It Happens in Threes

I was home forty minutes later.
I quickly opened my apartment door and step inside. Finally I thought as I locked my front door. Something caught my eye and looked into the kitchen area and I was startled to see a young woman sitting on my counter eating my bagel.
“It’s about time!” she said jumping down from the counter.
She was wearing green pants and a purple crop top with red accessories. Her hair was in a high ponytail but still went passed her waist. She was barefoot and fairly tall.
“How did you get in here? Who are you?” I asked.
“I’m Genie, but you can think of me as your fairy god mother,” she said before taking another bite.
“Fairy god mother?”
“Yes!” She said walking over to me. “You get three wishes but the standard rules apply. You can’t wish for more wishes, I can’t make anyone fall in love with you, or bring anyone back from the dead-”
“What are you talking about?” I said cutting her off, I was trying to control my anger and frustration.
“You’re pretty but not as smart as I hoped. I’m your Genie, but you can call me your fairy god mother, it just sounds better. I’m here to grant you three wishes, but again the standard rules apply-”
“How did you get in here?”
“The lamps, duh,” she pointed to the three little lamps that were now on the floor with the lamp shades off.
I looked from the lamps to the woman and back at the lamps. I sighed and closed my eyes.
“Okay, so, I’m going to go to bed and when I wake up you should not be here. So take your lamps and please go. Good night,” I said walking past her. She looked a little confused but I headed to my bedroom and closed the door.
*******
I started to feel myself wake up and I rolled over on my side and tried to sleep a little more. I felt like someone was looking at me, but I tried to ignore it. Who else would be in my apartment?
Then I remember that strange woman from earlier this morning and my eyes popped opened. I screamed when I saw that she was not only still here but in my bedroom staring at me.
“Good morning,” she said smiling. “Are you ready to make a wish now?”
“I’m calling the cops,” I said grabbing my phone. As soon as I unlocked my phone, it was out of my hands and into hers.
“Believe me now?” she asked smiling.
I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. I was too hung over for this.
“I’ll try explaining this one more time. I’m your Genie, but you can call me your fairy god mother, it just sounds better. I’m here to grant you three wishes, but again the standard rules apply. You can’t wish for more wishes, I can’t make anyone fall in love with you, or bring anyone back from the dead. I can’t make you the ruler of the world or any superpowers. You get three normal wishes, just be careful what you wish for, there is a ripple effect,” she said smiling. “So, what’s the first one?”
“Okay…,” I said sitting up. “I’ll play along. So I can make any wish I want at any time?”
“That are within the rules, yes, I just have to be in ear shot.”
“Okay…”
“So, let’s go!” she said bouncing a little.
“I don’t know what I want yet, just give me a second. I would like breakfast first,” I said as I started to get out of bed, but within seconds a tray with a plate of pancakes and fresh fruit were on lap with a cup of coffee, still hot.
I started in awe at my lap, then looked at the woman. “Thanks? This didn’t cost me a wish did it?” I asked as she smiled at her handiwork.
“It’s on the house, doll,” she said sitting down at the foot of the bed. “I’ll be here when you’re ready.”
“I don’t know what I want to wish for yet,” I said before taking a bite. “This is delicious, thank you.”
“Thanks, it’s my mom’s recipe. How do you not know what you want to wish for? Everyone has three wishes.”
“Yes, but I need a moment to think. For once I don’t want to be rash.”
She crossed her arms and huffed, “Fine, well if you need me I’ll be in my lamps,” and with that she was gone.
I stared at the spot that she was at a little shocked. I had my own fairy god mother. But what the hell do I wish for? A few years ago I might have wanted to wish for a new car, a new house, and endless amounts of money. But here I years later with a slightly better car, a decent apartment, and a steady income that I’ve had to work hard for. So, what the hell do I want? Besides the ability to fly, which I can’t even wish for.
I quickly finished eating and hopped into the shower to wash off my one night stand. I quickly got dressed, noticed that the dirty dishes were gone, and sat at my desk. I sighed and started to do my normal Friday morning routine.
I got an email from my boss, she loved my two articles. I smiled, that’s an extra few dollars in my paycheck. She also wanted me in the office on Monday. I replied thanking her on running the articles and confirming that I will be in the office Monday morning. Maybe I’ll have another story to run.
I fiddled around on my computer for another hour and thought about what I wanted to wish for. I picked up my phone and started to text in the group chat, ‘Happy hour?’
