Glorious Sunset Page 6

  He set the box on his lap and pulled the coffee lid off, taking a big swig. He then looked at Violet with a mischievous glance of appreciation that made her laugh out loud.

  “I should probably go to work today, but it kind of feels like a holiday.”

  “I would say you should definitely take some time from work so we can talk.” He finished his food and brushed the crumbs from his lap.

  “Talk about what? I thought you wanted me to get my wishes in as soon as possible so you could get back into your rock.”

  Taka frowned remembering his rudeness before he knew he was in the presence of his queen. “I was hasty earlier.”

  “I don’t see that it’ll take three days. I could probably knock them out in an hour or two.”

  “No, no. I . . . You . . . It is not good to rush your wishes. Give it at least a day.”

  “Mhmm.” Violet looked at Taka suspiciously. His face was undergoing all sorts of strange contortions. There was certainly a story with this man. Shame he most likely wouldn’t be around long enough to share it, but at least he’d leave her plenty to remember him by. “Okay, I just need to make a stop in to work to check my messages.”

  “Your leader will allow you to leave?”

  “Leader,” she smiled. “You’re funny, genie. We call them bosses these days and yes, my leader will allow me to do whatever the heck I darn well please.”

  He looked at her blankly.

  “My leader is me, genie. I work for myself.”

  “And how does one work for oneself?”

  “I own a company. A business.”

  His eyebrows went up. “You are a vendor?”

  “I suppose you can call me that, but my product is a service. I’m an interior decorator. I decorate homes and offices.”

  “They pay you to do that?”

  “Oh, they pay me top dollar, mister,” she sputtered resolutely, using a finger to make her point. Not that he should care, but as far as reputations went, she had no problem spreading her good one among the genie crowd. “I can do any home, any business, anytime. I make palaces out of dumps. Homes out of pits. There is no one better than me, so if you ever decide to retire or . . . oh, oh! If one of your wishees should happen to wish for a beautiful home, you tell them they don’t need to burn a wish. Just give them my name. Violet Jackson. J-a-c-k-s-o-n.”

  He looked at her for a moment, stunned by her pitch, she was sure, before moving on.

  “So, people pay you and you pay yourself?” he clarified.

  “Exactly. And I pay my assistant. The others just work there for free.”

  “Free? Apprentices?”

  “You got it.”

  “Hmm, free labor. Very clever.”

  He didn’t know the half of it, which was why Violet felt compelled to show him her shop. Okay, maybe she wanted to show off a little. Sue her.

  “Here it is. Shades of Violet. What do you think?”

  Taka looked around the showroom at the array of fabrics and upholstery, the color charts and swatches, the rooms into which he could glimpse stacked chairs, vases, small tables, linens, rugs, and every manner of accessory. On the wall were panels of silk fabric in every shade of the rainbow and he was struck by how much just the colors alone reminded him of the central meeting venue of Jaha. Could it be that a part of her remembered their Great Hall? Could it be that Zahara truly was just waiting to be released?

  His heart revved at the thought but he knew he could not let her feel his excitement. He could not make her nervous or uncomfortable. He needed three days and he would never get them if he rushed her.

  “Your business is impressive. I like how you’ve used the accents. I like the beads.”

  “Sort of retro, I know, but they kind of grabbed me, you know? Carol. I’d like you to meet my cousin.”

  Her assistant looked up lackadaisically from her phone conversation and then did a double take on seeing Taka. She put her hand over the mouthpiece and tossed a seductive glance his way. “Good morning, stranger.”

  Taka continued to look at the interior. “This is very attractive. And you run this place completely? No man involved?”

  “Well, there are men involved. There’s Eric and Ralph. They’re involved in making sure we have coffee and doughnuts.”

  Taka swallowed a smile. He knew women had come a long way in earning rights over the years, but he had to admit it was still a shock, albeit a pleasant one. His society would never have allowed a woman to be a leader over men, even if she ran a business for herself. Why, Zahara had been just as intelligent and courageous as his men, more so than most. But in their time, despite honor of their women, they did not look kindly upon a woman taking a role traditionally held by men. He wondered if, perhaps, Zahara would have wanted to be more than just his wife. If, perhaps, someday she would have grown tired of his constant inattention, and decided to focus her energy elsewhere. She could surely have run a business. She could have done anything she wanted.

  She has.

  Taka stilled as Ani’s voice encroached upon his thoughts. He looked at the happy face of Violet as she saw her business through his eyes.

  He had been selfish with Zahara. So much life, so much enthusiasm. He would have smothered it with his own desires. She would have had to bend, as his queen. He would have had to make her bend or lose the respect of his men. He was glad that had not come to pass before the end. And he was glad to see her enjoying her own, now.

  “I admire your use of color and space. I like it a great deal.”

  “Why thank you. I’ve been mocked for my taste and style but I think it reflects me, don’t you?”

  “Who makes fun of you? Give me their names,” he said, dryly.

  Violet laughed at his perfectly timed comedic delivery, complete with deadpan expression. “You are so funny.” She turned to her assistant. “Listen, Carol, I’m just going to take care of a few things in my office and then I’m leaving. I’ll be showing my cousin around town today.”

