by Ashley Ladd
Oh, God. Just how much of her fantasy had she acted out during her reverie? What had she said? She’d have to ask Jerry later, in private. If she dared.
A couple of of minutes later when she was behind the closed door with Mr. Lee, she gave him an apologetic look. “I miss my fiancé and worry about him. His trial‘s tomorrow. I didn’t mean to get lost in a day dream about him, to make a fool of myself and disrupt your class.”
The thought of Mark’s impending trial, of the possibility of his being convicted and imprisoned for several more years, made her eyes sting. She tried to blink them back but a couple of of slipped down her cheek. She sniffed and backhanded them.
“Perhaps this is not the place for you to be tonight. Go home. Let me know how the trial goes. Let Mark know we’re thinking about him and wish him well.”
Choking now, she nodded. “Absolutely.”
Subdued, she clasped her hands in her lap. “I’m afraid he’ll be convicted.”
Master Lee sat stalwart and tall and stared at her with emotionless eyes. “Does this mean you think he’s guilty?”
She had trouble believing the brutal charges of sexual molestation being brought against Mark. He could never do anything so dishonourable, so horrible. He could never betray her like that. His accuser’s claims, however, were adamant.
As she stood to leave, visions of the woman’s tortured face ripped at her heart. Almost as much as Mark’s.
When she opened the glass door of Mr. Lee’s office, Jerry’s face steadfast and solid, waiting for her outside Mr. Lee’s office, made her feel only a smidgen better.
She dreaded Mark’s trial. Tomorrow…
Chapter Two
The next morning Savi awoke with a jerk.
D-Day. Mark’s trial started today.
Sunlight pricked her eyes cajoling them to open. She was eager for the sun to swallow her terrifying nightmares. She wished when she rolled over Mark would be slumbering away on his half of the bed, hogging all the sheets and blankets. She’d even welcome his snoring.
But Mark’s pillow was as fresh and untouched as if it was newly unpackaged from the factory. The damned bed taunted her. Mark’s not here. He’ll never be here again.
Savi held her hands over her ears and screamed at the taunting voices in her head. “Shut up!”
The phone rang and she debated whether or not to answer it. Then she glanced at the caller ID and saw it was Jerry so she picked it up.
“Are you awake, Sunshine? Ready for the big day?”
Her heart shattered anew as she struggled to sit up in the bed. Today a stranger would decide Mark’s fate. Her fate, too. “No. Would you be?”
Then she felt bad for biting off her friend’s head. Afraid she was becoming a royal first class bitch, she shook her head. “Sorry. That was uncalled for. You didn’t deserve to be attacked by my nerves. I’m a wreck.”
“My offer’s still open. I’ll come with you. You need a friend with you today.”
She gnawed her lower lip. The victim’s horrid rape accusations haunted her. The woman’s words, the way she’d pointed at Mark in the courtroom, replayed in Savi’s mind making her crazy.
Temptation gnawed at her. She really could use a friendly face by her side. But Mark didn’t like the mention of Jerry. The sight of the other man might do more damage than good. “Thanks. I appreciate the offer but I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t believe you. This has been eating at you for four years. What if Anna’s there?”
Anna… Her knuckles tightened on the phone until she realised what she was doing and loosened her grip. She took a deep breath. “So what if she is?”
Jerry’s laugh was one of disbelief. “You’re not worried that man-stealing Anna will be there to steal your man? That she’s not already got her claws into him?”
That worry had pained her since Anna had slipped and told her she’d been writing to Mark and sending care packages to him daily. Or had it been a slip?
What worried her more was that Mark hadn’t said a word until she’d confronted him with the news. Then he’d sounded guilty admitting to being pen pals with the other woman.
How many women in her prisoner’s families support groups had lost husbands and boyfriends to other women who’d done exactly what Anna had done? And to other men they’d met behind bars? She didn’t want to doubt Mark, but so many of the people who came home from prison didn’t come back the same. And she wanted her Mark exactly as he’d been. All hers.
