"Is that why you were grumpy?" I inquired.
He didn't reply, and I wanted to walk forward, but the arms that wrapped around my body stopped me from moving an inch.
"Being a Jinn sometimes means you have to take wishes you don't want to. It means watching someone you despise either laugh at what their wish created or see them beg for you to fix it. I don't know what your ex will say or do. I don't know if he'll regret whatever he wished for or accept the changes that followed with his request. I don't know, Destiny," he whispered into my ear.
"Cole… what if I can't handle it?"
"You will."
"You don't know that."
"I do."
"You barely know me."
"I know enough, Destiny. You'll be able to handle it… but if you can't, I'll be there," he assured me.
Closing my eyes, I slowly nodded. "Okay. No matter what happens, he won't see me or hear me, right?"
"Right."
"Okay," I replied, opening my eyes to stare at the two-story home.
Let's see the result of Phillip's wish.
Walking into the familiar doorway ignited all the memories I'd experienced with Phillip.
The first time he'd brought me here.
The first passionate night we'd shared that followed too many more.
The secret times I came by to make sure everything was clean and neat when he had long business meetings where I knew he'd walk straight to his bedroom and crash.
The mornings I'd wake extra early to make him the perfect breakfast before another hard day of work.
I remembered all the good times where we laughed and smiled, hugged and kissed. The memories where we were truly in love with one another, or at least, that was what I'd thought. Those good memories lead to the bad ones. The lonely nights, the arguments, the questions that surfaced over and over again, but I acted like I didn't see them.
I’d ignored the signs of his decline, from the drinking to the soft scent of smoke that lingered on his wrinkled business suit. I'd ignored the hints of perfume I smelled on his dress shirts, or the smudge of lipstick on the collar of his shirts that I readied for laundry.
I knew for a long time that our relationship was on the downward slope to the end of the line, but I ignored for the sake of loneliness. I didn't want to be alone, and yet, that was what I was already experiencing.
Lonely nights with Snix. Crazy nights at the office, busting my ass on papers while wondering what Phillip was doing. Who he was seeing. I didn't want to acknowledge that I would soon be single because it meant my love was a one-sided tragedy.
Phillip would move on to the next girl, and I would be left with my self-pity and worth, drowning my sorrows in work since I had no best friend or group of buddies to do the "let's get over him" party.
He'd make a laughing stock of me, and that was something I was desperately trying to avoid. But in the end, that's exactly what he did, but I guess the laughs turned into fake cries at my sudden "death."
Rainbow dropped down to the carpeted floor and began inspecting the place out of her own curiosity, but I stood there with my head low, staring at the dark red carpet beneath my feet.
I’m scared.
Scared of facing the approaching truth. Phillip could have wished for anything, but what if his wish had something to do with me?
Was I a bad girlfriend? Did I not love him enough? I didn't want to face my fears because it could have revealed one of my personal flaws. Not good enough is just one of them.
Cole's feet were in my line of sight, and I noticed that he'd changed into his Jinn outfit. My eyes trailed upward, taking in his navy-blue silk pants that were a little bigger than his built muscular legs.
They had gold anklet ties that made the pants tight at the ends and baggy in the middle. He was shirtless and all muscle. He wore gold bracelets and had similar markings like I had that were currently glowing a light gold. His navy-blue hair was left loose, resting to his shoulders, but it gave me a glimpse of his ear that sported three gold earrings.
His galaxy eyes stared at me, and he didn't hide his concern. "Destiny."
"I'm scared," I whispered.
"I know." He reached out for my hands, and I didn't hesitate to put mine in his as I took a few slow breaths to calm my beating heart.
"You'll be okay. Just need to follow me."
I was going to agree, but I blurted something else. "Can I hold your hand?"
It was a stupid question, and I felt absolutely childish for asking him, but I felt that if I let go now, I'd run out and never return.
If he holds my hand, I can't run away.
He let go of my left hand but kept my right in his warm left one. "Sure."
Sighing in relief, I whispered, "Thank you."
He simply nodded and turned towards the stairs that lead to the upstairs. "He's up there. Let's begin."
We made our way up and turned left down the hall towards Phillip's bedroom. Before we reached the door, a loud shattering sound caused me to flinch and Cole to stop in his tracks.
"I wished, again and again for that damn ass genie and he's not here! He needs to fix this! He did all of this."
The anger in Phillip's voice told me he was really upset but also drunk. I'd seen that raging alcoholic side to him so many times that I didn't need to be in front of him to know he'd been drinking one too many drinks.
Cole squeezed my hand, and I smiled, sensing he was giving me a bit of comfort with the simple gesture. He took a step forward and opened the door, revealing the trashed-up bedroom that was nothing like I'd remembered.
There were clothes and broken items everywhere. The dresser that held his expensive clothing and watches was in shambles with those same watches he once cherished littering the floor.
I was glad we were technically invisible because the glass shards that were scattered across the floor would have poked into our feet or injured poor Rainbow who passed by and entered the messy room.
When my gaze landed on Phillip, I couldn't help but gasp. He looked absolutely horrible. His hair was standing up in all angles, and I could see a few bald spots. He'd grown out his beard, but it was uneven and had crumbs of something he'd eaten who knows when.
