The sun beats down on me. I didn’t get much sleep last night, maybe an hour or two. I roll to my side and my leg gets tangled with his. I don’t move, worried I’ll wake him. I can’t even look at him. I don’t know why. Maybe I fear he’ll see what affect he’s having on me. Why is he even having an effect? Is it the whole genie/master thing?
What am I saying? It was just a kiss on the cheek. A thank you kiss. Why am I making such a big deal about it?
The clock to my left catches my attention and I jump up. Work! I’m late.
Sebastian shifts, opens his eyes, and smiles at me. It’s like…I don’t know. Like he’s happy to see me.
His eyes are red, skin is pale, and sweat shines all over. “Are you feeling okay?” I ask.
He rubs his temples. “Yes, except for a headache and stomachache.”
I touch his forehead. He’s warm. Do genies get fevers? “The food’s probably not out of your system yet.”
He nods and shuts his eyes. A second later, he’s breathing softly. I bite my lip and glance at the clock again. I’m twenty minutes late. Looking back at Sebastian, I decide I can’t leave him alone. What if I’m gone and he needs me? I’m the only one who can see him. The only one who can take care of him. Besides, no one likes being alone when they’re ill. I wish there was something I could do to make him feel better. If he were human, I’d cook him some chicken soup. Maybe get him some medicine. But I’m completely clueless here.
As I stare at him, an idea pops into my head. I rush to the kitchen to fetch his lamp, then after chewing on my lip, I tap his arm. I don’t want to wake him, but I think I found a solution to help. Why didn’t I think of this sooner? “Sebastian?” I say. He stirs. “Maybe if you’d return to your lamp you’d feel better.”
He opens his eyes and slowly sits up. “That’s a good idea. I’ll rest there. Thank you.”
So much for telling him he’s never going into his lamp again. “I’ll see you later. Feel better.”
He gives me an appreciative, sweet smile before smoke fills the room and he’s gone. I notice something about the lamp. When Sebastian is inside, the swirls appear. When he’s out, they’re gone. I set the lamp on my night table and rub my arms at the sudden chill. The house feels very empty now.
After calling in sick, I check on the lamp. Everything seems okay. I grab some cereal and milk. I hope he’s sleeping peacefully. As I eat, all I think about is the sweet smile he sent me only a few minutes ago. I push the image aside. He was just thankful.
I get dressed and set on tidying up the apartment. It hasn’t been cleaned in forever and I’m behind with laundry. I might as well get busy.
An hour later, as I’m scrubbing the kitchen stove, I hear footsteps and look up. Sebastian is standing there, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
“Hey,” I say.
He looks around, at me. I probably look like crap. My hair is a mess, I have stains all over, and my nose is congested from all the dust I inhaled earlier. He seems to have regained his golden color back. Maybe having him return to his lamp worked. “Do you need help with anything?” he asks.
“No, thanks.”
He sits down at the table. I wish I could offer him a cup of coffee or something. Instead, I just look at him and he looks at me. “What do you do?” he asks. “Are you in college? Most humans your age go to college, don’t they?”
I join him at the table. “I will…one day. I work as a waitress and I’m saving up money for culinary school.”
His eyes fill with excitement. “You want to be a chef? Your food is delicious. You’ll be highly successful.”
My cheeks burn and I avert my gaze. “Thanks.”
“Don’t parents usually help out with school?”
I slowly move my eyes to him. “My mom was a single mom and we barely had enough money to live. Then my sister died, and she kind of…” Shut down. I shake my head. I can’t say more.
His face softens.
“I don’t suppose I could wish for, like, a billion bucks.”
He shakes his head, his eyes apologetic. I’m not surprised wishing for money isn’t allowed.
I take in a breath, then let it out. “And I can’t bring my sister back…?”
He shakes his head again, and the room gets silent.
His eyebrows furrow. “Why aren’t you at work?”
“Because you’re not feeling well. I couldn’t leave you alone.”