Unable to stand the voices one more second, she jumped off the mattress and hurled her pillow at the empty side of the bed. She checked the time and groaned. Several hours stretched before Mark’s hearing.
“Anna would have to have bigger balls than you to show up today. I don’t think she’s that crazy.”
“Or determined to get her man?”
“He’s my man!”
“I hope you’re right. If you change your mind, call me. I’ll keep my phone on.”
“I’ll keep you updated. Thanks for the offer. I appreciate it, but it’s better if I go alone.”
Sick to her stomach, she called in absent to work a few minutes after she’d hung up with Jerry.
Few places were open yet but the thought of staying home alone with her thoughts was no better than going to work and trying to put on a happy face. Or having Jerry remind her about Anna.
The Ft. Lauderdale flea market was on the way and no one would think it odd if she killed a couple of of hours there. The anonymity appealed. If she had to answer one more question about Mark and his hearing, even pleasant ones, she would pull out her hair.
Dressing for court as she didn’t plan to return home, Savi grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder. Inside, several of Mark’s letters were stashed from their past two years of correspondence. Hot steamy letters of love and longing. Letters of upset and hopelessness. Letters of hope and future expectation. They were all there. And they scared the hell out of her.
Although she’d put herself together well on the outside, inside she was a mess. She loved Mark but she feared what he might have become. Would he, could he, be the same man as the one who’d gone into prison?
Thanks to the letters, phone calls, and a couple of of in-person visits, she’d travelled the gamut of emotions with Mark during his incarceration. Her heart was scarred, too.
Holding her bag close to ward off pickpockets, she ambled around stalls full of five dollar time pieces, exotic fruit, and knock-off Rolex watches. New wares sat beside tables of garage sale items. Some vendors camped on sheets around the parking lot.
Although it was early, flamboyantly clothed tourists and locals swarmed around her. Then a swarthy man with a dark beard and moustache pointed at her. “You, pretty lady in the stuffy suit. Come, come. I have something very special to show you.”
She looked around her. Everyone else wore casual shorts and culottes. When the crowd jostled by her, she pointed to her chest. “You mean me?”
“Yes, you. Lady in the suit. Come here.”
Hoping, yet dreading it was time to head to the trial and see Mark, she glanced at the watches displayed on a nearby vendor’s table. When she saw there were three hours to kill, she bit back a sigh. Would this day never end?
She turned to walk away then stopped. How many people had walked away from Mark because of wrong impressions? There was nothing to fear here with so many people around. What would it hurt to look at the guy’s stuff?
She inched closer and peered at the mishmash of items on his table. Everything looked used, not of much interest. She started to leave when the man scurried around the table and grabbed her arm.
As he tugged on her, his eyes pleaded. “I have something very special to show you. One of a kind. It calls out for you.”
Her heart beat faster. Her skin crawled. Firmly she removed his fingers from her arm. “For me?”
The man quickly amended, “For a beautiful woman like you.”
The man shook his head
and mumbled under his breath. “Everybody will want it.”
She couldn’t imagine wanting whatever it was. Wishing she hadn’t stopped, she shook her head. She gave him a noncommittal smile and started to back away. “I have to get going. Sorry.”
He ran after her cradling an ornate bottle bejewelled with emeralds, rubies and sapphires. Not just any bejewelled bottle, it resembled a genie’s bottle.
Mesmerised by the brilliance of the sunlight bouncing off the faceted glass, she stopped and stared. She stretched out a finger to touch the smooth surface. Then she remembered her manners and let it drop. Besides, it looked frightfully expensive. “It’s gorgeous!”
“Ten dollar.” The man held it up and turned it around under a fountain of light that streamed through a hole in the tent overhead.
Her eyes widened and she looked at it anew. It must be a knock-off, but it was a very beautiful one. “Ten dollars?”
His beady eyes narrowed. “Eight dollar. Real bargain.”
She had the perfect place to put it on her mantle… Usually she spent more than that on lunch.