He'd definitely lost weight, his usual fitted clothes were loose on his body, and from the smell that drifted to us, it didn't seem like he'd showered in a while.
If only you could get past the alcohol and rotten food scents.
His rage-filled eyes landed on us, narrowing on Cole who remained calm and collective.
"Who the fuck are you?! Where's that asshole genie who said everything would be swell and fucking magical?!"
"I don't know who granted your wish. They would have told you their name." Cole shrugged, not even bothered by Phillip's rude greeting.
"Marc! The sleazebag who said everything would be perfect!"
I had to stop myself from groaning, wondering why the hell Marc would be summoned to grant Phillip's wish. Has to be something with seduction. What could he have wanted?
In our relationship, sex definitely wasn't an issue. I could take more than a few rounds and still get up and fix us a treat before he'd go to work. With how crazy our lives had gotten the last couple of months, along with his absence, I could see why he might have wished for something along the lines of needing Marc's help.
"He refused to come back. He said his duty was done. He did exactly what you wanted."
"He didn't say it would end up like this! Everything is ruined!" Phillip snapped.
I watched him closely as he walked past the chaos to the nightstand where a bottle of whiskey sat with a very overused cup with stains all over it.
I cringed at the sight that made me want to vomit, and Rainbow walked over to my feet and looked disgusted. "Meow."
I leaned down and outstretched my free hand for her to jump into it. Rising back up, I held her to my chest while I squeezed Cole's hand. As much as I'd hated him for what he had done to me, I never would have
wished this lifestyle for him.
Phillip gulped down the glass of whiskey he'd poured for himself, slamming the glass to the nightstand, which added yet another crack to it. I was impressed that it hadn't shattered from the impact.
"Reverse my wish! That shit of a genie didn't do it right!"
"You didn't ask for a trial."
"Excuse me?!" Phillip snapped back.
I took a step forward to stand right next to Cole. "Ask for a trial?" I whispered. Not like Phillip could even hear me, but I still kept my voice somewhat low.
"If the individual states three times that they're confident in their wish, there's no trial period. We still come by when the 90 days are up, but it's only to tell them that this was what they wished for and there's no going back. Cruel, but needed for them to understand that this is their new predicament and the ultimate consequence of wishing. Some are happy endings, while others aren't," Cole explained before answering Phillip's question.
"From my knowledge of your interaction with Marc, he asked you three times what your wish was and each time you said?" Cole drawled out and Phillip clenched his fist.
"I said I wanted a perfect life! That meant me having the perfect family, friends, job, AND fiancé!"
That hit me in the feels, my heart clenching at his words.
"Elaborate. I have no idea your reasoning for wishing for something so boring as a perfect life," Cole pointed out.
"I deserved better! I'm rich and own a bunch of businesses. Everything should have been perfect from the start. But no! My family was barely there for me, always talking shit about how the business was handed down to me. So what if it was? Does that make it less of a pain in my ass? My friends were all dicks who only rubbed in how much richer they were compared to me, and their businesses grew in proportion while my investments in that publication company continued to dive! The job itself wasn't like my friends' who could be on their yachts in swimming trunks, answering phone calls, and ordering people around, versus ME, who'd actually have to go into work in the morning and supervise shit so that people wouldn't fuck up! Not like that stopped them from screwing things up."
I tensed up, knowing that he'd reveal what was wrong with me. With our relationship that didn't meet his perfect standards.
"And your fiancé?" Cole asked. "She wasn't fitting your perfect needs?"
"UGH! She wasn't enough! You know how many times I got mocked because of her. She wasn't like my other mates who had the amazing model girlfriends. She was curvy and had to dye her hair pink because she liked it! Before, she'd always be around and comfort me when I needed it. Then it was about work and helping the company go up bullshit."
I tried to pull my hand out of Cole’s, but he squeezed it tightly. "From the records I’ve seen, she worked for the place you invested in. That's a job you offered her. Why would that be an issue? Also, if you had so many issues with her curves or the color of her hair, why didn't you say so?"
"IT'S HER DUTY TO KNOW! She should have fucking asked me. That's what fiancé’s and girlfriends do! Whenever my dad had any issues, what did my mom do? She asked him and did everything in her power to fix it. She should have known her pink hair would catch attention in our small town. She knew people would talk and hate how she'd try to stand out. She should have lost weight for me too! Sure, her curves are nice to look at in the bedroom, but not in public where all my other friends had girlfriends you could take an Instagram photo of and look like they were in Vogue magazine! She should have known our town standards and tried to fit in. She knew my position and how my appearance affected everything. Instead, she'd work long ass hours and I'd have to go elsewhere to even have sex!"
Rainbow nudged her head against my chest, and I let my tears fall as I listened to his hurtful words. Me. Me. Me.
I was the one in the wrong? Not him. He cheated on me. He really actually cheated on me...
"You wanted her to change for you, but you didn't see anything wrong with your behavior." Cole's words weren't stated as a question but pure facts as he nodded his head slowly.
