Genie-Us

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

There were no kisses, not even a caress. The only time Jene touched me was when he delivered me back to my home. It was almost too surreal to stand in my tidy kitchen and consider my day.

The only words Jene spoke to me were the ones about him returning in the morning. He left before I could say anything else to him.

I stood there in the quiet of my kitchen, and a loneliness that I'd never suffered before surrounded me. Why did Jene just leave so abruptly? With everything I found out today I wanted to talk it over with someone. That someone had just left me without even a backwards glance.

As much as I wanted to throw my frustrations at him, I never got the chance. The man had all of the years since my birth to think over what to do or how to act around me. It bothered me that he didn't seem to have a clue in how to respond to me even now.

Harrison had captured his lamp when he turned fourteen, and Jene had known about me. I'd never known of his presence until a few days ago. Jene had all this time to get to know me, but he'd made no effort.

It drove me crazy and upset me in equal measure. Didn't Jene want happiness? Didn't he want what my mum had made just for him? If he didn't, then why?

His whole 'your life is yours' argument bothered me too. My life had never been mine. Even though I'd only learnt that today, I knew the truth of it because my mother had told me.

With my mind tumbling with everything, I went to bed and hoped that something would clear this muddle. It didn't. My mind kept me awake for most of the night, along with vivid emotions.

I had met my mother, who I'd thought dead for my whole life. That gave me such wonder and happiness. Once I recalled that she had only had me to give Jene his lifelong partner, I became more subdued. I was born of necessity. In a way, I wish I knew none of what I'd heard today. I wanted to return to my happy place of ignorance.

I'm still not sure if it was mum's words or Jene's obvious rejection of me that bothered me the most. Maybe it was both. Mum's purpose for me meant nothing if Jene didn't want anything to do with me. It made my life a bit worthless. That thought really left me down in the dumps.

By the morning, I just lay like a useless lump in my bed. I didn't want to return to the Realm. The last thing I wanted to do was to face my mother or Jene.

Lying in bed and pretending avoidance was my only answer at the moment. Was it childish? Sure, but I'd only met my mother yesterday, so I should have some form of childish allowances.

"Little One, where do you hide?" Jene's all too delicious voice came at a distance, and I stifled my groan.

Burying my head under my blanket, I chose to believe that I didn't hear his voice. If he can ignore me as well as he did, then I could return the favour. Yes, it was as dopey as hell, but it was all I had.

I didn't want to face the destined partner that I'd been made to be with. I also didn't want to face that I was the answer to someone else's problem. My whole existence was the answer to that problem, and my mother now saw it as solved.

"Please, stop hiding. I do not have the patience for this behaviour today." Jene sounded peeved, but I didn't really care.

Yesterday I'd found out that my whole life was a lie. My mother never died. Instead, she was the queen of the realm of the genies. A lunatic had tried to kidnap me, only for me to burn them to a crispness that still bothered me. And, perhaps craziest and worst of all, my mother made me only as a deliberate conception. All she wanted was a partner for Jene.