The man’s squinting gaze followed her finger. “No other bottle special like this one.”
On the verge of fishing the money out of her purse, she paused. There was that word again…special. “What’s so special about this bottle?”
“It’s magical.”
Magical? She tried not to laugh. Even if she believed in magic, she doubted it could be bought for a measly eight dollars.
Magical or not, it was really pretty. She delved in her purse, past Mark’s bundled letters, and got eight dollars from her wallet. “Here.”
The man held up his hand, palm out. “Sold. Promise, you like. Let me wrap it up.”
When he brought back the carefully wrapped bottle, she handed over the cash. “Thank you.”
“Thank you! You won’t regret.” With another crooked smile, the man returned to his table. Still, he eyed her with great interest.
Squirming, Savi quickly made her way towards her car. Since she’d forgotten her watch at home, she bought one of the cheap watches on her way out. Then her stomach grumbled so she picked up a bottled water and turkey wrap.
A few minutes later she climbed into the driver’s seat. Eager to get out of the sweltering South Florida heat, she turned on the AC. Moments later, she entered the stream of traffic headed into downtown Ft. Lauderdale.
* * * *
Forty-five minutes later, she was waiting to pass through security on her way to the courtroom where Mark’s fate would be decided. She chafed at the long line to get into the courthouse. When it was her turn to walk through the x-ray machine, she put her purse on the conveyer belt. Her heart jumped when the machine beeped and the guards opened her purse and dumped the contents.
Loose change, a nail file, her wallet and the bottle poured onto the counter. She chastised herself for bringing the bottle when she’d meant to leave it in the car. She knew how anal courthouse security was.
The guard picked up the nail file and gave her a dirty look. “Weapons aren’t allowed,” he said as he pitched it in a nearby garbage can.
A little p.o.ed that he really considered the flimsy piece of metal a weapon, her nostrils flared. But she clamped her lips. She wondered what he would do if he knew she was almost a black belt in karate. Her hands were far more dangerous than that flimsy piece of nothing.
She was surprised when they unwrapped the bottle but dismissed it and handed it back to her. Then they let her have everything else back, which she stuffed into her purse.
By the time she reached the courtroom, she was one big mass of nerves, worried about Mark and his fate, wondering if he still loved her. She took her seat on the row of benches facing the judge, pathetically empty of anyone there to support Mark except for her. Several people clustered together for the accuser’s side and glared at her as if she was guilty.
Then Anna sauntered inside in a slinky suit and stilettos. Red lipstick coloured her lips. She gave a cursory nod to Savi, then sat on the opposite end of the bench in front of her.
Savi’s breath stuck in her throat. Her fists clenched on her purse. When Savi caught herself gaping, she clamped her mouth shut. She tried not to stare at the other woman, but kept watch out of her peripheral vision.
“Touch the bottle,” a strange, feminine voice commanded.
Savi jumped. She squelched a yelp rising in her throat.
What bottle? Was she delusional? Savi twisted around on the hard bench but the burly, stony-faced guard stood as still and silent as the guards at Buckingham Palace. There was no way that lilting womanly voice had come out of him.
Anna turned and tented her brow.
After Savi gave a small smile and nod, she turned her back to the other woman. Then she snuck a glance at the prosecution’s side but they were now busily talking to one another in hushed tones.
“The one inside your purse. Touch me,” the voice commanded.
Compelled as if bewitched, Savi hoped Anna wasn’t watching, then peeked inside her handbag. Sure enough the bejewelled bottle glowed eerily under the glare of the fluorescent lights. Gaping, she turned her body to shield it from the rest of the room as she regarded the object demanding to be stroked.
Bottles didn’t talk, she told herself. Her one remaining brain cell must have shrivelled. The past two years of wondering if the love of her life was guilty of rape and worrying about his safety in prison, must have driven her insane.
The strange bottle started jumping around like a Mexican jumping bean inside her purse making it difficult to hold onto. Afraid everybody, especially Anna, would notice, she clutched the bag tightly and stared at the possessed object beginning to wonder if she was in a dream as she wrestled it back to the bottom of her satchel. Hurriedly, she zipped her purse, put it between her legs and leant over to hide it.
