My Friday started getting better after I put my little meltdown behind me. Jenna and I watched a couple more cooking shows together, then we both decided it was much too nice outside to spend the day cooped up indoors.

  So the two of us went out to enjoy our nice big backyard. I was able to rex with my leg up on a reclining patio lounge chair that I couldn't say I'd ever seen before, while Jenna alternated between sitting next to me and pacing back and forth along the edge of the little creek trying to spot the tiny fishes she insisted were in there.

  Whenever I needed anything my girlfriend was there to help, whether that meant going inside to fetch me some water or a soda, or poofing up a light lunch for the two of us to enjoy al fresco in the warm summer afternoon sunshine.

  Then towards the end of the day my phone pinged with another email from the insurance company. My initial reaction this time was to ignore it, but Jenna suggested it might be important. So I went ahead and opened it up, and sure enough my genie was right.

  Apparently there'd been a mix-up at the repair pce, they pulled the wrong file or something, so that earlier email about my Jeep being a write-off was completely mistaken. They were very apologetic about the whole thing, and more importantly they had good news. It turned out the damage was actually retively minor, and would all be taken care of over the weekend. So I could pick up my car on Monday afternoon, any time after one o'clock.

  I ended up crying a little more after that, but mostly the good kind of tears. Then Jenna and I ordered in some comfort food for dinner, and that set the tone for the rest of our weekend.

  When I woke up Saturday morning my ankle was still sore, but the bruising around my eye had almost completely faded and the cuts on the side of my face were nearly fully healed. My girlfriend and I spent the day rexing again, she served us breakfast on our bedroom balcony then we watched cartoons in the living-room before ending up outside in the yard again.

  Sunday the two of us took a ride-share out to one of the local restaurants for a nice brunch, then on the way back home Jenna had our driver take us past the local college so my genie could point out where she'd be attending her csses in a couple weeks. Then we ended the weekend rexing in our backyard again, where we had a nice summer BBQ for dinner.

  Monday morning I woke to find all my bruises and cuts had finished healing, there weren't even any scars or discolouration to indicate they'd ever existed in the first pce. My ankle was coming along too, but wasn't quite healed yet. So I called into work and spoke with Erin, who was back from her holidays.

  Sure enough she scolded me for going into the office Friday morning, and told me to take as much time as I needed. Then after the lecture I also got to hear about her vacation, which apparently went really well. She promised to show me some of the pictures she'd taken of the ke and cottage, when I was finally well enough to come back to work.

  I still ended up doing some work from home, or at least I checked my voicemails and my work emails while rexing on the living-room sofa. I even replied to a few of them, but apart from that I tried to take it easy. Then in the afternoon Jenna and I took another ride-share, to go pick up my Jeep from the repair pce.

  That went even better than I could have hoped, no doubt thanks to my girlfriend and her magic. My car was in pristine condition, it was practically in better shape than when I first bought it. I definitely wasn't compining though, I was very happy for it.

  Now it was Tuesday, and my ankle felt like it was almost completely healed. I knew that had to be Jenna's doing, and once again I was grateful. In fact despite being more than healthy enough to return to work, I decided to take one more day off so I could spend it with my girlfriend.

  As the two of us had breakfast together I asked, "Is there anything special you'd like to do today? I was thinking maybe we could do something fun together."

  My genie looked confused as she responded, "I thought you'd be going to work today? Since you got your car back yesterday, and your ankle seems a lot better now?"

  "I'd rather do something with you instead," I replied with a smile. "I want to thank you, for everything you've done for me over the st few days."

  She smiled back and her eyes lit up as she asked, "In that case, can we go shopping?"

  Now it was my turn to be confused as I asked in surprise, "You want to go shopping?"

  "Of course we can do that," I added quickly. "If that's what you want, then that's what we'll do. I just thought maybe you'd like to do something fun."

  "Thanks Vikki!" Jenna responded happily.

  She went on to expin, "I have a long list of stuff I need to get for my college courses! Like art supplies, art books, art paraphernalia, art accessories, there's just a whole lot of art and art-adjacent stuff I need. Plus there's plenty of non-art-reted things too, like a backpack and maybe a ptop? And I still haven't got myself a phone yet. Then that photography css has its own list of requirements, like I'm going to need a camera or two? And accessories!"

  I nodded slowly as she talked about all the things she needed. When she finished I asked, "Can't you just poof up all that stuff? Or is there something about art and magic that don't mix?"

  My girlfriend hesitated, like she was a little embarrassed or reluctant to answer. She finally shrugged, "I could poof it all up, but I was thinking about that? And I figure, one of the reasons I want to do this is to get more used to being around normal humans, right? And they can't just poof stuff up all the time. So I thought I should do my college thing the same way you're doing your real estate stuff. Like your rule about no magic at work? I want to try doing college without magic. And that means I want to go out and buy stuff the human way, instead of just poofing up whatever I want."

  That made me smile, "I'm really proud of you Jenna, for taking all of this so seriously. And of course I'll take you shopping!"

  "Yay!" she excimed happily. "I've already found out where we can get everything here in town, and now that you've got your car it'll be easy to just drive around and buy stuff! I bet we'll have all this done in an hour or two, then we can spend the rest of the day having fun together!"

  That was the pn, but it didn't work out that way. Our first stop was an arts and crafts outlet, where my genie spent almost the entire morning agonizing over which brand of sketchpad and what set of paints and which box of coloured pencils and so on.

  All those art supplies came with a significant price tag too, but rather than just poofing up a pile of cash Jenna stuck with her pn of buying things 'the human way'. She produced a sparkly pink pstic card, then with a flourish she waved it around before tapping it on the payment terminal next to the cash register.

