Page 38 of A Wish For Jo
Jo raised her glass to Harvey just as a commotion at the door had the punters swivelling on their bar stools. Aaliyah flew across the room, breathless and dishevelled, and tugged furiously at Jo's arm. 'I need to talk to you. Now!'
Jo shrugged off Aaliyah's frantic tugging. 'I'm busy right now. And don't tell me you've left the café unstaffed.’
'Please, Jo. No, it's not. It's…' She pulled a face at Harvey, who made a show of checking his phone as if his life depended on it.
Outside, Jo squared up to Aaliyah, her temper rising to boiling point. 'What's so bloody important that you’ve come racing in here as if the hounds of hell are at your heels?'
Aaliyah, for the first time Jo could remember, looked repentant. 'I did something stupid.'
'Don't tell me you mixed up the salt and sugar again.’ Hardly a hanging offence. ‘What did you do, Aaliyah?’
'Well, when I said the café wasn't unstaffed, I meant that someone else is looking after it.'
'Who?'
'Dhassim.'
CHAPTER38
'How did he get out?'Jo huffed and puffed next to Aaliyah as they sprinted from the pub to the café.
'He … escaped.'
Of course he did. Jo knew little of the ways in which genies worked, but engineering a way out of a lamp Houdini-style didn't quite fit.
'You rubbed him— I mean, you rubbed the lamp, didn't you?' Jo halted, bending over, hands on thighs, breathing heavier than a X-rated hotline caller.
'I might have done. OK, I gave his lamp a bit of a polish, but only because … because I miss him.’ Aaliyah let out an anguished wail.
'But I thought he drove you mad. And you've got Jamie now, haven't you?' Much as she'd doubted the wisdom of Aaliyah and Jamie hooking up, now Jo would happily fling confetti at their wedding and scrawl 'Just Married' on the boot of their car. Anything to avoid the terrifying reality of two genies invading her life. This could not be happening.
'Cooee!' The vision that greeted Jo reminded her of a cartoon character from her childhood. She couldn't be sure which, but one that zinged with energy and looked capable of creating havoc in a heartbeat.
'Dhassim!' Aaliyah rushed into her erstwhile lover's arms. A bout of squelchy kissing ensued, prompting the café's only customers to harrumph and exit post-haste.
‘Jo, this is Dhassim.'
Really? I thought it was Arnold Schwarzenegger. Jo folded her arms.
Dhassim folded his arms, too, then a moment later wrapped them around Jo in a sweaty and altogether too intimate embrace. 'Pumpkin, I've heard so much about you! Well, as much as one can hear when trapped in a metal prison, but now we've all the time in the world to get to know each other!'
No, no, no to the power of … however many powers were available. Maths had never been Jo's strong suit.
'Isn't it wonderful? He's back, we're together again, and everything's just perfect.' Aaliyah nuzzled Dhassim's neck. Dhassim murmured something that might have beenJe t’aime, but Jo couldn't have cared less.
'No, it isn't perfect. It's a million light years from perfect. What were you thinking? I can't have the two of you rattling around here. Get him back in that lamp, pronto, before I do something I'll regret.'
'Ma chérie.' Dhassim disentangled himself from Aaliyah. 'You need to take a chill pill, as they say in these modern times. I prefer a little hubble-bubble myself: very soothing for the soul. Please, we will find a way to work things out.'
Jo took in Dhassim's jogging bottoms and his pale chest, barely concealed by the A Bit of Crumpet apron. He gave her a lascivious wink and bared his pointy little teeth.
'Did you actuallyservethose people?' Jo asked incredulously. She hadn't recognised them, thank goodness, but lord knows what they had thought when greeted by Mr Semi-Naked.
'Of course. Am I not put on this earth to serve?' Dhassim gave a sweeping bow and the loosely tied apron fell away, revealing his baby-smooth torso in all its gleaming glory.
Jo took a step towards him and sniffed. 'Have you smeared yourself in my best extra-virgin olive oil?'
'I did not inspect the label, mon petit chou. Perhaps you can provide me with something more luxurious when we return to your abode.'
