Chapter 7

Unbottled

At work, Leif felt uneasy. It was not like Toni to be gone from work as she was. He had been, he reflected, a little hard on her the day before. Had it really mattered so much what was odd about her? Perhaps it was merely her personality. He had no right to push her as far as he had.

He picked up the phone and dialed her number again. Still there was no answer. He was at his wits end as to what to do. By the time it was five 'o' clock he had made up his mind to drop by her apartment. It took a quick look at her personnel file to find the address.

Once he had arrived at the apartment building he almost changed his mind. Was this really any of his business? Perhaps he would be intruding on some personal matter that she was trying to resolve and did not need him to pester her.

Though it was his fault that she had not gone back to work the day before. In a business sense, this was his business. She had not called in. He could not get in touch with her family. He had legitimate reasons for checking in on her. If something were wrong he needed to know about it. That's all it was. Business.

He found her number and rang her bell, but no one answered. He tried several more times with no success. He should call the police or her family again, but instead he found himself hunting up the manager and getting the spare key. He made up a story about being a distant relative and wanting to surprise her. He was a little surprised that he was able to get the key with such a shallow story, but by the time he was back at her door he had tossed the peculiarity out of his mind.

Instead now, he was again having second thoughts. He was intruding in the private space of an employee, or rather a co-worker. He was going into her apartment uninvited and without her knowledge. But what if something were wrong? What if she needed immediate attention?

When he stepped inside he was surprised at the light, airy feel the room had. It was small, enough to fit her means of income. The room was clean, spotless. He suspected that Muriel had something to do with that. It felt awkward being in her room. He half expected her to show up and thoroughly scold him for being in her apartment.

He had looked over the kitchen and living room areas and took a quick peek into the bathroom. A taupe colored, sheer curtain separated the rest of the room from what he assumed was the bedroom area. He pulled back the curtain and stared at the elaborately decorated bedding. The bright and shiny colors of blues and pinks and purples seemed out of place in the studio decorated with milder colors. He cleared his throat and sighed. She was no where in the room.

Now he needed to contact someone. He picked up a phone on the top of a dresser. He was about to dial Carrie Gilford's number again when he noticed an object on the top of it. It was a bottle.

It would not have caught his attention, except that it was almost identical to the one he owned, except that it was a blue frosted color. He set down the receiver and picked it up. He marveled at the design so intricately done. He looked at it, turned it over in his hands. He ran his fingers over the pattern. Ever so slowly he touched the glass stopper. His had nothing like that. As long as he could remember it had been simply uncorked.

Curious, he placed his finger and thumb on the top of the stopper and pulled. At first nothing happened. He had not expected anything to happen. A hissing sound startled him. He jumped back, as a flume of blue smoke spew from the hole, at first just a thin stream, but it grew larger. He threw the bottle across the room and took another step backwards tripping over into a chair.

The smoke grew thicker, a deep, dark blue color. At the bottom of the cloud of smoke feet appeared dressed in blue silk slippers, then legs covered with blue silk pants. Then the rest of the body and head appeared. Antonia Jeannie Nelson was leaning heavily against the bureau where the bottle had rested, her arm against her bare stomach, her breath coming out in short little gasps. She looked pale.

So did Leif. His eyes were round with wonder. He realized that he was holding his breath and let it out. "Toni?" his voice was weak. She looked at him, slowly regaining her composure, but closed her eyes as if willing away the scene before her. Leif wondered if it would work for him. He still wasn't sure what had happened.

"Of all the people in the world!" she threw her hands up in despair and paced the length of the room. She stopped and stood next to the bathroom doorway and began pounding her head against the wall.

"Don't do that!" Leif jumped up and put his hand between her head and the wall, only to have it crushed between the two hard objects. "Ouch," he complained and shook his hand.

"Don't you understand?" she demanded, her voice full of despair.

"Yeah…no," he shook his head. His thoughts were full of confusion. "I don't think I understand anything. What kind of trick was that?"

"That wasn't a trick!" she exclaimed, her face flushed with frustration and anger.

"It had to be a trick," he responded. She stared at him. "Either it was a trick or I've gone crazy."

"You haven't gone crazy!" she was nearly shouting. "Sit down," she blinked and a chair slid across the room and hit him, gently, in the back of the legs, forcing him to sitting position.

"What are you wearing?" he demanded, realizing that her attire…well, she was dressed as a harem girl.

With a deep sigh that seemed to take in every part of her body she responded, "My heritage."

"Your what?"

"My heritage, Leif. I am a genie."

"You're a what?"

"A genie. You know like Aladdin and the Arabian Knights?"

"Those are only fairy tales!"

She blinked and Leif found himself rising out of his chair. "You want to call that a fairy tale?" She blinked again and he dropped back into the chair. He swallowed. It had been a very strange feeling to have his body, against his will rise into the air like that.

"That is why," she continued. "That your office was spotless and that Mrs. Capp had extra money saved up, and why the tape is in color instead of being black and white. And," she added with a change in her tone. "Why you are now my master."

"I'm your what?"

"You released me from my bottle. That now makes you my master."

"I don't' want to be anybody's master!" he protested, standing up from his chair.

"And I don't want to be anybody's servant," she retorted, folding her arms.

"Then we're all set," Leif sniffed.

"Not quite," she responded, lifting herself into the air and folding her legs Indian fashion. "There is something called laws of the Djinn."

"Laws of the what?"

"Djinn. It's the collective name for all genies."

"There are more than one of you?" she stared at him incredulously.

"Yes. Glenda is a genie, so is Gerald. And my grandmother, and grand aunt and her twin daughters. And Hajji and many, many more." She paused. "Needless to say, with all of the djinn in the world we must abide by certain laws for our people. We obey the civil laws of the country we reside in, but we must first and foremost abide by the Laws of the Djinn. Ever since I was able to read I've been studying them."

"Is that why you became a paralegal?"

"I suppose."

He looked at her for a moment. "I'm confused. I get three wishes and then that's it, right? Then you can go on your way and I can go mine? Right?"

"That is a common misconception and a stereotype brought about by fantasized stories written by humans," she clarified. "You opened my bottle and freed me from my prison. Now you are my master, anything you command I must do."

He stared at her in unbelief. "What if I command you to do something illegal?"

"Then I must obey. Our laws do not necessarily conform to the laws of a land."

"Or something you do not wish to do?"

"I still must do it," he looked at her with a puzzled expression. "If you can grant any wish, then you I can wish to set you free?"

She let out a deep, heavy sigh. "That is one thing that cannot be done. When you released me from my bottle we became linked. Since you are the first to do so, besides my grandmother, the link is stronger. I'm not sure how me being partially human will affect that link, but it can only be broken by death or banishment."

"Banishment?"

"If I displeased you, you could…" she hesitated, took a deep breath and continued. "Banish me to my bottle for an amount of time no less than 5 years. Then whoever opened it next would become my master…or," she hesitated. "You could close me up in my bottle for a full moon, but I'd still have another master. And it's not an option I'd like to try."

"Couldn't I at least try to free you?" he insisted. While the idea of having any wish he desired come true was appealing, he did not want the responsibility of owning someone.

"Perhaps we should see my grandparents. They have some experience in this matter." He looked at her.

"We're going to fly to Florida tonight?"

"Something like that."

(To Be Continued…)