Making it Work

Chapter 3

The Plan As We Know It

The Goblin King emerged from the alley accompanied by a dramatic billow of steam. The warmth venting from the buildings seemed to follow him out, and as he stood on the corner and checked his watch, it became suddenly very difficult for nearby pedestrians not to stare and wonder who this man was. No one would have believed he had just been sitting on a dumpster.

It was four-thirty. Right on time. As if on Que, a Lincoln town car pulled up alongside the King-in-disguise. After he got in, the sleek, black ride pulled away and disappeared into the city.

Comforted by the Italian leather interior, Jareth leaned back and unbuttoned his coat. He motioned for Flick-Wick to hop out, which she did begrudgingly. Then he reached for a cell phone, the one that never left this car and was always kept here waiting for him. Jareth put the device to his ear. "Get me the New York Times." At his side, Flick-Wick was sniffing the seats. Unsatisfied with how clean they were she quickly started rubbing herself all over the upholstery, trying to mark her sent. When the voice on the other line picked up, Jareth spoke to it saying,

"This is Mr. White. Put Archie on the phone." He was put on hold but only for a moment, they knew better than to keep him waiting. "Archie? Hello… Yes, I'm fine. Listen, I need you to make an adjustment for me. It's very important and I won't take no for an answer." He looked over at Flick-Wick who upon hearing the seriousness in her Master's voice had ceased her rolling and was now staring at him, ears perked. He gave her a wink and she smiled, knowing this was just another one of his games. Mr. White was the human alias her master used whenever he chose to interact with the mortals. The name was always accompanied by wealth, stature, and fancy black cars. Jareth liked and disliked this persona, enjoying the familiar respect and fear that it brought him, while hating how much human engagement it required. Flick-Wick loved when he played this game because it meant that on occasion she got to go for a ride in the car, or was allowed to handle a clicky when he didn't care to. Sarah knew nothing about Mr. White, and Flick-Wick was sworn never to tell her.

After a short conversation and a little persuading, Jareth hung up the phone and leaned back, stretching his arms across the backs of the seats as he let out a deep and satisfied sigh.

"Is pleased Master?" Flick-Wick asked, opening all the hidden compartments in the car and looking inside to see what she could find.

"Oh yes. Everything is coming together very nicely. I can't wait to see how Sarah reacts! She's going to be so excited."

Flick-Wick turned, asking, "Is surprise?!"

"You could say that." He said with a smirk.

"Surprise is good! Mistress Sarah will like. Even if sneaky."

"Ah, but those are the best kinds of surprises."

"Why is best?" She asked.

Jareth turned his gaze out the window, his response more of a reflection than an answer. "Because it means that I still hold the upper hand." Flick-Wick didn't understand, but that was ok. Kingly things often went over her head. She was just happy to tag along and help. Jareth pressed a button and lowered the divide between himself and the driver. "Make a stop at the market down the street and then back to her apartment."

"Yes, Sir." The driver said, and the black window went up again. Jareth would have the man pick up some groceries for him before returning to Sarah's home. He needed to have dinner waiting for her by the time she got back.


It was dark out. Sarah still hadn't returned and Jareth was growing tired of yelling at his goblins to stop trying to eat the meal they had prepared for their King and Queen.

"Anything yet?!" He called out again, his fingers pressed hard against his temple trying to force himself to relax. One of the goblins was posted at the window, charged with keeping lookout for when Sarah arrived.

He shuddered, not wanting to disappoint his King once again. "Um.. ummmm." his beady eyes desperately sweeping over the parking lot down below.

"Well!?" Jareth shouted.

The goblin gasped then, jumping up and down excitedly. "Yis! Yis I sees her! Mistress is back!"

Jareth sprung from his chair with speed and grace. "Finally." He said, and with a flick of his wrist the lights in the dining room dimmed, the candles on the table lit and the stereo began to play. "Quickly! Bring me that apron!" One of the goblins in the kitchen handed it to him. Jareth snatched it up and threw the loop over his neck. "Tie this, then scatter. I want you all back in the Underground. Not a trace." The goblin tied a nice bow and then followed his comrades under the sofa. There they disappeared from the mortal world, just in time for a very exhausted Sarah to walk through the door.

Jareth looked up from the kitchen, a frying pan of risotto in one hand, a wooden spoon in the other; he gave her a pleasant look of surprise.

"Hello Darling, back so soon?"

Sarah shrugged, her jacket dropping to the floor in a heap. She didn't seem to notice as she practically slammed her purse down on the hallway table and stormed inside. "Don't be sarcastic with me right now, Jareth, I'm not in the mood."

"Really?" he asked, sounding concerned, "Why not. Rough day at work?"

"That would be putting it mildly." She groaned. Sarah bypassed the obvious display in the dining room and went straight to the couch. Covering her face with her hands she slumped into the cushions. Jareth couldn't help but smile to himself. Undoing the apron strings he removed the silly garment and sauntered to the back of the sofa. There he made sure to drop it next to her so that later she would remember that he cooked the meal that was waiting for them. Jareth's hands found the smooth touch of Sarah's skin. Gently he massaged her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. Tell me everything." The King's voice was deep and sweet and as he spoke, music seemed to flow from his lips like honey. Sarah's shoulders relaxed and her hands slid down her face. She let out a sigh.

