If Wishes Were Horses 10

Today's word count: 1822                        Total word count: 17,910

My morning went badly: concern for Dee’s proximity prevented me from doing any constructive work at all. At this rate I’d have to persuade my bosses I still had the remnants of a headache, if I wasn’t going to be in serious trouble. However, he stayed away from me, probably because the books were stashed safely in my handbag and locked away in my desk drawer.  At lunch time I went to collect my packed sandwiches from the communal kitchen. Lots of us in the office bring our own food and the bosses provide fridges to store it during the morning, as well as a break out area where we can sit to eat. I reached into one of the fridges and took out my bag, but when I turned round Dee stood right behind me. I had no choice but to acknowledge him; I couldn’t move because he was so close. Of course he wore his guise of the handsome accountant, rather than the face that visited me at my flat, but I couldn’t fail to recognise him. 

“Are you trying to avoid me?” he asked, flashing his pointed teeth in a horrible grin.

“Can anyone else see those?” I dodged answering his question. Yes, I would love not to have to see him or deal with him ever again, but I didn’t want to risk triggering his wrath by saying so. 

“Impolite, Angie. Impolite.” I realised he could read my mind and remembered with shock that I’d left the books in my desk drawer.  But I determined not to let him rile me and merely repeated my question.

“Isn’t it dangerous flashing those teeth about?  If anyone saw them they might not like you any more. Then what would happen?” 

“Silly! They can’t see my teeth. You don’t know me very well at all yet, do you? They’re all stupid, boring people and they don’t actually look at anything. They see how beautiful I am and don’t bother to consider any further. Surface people see surface beauty. They have no idea what resides underneath, so it’s easy to hide the truth from them.”

“A nasty, vindictive mind, you mean?” I risked offending him, but his attitude to my work mates annoyed me. They weren’t all that bad. 

“Oooo that stings! And after I granted you two wishes already today.”

My thoughts sank as I wondered what wishes I might have made. I thought back over the day so far but had trouble remembering most of the morning. Then I remembered the journey to work, and the driver of the red car and what I’d wished on him. I dreaded what would come next. 

“The radio guy?  You won’t have to listen to him again....”

 

I thought, “The radio guy, what on earth...” Then it hit me. Not a wish, just an opinion.“What have you done?” I interrupted in a panicked voice that made a few people in the kitchen turn and stare at us.

“Well if you’d shut up and listen rather than being so rude I’d tell you.” 

I closed my eyes, terrified of what I was about to hear. “Go on. What did you do?”

“You won’t have to listen to him again for at least a week. He suddenly and mysteriously went down with a severe case of laryngitis and he’s lost his voice. The doctors have told him to rest it for a minimum of seven days – could be even longer, depending on how nice you are to me.”

Relieved, I breathed a huge sigh and thought I’d escaped lightly, given what had happened to poor Mr Elliott. Maybe he’d missed the wish about the idiot who cut everyone up as he joined thew motorway.  

“Then there’s the sports car driver.” My relief was short lived.

“Oh my god what have you done to him?”

“Nothing! He’s on his way to Scotland still driving like a mad man and making everyone else on the road absolutely furious.  Lots of people are going to hate him by the time his journey comes to an end.”

That was an odd way to phrase it, and I was still worried about the driver’s safety, but there was nothing I could do to change things. If I showed too much concern Dee would probably cause a massive pile up just for fun.

“I have to go.” I tried to get past Dee and head back to my desk, but he continued to get in my way. “We’re holding people up by standing here. We have to move,” I told him.

“Then come and sit over here with me while you eat. It’s a while since we had chance to talk properly.”

“We talked just last night. That’s not a long time ago.”

“Last night? That was nothing.  You weren’t really paying attention last night. I want to have a proper talk. Come and sit over here with me while you eat.”

“No really. I need to get back to my desk. I have some paperwork I need to get finished before the weekend.” I tried to push past him, but he took hold of my arm and began pulling me towards a table in the far corner.

“Come and sit over here,” he repeated, louder, and gripped my wrist tight.

“That hurts,” I told him.

