The Last Genie: A Novella

Chapter 21

On Monday afternoon, as Grace walked out of her office, she felt exhausted, no she felt more than exhausted. She felt drained.

She plodded over to her bus stop and sank down onto the bench. Then, she pulled out her phone and started scrolling aimlessly around not really looking at anything and not really thinking about anything.

As Grace was staring at her phone, Ithel pulled his RV onto her street and caught sight of her. And, yes, it is cliché, but Ithel, much to his great disappointment, felt that magical stirring deep down inside of him that all of us who have experienced know as love.

Then for the briefest of moments, a tendril of fear slipped into his mind, and he considered turning his RV away from Grace and fleeing to the open roads. But, he quickly beat back that tendril, to keep the metaphor going, and turned towards her.

When Ithel pulled his RV in front of her and called out, "Do you need a ride?" because she was in such a daze, Grace didn't even register that Ithel had pulled in right in front of in a her very large RV or that he had said anything.

So, Ithel called again, "Grace, can I give you a ride?"

At the sound of her name, Grace looked up and absolutely couldn't believe what she was seeing. All her mind could come up with to say was, "I'm not riding in an RV."

Ithel hadn't expected her to say that, which was kind of becoming a theme between them, and he couldn't think of a response. So, he just drove away, but he was determined to come back in a car she would get in, and he had a pretty good idea what car that would be.

As Ithel left, Grace thought, "Why did I say that?" followed quickly by "Why did he come back?" and then very softly, "He came back! But, oh no, did I scare him off?"

Grace mulled over that question during her entire bus ride, while she changed out of her work clothes, straight through dinner, and all the way until she got into bed.

As she turned off her bedside lamp, she decided it would be better if she had scared him off. She was trying to take the stress out of her life and having him around, would just cause loads more stress. So, when she closed her eyes, she felt good. She felt secure.

As Grace was deciding she was glad she had scared him off, Ithel had decided he must find a vehicle that Grace would be willing to get into, and he had a good idea of what that vehicle was.