I put my phone down and started at the lamps, within seconds it buzzed. I picked it up and Amber replied, ‘I promised myself I would never drink again, but a little hair of the dog won’t kill me’. I chuckled, that girl could never say no to a drink.
Lindsey replied right after, ‘Sure why not’. I smiled and replied telling them I would meet them there. I put my phone down and went back to my computer.
I opened a new Word Document and started to write another article called “You Only Have Three Wishes”. I’m sure my boss would love this article. She liked corky things like this. I put on my writing playlist and started to work on my new article.
******
“How was your night?” Amber asked me smiling.
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t even know his name,” I admitted. The girls laughed as I took a sip of my martini. “He was great in bed, which was nice,” I added.
“Nice!” Amber said grinning. “Okay, Lindsey, your turn. I want a full status report on your date with Mark”.
“He took me to our date night restaurant. We talked, he apologized and we’re going to couples therapy in a week. I’m still looking for a good therapist. He told me that he asked her to switch offices with another secretary. He’s still working on the transfer. But we had a great night after we got passed the elephant in the room. We had fun and no I didn’t sleep with him.”
“Why not?” Amber and I asked together.
“What kind of woman would I be if I rewarded my cheating husband with sex after he cheated on me? I did tease the hell out of him, Amber you would have loved it. I had him literally on his knees begging,” Lindsey said smiling.
“My girl!” Amber screamed as we raised our glasses and cheers each other.
“Then what happened?” I asked.
“I told him to leave. Yes we’re working things out and yes I guess I forgive him but I still don’t want to look at him.”
“But you can hook up with him for a few hours?” I asked.
She just smiled at us, “He’s still hot”.
We all laughed, before returning our attention to Amber. “Okay, spill, who did you go home with?” I asked her.
“Well, after you left, I texted that guy from Tinder and told him to come meet me. He was there within the hour and I was in his bed two hours later,” Amber said taking a sip of her drink.
“So, are things getting serious with you two or is he just convenient?” Lindsey asked.
“Convenient. He’s not looking for anything serious and I don’t care either way. He’s fun, it’s whatever,” Amber said taking a sip of her martini.
“‘It’s whatever’ means ‘I want to marry him’,” I said.
“It’s whatever,” she said again.
I rolled my eyes, “Okay… Oh! So, I have a question for you two. What would you wish for if you only had three wishes?”
“Easy!” they said together.
“Okay one at a time,” I said.
“Well!” Amber started. “I would wish to be the director of operations at Starbucks for the east coast, I would wish to win the lottery, and for my mom to stop bugging me about getting married.”
I chuckled, “Okay, what about you Lindsey?”
“Well, keep in mind I’m a mother so I would wish for my kids to have free rides to college, I would wish to win the lottery – I’m stealing that one, and a long happy marriage”.
“What about you?” Amber asked.
“I don’t know… that’s the thing,” I said sipping my drink.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Amber asked.
“It’s not hard, you’re defiantly going to wish for money and to be chief editor at Cosmopolitan,” Lindsey said.
I nodded my headed, “Good point. I’m also stealing the lottery one. I do want to be chief editor but that’s something I want to actually work for, not wish for”.
Amber rolled her eyes, “Come on!”
“I’m sorry that I like to earn my promotions,” I said taking another sip. “I’m with you guys on the lottery”.
“Okay, well, what else do you want?” Lindsey asked.
“Another martini, anyone else?” I asked.
“Word, I’ll get another round,” Amber said. “You sit and think about your wishes”.
I sighed and looked at Lindsey, “Can I wish to win the lottery like three times?”
“No,” Lindsey said. “There has to be something you want that you can’t make happen”.
“Not really?” I said as Amber came back over with our drinks.
“Okay, if I was Jenifer I would wish to become editor, to win the lottery and for Kevin to die,” Amber said.
“I can’t wish for death, everyone knows that,” I said taking a sip.
“Fine, I would wish to settle down. Find a good guy for once”.
I laughed, “You think I want to settle down?”
“You dated the same loser for three years,” Amber said.
“Touché…” I muttered.
“Why the question anyway?” Lindsey asked.
“I’m working on a new article,” I half lied.
“Well, I’ll look forward to reading it at some point.” She said smiling at me.
“Thanks mom,” I teased.
Lindsey smiled and flipped me off. We all laughed and continued to drink and talk. As usual we closed down the bar and took an Uber to Lindsey’s house.