His face changes, but he doesn’t say anything. He looks confused. Then he says, “Thank you. I’m feeling better now so you can go to work.”
“I called in sick. It’s okay.”
“But you need the money…”
I shrug. “That’s true, but I’m not going to leave you. Not until I know one hundred percent that you’re fine.” I walk over to him and touch his forehead. He’s still warm. “Do you want to watch TV?”
He takes my hand. “Why are you so kind to me? It’s not because you need me for wishes. I told you I can’t die so it’s not like you’ll lose your wishes. Another master would leave me in my lamp, yet you care about my well-being. Why?”
“You’re not just a genie, Sebastian. You have a heart. You feel. You’re a person.”
He’s still holding my hand and lowers it to his chest, where I feel his heart pounding. His eyes are locked on mine. If we stay like this, I’m going to turn into a puddle. And I don’t want to turn into a puddle. I don’t want to lose control.
I break my gaze away and remove my hand. “So…TV?”
“I never understood the point of TV. It’s not even remotely interesting.”
I give him a crooked smile. “Maybe you just need to watch the right stuff. Come on!”
He follows me into the living room, where we sit on the couch, he with a blanket around him. I turn on the TV to some romance movie. His eyebrows knit. The last guy I dated, Ben, hated romance movies. We always argued when we went to the theater. He was the guy who broke up with me a few weeks after Daisy died. Apparently I was “too emotional” and he couldn’t take it anymore. I promised myself to be careful next time.
“Do you believe in this?” He angles his head toward the TV.
“Romance?”
He nods.
“Yeah.”
Quiet.
“You?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “That doesn’t happen…I don’t…”
I arch an eyebrow. “You don’t fall in love?”
He shakes his head again. “I have no needs. I only serve my master.”
I don’t know what to say. What to think. I want to ask, what’s this, then? The way he makes me feel, after knowing him for less than twenty-four hours. The way he looks at me and how he kissed me last night. What was that? Instead, I keep my mouth shut and focus on the movie.
When the hero and heroine share a passionate kiss, my eyes decide to glance at Sebastian. His gaze is glued to the screen, fascinated. He must have never seen a kiss like that in all the years he’s been in this world. Does the kiss move something in him, like it does to me?
As if he feels me watching him, he turns to me and smiles. That’s it. Just a friendly smile. Nothing to show he wants to do what the characters on TV are doing.
It’s after five when the doorbell rings. I’ve been sitting on the couch for too long and my legs are all cramped up. Sebastian fell asleep about two hours ago, and I didn’t want to leave his side. Maybe I’m trying to prove to myself that whatever I’m feeling is genie/master related. It’s creepy as hell, but how else can I describe these feelings?
The bell rings again, knocking me out of my thoughts. “Guess who?” the familiar voice of my best friend says. I swing the door open. Macy stands there with a worried expression in her hazel eyes. She throws her arms around me. “I called and texted all day. I thought you were in the hospital or something.” She draws back and pulls at her blond hair. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Just had some…food poisoning.” I can’t tell her I took the
day off to care for my sick genie. She can’t see him and I don’t want her to think I’m crazy. She already looks at me with pity in her eyes and thinks I’m living in an imaginary place as a way of coping with Daisy’s death. I don’t like keeping things from her, but I think it’s best.
“But you’re good now?” she asks.
I nod, then I slap my forehead. “I forgot my phone in my room. I was watching TV all day with…” I snap my mouth shut.
“With?”
“Myself,” I quickly say. “Me and my sorry self.”
She gives me a “something’s up with you” look. “What’s going on, Lil? Ever since yesterday…”
Automatically, my gaze shoots to the couch, where Sebastian is still asleep. Macy follows my eyes. She scans around, at the blanket and TV that’s on with another romance movie.
Her eyes fill with concern. “Romance again? Lil…”
She thinks it’s unhealthy for me to fall in love with the characters on screen, but I can’t help wanting to have a relationship like the girls in the movies. To have a guy sweep me off my feet.
