Page 52 of A Wish for Jinnie
‘Jinnie?’ Sam appeared, closely followed by a familiar and completely unwelcome figure. The glamorous woman she’d seen him with before; except she didn’t look quite so glam now. Her face was blotchy, and the perfect bun was more collapsed doughnut.
‘Sorry. I didn’t know… I thought… I’ll leave you to it,’ Jinnie stammered. Quitewhatshe was leaving them to made her nauseous, but also angry. How dare Sam kiss her when he already had someone on the go? Mr Nice Guy was showing his true colours, stringing Jinnie along when —
‘This is Lucy, my ex-wife. Lucy, this is Jinnie, my…’
‘Assistant. I work for Sam. Maybe he’s talked about me. Or maybe not.’
Jinnie shook hands with Lucy and they exchanged polite greetings before Sam ushered Lucy to the door. ‘Give me a minute,’ he said to Jinnie.
Ten minutes later Jinnie had gathered together her dried-out boots and coat, taken a sneaky swig of whisky, and flicked through a pile of vinyl records from the 60s and 70s. She was just admiring one with a banana on the cover when Sam returned. ‘Sorry, I wasn’t expecting her. She turned up unannounced the other day too, but I thought we’d sorted things out.’
What things?Were they getting back together? And if so, why had Lucy looked so upset? Before Jinnie could speak, Sam pulled her into his arms. ‘I hope you’re feeling better, because all I want to do is carry on where we left off.’
Much as Jinnie wanted to do the same, she needed some answers. Gently, she eased away and took a seat. ‘One of the reasons — the main reason — I wrote that note was because I saw you with Lucy. Before, outside your place. I thought she was someone you were seeing. Dating, whatever. And it hit me like a ton of bricks that I wanted us to be more than friends.’ Jinnie gulped. ‘Sam, I need to know where I stand. If you and Lucy want to make another go of it, I don’t want to get in the way.’
Sam knelt before her, took her hands and stroked them with his thumbs. Jinnie tried to ignore the zinging sensation that crept through her whole body. ‘Jinnie, Lucy and I are absolutely not getting back together. The phrase “when hell freezes over” springs to mind.’ He carried on stroking, and Jinnie searched his face for any clue that he was lying. The longing in his eyes, and the smile that widened with each second, told her he was not.
‘Lucy came by because she discovered her new partner was cheating on her. I’m not sure why she confided in me — well, it became a bit clearer today — but all I could do was try and comfort her. We have a son together, a shared history, and she’ll always be part of my life. Just not in the way she suggested earlier.’
Oh.So Lucy had hoped for a reunion after all. And Sam had turned her down, hence her distressed appearance. Jinnie felt athump-thump-thumpagain, but this time it had nothing to do with a genie in a lamp.
‘I’ve been trying to figure out the rest of my life,’ Sam said. ‘This place, my writing, making sure Sean is happy and doing what he loves. I even wrote it all down.’ He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. On it was a series of squiggles — he had appalling handwriting — most of which had a line through them. Jinnie squinted at it, but couldn’t make out a word. Apart from…Is that my name?
‘When I read your note it shook me to the core. It made me question what really mattered, and how I could fix things.’ Sam crumpled up the piece of paper and lobbed it into the wastepaper basket. ‘Jinnie, I put you on my to-do list, and crossed off everything else.’
* * *
Jinnie floatedhome in a state of bliss. She half-expected to look down and discover she was treading on heart-shaped clouds, with tweeting birds flying around her bearing silk ribbons. Sam loved her! He’d said so, just before they kissed again. And this time they didn’t come up for air in a hurry. It had beenperfect, except for one small thing. Or rather, two things of differing sizes: Dhassim and Aaliyah. Much as Jinnie yearned to stay in a lip-lock with Sam, she needed to find out how their story ended. And she was dreading saying goodbye.
Sam, used to her erratic behaviour, didn’t question Jinnie when she took off again. ‘Whatever it is you need to do, go and do it,’ he said. ‘We have all the time in the world.’ Then he’d kissed her again, and it took every ounce of willpower to tear herself away.
‘It is time, Jinnie.’ Entering the living room, Jinnie saw that both lamps were aligned on the coffee table. Dhassim sat cross-legged in front of his lamp with Aaliyah to his right, munching on a cheese and pickle sandwich.
‘But I thought we had a little longer?’ Jinnie’s lip quivered, and her vision blurred. ‘Can’t you put it off for another day or two?’
‘Nah, it’s time te gan, pet,’ said Aaliyah. ‘War number’s up.’ She licked a dollop of pickle from her finger and pouted at Dhassim. He pointed at the two WIFIs by their feet, which displayed a starburst pattern pulsing across each screen.
‘You are happy now, Jinnie? Sam is in love with you, I can tell by your aura. Just as we are in love’ — Dhassim blew a kiss at Aaliyah — ‘and thanks to you, we are together.’
Why couldn’t happy moments be just that? Jinnie’s joy was tempered with a deep sadness that soon her genie friend would disappear forever. Aaliyah she didn’t know, and doubted she’d ever have counted her as a bestie, but still —
‘Within the next few minutes we will return to the lamps.’ Dhassim stood and clasped his hands beneath his chin. ‘I am honoured to have served you, Jinnie, and I will never forget you. I hope you don’t mind if I keep these.’ Sure enough, Dhassim was wearing the jogging bottoms, the silken edge of his harem pants poking out from a pocket.
‘Of course not, knock yourself out. Sorry, another silly expression.’ Jinnie moved closer, and ignoring Aaliyah’s grunt of disapproval, rested her head on Dhassim’s shoulder and took in his familiar scent. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and they hugged for several moments.
Eventually Jinnie pulled away. ‘What do I do with the lamps? I can’t keep them, can I?’ As she spoke, Jinnie realised Dhassim and Aaliyah were shimmering, their solid forms fading to a hazy mist.
‘You must take us back to Sam,’ replied Dhassim, his voice dwindling to a faint echo. ‘It is where it began, and there is a reason for that. I do not know what it is, but perhaps it will be clear…’
Jinnie watched in dismay as both genies spun, shrank and hovered in mid-air before swooshing towards the lamps. There was an almighty clatter, then … nothing. She sank to the floor, her legs unable to support her. Nervously, she prodded Dhassim’s lamp with a trembling finger. It felt cold to the touch, and appeared to be exactly what she’d believed it was all those weeks ago. An old, slightly tatty, completely harmless oil lamp.
‘Goodbye, Dhassim,’ Jinnie murmured, ‘I will miss you so much.’ She drew a finger along the lamp’s perimeter. It gave a tiny judder, then all was still.
Chapter 47
‘Will you be my Valentine?’Sam swept into the shop, a single red rose clenched between his teeth. Therefore what he said sounded more like ‘Wey oo ee I arentine?’
Jinnie giggled, his distorted speech reminding her of Aaliyah and her Geordie-speak. ‘I’ll be yours, if you’ll be mine,’ she replied. From behind her back she whipped out an over-the-top padded card featuring a cute polar bear and a plethora of cupid’s-bow lips. Jinnie had chosen it knowing it would amuse Sam.