“Yes, it does, doesn’t it.”  He sounded delighted, and he smiled to show me that my pain had no impact on him. In fact he appeared to be enjoying it. I had no choice but to go where he took me, I couldn’t escape his hold.

Just then Minty entered the kitchen and saw the two of us together. She gave me a concerned look and I shook my head slightly, trying not to let Dee see the signal, but he spotted the gesture. I should have known I couldn’t fool him. He immediately turned her way and a cruel smile twisted his lips. “Oh, who’s that delightful little creature? Such creative appearance.”

“Nobody. She’s just a colleague.” The grip on my wrist tightened. 

“Try again and tell me the truth this time. Who is she?”

“Really, she’s just a colleague.”

“But you care about her, in spite of that hair. You have no taste.”

“I don’t care about her. We just work together.”

“Oh yes you do,” he said, slowly, and the smile widened. “Call her over. Ask her to join us.”

“Please don’t involve her. Leave her alone,” I pleaded, but I was wasting my breath. He knew she could be a weapon against me if he threatened her. He turned directly to her and beckoned. She hesitated, as if she didn’t want to follow the instruction, but then began to walk steadily towards us. Every step seemed an effort though. She didn’t want to follow the order. 

“What a vacuous little soul she is. How easy to control. Not like you at all. She wouldn’t fight me the way you do. If you were like that we’d both be very happy by now, instead of my having to keep trying to persuade you to be nice to me.” He turned to Minty as she arrived next to us. “Araminta my darling! How wonderful to see you again! Angie and I were just about to have lunch together. Won’t you join us?”

“I..I don’t want to intrude,” she stuttered, fear showing in her eyes.

“Nonsense,” he replied, turning his full charm onto her. “I want you to sit with us.” He emphasised the ‘want’ and her look changed from terror to confused as he held back a chair for her to sit down. 

“You never told me your name was Araminta,” I said to her, wondering how Dee knew it when I didn’t. “Though I suppose I realised Minty must be short for something.”

“You never asked,” she replied, “And I never told you because, to be honest I’ve never really liked it. I’m named after some ancient  great aunt or something and it’s always seemed really old fashioned to me. I wanted something more modern.”

“Such a lovely name, Araminta,” Dee cut in. “I can’t think why you chose Minty for short. It makes you sound like toothpaste.” He laughed, and she laughed with him. She had fallen totally under his spell.  “I love what you’ve done with your hair today,” he continued, and Minty smiled happily, never realising the comment was sarcastic. 

To any outsider we would have looked like three friends enjoying a restful chat over lunch, although Dee ate nothing. Only I knew what malice circulated around the table.

The rest of the lunch time passed in a blur. I had to concentrate hard on not saying the wrong thing. I dared not utter any kind of wish in case he hurt an innocent, and I dared not insult him for fear of his taking out his ire on Minty. By the end of the hour I was far from rested and longing to return to my desk. Somehow in the discussion I had agreed to have dinner with Dee the following night, and Minty, now thoroughly under Dee’s influence, had wholehearted agreed with him that we would make a wonderful couple. Eventually we had to leave the kitchen because we had taken far longer than we should over our sandwiches. 

Back at my desk I thought about Minty’s total absorption with Dee. I couldn’t blame her, she was enchanted. I had lost a potential ally in my battle and Dee knew it. In spite of my efforts to protect her, she had been ensnared anyway, and I could think of no way to release her from his spell.  He had called her a vacuous soul, and it’s true that I tended to think of her as a little simple, a bimbo even, but that didn’t mean she was fair game. 

While I thought about her she came over to my desk.  “I really don’t know why you think...” she began, but her words faded and a confused look came onto her face. “I came over here to say something to you, but I can’t remember now what it was.” She paused. “Galahad’s a bit of a creep really isn’t he? He looks great, but he’s not very nice inside, I suspect. Charming, but actually quite offensive.” 

I looked at her, pleased to see the enchanted look had faded from her eyes, and nodded my agreement. I wondered if the books could work their magic for her as well, or if the spell had worn off simply because Dee no longer needed it.  His ability to control Minty scared me and I feared what he might do to her in his bid to break my spirit. I might not know yet how I was going to win this war, but if he hurt Minty in the process I would make sure I took a staggeringly painful revenge on him.