to go right back to your apartment and propose to you, but instead I found a bar and kept trying to build up the necessary courage, one shot at a time. And well, after I went back to your apartment drunk the way I did, I wanted to make sure how I really felt before I saw you again. But I’m sure now.”

Emily stood on her toes so she could reach up and give Derek a harder kiss than he gave her. She knew she couldn’t blame him for showing up at her apartment drunk, or avoiding her afterwards. That was Jack having his genie hand in it. After the kiss ended, she told him not to think about it again. That it was all in the past.

“I need to talk to my boss, and then we’ll go,” she said.

“We don’t have time if we’re going to catch our flight.”

“I just need a minute.”

Derek nodded. They broke their embrace, and as they turned to leave Emily’s cubicle, they saw a group of Emily’s coworkers who had gathered. The group broke into applause then, with coworkers stepping forward to hug and kiss Emily, and to wish her happiness. Her cheeks flushed red with this attention, but she mostly felt as if she were walking on air as she and Derek walked into Mr. Pish’s office, with Winston tagging behind. Mr. Pish looked flustered as she told him that she needed to take some time off because she was getting married, but reminded him that she had six weeks of saved vacation time. “I’m going to be bringing my laptop with me and make sure I stay on top of my assignments,” she promised, “but I have to leave now.”

Mr. Pish stared bug-eyed at her for a long moment before pushing himself to his feet. He maintained his bug-eyed stare as he walked over to Emily and gave her an awkward hug. “I wish you all the happiness in the world, Miss Mignon.” Turning next to Derek, he told him that he was marrying a hell of a great girl. “You better treat her right,” he warned Derek.

“Nothing to worry about there,” Derek promised.

Chapter 28

They made it to LaGuardia in time. Barely. During the limousine ride to the airport, Derek told Emily not to worry about luggage, that he’d buy her everything she needed once they got to Vegas, and since all this was happening because of Emily’s wish she agreed and went along with it. As it turned out, it was a good thing they didn’t have any baggage to check, because if they had they would’ve missed their flight. They had to sprint from the limousine drop-off to the gate to catch their flight, with both of them out of breath and Winston panting heavily as they boarded the plane. Derek had been able to use his celebrity status so Winston could have his own seat with them in first class. “No way I’m putting this ugly bastard in a crate,” he told Emily with a wink.

Once they were in the air Derek told Emily his honeymoon plans. He’d booked a luxury suite at the Wynn Las Vegas for the night, and then the next day they’d fly to Aspen and spend a few days at his lodge in the mountains. “It is breathtaking up there,” he told her. “You’ll love it. And it’s got everything. Maybe we’ll do some skiing.” From the way Emily reacted, he added, “Or maybe not.”

“I’ve never skied before,” Emily admitted. “But I could take lessons.”

“Only if you want to. No pressure. We’ll have a great time regardless. After a few days, we’ll fly to a private island off Tahiti. It’s fantastic there, and I’ve already arranged with a friend to let us have the use of it as long as we want it.”

As Emily sat there it felt as if she were in dream. None of it seemed quite real. Not when she called up her mom and told her what was happening, promising that they’d have another wedding later in Des Moines, and not when the plane landed and they went straight to a wedding chapel on Las Vegas Boulevard and were married by an Elvis impersonator, which Derek told her was something he’d always wanted to do. As they left the chapel and headed to the Wynn Las Vegas and their honeymoon suite, Emily still had this odd feeling that she’d be waking up any minute and finding herself back in New York.

Things got very real once they got to the door of their suite. Derek had picked Emily up to carry her over the threshold, but before he could open the door two men approached them seemingly out of nowhere, with one of them calling Derek by name. When Derek saw them a hitch showed along the side of his mouth. He put Emily down and handed her Winston’s leash.

One of the men was short and stocky with a bald head and diamond stud earrings in both ears, the other was larger and bulkier with thick arms and his hair shaved down to no more than a quarter of an inch. They were both scary looking, and both with hardened faces that looked as if they were carved out of rock. Derek turned to face them, his skin color not quite right. Winston began growling deep in his throat.

