The Genie's Curse

Chapter 37

"I'll keep it." The words left her mouth without a thought going through her mind. Seeing the smile return to his eyes she could feel her own lips going up into a grin, "Let's go eat."

He nodded, taking her hand and leading the way to the car, all the while having a smile from ear to ear. He couldn't help but feel hopeful that she just might one day return his feelings. But he knew that even if she didn't he wouldn't stop caring, wouldn't stop looking for the best for her. After all, even helping her through all the events he could feel that guilt of centuries prior beginning to disappear.

The undeniable feeling of regret being reminded of him every time he saw her. He questions how he could have left her on her own for so many centuries, years upon years, on her own, "You'll like the restaurant I have in mind."

In minutes they were at the car and he was driving, peeking beside him at her every few minutes. As if to check she was still there.

Tsuru felt a bumbling feeling in her chest, like someone pulling pieces of her soul away. She looked at Keme through most of the ride, questioning if she had made the correct choice in keeping the lamp. A frown blooming in her face from the worry.

"What's wrong?" Keme asked before even she had realized her expression.

"I don't know." She said honestly, not even she could understand what she was feeling, how could she explain it to him? She fiddled around with her shirt, "Where's Allon?"

Changing the topic she questioned making him stir up in his seat, "At home, he was coming but I asked him to stay, don't want you feeling crowded."

She raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms, something about what he said didn't sound right, "What did you do?"

"Nothing." He snickered quietly but she still heard him, "I swear."

Squinting her eyes at him and shifting on her seat so she could look directly at him, "What did you say to him?"

Keme's lips quivered at the question keeping himself from laughing barely, "So I'll get the tickets to Arabia in a few hours, aren't you excited?"

"I asked you something," Tsuru crossed her arms while continuing to glare at him.

"Don't worry, I didn't say anything bad to him."

"Keme!" She yelled turning to pry at his arm while still driving, "Tell me."

He burst out into laughter unable to hold it in anymore while noticing her cheeks turn red, stopping in traffic to look at her, "You're red again, no you're redder than the smoke that comes out your lamp."

"Answer me." She brushed off his comment too focused on wanting to find out what happened with Allon.

"Alright." Keme gave in, "I blackmailed him to stay behind."

The word blackmail caught her attention, "With what?"

Keme however, shook his head and focused on the road ahead while she continued to pry at him to tell her. Annoying him by repeating the same words over and over again until he gritted his teeth in annoyance, finding inner peace within him to answer her gently, "No Tsuru, I've already told you more than I should have."

Tsuru huffed and saw him laughing by the corner of her eye. The thought of Allon working against her crossed her mind, "Do you think I'm paranoid?"

The question caught him by surprise, "Paranoid..." he seemed to think it over, "Maybe a little... but aren't we all? Seriously, who can you trust these days that doesn't want your magical powers? I personally only have a handful of real friends."

"I mean with other genie's Keme? Don't you ever feel like you'll be stabbed in the back?" She was beginning to sound frustrated.

"Some of them... but I don't worry about that. Because I'm the one that's usually stabbed in the back." His words made her slip away from him in the small contained space of the car. Analyzing what he had said he understood why her expression changed, " I wouldn't do that to you again Tsuru. I've already made that clear."

She didn't answer anything and looked away towards the window. The silence drowning his words in her head, at times she really saw how much she overthinks things.

"Want to call Allon?" Keme asked while getting ready to hand her the phone.

"Call him and what? Ask what you blackmailed him with?"

He could hear the tone in her voice, laced with resent, "W... sure, maybe he'll laugh it off and meet us at the restaurant."

"Fine, call him." The words left her mouth and he had already hit the button, the phone ringing a few times in speaker so they'd both hear it. By the second ring, it was picked up.

"What do you want Keme?" Allon's irritated voice was heard.

Keme laughed before answering him freely, "You're on speaker, Tsuru wants to talk with you actually."

She didn't talk quickly looking him up and down before looking at the phone. She hadn't previously had the need to call anyone so the phone set up was a new experience for her, "Why didn't you come to pick me up with, Keme?"

Allon's squabble to himself was like a small whisper barely audible, "I wasn't feeling too well. But I'm alright now."

"Is that so..." she began shifting her gaze to Keme, "Well I'm glad you feel better, maybe you can meet us for dinner."

"Now?"

"Yes, now." She assured him and noticed the smirk on Keme's lips, "while you're at it, maybe you can tell me what Keme, threatened you with."

"What?! He didn't threaten me."

Surprisingly to her that he was still trying to play it off she pressed further, "I'm quite sure his exact words were, 'blackmail'. I'm so interested to know what made you back off."

"You know what, I'm kinda feeling a little sick again, I'll call you back." Just like that he hung up the phone and Keme burst into a fit of laughter.

Smacking his hand against the door, trying to keep his eyes open while driving. All the while Tsuru looked at him baffled, "What are you laughing about?"

He grinned at her direction before speaking between laughs, "I... can't tell... you!"

She crossed her arms before completely shifting in her seat away from him, "You know I lost my appetite, let's head back to the house."

"What, no! I was going to take you somewhere nice." He protested but to no avail, Tsuru wouldn't even spare him a glance, while he would have even settled for a glare, a scowl, maybe even a rude gesture. Internally screaming at himself for having thought that blackmailing, Allon would end up in his favor. Instead he dug up his grave deeper by laughing at things she shouldn't know.

"Turn home." Those were her last words to him for the rest of the trip.

Refusing to look his way even when he shook her around with his hand trying to get her attention. No matter what he said or did she kept quiet and turned away from him. Took him about an hour before he stopped his complaining.

So much silence between them made her eyes feel heavy. It wasn't too cold or too hot in the car so this only made it perfect for her to slowly start falling asleep. Her eyelids closed so slowly that she didn't notice when she fell asleep. While he could hear her soft snores, her head leaned up against the door practically cuddling against it.

What looked like a gentle sleep to him, was actually turning to a nightmare for her