The Girl and the Genie

by E. M. Lilly

  “I know it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, but I couldn’t resist.”

  Derek moved over to Emily and reached down to give her a short but firm kiss on the mouth. “You look so beautiful,” he said. “You just take my breath away.” A glimmer of mischief showed in his eyes. “I bet this was a surprise, huh?”

  “To put it lightly.”

  Derek’s wicked grin came back. “I had to twist some arms to arrange this, but I thought you’d get a big kick out of it. You’re only going to be on film for seventy-five seconds, but still, it’s not every day you get to be in a major Hollywood movie, right?”

  “What do I need to do?”

  “Just stand looking stunningly beautiful, and when the director gives the signal just follow my lead as we do the following.”

  Derek pulled her from the chair and into his arms, and then passionately kissed her. When he broke away from the kiss, Emily looked flustered, her cheeks flushing to a warm pink.

  “This is exactly how you want to look after our kiss,” Derek said.

  Laura pushed her way forward. “Thanks a lot, Derek,” she complained. “You just ruined my work.” She had Emily sit down again, and began feverishly working to repair the makeup job that Derek had messed up.

  There was a frantic knock on the door and they were informed that Derek and Emily were wanted for filming twenty minutes ago.

  The next hour and fifteen minutes was mostly a blur for Emily. They positioned her and Derek in front of the altar with Winston panting happily as he stood next to Derek. With each take the actor playing the priest would pronounce them husband and wife, then Derek would take Emily into his arms and give her a long, passionate kiss. Emily recognized the actor from other movies but couldn’t place his name. She was also sure she recognized some of the actors and actresses playing wedding guests, although most of them were probably extras.

  Even though she felt very self-conscious being kissed like that in front of all the other actors and film crew, the kiss would still leave her weak in her knees and her skin along her cheeks burning hot. The first take seemed to go well with the director’s attitude toward Emily softening dramatically and him remarking to her that the camera loved her, but he wanted to change the lighting so they had to do another one. After that there were problems with either Winston plopping down on the floor at the wrong time, or wandering off, or the angle not being precisely what the director wanted, or him not being completely satisfied with some other detail. And after each take, Laura had to fix the smudges in Emily’s makeup. By the time they had done eight takes, Emily was convinced that Derek had worked things out with the director to do a bunch of extra takes, especially given this grin she’d catch from him and how much he seemed to be enjoying the situation. The eleventh take satisfied the director enough to call it a wrap even though Winston ended up barking and jumping on Emily while she was engaged in her kiss with Derek.

  “You were great,” Derek said to Emily as they walked away from the altar to one of the offices in back of the church. Derek’s left arm was wrapped around Emily’s shoulder. One of the crew members had taken Winston to get him out of his dog tuxedo. “A real pro. Seriously, you were a natural up there.”

  “It wasn’t that hard. I just had to stand there and be kissed. You arranged with Jerry to do all those extra takes, didn’t you?”

  A sly smile twisted the corners of Derek’s lips. “Guilty,” he admitted. “Jerry’s probably going to use the first take. I hope you don’t mind, but I thought I’d have some fun.”

  “I don’t mind at all. It was exciting. Nerve-wracking, maybe a little embarrassing, but exciting. I still don’t understand that scene. If this is a romantic comedy, how come I show up for seventy-five seconds as your bride?”

  “It’s more of a bittersweet romantic comedy,” Derek said, rolling his eyes over the movie’s plot. “Throughout the film I’m chasing after the wrong girl for all the wrong reasons, and then at the very end I learn some valuable lessons and a montage is played that includes me being married to a sweet, beautiful young girl, all with a sappy voice over. What can I say? It pays the bills.”

  They reached the office where Emily was going to change out of the wedding dress. Derek told her that their shooting schedule had them out until around 9 o’clock, but he’d pick her up at her apartment afterward.

  “And don’t worry,” he said. “Once again I’ll be protecting your virtue. As much as I’d like to I won’t be looking to turn this into our wedding night, even with how you’re dressed right now.”