  The machine beeped and the purchase was approved, then we moved on to our next stop. That was the big-box discount mart, where my girlfriend took plenty of time selecting the perfect backpack. That was followed by a lengthy visit to the toy aisle, where she picked out a half dozen more plushies that she insisted were crucial for helping her study.

  She also bought herself a ptop and a phone while we were there, and of all her purchases those ones were the ones she spent the least amount of time choosing. I had a feeling that's because they were the things she didn't actually care too much about, so after a cursory look at specs and prices and colours she just grabbed the first thing she saw that was avaible in pink.

  It was well into the afternoon by then, so I suggested we head back home to unload all her purchases from the Jeep before continuing on our mission. And after that brief stop the two of us agreed on lunch, which we got at a nice little pub-style restaurant near the other end of the little creek that ran past our house.

  Eventually we made it to our final stop of the day, a camera store in the rge mall at the south end of town. And just like with the art supplies, Jenna took her time to carefully compare and assess all her options. I almost felt bad for the sales guy, due to the two hours of his time my girlfriend took up with her endless questions. On the other hand considering how much money she actually spent there, I figured the guy was probably pretty pleased with the way things worked out.

  My genie certainly seemed happy, she had a big smile on her face as she carried a couple bags loaded with expensive camera gear back to the car. I unlocked it and opened up the back, then watched as she carefully pced all her new purchases inside.

  As I closed the door I gestured, "Want to stop in at the cafe? That's the pce that makes those frothy pink drinks you saw on TV the other day."

  Her eyes lit up and her smile got even wider, "Oh gosh yes! I need to know if they taste as yummy as they look!"

  "Then let's go," I grinned as I hit the remote to lock the Jeep's doors again.

  We'd only made it a dozen meters before my smile faded and I came to a sudden stop. I was standing next to a beat-up old sky-blue pickup truck, with British Columbia ptes on it.

  "Vikki? What's wrong?" Jenna asked when she realized I'd stopped.

  "This is it," I replied softly. I gestured at the pickup, "This is the car that hit me on Thursday."

  Then I pointed at the front bumper, "Look at that. It's even got a fresh dent from when he hit my Jeep."

  "I guess we should call the police? And let them know I found the guy who hit me," I added a moment ter, while my girlfriend frowned quietly at the offending vehicle.

  After a second or two she responded quietly, "I'm sure that's the right thing to do. Or on the other hand, how about instead of calling the police I just turn the driver into a newt?"

  I was about to protest but my genie spoke up again before I could say anything.

  "He hurt you Vikki," she stated in a soft but intense tone. "He hurt you and he made you cry, and that makes me very unhappy."

  I nodded slowly, "I know Jenna. And it's normal for you to feel angry about that. I'd be livid if someone ever hurt you. And turning the guy into a newt might make us both feel better for a little while, but I know I'd feel really bad about it before long."

  She sighed quietly as she finally turned away from the pickup and faced me instead. She pulled me into a hug as she mumbled, "I know you would. You'd feel guilty about it, and you'd probably make me turn him back to normal again almost immediately."

  "Yeah," I could help smiling weakly as we hugged each other. "You know me pretty well."

  My smile faded a moment ter as I felt a little wave of anxiety go through me. I half-whispered, "I can see him. He's over there, standing in front of the grocery store."

  "What?" Jenna asked as she turned to look at him too.

  Even though I'd really only seen him for a split second before the accident on Thursday, I recognized the short dark hair and dark moustache the moment I spotted him today. He was wearing blue jeans and cowboy boots, and had a loose jacket hanging open over an off-white button-up shirt.

  Oddly enough he didn't seem to be going into or coming out of the store. He was just standing there staring at the doors when I first noticed him. And with both Jenna and I watching, he turned on the spot and seemed to slowly scan the whole parking lot like he was looking for someone.

  A moment ter he began to move, but he still wasn't going into the store. He walked at a slow casual pace past the entrance and toward the side of the building, where we lost sight of him when he turned down a service ne that ran along the east side of the building.

  "I wonder what he's up to," I frowned.

  After a second or two another figure walked into that service ne as if she was following the hit and run guy, and my eyebrows shot up in surprise.

  "I know that girl," I commented quietly. "I made my first house sale to her. She's some kind of supernatural."

  Meanwhile Jenna's eyes had widened in arm, while some of the colour drained from her face. She immediately turned and started pulling me back towards our car as she urged, "We need to go, right now. We can get the pink drink some other time."

  "What? Why, what's wrong?" I asked as I followed her to the Jeep. "Do you who she is? And what about the hit an run guy? I think I should at least call the police, to let them know about..."

  My voice trailed off as I noticed the anxious look on my girlfriend's face.

  She shook her head and pleaded quietly, "Please Vikki let's just go ok? Forget about the guy. He's got way bigger problems than the police, or an angry genie."

  Seeing the look in her eyes was more than enough to convince me. I quickly found the key fob and unlocked the doors, then we both climbed inside.

  As I started the engine I asked warily, "What's happening? What's more dangerous than a powerful genie?"

  "A goddess and a demon," she responded in a half whisper. "That was no teenage girl, Vikki. That was...something that shouldn't exist."

  I gave her a worried gnce as we pulled out of the parking lot, "I sold that girl a house a few months ago. Are you saying she's an actual Goddess?"

  "Or is she a demon?" I added a moment ter.

  Jenna shook her head, "She's both. And that shouldn't be possible."

  That was a lot to process, and as I drove us home I found myself thinking back to that very first sale. The whole situation had seemed odd at the time, although Erin thought it wasn't too unusual for this town.

  It left me wondering though, if maybe even my boss would think that was strange. That we sold a house to a teenage demonic Goddess.

  PurpleCatGirl