“Chickie,” the bald one told Emily. “If you don’t want to see your dog hurt you better keep a firm grip on that leash.”

Emily didn’t know who this man was but she pulled Winston closer to her so he was up against her leg. The bald man turned his attention back to Derek and asked him who the cute chickie was.

“She’s my wife,” Derek said with a tentative smile.

“Your wife? No kidding? I didn’t think you’d ever get married. Goddamn, she’s a cute one. Congratulations are in order, my man.”

He held out his hand to Derek. Derek hesitated as if he knew what was going to happen next and his smile turned queasy, but he still took the man’s hand and was jerked forward as the bald man kneed him viciously in the groin. Derek doubled over and collapsed to the floor, his face purpling. Emily started to scream. Winston bared his fangs and struggled against the leash to lunge at the bald man. The larger man shushed Emily with an index finger. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a knife. He opened it by pushing a button and the blade looked huge.

“Be quiet now or I’ll cut your throat,” he warned Emily. “And control that ugly dog or I’ll do the same to him.”

Emily stopped her scream before much of it got out. She pulled Winston even closer to her and dropped to her knees so she could hug him tight and keep him from breaking free of her. The large man didn’t seem all that concerned about that happening, and with a sickening feeling Emily knew he’d kill Winston without a hint of remorse if the dog got away from her.

The bald man was shaking his head sadly at Derek. “You didn’t think we’d find out you were coming here?” he asked. “What the hell’s the matter with you? Goddamn it, Derek, you weren’t supposed to leave New York until you spoke with Mr. Stone. You have any idea how pissed he is at you right now? Here we give you all these breaks and you keep pissing us off. If it wasn’t your wedding day I’d kick your teeth in right now, but being a sentimental guy, I’ll give you one more break.”

He reached down with his left hand to help Derek to his feet, and as he pulled Derek up, he stepped quickly and drove his right fist hard into Derek’s stomach sending him again to the floor. Emily began crying, and the larger man shook his head at her as a warning to stay quiet.

The bald man watched Derek struggle to get to his knees and then told Derek that Mr. Stone was waiting for him so he’d better speed it up. The purple was gone from Derek’s face and his skin color was now a sickish gray. He held his stomach with one hand as he slowly worked his way to his feet. He seemed to be having a lot of trouble breathing, and in a gasping voice he told Emily to wait for him in their suite.

“Don’t call the police,” he forced out, his voice not much more than a hoarse croak, his breathing badly labored. “This is a stupid misunderstanding. I’ll get it cleared up. So please, just wait for me and I’ll be back soon.”

The bald man told Emily to listen to her husband. “He knows what he’s talking about, chickie. You don’t want to be calling no one.”

The two men got on either side of Derek and half dragged him down the hallway and out of sight. Only then did Winston stop his growling. And only then did the shock of what happened clear up enough so that Emily could think about summoning Jack.

She stumbled to her feet and fumbled with the magnetic door key before getting the door to her suite open. Once she was inside, she yelled out in a frantic voice summoning Jack. The genie appeared a second later and Emily lurched forward as if she was going to grab him by his suit jacket. Jack leaped backwards, a panic-stricken expression across his face.

“Miss Mignon, please! You cannot touch me! If you do you would die horribly and there would be nothing I could do to save you!”

Emily nodded her understanding of what Jack told her as she stood pulling on her fingers, her face twisted into a mask of anguish.

“They took Derek! I need you to save him!”

“Miss Mignon, you need to calmly tell me what has happened.” Jack wiggled his right index finger and a comfortable-looking armchair with big soft pillows appeared directly behind her. “First sit down,” Jack said. Emily did as she was asked. Jack wiggled his index finger again and a wet cloth and a glass of water materialized next to her. “Please, drink the water, then put the cloth on your forehead. When you’re capable of doing so, explain to me exactly what has happened.” Frowning, he glanced quickly around the suite and added, “And tell me where we are.”

