by Simon Archer
The Second Wish
Yes, Master book 2
Simon Archer
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
3. Dave
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
7. Dave
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
14. Dave
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
18. Andi
Chapter 19
20. Dave
21. Vila
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Author’s Note
1
The transformation of the man that came through the door to my office fascinated me. A year ago, Tommy Lutz reminded me more of a pug with a foul attitude than a person. Now, however, my once red-faced, overweight, conniving coworker strolled through the door looking fit, confident, and happy.
“Hey, Bennett! Got something for you,” Tommy said happily. He walked a thick envelope over to my desk and laid it down. I picked it up, broke the seal, and glanced inside.
“Thank you for making my afternoon better,” I told him. “This is the contract I was waiting for.”
“I figured it must have been something important, being that you called down to the delivery department four times to see if it had arrived yet,” Tommy laughed.
“How is it going down there?” I asked him, looking up from the envelope. An excited smile crossed his face.
“The new procedure changes are in place, and the system is running like a dream!”
His enthusiasm was refreshing. It was this time last year that Tommy got himself demoted to a bicycle messenger position at 14Tech after pirating custom gaming software that I had developed and trying to pass it off as his own. Since then, he’d changed drastically, as I’d hoped he would. He developed an admirable work ethic, and we eventually promoted him to department Director. The messaging department was an in-house service created in support of an application that the company had developed years ago.
Being that Tommy was a programmer himself, he had re-coded the app and made improvements to department functions that resulted in a twenty percent profit increase. I was proud of his achievements and made sure to let him know that every chance I got.
“You’re a miracle worker, Tommy!” I told him, reaching out to shake his hand. He gripped my hand firmly and nodded.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to work those miracles!” Gratitude flashed in Tommy’s eyes. In one way or another, he often managed to show appreciation for my decision to demote him, instead of firing him and pressing charges for his theft. He spun around on his heel and headed back towards the door. Just before leaving, he glanced at me over his shoulder. “Will you be at the club this weekend for a round of golf?”
“Frisbee golf, maybe,” I joked with him. “I’ve decided that traditional golf should be left to our more seasoned partners if possible.”
“I keep forgetting to thank you for having the club install the frisbee golf course.” Tommy chuckled. “It has made those weekend business meetings a lot more enjoyable.” Tommy was closer to my age than that of most of the decision-makers in the company, who were well into their thirties at least.
“A purely selfish decision, to be honest,” I told him, grinning to myself.
“Selfish or not, it was a good one,” Tommy replied as he turned his head back around. He waved his arm in the air to say goodbye and left my office.
After that, I pulled the contract out of the envelope and flipped through the pages to make sure everything was there. Satisfied that the document was complete, I headed over to my boss’s office, three doors down the hall. His door was open, so I tapped on the doorframe as I walked in.
“Got a second?” I waved the packet of papers in front of me as Jack Richards looked up at me from behind his desk. As far as bosses go, Jack was the best anybody could hope for. His six-foot, one-inch height and a full head of dark hair contributed to his commanding presence, but he had an easy smile that he often used to his advantage in business situations. Within the past year, our relationship had morphed into one more recognizable as colleagues then employer-employee.
“I’ve got a full minute for you if those papers are what I think they are,” Jack answered jokingly.
“A minute it is, in that case!” I told him. He took the papers from me and quickly flipped through them as I took a seat in front of his desk.
“Everything’s in order?” he asked without looking it up.
“Yep,” I replied. “And just in time for Sven and Asher’s visit.”
Sven and Asher were our main investors for an artificial intelligence project we’d developed over the last year. It was always a pleasure when they came to check on their investments as they both were fun-loving, polite gentlemen. We’d presented them with the opportunity to invest in a new project under development, and they were coming in to look it over more thoroughly. The contracts were for them to sign once they agreed, which was our main goal for their visit. They would most certainly be joining us at the club this weekend, where I had first met them last year.
My mind drifted back to that fate-changing day. Jack had lost his normal caddy, so he had requested that I fill in. At the last minute, his caddy showed up, and I joined the golf game instead. It was there that I had exposed Tommy’s plagiaristic offense with the help of two special guests who had accompanied me to the club.
“Any progress on the new system glitch?” Jack’s voice snapped me out of my reminiscing.
“The rogue code was located this morning so, yes,” I responded. “I don’t have a fix yet, but progress is progress, right?”
“Hey, I’m happy as long as we have new developments to report to them.” Jack chuckled, still thumbing through the pages.
“Fear not, they will leave the frisbee golf course with smiles on their faces,” I commented humorously. Jack was an older gentleman and preferred traditional golf, so we had struck a deal to alternate which game we played for business meetings. It was my turn to pick the game.
