Page 57 of A Wish For Jo
‘I will miss you, Jo,’ said Dhassim, who looked on the verge of a full-blown howling session. ‘And you, Jinnie. I only hope our new masters will be as kind as you have been, and that we will meet again. I cannot say where, or when—’
‘Jeez, cut the Vera Lynn impression, and let me get on with it!’
An irate Sam bowed his head, and everyone around him followed suit. Silence reigned, barring the thrum of the coffee machine going through its cleaning cycle.
‘OK, here goes.’
Sam, Jinnie, Aaliyah, Dhassim and Jo grasped each other’s hands, forming a séance-like group. The silence stretched thin, then— ‘Erm, can you two pop back into your lamps, please?’
‘Sam, that is the most rubbish all-powerful Djinn thing I’ve ever heard. Not that I’ve heard one before, but…’ Jinnie doubled up with laughter. Jo laughed too, while Dhassim and Aaliyah exchanged frustrated frowns.
‘Sam, mon ami, delve deeper into your Djinn consciousness,’ pleaded Dhassim. ‘The words are there: you just need to … excavate them.’
‘Is this an archaeological dig, or what?’ Exasperation flooded Sam’s face.
Jinnie giggled again, then let out a loud burp. ‘Oops, sorry. Heartburn.’
‘Right. I’m digging deep. I could do with a script but … here goes.’ Sam inhaled, and everyone else held their breath. ‘By the power vested in me as an almighty Djinn, supreme being and protector of genies, Dhassim and Aaliyah, I command you to return to your lamps. Now, please.’
The café plunged into darkness. The windows rattled, and the temperature plummeted. A strange wailing sound reverberated around the room, followed by a loud bang, then … silence.
‘Is it over?’ whispered Jo, blinking as the lights came back on.
The trio looked at the two lamps, tipped on their sides, a faint mist hovering above them.
‘I believe it is,’ said Sam. ‘For now.’
CHAPTER53
One MonthLater
‘Right a bit.Left a bit. Just a little higher. Nearly there. Ooh, that’s perfect!’ Jo squirmed with delight as Harvey kneaded a particularly hard knot of tension in her right shoulder.
‘You need to get another assistant, my love,’ said Harvey, applying firmer pressure to the troublesome spot. ‘I love coming in to help, but with me heading off to London soon…’
Jo reached back and squeezed his hand. ‘I know, I know. I’ve asked Angela if she can help, and Jinnie’s mucked in a couple of times, but…’
Harvey kissed the top of Jo’s head. ‘You think she’s unwell, don’t you? Have you suggested that she sees a doctor?’
Jo reluctantly got to her feet from her cosy position wedged between Harvey’s muscular thighs. ‘Not unwell, exactly.’ Jinnie’s last shift at the café had ended abruptly when she heaved the contents of her stomach into the food-waste bin. Jo didn’t need a medical degree to guess why, but it wasn’t her place to make a diagnosis. Jinnie and Sam — Sam, in particular — were still reeling after the whole Djinn thing. Both lamps now lived at their home. Where they ended up next was anyone’s guess.
‘It’s a shame Aaliyah and Dhassim disappeared so abruptly,’ said Harvey, fetching a chilled glass of Coke for Jo and an alcohol-free beer for himself. ‘Was it something you said?’ He laughed, already knowing the ‘truth,’ and tipped a packet of mature Cheddar and red onion crisps into a bowl.
Jo had invented a story about Aaliyah, Carole’s ‘daughter’, rushing back to Wales to assist with Carole’s wedding to the divine Austin. As for Dhassim… She’d simply said he was a friend of Aaliyah’s who’d had to rush off for an urgent appointment with a gastroenterologist following a severe bout of stomach pain. The lad was certainly full of wind at times.
‘I’ll miss you.’ Jo ran a finger round the condensation clinging to the glass.
‘I’ll miss you, too.’ Harvey proffered the bowl of crisps. Jo declined and sipped her drink. ‘It’s only for a few days, and it might come to nothing, but… The world’s waiting for my ugly mug to appear on screen again, right?’
By some miracle, Harvey’s agent, Arthur Petch, had pulled an audition out of the bag. Shocked into action by Harvey’s threat of binning him, he’d found a role as a late-to-fatherhood dad dealing with the harsh realities of nappies, sleepless nights, and juggling work with his failing marriage.
‘You’ll be a shoo-in,’ said Jo. ‘I can feel it in my bones. My achy old bones.’
Harvey’s progress on his screenplay kept him occupied when he wasn’t with Jo at A Bit of Crumpet. After much begging from Jo, he’d allowed her to read a few scenes, which she declared ‘genius’.
‘There is nothing old about you, beautiful lady. Heck, you’re still in your forties, while I’m galloping towards the big 6-0. Well, maybe not galloping: more lolloping with extreme trepidation.’
Jo put down her glass and planted a Coke-chilled kiss on Harvey’s lips. ‘Silly man, you’re miles away from sixty! Anyway, you’re only as old as the woman you feel. But don’t go feeling any younger ones…’ Her voice tailed off as she realised what she’d said. They’d agreed not to mention Abby, focusing on positives and Harvey’s newfound happiness. Now she’d put her size five feet right in it.