  Carol muttered under her breath, “Must be nice.”

  “What was that?”

  Carol did not respond but Taka said, “Your assistant is insolent. In my day that would be rewarded with a missing digit on the hand or foot.”

  Carol looked at him with eyes no longer clouded by lust. “What are you, some kind of freak?”

  “Time out, you two,” Violet said. “Taka, please, in my office. Carol, no calls.” She closed the door behind them. “You’re supposed to blend in, genie. No more remarks like that.”

  “I’ve been watching her,” he said in a low voice, peering out through the blinds at Carol under hooded eyes, nearly invisible in a squint. “She slips little pads of paper into her purse. She took two doughnuts from that plate when everyone else takes one. She switches behind you and mocks your conversation when you are turned.”

  Violet smiled. Darned if the genie wasn’t showing a decent amount of concern for her. No one ever stuck up for her or watched her back; she’d had to watch her own for most of her life. She almost didn’t know what to do about the warm flush of affection she suddenly felt for the big man.

  “It’s okay, genie, I know she filches office supplies. Everyone does. And I know she makes fun of me behind my back,” Violet said, cutting off eye contact as a flash of hurt from her experience walking in on her own staff doing an overblown impression of her reemerged. They had her right down to her fast walk and hair flip. But they also caught her nervous facial itch, her shrill tone, her paranoia over being outplayed by Brenda, and a mini hyperventilating jag she’d thought she had in the privacy of her office with the door closed after Gary told her if she called again he would file a restraining order. She laughed it off at the time but it hurt more than she cared to admit. “It’s no big deal, really.”

  “No big deal?” The big man looked offended as he began to pace, alternately looking at the floor and back out the glass window to Carol, his source of ire. “Treachery is a big deal. Betrayal, disrespect, those ar
e all big deals. If a person betrays you once they will betray you again.”

  “Not always.”

  “Always and a day. A snake is a snake is a snake. And if ever I’ve seen a snake it is that woman out there.” He finally stopped pacing to face Violet again, arms folded obstinately and his face fierce with his conviction.

  Violet envied his certainty. She wished things were so cut and dried but she knew the truth; love hurt and loyalty faltered. She looked down to shuffle some papers on her desk into a neat pile.

  “Not always,” she said again. “And if it happens, so what? No one cares anyway. In the large scheme of things you should know better than to rely on anyone or anything other than yourself. It’s your own fault if you forget that.”

  Taka barely heard her mumble, but felt her pain from across the room. She’d been hurt, somehow, by something or someone. He would bet it was Carol, the snake. “She does not like you. Not only does she not like you, she would like to do you harm.”

  “What, are you a psychic, now?”

  “It doesn’t take a psychic to feel the negative vibrations she puts off. You are a perceptive person; you must feel it.”

  “So what? She’s a secretary. It’s hard to find one who’s not disgruntled these days.”

  “A secretary, an assistant, a right-hand man: they all have the power to do serious damage, from the inside out.”

  “And what should I do? Get rid of her? The next one won’t be any better. I know; Carol’s my fifth in four years.”

  “Try a sixth.”

  “My, my, so protective. How very warrior-like of you. Primitive and all that.”

  “I am not primitive. My people were cultured. We were educated and educators. Far from primitive.”

  “So that whole comment about missing a digit?”

  “An exaggeration, of course. We only extricate limbs and digits from men.”

  “I see. Look, can you hang out while I make a few more calls?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Nope.”

  Taka moved to sit in the chair opposite her and she stared at him until he got the message.

  “I see. I am to wait in the main room with the snake and her lizards. Fine.” He opened the door and out tossed a smug, “It’ll give me a chance to gently persuade your assistant of the error of her ways. And there is a young man I saw looking at your backside. I will have a word with him as well.”

  Violet fumbled the handset and as the voice on the other end said, “Hello? Hello?” she contemplated hanging up to deal with Taka. But she saw him leaning casually over the desk, no apparent physical intimidation happening, and finished her call.

  “I do not know you or this place or your ways but I say once and no more, if you do not respect Violet Jackson I will return. Every day I will watch you and every day I will report to her the type of person you reveal yourself to be. Perhaps you feel you would pass this type of scrutiny but if not, I strongly suggest you curb your negative tendencies and become the professional assistant she pays you to be. And you!” His voice caused a cessation of movement behind him and he didn’t bother to turn to speak to the passer. “A gentleman does not visually ogle a queen.”

  “Queen?” the crackly, young male voice said, uncertainly. “I was just ogling Violet.”

  Taka pinched his lips to hold in his temper and turned to look at the young man who froze under his glare, dropping a sheet of paper but too petrified to move. Taka had that effect on lesser men.

  “Ogle her again and it will be the last ogle you ever enjoy.”

  “Yes. Yes, sir!”

  The youngster shuffled off into another room and Carol was sufficiently subdued when Violet emerged, looking around dubiously as though she expected he’d torn the place to pieces. He read the relief on her beautiful face and took in the sigh that moved her beguiling chest under her blouse.

  Yes, he was ogling. But a king was within his rights to ogle his queen.