"Well. In some freakish display of cruel and unusual fate, we were all informed today that the review has suddenly been pushed up from two weeks away … to this weekend." Sarah sounded ticked off and tired at the same time. She held a weight in her voice that said she had been talking about this for hours, no doubt on the phone with NYT, the board of directors, anyone to get some answers. But, thanks to Jareth, these efforts had changed nothing.

"Oh! Well, that's certainly unusual," said the King, trying to sound as genuine in his response as possible. "I wonder how such a thing could have happened."

"I've been trying to figure that out for the last two hours! That's why I was late tonight. I'm sorry I would have called but…"

"No, shhhh. Don't worry about it love." Jareth bent down and kissed her cheek. "It's out of your control, I understand.

"Thank you." She said, reaching up and touching his hand. Sarah hadn't looked at him yet, she was still staring into space, sorting over the sudden turn of events. "I just don't understand it. Even our records say that the date has been moved. I had to answer a thousand phone calls today from all our guests calling to ask about the new invites they had somehow been sent. And what could I say to them?! As far as I could tell it was the New York Times who made the call. They had already updated their events page and tweeted out the change by the time I contacted them."

Jareth wasn't sure what she meant by 'tweeted', but he also didn't care. Instead he wanted to move on from the drama and focus on the bounty of his efforts. Pulling her shoulders so that her head rested on the back of the couch he leaned over her, his long blond hair cascading like a veil around her face. Jareth bent down and kissed her, slowly, and tenderly. When he stopped he raised his lips, just an inch from her own and whispered,

"I'm sorry you had a stressful day. And I wish there was something I could do. But here in the mortal world… sometimes things just happen."

Sarah nodded silently. She still seemed upset, but his kiss and kind words had helped her "You're right; Even if it is bizarre and unexplainable." She smirked then and said, "If I didn't know better I would think…" but she stopped. Her eyes jumped to his and she squinted at him, furrowing her brow.

"You…" she started.

"What?" He asked, his expression the picture of innocence.

Sarah laughed, still studying him, "You wouldn't…."

"I wouldn't what?"

Sarah squinted again and then finally said, "No. Nope, nope, nope. Nevermind. Come here." And with that she pulled his face down to hers and kissed him again. Sarah sat up, shaking her head as she rid herself of the thought. "I'm just stressed out that's all. After all you've been here all day making… an amazing dinner. Wow!" At last she had turned and actually looked at the dining room. "Jareth this is beautiful! And so sweet. Aw, thank you sweetie. After today this is exactly what I needed." She hugged him, her head resting heavily on his shoulder.

When she pulled away he was happy to see her smiling again "Did you have any help? From some tiny sous chefs perhaps?" Jareth pulled out her chair.

"What? Of course not! Didn't you see the apron? This meal was one-hundred-percent me." He fetched the warm food from the oven and brought it to their table, sitting down after he poured them both a glass of wine. "I just wanted to do something a little special for you. With how hard you've been working, you've earned it."

Sarah took a large drink from her glass. "Well I can't argue with you there." She shook her head. "I still can't believe my boss didn't have an aneurysm today. I mean, don't get me wrong he yelled at me for almost an hour until he finally accepted that I was as in the dark as he was." Jareth frowned as he listened to her story. He knew his actions would cause her some hindrance at work but he didn't like the idea of that balding idiot yelling at his Queen. This was his doing not hers.

"Was he cruel to you?" Jareth asked quietly. "I could always… speak to him."

"No. Thank you Jareth but that's not necessary. Really, I totally understand why he did it. In fact I wish I had some underling to scream at too. But, I'm the assistant, it's just part of the job."

"If you're sure."

"I am." She said, and gave him a small smile. Jareth nodded and took a bite of the pan-seared pork. It was actually quite good. He would have to commend whichever goblin did the cooking, that is if he remembered later on .

"But you'll still be ready in time." He said. "The gala is still on?"

"We'll have to be, I guess." She shook her head, pushing the food around on her plate. He gave her a look. She shrugged saying, "It's fine. It's just… this is my first big gallery review. It's one of those important milestones, you know? I just hoped I could have experienced it without all of this extra pressure." When he put his hand on hers she looked up, her eyes wide and shimmering.

"They say moments like these force us to be our best. I think you'll be surprised, Sarah. Pressure often has the tendency to bring greatness out in people. Yours will be especially brilliant, I'm sure." Sarah melted at the thoughtfulness of his words. Instead of saying anything she leaned across the table and kissed him. It was such a kiss that he almost pulled her onto his lap, but unfortunately for him , Sarah pulled away just before he could do so. Still he gave her a hungry look from under the shadow of his brow as she smugly slunk back into her seat.

"Finish your meal." He said wryly. "As soon as you're done, I'm going to shag you right here on this table."

"What, no dessert?" She asked playfully.

"Oh I'll give you dessert." And there again was that charming crooked smile.


A/N: Hi guys! Thanks for reading so far! I've appreciated all your comments, and to the guest comment Yellow: Thank you very much, I'm glad you're enjoying the mischief ;)

One BIG chapter to go!

Enjoy!