Maybe a shower first. Then I’d contemplate ways to put my life backtogether.
When I steppedout of the shower, I smelled like jasmine and spice, thanks to the body wash Jeff had given me weeks before. I threw it away as soon as I got out of the shower, only using it because I realized I didn’t have any other soap. I made up for it by slathering myself with my honey and oat lotion which masked the smell somewhat. Now I just smelledweird.
My smell matched the state of my life right now. I dressed in a loose maxi skirt and a white tank top, pulled on a pair of white sandals and ran a brush through my thick hair. I didn’t have the energy to put on any makeup or blow dry my hair. The fact that I was even out of bed was amiracle.
A massive crash outside of the bedroom made me squeak in alarm. I rushed out of my bedroom and was hit in the face with a cloud of dust. I stepped back, coughed, and blinked several times to try to make sense of what had justhappened.
The smell of coffee hit me next. I looked over and saw my worst nightmare. My coffee pot lay shattered on the ground, this morning’s bounty all over my crappy linoleumfloor.
“No,” I moaned. “Noooooo.” I looked around, trying to process the shit storm that was my life only to realize it was way brighter in my kitchen than it should have been. I didn’t want to look up, but the debris on my counter and floors told me I neededto.
I slowly lifted my head and held back tears and a primal scream offrustration.
A massive hole was staring back at me. The sky was bright blue, an odd thing for Midnight Cove, the town that was usually shady even on a good day. My ceiling had caved in. The hole in my ceiling must have been two footacross.
Dust flowed all around me, ruining my freshly washed hair and my new change of clothes. It settled all over my furniture and mycabinets.
“Shit,” I said with feeling. I spied my cell phone, mysteriously unscathed on top of the counter, and picked it up. I had some groveling todo.
“Martin Roma,”the masculine voicebarked.
“Hello, Mr. Roma, this is Katie Harper.” I put on the most friendly, chipper voice I couldafford.
There was a pause on the line, and I could practically hear the silence crackle with animosity. “Yes?” he said after amoment.
“First, I’m calling to apologize.” My mother had always taught me that accepting responsibility was the first step in rectifying a situation. Considering his animosity was warranted, and I was a giant, depressed idiot, and I really, really needed him right now, this was the least I could do. “I thought I was fine when I got home, but the shock of the events of my wedding hadn’t quite caught up to me. When they did, I fell into a little bit of a...funk.”
At the wordfunk, Martin Roma snorted. “Afunk.”
I rolled my eyes and felt embarrassment color my cheeks. “Yes. Afunk.”
“Uh huh. It’s been six weeks, Ms. Harper. That’s quite thefunk.”
I bristled with annoyance. “If you knew my history, Mr. Roma, you might be moreunderstanding.”
“Considering your mother called me four times, I am fully aware of the nature of your past relationships.” He paused and his next words came out in a growl. “Being sympathetic, I cancelled and rescheduled paying jobs to accommodate you. When you cancelled, I was unable to get those gigs back. Every single person but one ultimately cancelled on me. You’ve cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars in lostjobs.”
I was very lucky he wasn’t suingme.
“In fact,” he continued, “you should consider yourself extraordinarily lucky I’m not suingyou.”
“I’m -”
“Although I’m still considering it,” hefinished.
I blew out a breath. I could handle this one of two ways. Lose my shit on him or grovel. Considering there was a big ass hole in my ceiling, I chose door numbertwo.
“You’re right,” I said. “You suffered because I couldn’t get my shit together. I’ve been unable to get out of bed for several weeks, other than for trips to get ice cream out of my fridge. I woke up this morning with candy wrappers stuck to my face and piled in my lap. I’ve lamented the state of my life and my lack of love life for six weeks now. I realize you suffered because of my complete emotional breakdown and for that, I am extremely sorry. I haven’t worked, haven’t spoken to my parents, and I’ve barely showered. I remedied one of those this morning only to walk out to see my entire kitchen ceiling resting on my countertop and floor. I am one hundred percent screwed and, honestly Mr. Roma, I need someone to save my ass, and I need them to do it now.” I took a breath. “And, if my pity party has no effect on your apparent cold, cold heart, mull this over. If you are willing to drop what you are doing and come work on my house, I will pay you one and a half times your going rate.” I took another deep breath and felt a cold sweat break out over my back as I threw out the next thing. “And, I happen to be in possession of a powerful magical artifact, something I tell no one. If you come over here, today, I will offer you the use of it to grant you one wish with no limits, to be used at a time and a place of your choosing.” I left out the fact the “object” wasme.
I never did that. Never. It broke all of my rules. But I was desperate. Desperate times led to desperate jinns throwing out wishes like an actor tossing candy on a Mardi Gras float. Except so far, I didn’t have to show anyboobs.
Silence crackled across the line like electricity. “Cold, cold heart?” he said with what sounded likeamusement.
I let out a snort laugh. “Sorry.”
“Again with the apologies, Ms. Harper.” I heard something like a rasp come across the line and I wondered if he was rubbing his face. “One and a half times myrate?”
Hope bloomed like a flower opening at high speed. “Yes. And awish.”