  “Okay,” she said on a smile, briskly heading to the door. “Let’s go.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He followed.

  Chapter 7

  Violet squinted up at the sky. It was a beautiful day, but the calls she’d made had robbed her of some of her previous joy. They had more customers now than ever, but sometimes it was getting the new ones that cost the money. Advertising and entertaining, just plain having the materials to show potential customers: it was all expensive. She always ended the year in the black, but throughout the year it seemed the money went out faster than it came in. That meant she wouldn’t be able to hire a new manager like she’d wanted. Maybe Carol? She snorted to herself. Maybe not.

  She looked at the large man beside her who was similarly enjoying the beauty of the sun despite the fact that she wasn’t rich yet like she was supposed to be. He was a genie. She’d made the wish, right? What was going on?

  “I called the bank. Where’s my money?” she fairly snapped at him and was rewarded with a squint of annoyance from him. She had to use her hand as a visor to see his shadowed face.

  “How should I know?”

  “Look, you’re supposed to have the inside scoop. If the wishes aren’t happening you need to follow up.”

  “Do not tell me what I need to do. My job is to set the ground rules. It is up to my friend to decide how the wishes are to be fulfilled.”

  “Typical.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “I mean, this is just the type of red tape crap that is typical for people these days. No one wants responsibility. No one wants to say, ‘this is my job, I’ll make sure it gets done.’”

  “Are you implying that I am one of those types of people?”

  “I’m not implying it; I’m saying it outright.”

  “I have no power, woman. I am a king without a kingdom. My friend decides when, if, or how I emerge from my stone.”

  “And that’s it? That’s all?”

  “What do you suggest?”

  “How about you stand up for yourself, make something happen? How ’bout you go to your friend, or whatever, and ask him when my wish will come true? How about that?”

  “And you will accept the answer and stop haranguing me?”

  “Certainly.”

  “Fine.”

  “Good.”

  Violet was appeased. She looked up and down the street. It was relatively busy this time of day, but it was such a lovely day. And it’d been awhile since she’d had some time off. “Hey, you want to go do something?”

  Taka looked at her dubiously. Was this a trick? She seemed to run hot and cold so he had no clue. “This is your time to use making your decisions.”

  She heard a slight note of petulance in his voice. Obviously kings didn’t get a dressing down from commoners where he came from, but she didn’t want to fight with him. She didn’t want him mad at her. She had no idea why.

  “I’ll make my wishes in plenty of time; don’t you worry about that. I was just thinking, it’s such a pretty day and it must be awful cramped where you are. Is it like the bottle in I Dream of Jeannie?”

  “I told you I am not—”

  “I know, I know. Not a genie. But do you get cramped, tired? Do you have a bed? How’s it work?”

  Taka looked at Violet and wondered if she had some mental sickness that could swing her from anger to polite conversation so quickly. She looked normal enough. Better than normal. He scrutinized her face to see if she was planning to mock him, then grudgingly admitted, “It is not a physical discomfort I feel while I am inside. My body is different when I am changed. When I am in my stone I merely feel I am hanging in a place with no sound, no light, no smell, or taste. It is almost as if I do not exist.”

  Violet wrinkled her nose. “That must suck.”

  “If that means it is bad, yes, it can be.”

  She thought, what could she plan for him that he might enjoy doing? Was there anything an old-timer might like to do in modern times? An idea came to her and she nodded
her head with satisfaction. “We’re going to have to make sure you have as much fun while you’re out as possible. It’s my civic duty. When you go back into that rock you’re going to go happy, genie.”

  Taka felt a lightening of his soul. She was offering an unexpected kindness. The second that day. It surprised him, but pleased him nonetheless.

  He followed her back to the car and when they got in, he looked at her while she drove like a maniac, taking a road that was high and busy with a multitude of cars, but she was passing all of them.

  He held on to his arm rest and was glad that he had attached himself to the seat with the belt as she’d instructed, but his curiosity got the better of him.

  “Where are we going? I do not remember taking this route to go to your office.”

  “We’re not going home,” Violet said. “I had a brilliant idea. I’m thinking, you stuck in that stone all the time can’t be fun. And you men like to be in control a lot, right? That probably hasn’t changed since you were around before?”

  “No, you are right. We liked control in my day as well,” he admitted.

  “Good. I’m taking you to a little spot where my stepdad took me when I was sixteen and he taught me to drive. And I’m going to give you the same speech he gave me.” She cleared her voice and dropped it an octave. “‘Violet, this is not some party mobile for you to drive your little boyfriends to wild parties so you can drink and do whatever you want to.’”

  Taka backtracked, surely he couldn’t have heard her right. “Are you saying you are going to teach me to drive?”

  Violet dropped her stepfather’s voice and went back to her own. “That’s what I’m saying, genie.”

  “Drive what?”

  “This. My car.”

  He paused. He couldn’t deny the streak of pleasure that went through him at the thought. The last thing he’d driven was alive; and his horse had not been driven so much as guided and persuaded into doing what he’d wanted. The last time he’d been out cars had only just been invented and were more like buggies slugging along. Now was a different deal entirely.

  “I do not know the first thing about a machine such as this,” he admitted, in a questioning tone.