I run my hand through my hair and peer at the couch again. Sebastian’s wide awake now, looking at Macy, confused.
“What are you staring at?” she asks.
Sebastian’s head whips to me and he asks, “Who’s that?”
“Nothing,” I tell Macy.
She wraps her arms around me. “Lily, I know you’re going through stuff, but you can’t wallow in your own bubble.” She holds up her hands. “You know I hate to judge, but I’m really worried about you.”
“I know, but I’ll be okay. Really.”
She nods unsurely and is about to sit on Sebastian.
“No!” I yell, leaping to her and pulling her back. “I mean, that blanket is kind of…” I scratch my head.
“Okay...” She lowers herself on the nearby chair and crosses her legs. I’m left standing, not knowing what to do.
Sebastian looks from Macy to me. He gets to his feet. “I’m going to my lamp to get some sleep. Is that all right, Lily?”
I want to tell him okay, but I can’t utter a word without Macy hearing and asking questions. I blink quickly to him, and he walks out of the room. I’m glad he’s going to rest. He looks ten times better, but he’s still weak.
I’m staring after him when Macy says, “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes.” I sit down near her and fold my legs beneath me. “How was your night with Andy?”
Her eyes shine. “Amazing.” She squeals. “He took me to dinner, to this wonderful restaurant. Then he surprised me! He’s transferring to his company’s New York office! We’ll be together all summer. And he’s going to go to school here, too, right near my college. He’s moving in with me!”
I squeal along with her. The whole long distance thing was really hard for them. They’ve been together since sophomore year of high school, so being miles apart was like they were losing vital organs. I hug her tight. “That’s the best news ever.”
“Now my apartment won’t be so empty and lonely all the time.” She gets up. “I have to get back to Inferno. Working a double shift.” She groans. “Do you want me to come over after?”
I wave my hand. I know how much working a double shift tires her out. The only things she’d want to do is take a hot bath and go to bed. “I’m fine.”
She squeezes me another time before leaving the apartment. She lives a few blocks away. We thought about rooming in together, but I needed space, and she understood. I guess it works out better, now that Andy is going to live with her.
I go up to my room to get the lamp. I don’t want to disturb Sebastian, but I’d feel better with it close by so I can keep it safe while I work on dinner. As I walk back to the kitchen, the lamp shakes, and a second later, smoke appears, along with Sebastian. He looks to his right and left, to me, to the living room. His eyebrows knit.
“She’s gone,” I reassure him. Not that it matters, since she can’t see him. “Did I accidentally rub the lamp?”
He nods.
“Sorry.” I suppose bringing it with me wasn’t the best idea.
“It’s okay. What are you up to?”
“Dinner. I’m thinking lasagna. Do you want to return to your lamp? It’s going to be boring with me cooking the food.”
“No, I’d like to stay out here. Watching you cook is very fascinating. You have a lot of love and passion that you put into your cooking.” He clutches his stomach. “I may have gotten sick from it, but anyone who tastes your food would know how much of a connection you have to it.”
My insides tingle a little. “Thanks. That’s very sweet of you.”
He sits down at the table while I cook the noodles. “That girl, is she your friend?” he asks.
“Since we were five.”
He gets a look on his face. I’m not sure what, but as I gaze into his eyes, I see it. He yearns for companionship. He’s never had a friend. Only masters who used him. He probably doesn’t last more than a few days with each master. He must have never formed relationships.
“She seems to be in love with that Andy guy,” he says, giving me a crooked smile. “I eavesdropped from my lamp.”
I mix the pot. “Their relationship isn’t perfect. There was a time in our junior year when they got into a huge fight that lasted three and a half months.”
“What caused it?”
“You know something? I don’t even remember. But you can imagine what it was like for them when they made up.” I smile. “They haven’t left each other’s side since. Of course they still argue now and then, but what couple doesn’t?”