“Kind Mistress. I am your genie. I have the power to help if you free me from my prison in this bottle. Say the word and wish your man free.”
The voice, which had the same accent at the flea market vendor’s, sent chills down Savi’s spine. And yet, she longed for Mark’s freedom with her entire being. Without him, her heart was trapped in cement. Knowing he was in such pain made her feel guilty for being free. She couldn’t be truly happy if he wasn’t, too.
“Wish? Genies aren’t real.” Despite her words, her gaze glued to the possessed purse, Savi tiptoed out of the courtroom and found a deserted corner in the hallway. Still leery but more hopeful, she took the shiny bottle out of her purse and turned it over in her hands.
“The desires of your heart called out to me, Mistress. The love in your heart. You are now mistress of my bottle and I am bound to grant you three wishes. But please, kind Mistress, use your third wish to set me free for all time. My ex-master is dreadfully evil and he will do everything in his power to take revenge on me and carry out his nefarious schemes. The only way to stop him is to set me free before he gets his hands on me.”
Evil genies? Good genies?
Savi’s budding headache exploded and she rubbed her throbbing temples. “I don’t believe in genies. I must be dreaming.”
“Release me, and I will prove it to you.”
“Even if you were real, I can’t let you out in the middle of the courthouse where everyone will see you!” What if this was real, which of course it wasn’t. A half naked woman in a genie costume would attract unwanted attention.
“I’ll stay small and invisible. I promise, Mistress.”
Her jaw dropping wide, Savi tried to collect her wits and recall her genie lore which was pitifully small, consisting mainly of watching reruns of I Dream of Jeannie and the occasional cartoon. “Just how many wishes do I get?”
“Three. Please remember that you promised to use your third wish to free me.”
Savi didn’t recall promising any such thing but it seemed a reasonable request. Crossing her fingers mentally and feeling like an idiot, Savi rubbed the bottle. She’d do anyth
ing to save Mark, even make a fool of herself, so just in case… “What do I say?”
“Abracadabra. Genie, come forth.”
She had to be joking. What if Anna heard her?
Savi’s heart plummeted to her feet when she spied the guard striding towards her with a dangerous glint in his eye. Oh, no! “We’re about to have company. The guard can’t see you.”
“Release me. I’ll veil their eyes.”
“Promise? They’ll lock me up if they see you pop out of my purse.”
“My magic is powerful. I give you my word.”
Savi prayed for deliverance as she rubbed the bottle and muttered in a stage whisper, “Abracadabra. Genie, come forth!”
Chewing her lower lip, not sure how wise it was to let the literal genie out of the bottle, Savi popped the lid of the ornate urn. Despite the warning that there was a magical creature in the container, she was still amazed when a gorgeous, exotic genie emerged from within a puff of mist. Silky black hair was piled high into a luxurious ponytail that curled around her bare waist. A brazen bikini top barely concealed her extra large breasts while gauzy pantaloons rode low around the woman’s shapely hips.
In a blink, Savi found herself back inside the Broward County courtroom surrounded by the victim’s family, a gaggle of press and the courtroom staff. The victim glowered at her as if she was the predator who had molested her. Anna’s glare wasn’t much friendlier.
Chills scraped down Savi’s spine and her heart plummeted to her knees when she looked past the hostile victim to a pathetic Mark who was being led into the room in handcuffs and chains.
Mark’s entire countenance loomed grey…not merely his prison jumpsuit, but the tinge of his flesh down to his rheumy eyes. When he stared at her soullessly, she couldn’t bear to meet his zombie-like gaze and veiled hers as her heart cracked.
His lips pursed stonily as if to open them would release a slew of demons. His raven hair was shorn short, lacking any style as if hacked by a dull axe. He was a ghost of the man who’d claimed her heart, and now, he stole her breath in an entirely different, horrendous way.