Jack glanced up at me and rolled his eyes. “Every time I am on that course, I feel as though I am back in college.”
“Every time you are on that course, I feel as though you are back in college because you get schooled!” I teased him.
Jack stood up and pointed to the doorway with mock anger on his face. “Shut up and get out, you cocky prick!”
I stood up, laughing loudly at his ruse of being offended.
“Now Jack, no tantrums on the course this weekend,” I replied, playfully shaking my finger at him.
“You’re not the boss of me!” Jack crossed his arms in a huff and exaggerated a frustrated expression. It only lasted a second, however, before the two of us busted up laughing.
“You are correct about that,” I chuckled back as I started walking toward the door. Something on the wall to my left caught my eye. After a closer look, it turned out to be a shallow shadow box with an antique golf club mounted inside. The club had obviously been treated well. It was a driver made of lightly stained wood that shined as though it had been freshly polished. I looked back at Jack and pointed to the box. “That new?”
He smiled proudly and walked around his desk to stand in front of the golf club.
“Just had it mounted yesterday,” he replied. “Who says charity auctions have to result in useless purchases?” Jack was an avid golf fan, which was one of the reasons he wasn’t all that into fris
bee golf.
“Yeah, I’ve picked up a few decent items from those things here and there,” I agreed with him. “Good find.”
“Thanks. Now, get out of here before I decide to swat down your frisbee with it on Sunday,” he joked.
“Alright, alright,” I conceded, resuming my walk toward the office door. “See you Sunday, Jack.” He was already back at his desk, going through the contract again. He gave a distracted wave as I walked out the door.
I made my way back to my office to get my keys and jacket. It was a little earlier than I normally left work, but I had a date to get ready for, and I determined not to be late this time. The downside of loving my job was that it was very easy for me to get caught up in it and lose track of time. After locking up, I headed for the main building entrance, and a moment later, I was getting in the back of a dark blue sedan.
“You’ve interrupted my nap,” the balding, older man sitting behind the steering wheel said. “Will you be making this on-time exit from work a habit?” His voice was serious, but the twinkle in his eyes gave away his amusement.
“Glen, you and I both know that spending less time at work could never be one of my habits. In fact, next week I will make a point of being extra late so you can catch up on your sleep!” I exaggerated.
One of the perks of my promotion had been the opportunity to hire my own personal driver. Glen was a cabby at the time, and we’d just experienced a gas-station robbery together. His cool demeanor and impeccable professionalism, as well as a good sense of humor, had made us fast friends, so I offered him the job.
“Deal,” he laughed. “Home?” He confirmed his assumption of our destination.
“Yes, sir,” I told him.
He turned his attention forward, and we began the ride home. While we often conversed while he was driving, that day, traffic was heavier than normal, so he was intensely focused on the road, which resulted in a silent ride. I looked out the window and watched the buildings come and go as we passed by. The car slowed to a stop to wait for a traffic light to turn green.
I recognized the two buildings to my left. More specifically, I recognized the small alley between the buildings. The last time I was in the alley was just over a year ago when I was in a rush to finish my bike deliveries so I could get home early that day. A thrift store truck pulling out the other side of the alley had a bag fall out of it, which resulted in me wrecking my bike. It was after that wreck that I discovered the glowing box that would change the trajectory of my future, as well as my perception of the world around me.
Just then, the car started to move forward, bringing me back to the present. I glanced up at the rearview mirror to see Glen grinning as he looked back at me. Although he did not know the entire story of how being in that alley changed my life, he knew it was a special place for me. I nodded back at him, and he returned his attention to the road.
The rest of the ride went quickly, and soon, Glen pulled the car up in front of my house. Regardless of having purchased the house six months ago, I still felt like I was being dropped off in the wrong place occasionally. As I climbed out of the car, I remembered the tiny, rundown apartment I used to live in. The two-story Tudor in front of me could have fit eight of that apartment inside it. Before going in, I bent down and looked back in the car.
“You coming?” I asked Glen. He would be driving me to my date within the next hour, so I knew he wouldn’t be leaving the property.
“Nah,” he replied as he leaned his seat back and closed his eyes with a smile. “I'm going to finish that nap you interrupted.”
“Sweet dreams,” I told him, shaking my head as I closed the door. I turned and headed for the entrance to my house. The moment I stepped into the stone-tiled foyer, I was greeted the same way as I was every day. Two beautiful women came rushing down the stairs from the loft and threw their arms around me.
The first was a tiny, porcelain-skinned spitfire whose huge aqua eyes were often mesmerizing. She had flowing, dark purple hair accented by a single black streak. It had grown longer since we'd first met and now draped down over her full, perky breasts. Her outfit of choice tended to be crop tops and miniscule pleated skirts that accented each and every curve a man could hope to see. Her name was Servilia, and she was the first magical being I’d met.