  He took her into his arms and gave her a more passionate and longer kiss than any during the filming. With Emily’s eyelids half closed, she said in a throaty whisper that maybe her virtue should go unguarded that night.

  “Uh uh. As I said before, you’re worth waiting for.”

  He gave her one more kiss, and then left her to change back into her clothes.

  ##

  Emily collected Winston, who was now out of his tuxedo, and one of the film crew escorted her out of the church. As soon as the door opened and they stepped outside, Emily was assaulted by dozens of camera light bulbs flashing at her. She’d been in too much of a daze when she first came to the church to pay much attention to the crowd of paparazzi that was gathered in front taking her picture. Now, though, as she stumbled down the steps half-blinded, she realized that her photo was going to be on websites and in gossip magazines, and that she was in effect, being outed as the mystery girl with the English Bulldog that Derek had earlier run off with. She felt funny inside realizing that. She was going to have to call her mom and give her a warning about it. Other than that, she was too busy at that moment to think about the ramifications of those photos as one of the film crew members helped squeeze her through the crowd and into a waiting town car that was to take her home.

  Chapter 26

  Emily scrubbed off her makeup, took a shower, and forced herself to sit and leisurely drink a glass of wine before summoning Jack. She did this because she wanted to make sure that she had her emotions fully in check before seeing him again. When Jack appeared amidst his usual burst of blue smoke, Emily smiled good-naturedly as if nothing was wrong. She wished him a pleasant evening. The genie returned the same cheerful smile.

  “Thank you, Miss Mignon,” he said as he snuck a wink at Winston, who was lying by Emily’s feet but still wagging his tail. “And I hope you’ve had a rewarding day.”

  Emily bit her tongue to keep from saying what she wanted to say. “Oh, I have,” she said as she managed to keep her tone cool and even. “Very eventful, actually. I got married today.”

  “Did you now?” Jack said, arching an eyebrow while he kept his innocent act going. “In that case, I believe congratulations are in order.”

  “Thank you. Of course, it wasn’t a real wedding since it was done as part of a movie. Very surprising how it worked out, especially since I thought I could trust you.”

  The look of innocence faded from the genie’s face as his expression grew more somber. “You can, Miss Mignon,” he said.

  “Really? Because to me it looked like you did a good job of faking me out until now. You actually had me convinced that I could trust you and be able to make a wish without you maliciously distorting it.”

  “There was nothing malicious about what I did,” Jack insisted. “I had only your best interests at heart.”

  “That is hard to believe given how you distorted my wish. You knew what I meant to wish for was an actual wedding, not a staged one done for a film.”

  Jack sighed heavily. “Miss Mignon, I was not exaggerating when I told you months ago that wishing for love ends disastrously. The other day you seemed too headstrong to be talked out of your wish, so I did what I could to protect you. But what was the harm? With what I did you now have the experience of being in a movie, which is something you’ll be able to tell your grandchildren about someday. All in all, I think I handled your wish in the best possible way that I cou
ld for you.”

  Emily’s eyes narrowed as she met the genie’s gaze. “I wasn’t wishing for love,” she said.

  “No?”

  “No. I was wishing for a wedding. I know how Derek and I feel about each other.”

  “Hmm.” Jack began to turn from her so he could search for a book to read, but Emily stopped him.

  “I still have three wishes left,” Emily said, her voice holding an icy edge to it, “and I’m using one of my remaining wishes for the same thing I wished for yesterday. Except this time I want it to be a legal wedding, one that is recognizable by the state of New York. Like before I want this wedding to take place within a week, and you are not to do anything to sabotage the wedding or our marriage.”

  The genie’s expression turned grim as he met Emily’s stare. “I must ask you to reconsider. You’ve been on one date with this person. You couldn’t possibly know how the two of you feel about each other.”