Emily did as the genie suggested, first drinking the water, then placing the cloth on her forehead. The cloth had been soaked in warm water and smelled heavily of lavender, and it helped calm her down enough so that she could organize her thoughts and in a shaky voice tell Jack the events of the day leading up to the two men attacking Derek outside of the suite. As she did this, Jack’s frown only grew more severe.

“Did you cause those men to be waiting here for Derek?” Emily demanded.

The genie shook his head. “No, this was not my doing, I assure you.” He closed his eyes and squeezed his eyelids with his thumb and index finger. “I had told you this wish to marry this man was reckless, but never mind. You do not need me to scold you now.” He opened his eyes, a tiredness settling over his features. Sighing softly, he said, “Miss Mignon, I recommend that you leave here immediately and that you have this marriage annulled. If you wish I could take you back to your home in New York, but that would be an awful waste of one of your last remaining wishes. It would make far more sense for you to simply wish for great wealth, as I’ve been suggesting, and then buy an airplane or train ticket to take you back to New York.”

“I’m not doing that. I want you to save Derek and bring him back here unhurt.”

“I can’t do that,” Jack said. “As you told me, one of those men already hurt him. I can’t change the past.”

“You told me that you took one of your past masters back in time. That John Bowles, the one who was really Shakespeare.”

“I did,” Jack admitted. “But that was for observation only. Any changes to the past can cause earth shattering results. It cannot be allowed. It’s all part of the natural law of genies. Changing the past is not possible.”

“Then save him! Don’t allow any more harm to come to him!”

“And how am I to do that? Should I have him pop back into this suite right now? That could create far more dire consequences for the two of you. Do you want me to dispose of the men who have him? That could cause more dangerous men to take their place. Miss Mignon, you must think carefully about what you wish me to do, and understand that the situation could be made far worse for you if you interfere.”

Emily thought about what Jack told her. He was right, there were many ways she could end up making the situation worse. But she couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. She came to a decision.

“I wish that those men let Derek leave now and that he comes back here without being hurt any further by them,” she said.

“I urge you not to make this wish,” Jack said gravely. “Not only is it a waste of one of your few remaining wishes, but the consequences for you could be horrific.”

“Please, Jack, grant my wish now! Before anything more happens to him!”

The genie opened his mouth to argue further, but saw it would be useless, and instead nodded and told Emily that her wish has been granted.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?” he asked.

Emily broke out sobbing then. She couldn’t stop from doing it. She shook her head. Jack stood watching helplessly for a minute, then told her that he’d better leave so that that actor wouldn’t catch him in the room with her. “I should probably make the chair you’re sitting on disappear since it’s not part of the room’s furnishings,” Jack said.

Emily nodded and got up from the chair. Jack sent it away. “Please be careful, Miss Mignon,” Jack said, and then he disappeared also.

Fifteen minutes later Derek came hobbling into the suite. He offered Emily a lopsided grin as she came rushing to him. “Be gentle, my dear,” he said. “I’m not in the best of shape right now.”

Emily gave him a flurry of kisses along his nose, cheeks and chin, before settling on his mouth. She was gentle, and as she pulled away from him she asked if he needed to go to the hospital.

“Nah, I took worse beatings than that when I used to do my own stunts before movies became all CGI. But I could use some help getting to the bed.”

Emily let him support his weight on her. He weighed a hundred and ninety pounds, almost a hundred pounds more than her, and his weight nearly knocked her over, but she struggled and helped him hobble to the bed within the suite’s master bedroom. He gingerly laid himself down, and told Emily that they’d have to postpone their wedding night for a day or two. “I’m afraid that I’d be pretty much useless in that department right now,” he said with more of his lopsided grin. “Now if you’d be a dear, could you wrap some ice in a towel for me? I desperately need to apply that to a certain sensitive area.”