Three Wishes(9)

Just him.

“Fazire, I’m in the middle of a good part,” she murmured distractedly not even looking up at him and twirling a strand of hair around her finger like she’d done while reading or watching television since she was a little girl.

He used his magic to flip her book out of her hands, levitated the bookmark sitting on the table, slapped it in her place in the book and then the book flew across the room and set itself down well away from her.

She shot bolt upright on the couch. “Fazire!”

“You must tell me what’s going on,” he demanded in his best commanding-genie voice.

“I was reading,” she replied, being deliberately obtuse, her elegant face settling into a charming disgruntled look that did not, at all, work on him (it would have worked on Will, her father was a pushover where Lily was concerned).

“I don’t mean now, I mean with you.”

A shadow crossed her eyes. A shadow that was only part about losing both her parents in a plane crash six weeks ago.

“Lily,” he went on, “I don’t know if you realise this but I’m stuck in this world and it is not my world. Since you don’t intend to use your wish then I can’t go to someone else. I don’t even want to. But in the meantime I depend on you to take care of me. I can’t float around this house watching you read your books and twirl your hair forever. We have to have a plan and since I don’t know anything about you mortals, you are going to have to make the plan.”

“You know a lot more than you let on,” she accused.

He got down to brass tacks (another one of Sarah’s sayings that Fazire used but did not understand). “Indeed, I do, Lily-child, you would be wise to remember that. What’s troubling you?”

Her beautiful face closed down rebelliously. Fazire had forgotten that she could be the slightest bit rebellious and more-than-a-little stubborn. Fazire didn’t give her that, that she got from her mother and her father.

He floated closer. “Lily, tell me.”

“I… I, Fazire, I don’t know what’s going on. He was supposed to call. I had to leave so quickly and I wrote him a note, gave him my number here, told him what happened, told his brother what happened so he could tell him and he hasn’t called.” She stopped looking at Fazire and stared at the floor. “I can’t believe he hasn’t called, not after what I explained happened to my parents. And I’ve called him and the number isn’t working. I know it’s the right number but it’s been disconnected. I called his office but he isn’t returning my calls.” She finished, speaking as if to herself.

“Who?” Fazire asked.

Her incredible blue eyes lifted to his and there was a world of worry and hurt in them.

Then she said, “Nate.”

“Who, pray, is Nate?”

She fidgeted with her hands, dropping her head to stare at her nails.

“You remember my wish?” she asked.

How could he ever forget the most complicated wish ever?

“Yes,” Fazire answered.

Her eyes lifted again and in them was something that made Fazire’s genie heart beat a little faster.

“Well, it came true. His name is Nathaniel McAllister and he’s the most wonderful man ever. And, I think… Fazire, I’m pretty sure I’m going to have his baby.”

Fazire immediately stopped levitating and dropped heavily to the floor.

Then he screeched, “What?”

Lily shook her head and bit her lip before saying, “It was… I don’t know. I can’t think straight. It all happened so quickly. One second I was just, well, in London doing my normal London things. Going to museums, a little shopping…”

Fazire doubted it was a “little shopping”. Lily could shop like Jackie Robinson could steal a base.

She kept talking. “The next thing I knew I was going to fancy dinner parties and he was taking me out to romantic restaurants and midnight walks in the park and we made love again and again and again and it was so, it was…” she leaned forward, her eyes lighting before she whispered fervently, “spectacular. Mind-boggling. You cannot even imagine.”

Fazire tried floating again but could only get three feet off the floor. This was mainly because most of his concentration was spent on keeping his ears from burning and possibly dripping blood at his Lily-child talked about mind-boggling love-making.

“Then Mom and Dad…” She couldn’t finish. They both still could not talk about it.

“He hasn’t called,” Fazire finished for her.

“No.”

“Has he called, maybe, your thingie-ma-bobbie?” Fazire tried.

“My what?”

“The thing that records voices on the phone.”

“My answering machine?”

“Yes, that.”

“I picked up my messages, none were from him. He doesn’t know my number anyway. I was always in London with him, he never had to phone me and I’m not listed.”

Fazire thought for awhile. He was, although out of practice, very good at what he did. Sometimes genies could go for years and years without having their bottle rubbed so they knew there might be magical delays and any good genie prepared well for them. Fazire, if he did think so himself, was very, very good with his wishes.