  Jack’s condescending attitude infuriated Emily even more. Whatever chance the genie might’ve had to talk her out of her wish was now gone.

  “I’ve been with Derek enough to know that we’re meant for each other.”

  “Let’s say that is true, then why not let a marriage happen naturally? Why use one of your wishes for this?”

  “I believe I made my wish. Are you going to grant it or not?”

  “”Miss Mignon, I implore you to reconsider. At least give it a month to think about. What would be the harm in that?”

  “Will you or will you not grant my wish?”

  Jack grimaced as if he had a bad toothache. “If you insist,” he said. “You now have two remaining wishes. Anything else I can do for you?”

  “No. And I’d like to be alone now.”

  The genie showed a helpless, deflated look. He nodded, and then disappeared within a burst of smoke. As soon as he was gone, Emily hugged herself tightly, shaking the same as if she’d been dipped in ice water. Her wish the other day was made impetuously. She knew that. But she couldn’t back down, not with the way Jack had tricked her. She also couldn’t put the wish on hold for a month as Jack suggested. She knew if she did that she’d lose her nerve. Now that she was given more time to think about it, the idea of her wish was scary as hell, but it was also exciting. And as she told herself, it was time to be bold for once in her life. She and Derek got along so well, and she was so attracted to him, and she knew he wanted her also.

  After a few minutes Emily was able to stop trembling, and she then started working on the report that she owed Mr. Pish. She only had two and a half hours to write it before she needed to get ready for her date with Derek.

  ##

  Derek came to her door at nine o’clock as promised, looking rugged and dashing and outright gorgeous in his bomber jacket, jeans and cowboy boots. He wanted to take Emily to one of the trendiest new restaurants in Manhattan, a place notorious for requiring at least six months for a reservation and was a magnet for the beautiful and wealthy crowd. She instead asked that they stay in and order pizza. “I can’t eat rich like that two nights in a row,” she said. “And it would be nice if we just hung out and listened to music and talked. And this pizza place in the neighborhood is really good, and they deliver.”

  “And we won’t have to deal with the paparazzi, huh?”

  Emily nodded and showed a weak smile. “It was hard enough dealing with them when I left St. Patrick’s earlier.”

  “If we’re going to hang out together, it’s something you’re going to have to get used to.”

  “I know,” Emily said. “But maybe not tonight?”

  “Okay, not tonight,” Derek agreed, and followed Emily into her apartment.

  That night Emily felt every bit as comfortable and relaxed with Derek as any other time. The pizza was a hit, although Derek insisted he could take her to places in Chicago that rivaled the best that New York had to offer. They drank the wine that Emily had opened earlier, and although Derek squinted hard at the label, he seemed to enjoy it even though it wasn’t in the same neighborhood, let alone the same zip code, as the champagne he had served the other night. Afterward Emily made them French Roast espresso, and then they moved to the living room where Derek picked a Frank Sinatra CD for them to listen to.

  “This is nice,” he said while they sat together on the sofa with Emily curled up and her head resting against his chest. “Really nice. It’s been a long time since I’ve spent a quiet evening like this.”

  Before too long they were kissing, and Emily didn’t want the night to end. She could’ve spent the rest of her life like this and been happy. Curled up on the sofa in Derek’s arms. After a long while, Derek told her that he’d better leave if he was going to protect her virtue as he had promised. “Otherwise I’m going to either go insane or drop dead on the spot.”

  Emily’s eyes were half-lidded, her lips parted slightly. “You don’t have to leave,” she said. “Or worry about going insane.”

  “You don’t know how badly I want to stay, or how badly I want to rip off your clothes right now.”

  “I think I know,” Emily said in a hushed whisper.

  Derek looked like he was going to weaken for a moment, but then with a hard resolve settling in his eyes he pushed himself off the sofa. “A promise is a promise,” he said.

  “I didn’t ask you to make that promise.”

  “It will be worth it. I swear.” Derek checked his watch and made a face. “Besides, it’s midnight now, and I have an early morning shoot.”