The second woman was a complete contrast to the first. Her name was Andolyn, and she stood a good six inches taller than Servilia. Her skin was smooth and tan, which made her bright, light-grey eyes, accented with tiny blue flecks of color, all the more striking. Her hair was the lightest shade of blonde with a bright purple streak and nearly reached her round, firm buttocks. Despite her generous curves, it was her long, slender, shapely legs that always caught my attention. The ass-hugging shorts she liked to flit around in made them all the more noticeable.
As the two of them squeezed me tight, I inhaled deeply. They always smelled of lilacs and orchids, and the scent never failed to be intoxicating. I felt myself relax as they released me, stepped back, and I exhaled.
“Hello, ladies.” I smiled at them. “Good day?”
“Yes!” the two of them replied in unison. They stepped to my sides, and each looped an arm through mine. As they smiled up at me adoringly, I knew what the next words I was going to hear would be. Andolyn, whom I called Andi for short, squeezed my arm tightly.
“Vila and I were curious, have you decided on your second wish?” she asked excitedly, referring to Servilia by her nickname. Then the two of them stepped back in front of me and looked up at me with wide eyes, waiting for my answer.
“No, ladies,” I started. “I have not decided on my second wish. At some point, you will realize that when I do, you two beautiful genies will be the first to know!” I joked with them.
I still often found it unbelievable that they were real. Regardless of how much time passed, I was grateful for each and every day for the good fortune that had brought them into my life. I had been in that old alley when I’d found that glowing, tattered wooden box and my journey with the two feisty, exotic genies had begun. Regardless of going my entire life thinking that genies were supposed to be inside lamps, these two had been housed in an old pocket watch I'd found inside the box. They had explained to me that while their existence as genies started with a lamp originally, the lamp continually morphed into items that were better suited to each of their masters. For me, that object was a money clip.
The item within which they lived was not the only unique characteristic the two of them possessed. After centuries of various masters making horribly selfish and impulsive wishes, Andi and Vila had made the decision to allow me to preview any wish I was considering making. Typical wishes that I’d grown up hearing about, like those granting people endless riches, love, or un-earned success, turned out disastrous results that, once they showed me the consequences, led me to make an entirely different kind of wish.
My first wish had been that I would have the ability to improve anybody's life that I came in contact with. By making what the universe considered a selfless wish, my life continuously improved in correlation with how much good I put out into the world. This afforded me the benefit of earning what I had either through opportunity or reciprocity.
The house I was standing in was proof. The first thing I'd done after making my wish was to help a young gas station attendant calm his panic and fear after a robbery we’d been involved in. He’d said he was lucky to have had me around, so I’d bought him a lottery ticket. That ticket turned out to be a sixty-million-dollar winner, and he had promptly gifted me half of his winnings for the act of kindness I’d shown him. That was just the beginning.
Since then, the genies had been at my side, forging my new life with me. Their only request was that I allow them to stay free of the money clip whilst I went about my days. Even though they loved the worlds created for each of them inside it, spending hundreds of years there had left them with the desire to take a vacation. It was an easy request to satisfy because although they consta
ntly created accidental havoc, they were caring, daring, and adoring, all characteristics that made life more of an adventure than a chore. Regardless, since my first wish, I hadn’t come upon a situation that made me think another wish was necessary to get by. That day was no different.
I brought my thoughts back to the present and started up the curved grand staircase that led to an oversized loft. My bedroom was just off the loft, and I needed to get ready for my date. The girls accompanied me and went about laying out clothing options for me while I showered. When I finished with my shower, I picked out a dark blue pair of jeans, a grey t-shirt, and a steel-grey button-up to wear over it.
As soon as I got dressed, Andi and Vila switched from walking around on legs to floating around with soft trails of purple and blue mist following them. They whirred around the room, putting the unselected clothes away while I ran a comb through my sun-bleached, light brown hair.
Changing from a passive bike delivery boy to an assertive, confident man within the past year had left me looking at my full height of six-two instead of a bad-postured, meek computer nerd. I owed it all to the two energetic hurricanes swirling in the surrounding room. When I was convinced that my hair was in place, I turned and held my arms out so that the girls could inspect my appearance.
“How’s this?” I asked them as they exited the closet. The two of them floated over and circled around me, examining every inch. Andi brushed the shoulders of my shirt and tugged my sleeves down while Vila tousled my hair and straightened my collar.
“She’s going to throw you on the tile and rip your clothes off the minute she walks through the door!” Vila said cheerily.