"What was wrong with MY behavior. I'M RICH. I can do whatever I want. I should be allowed to do whatever I want."
"I guess that includes treating the people you 'love' poorly? That meant discarding your fiancé because she worked hard to help the company you invested in. It meant talking poorly about the woman you claimed you loved and cheating on her with the person you assumed was your perfect fit? Interesting," Cole replied.
Phillip charged right up to him and poked his finger into Cole's chest. "YOU won't stand here and judge me! FIX IT! This is your stupid partner's, or whatever, fault! Everything is fucked up because of him. He didn't do anything right."
Cole took a step forward, and just the glimpse of the side of his face made me gulp in fear. Phillip moved back, his eyes filled with worry as he bit his lip.
"Last time I checked, YOU are in need of MY help. You don't own me, and not a single penny of the remaining fortune you have left can afford my help."
"This is your guys' fault! You promised perfection! Not THIS!" Phillip shouted, lifting his hands up to emphasize the chaos that surrounded him.
"You did this to yourself. You wished for a perfect life. You wanted to have a perfect family, friends, job, and fiancé. You got that." Cole took a deep breath and continued. "The day your wish came true, you decided the first thing to do was flaunt your new fiancé at your workplace that you had just changed from investing in to OWNING it. You then broke up with your previous girlfriend in front of everyone to disgrace her and make it seem like you deserve the best and she'd hindered you from such success. She went home, taking in what had happened, and you told Josh that you guys would have a meeting the next day to discuss things, but he should call your ex, Destiny, and inform her that she'd been replaced and wouldn't need to return the next day for work."
I stared at Phillip in shock as he gritted his teeth, looking impatient as he listened to Cole recap everything.
"You then proceeded to a family dinner with your new family, before heading out at night to your new yacht with all your friends and their perfect girlfriends, and you partied the night away. In the morning, you were greeted with the 'best sex of your life' and couldn't help comment on how amazing your new life was."
Again, I wanted to run away, to leave this place and not listen to any more of what Cole was trying to say, but he held my hand tightly, so tight it almost hurt. He wasn't going to let me run away, and though a part of me was still grateful, I felt horrible.
What will his opinion of me be now? He won’t want to mentor me. I'm far from perfect. I failed my ex-fiancé… I failed the only job that I'd worked so hard for, trying to be the best employee and please everyone… I'd failed.
"But that's when things started to go wrong, isn’t it?" Cole used his free hand to run through his hair before he continued. "You got the call that Destiny had died in a house fire. You didn't feel pity or even shed a tear, but you had to do the ex-fiancé thing and comment RIP on her Facebook and show up at her speedy funeral. Why was that? Ah, you'd realized that after you posted on her wall, people began to think you were the cause of her death because of the sudden breakup and the introduction of your perfect NEW fiancé. She must have killed herself and maybe the house fire was on you?"
Cole laughed then, and the sound was eerie and mocking as he focused on Phillip who trembled with anger.
"You were scared that in less than a day, the woman who didn't meet your standards of perfect was going to fuck everything up for you. So, you paid a huge amount to hush the police up and poof. The investigation of her death was labeled accidental, her funeral went forward, and everyone minded their own business. Of course, her parents had acted their part, knowing they could later bribe you. You paid them to continue to be hush-hush about their speculations of whether the fire was caused by you or not, and a month after Destiny's death, everything seemed back to normal."
Cole began to pace around the room, tugging m
e along as he continued to speak.
"That was until you had to have that meeting with Josh. You'd delayed it with the excuse of getting over Destiny's death and whatnot, but it was because you'd be the bringer of bad news and tell him he was out of a job."
I gawked at the news, feeling shocked that the Josh I'd talk to on the phone a month later was getting fired.
"He was furious, saying he devoted his life to this publishing company and rambled on about him being homeless if it was taken from him. You didn't care, of course, and the next day Josh Publishing was yours. However, because of your lack of business dynamics and your family business simply being 'handed down' to you, the publishing company began to sink. Your workers didn't know how to manage the workload because they had relied on Destiny to do all of it. From the organizing, articles, information gathering, news interviews, and the actual publishing part, she'd essentially done it all as a worker and not in the boss position. Josh knew he'd really fucked up letting her go, but she was dead. Of course, she was because he'd lied to the police and said she was. Another month went by, and Josh Publishing filed for bankruptcy."
I was speechless, and my head moved to see Phillip's conflicted eyes; hints of fear and regret showed in his expression while he watched Cole continue to pace around.
"At this point, two months have passed, and you think it couldn't get any worse. Oh, but it does." Cole stopped pacing and looked at Phillip.
"You realized you were running out of money. In fact, you were LOSING money. Why? Well, your perfect NEW family wasn't the family members who worked hard and knew how to keep the revenue going from the three family businesses. All they knew was flaunting their new Gucci bags and looking good on the outside. They hid their spending habits indoors or their other problems with drugs and alcohol. In the end, you soon got a call that your parents had died in an accident due to drinking and driving."
Cole took a deep breath, and I thought he'd show an ounce of pity, but he didn't. Instead, he smiled.
Wish For Me (Destiny Jinn Series Book 1) Page 12