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"Surprise!"
Allie's head snapped up at the sound and she was met with a cheery Jade. Allie groaned, in no mood for surprises after the horrible, nightmare-packed past few days.
In her dreams, she was no longer the one in the hourglass, now lying in a circle of fire, the flames growing higher with every minute that went by. She could see most nothing through the flames, only hearing the sounds of her friends begging her for help as the shadowed man with a golden scepter that shone brilliantly against the light of the flames tortured them. She tried to shake the thoughts out of her mind as Jade approached her, carrying a tray with coffees in one hand, and a giant yellow parchment envelope in the other. "Is that anyone to greet your official new vizier? Especially one as awesome as me who did this." Jade teased, handing over a coffee and placing the envelope in Allie's lap. Allie took a sip from the much-needed coffee and then put it down to pick up the envelope, looking up at Jade in confusion. "Go on, open it." Jade ordered, a small smile on her face.
Allie did as told, slipping a letter out of the envelope. She raised an eyebrow but began to read it at Jade's gesturing to do so. She felt herself begin to smile as she read the letter, having received the one good bit of news she'd had all week. The venue of the gala in her mother's name had agreed to let them have the largest wing, allowing them to fit almost 1000 more people, which meant 1000 more people to donate money to the Jasmine Ababwa Foundation, the charity in her mother's name that her father had made when her mother died to commemorate her.
"Wow this is amazing! We have to start sending invites and ordering more plates from the caterer." Allie stated, shaking herself out of her slump to get ready for work.
"Already taken care of. Fatima and I are on it." Jade replied, smiling down at her. "Fatima says you don't have to worry, you don't have to lift a finger it's all taken care of."
"But I want to help, really." Allie started, catching on to Jade's frown and realizing that this was meant more as an order from Fatima. "She doesn't want me to help anymore, huh? She doesn't want me to mess anything else up?" Allie stated matter-of-factly, slightly offended.
"Allie it's not like that. We just think that you're under a lot of stress, and that stress has been affecting your work lately." Jade started, earning a scowl from Allie. Ever since the nightmares began, Allie had been having more and more trouble concentrating, leading her to mess up a few of the tasks that Fatima, the most recent being booking the right band upon other mishaps.
"Fatima, I swear I ordered a string quartet and not a mariachi band. Same thing with the plates, I know I ordered 3000 and not 30000, the guy must've misheard. " Allie protested, folding her arms. "Plus, I fixed both discrepancies in the end."
"We know, and she values that you fixed it. But we're afraid of any other mishaps happening so soon to the deadline. Besides, you've already done so much anyway and I can tell you're so tired and on edge, maybe it's best if you sit the rest out?" Jade suggested with a sympathetic smile. Allie attempted to hide the disappointment from her face as she stood up with a nod, but Allie grabbed her arm just as she made her way to grab her bag from the bed to leave.
"You know you can talk to me about it right? Whatever it is that has you so out of it." Jade added, meeting Allie's eyes but she quickly looked away.
"I'm fine." She quickly dismissed, shrugging her arm out of Jade's hold and grabbing her bag.
"Come on, Allie. At least tell me what this is about. You haven't slept a full night in weeks. You're on edge all of the time. Is this about the gala? Are you nervous? Because I assure you we're on schedule everything is set for the week after next." She reassured, but Allie didn't confirm nor deny her suspicions.
"I'm going to go see Jay now okay? Goodbye. Call me if you do in fact end up needing me for anything." She replied and then walked out of the room before she could ask further questions.
"Jay, how much longer are you gonna be in there? I swear you take longer than me!" Allie called as she sat on the edge of Jay's bed. They were getting ready to go out on a double date with Ben and Mal and for the first time in a long time, it seemed like it was Jay who wasn't prepped to go out.
She'd left Jade's room earlier that morning on her orders and spent the day with Jay, going to the gym in hopes that boxing would help mellow her out. They'd bumped into Ben and Mal while there and the quartet had agreed to go on a double date after they finished cleaning up from their time at the gym. Allie loved spending time with Jay and getting to see her friends more thanks to Jade's consideration, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't slightly out of it the entire time, subconsciously looking over her shoulder and having her breath hitch nervously whenever Jay so much as whispered something for only her to hear.
"Give me a minute!" Jay shouted back from the shower suddenly, the reply muffled by the running water but not enough so that she couldn't understand. Allie rolled her eyes at the response and lied back in the bed, rubbing at her temples. Her headaches didn't seem to be getting any better and she didn't even want to think about the weird dreams she was having for fear that they'd follow her into her real life, as well, especially on a day like today when she was finally having one on one time with her boyfriend. The vicious old man hidden in the shadows, his golden snake scepter half out in the light, illuminated by the flames. The sounds of her friends crying out while she stood trapped in a ring of fire and watched their shadows through the flames, defenseless.
She subconsciously shuttered, hopping off of the bed in an instant as she tried to shake the thoughts away. Her eyes locked on something as she did so, noticing something golden out of the corner of her eye. She turned and locked eyes on Jay's favorite leather vest hanging off of a chair, noticing the emblem on the back for what seemed like the first time.
A red and golden snake. A cobra to be exact. It seemed to shine against the artificial light, reminding her of the one that topped the shadowed man's scepter in her dreams.
A feeling of dread washed over her as she stared intently at the emblem, her stomach turning in her gut as she looked it over, remembering her dreams once more.
"You know I've always wondered what you'd look like in leather."
Allie jumped at the sound of Jay's voice, turning around anxiously to find a very toned and very half-naked Jay behind her, a towel hung loosely from his wet hips.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Allie shouted, throwing the jacket at him and hearing him laugh in response as he ducked away from the piece of fabric.
"I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it. You're just too easy to scare." Jay teased, stepping forward and wrapping his hands around her waist despite her protests. "Can you please forgive me?" He asked, his eyes boring into hers as he pouted slightly.
"You know I'm a sucker for the puppy-dog eyes." She groaned, rolling her eyes but complying. "Fine, I forgive you. But only if you start getting dressed right this minute, we're running late as it-."
Jay cut her off, tilting her chin up to place a teasing kiss on her lips. She easily replied, biting his own lip teasingly for a moment before pushing him away.
"Why'd you stop?" He blurted in shock, feeling his swollen lower lip.
She smirked in response, placing a hand on her hip. "Punishment for not doing what I said. Now go get dressed."
"Fine. I'm going, I'm going." Jay consented, beginning to back away. "But just know you're missing out on all of this." He said, gesturing to his half-naked body with a laugh as Allie rolled her eyes at her silly and overly-attractive boyfriend, forgetting about the dark dreams that were haunting her, if only for a moment.
So this is just a quick little update because I want to get to the real action soon but how are you guys enjoying the new side to this story so far? Please let me know in a review! And also make sure to fave/follow the story if you aren't already! It's your support that keeps me motivated to keep writing this story after all!
Talk to you all later,
Maysins :)