  Emily walked Derek to the door. They made plans to see each other the following night, and before Derek left, he gently took hold of Emily’s chin so he could lift her face and give her one last passionate kiss, a kiss that left her wanting more than anything for Derek to carry her back to her bedroom and rip off her clothes like he wanted to. But instead she whispered goodbye to him and watched as he left her apartment and disappeared down the hallway.

  Chapter 27

  Someone pounding on her apartment door woke Emily up. Groggy, she squinted at her alarm clock and after a few seconds her eyes were able to focus enough to see it was three thirty. The pounding continued and she could also make out Derek’s voice calling for her. She reached over and turned on the night table lamp. Winston was lying on the bed next to her, snoozing away.

  “Some watchdog you are,” Emily muttered as she pushed herself off the bed. Winston stopped snoring and his ears twitched, but he kept his eyes closed.

  Emily wrapped a flannel bathrobe around herself, then stumbled out of the bedroom, down the hallway and to the door so she could try to keep Derek from waking up the rest of the building, if he hadn’t already. When she opened the door Derek almost fell into the apartment, but was able to regain his balance. He stood grinning at her, and seemed unsteady on his feet staggering slightly as if he were standing on a boat in unsteady water. His complexion had a pastiness about it, his eyes covered by a dull sheen. He also now looked more rumpled than dashing. He fell to one knee in a stumbling-type motion. His grin remained plastered across his face.

  “Emily, my love,” he said, his words slurring, “I’m so glad you’re still up.” He reached blindly into his pants pocket, frowning severely before breaking into another wide grin and pulling out a diamond ring. “I had to buy this off a lass, but I’ll be replacing it later with a far grander ring more worthy of you. So Emily, my love, will you do me the honor of marrying me?”

  “You’re drunk,” said Emily, wrinkling her nose. The alcohol stench coming off of Derek was nearly overpowering.

  Derek exaggerated a wounded look over the accusation. “Drunk? No, my love, not even close. Maybe I had a few shots to help work up the proper courage, but I assure you this is a most sincere proposal.”

  “I’m not accepting a marriage proposal from someone who’s drunk,” Emily said. Concern wrinkled her brow. “How did you get here?”

  Derek appeared confused for a moment, as if he were trying to decide whether to answer her questio
n or to argue with her about his being drunk. “A limousine brought me here,” he finally said. “But trust me, I’m cold, dead sober right now, and this is an honest proposal for marriage if there ever was one. Now hold out your finger so I can slip this on.”

  “Is the limousine still outside?”

  Derek showed more of his confused look. “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe it is, but I can’t remember whether I asked the driver to wait or not.” He grinned drunkenly at her. “Perhaps I was thinking I’d be spending the night here, so I might’ve told the driver to get lost.”

  “Wait here,” Emily said.

  She moved quickly past him and down the staircase leading to the front door. There was a limousine waiting out front, and Emily waved to the driver. When the man lowered the passenger window, she told him that she needed help getting Derek back into the limousine so he could be taken back to his suite at the Plaza. The driver nodded, got out of the car and gave Emily an apologetic look.

  “I didn’t think it was a good idea him coming here,” the driver explained, “but I couldn’t talk him out of it.”

  They found Derek inside Emily’s apartment. He had found Theodore Anderson’s liquor cabinet and was pouring himself a glass of brandy. While he initially protested the idea of being taken back to the Plaza, with Emily and the limousine driver coaxing him, he allowed himself to be taken out of the apartment. As the limousine driver half carried Derek down the hallway, Derek shouted to Emily that his proposal was still good and he was expecting an answer from her. Emily didn’t bother responding.

  Once she was back in her apartment with her front door closed, she summoned Jack. The genie first looked around his surroundings with a curious expression as he previously had only been summoned within the den whenever Emily was inside the apartment. When he turned to face her and saw her pinched expression, his lips pursed and his eyes sparkled with bemusement.