He studies me as I sit back down across from him. “And you’d like to have something like that?”
I wring my fingers in my lap. Andy is an amazing boyfriend to Macy, and of course I’d like someone to treat me in the same manner. But Andy is a little too…perfect, I think. He tries too hard to make Macy happy. I’d want a guy who’s a little flawed and is working on himself. Someone who would drive me insane with love. Who’d frustrate me sometimes—but in a good way. Who’d be spontaneous. Like the guys in the movies.
I shake my head, trying to put some sense into me. Those men don’t exist.
Sebastian’s still waiting for an answer. I tug on my hair, pulling it over my face like a dark red curtain. “I’m not sure.”
“Is that what you’d like to wish for?” he asks. “For the perfect guy?”
“How many of your previous masters have wished for that?”
“A lot.”
“And did they turn out well?”
He shakes his head. “They never do, but that’s because they don’t know what they want. But you do.”
I throw my hands up. “I don’t even know where I’m going to be a year from now. How can I know what kind of guy I want?”
He crosses his arms over his chest and leans back. “Because you don’t demand much. Finding a guy for you would be easy.”
“Yeah? Go ahead. Tell me what I want.”
He stands up and circles me a few times before placing his hands on my shoulders. Bending close, he whispers in my ear, “Someone kind and loyal. Someone who wouldn’t hurt you, who’d listen to you, even if you have something crazy or ridiculous to say. Someone who’d hold you and comfort you, who’d love you more than he loves himself.” His voice gets huskier. “Someone who would sweep you off your feet, who’d treat you like a queen.”
My breath catches in my throat. I can’t say a word. He got it right, one hundred percent.
“And you’d treat him with the same love, care, and kindness.” He straightens himself. “That is what you want.” His face gets serious. “I can get that for you.”
I shake my head. “He…he doesn’t exist. No one like that exists.”
He shrugs. “Maybe not, but I can create him.”
I gape at him. “You can create a person?”
“No, but I can influence some traits.”
“So you�
�d basically control someone to be like that?”
He cocks his head to the side. “Pretty much.”
No way. I know he’s a genie and I have the opportunity to wish for whatever I want, but I’m not going to wish for a boyfriend. I want someone to fall in love with me, not have him controlled to fall in love with me. Besides, I don’t want to take the easy way out by not having to work hard for a relationship.
“I’m fine,” I say.
“Okay.”
The room gets silent. That seems to happen to us a lot. With not much in common, we don’t have a lot to talk about. I layer the lasagna, then pop it in the oven. Sebastian follows me into the living room and we get comfortable with a movie, an action one this time.
“What about something to help someone else?” I ask. “Like world peace or something?”
He pulls his gaze from the TV to me. “Wishes need to be personal, not general.”
That makes sense. I rest my elbows on my knees, bending forward. I clear my throat, avoiding his eyes. “What about taking someone else’s pain away?”
He’s quiet. I bet he’s looking at me intently, probably trying to figure out exactly what I’m referring to. I hope he can read my mind because I really don’t want to talk about my mom.
“I’ll need more details,” he says softly, his warm hand resting on my shoulder. That action alone causes me to lose it. Tears fill my eyes and splash down my cheeks before I can stop them. Asking for this wish requires me to open up to him. I’m not ready to do that. Running my sleeve across my eyes, I get up. “I need to check on the lasagna.”
“Lily…”
I busy myself with dinner so I don’t have to think. To feel. The oven mitts drop from my hands a few times and I accidentally touch the racks, burning my index finger. Focus, Lily. I don’t want to lose it.
“Lily,” he says again from the doorway. I can’t look at him. I don’t want him or anyone to see what a mess I am.
Strong arms wrap around me from behind and Sebastian gently pulls me to his chest, resting his chin on my head. “You have time,” he whispers. “You don’t have to wish yet.”
Falling for the Genie (Genie's Love, Book 1) Page 3
