Mason and the Genie

"Two weeks," Mason repeated. He smiled at the incredulous expression on Stan's face when he pulled out his phone called Dave. "We were roommates in college," he explained to Stan after a very short conversation. "One way or another, I have a feeling that all your wishes are about to come true."

Back in his car, Mason couldn't stop smiling. "Is this how it feels?" he asked his traveling companion.

"Sometimes." she smiled back. "You're a good man, Master."

"I don't know about that, but even a bad man can do some good."

"Thank you for last night, Master. I like popcorn."

"Gosh, that wasn't even the best kind of popcorn. The best kind comes from a movie theater, covered in so much butter that you feel greasy for days. What about the movie, did you enjoy that, too?"

"I enjoyed choosing the movie, Master."

At first, he thought that meant she hadn't enjoyed the movie, and then the deeper thing she had said dawned on him. "You don't get to make many choices, do you?"

"Not in this realm, Master."

He found that sad and wondered how he could change it. "Can I use my final wish to free you?"

"Djinn are djinn. It is all we shall ever be, Master. You cannot become djinn any more than I can ever become a true mortal."

As he pulled into his driveway, that last part stuck with him. If she could never be mortal, did that invalidate the wish in progress on his computer? A second thought occurred to him. "What happens if I never make that third wish?"

"Please, Master, make that wish. You would not like me if you don't."

"Getting that third wish is your purpose, isn't it?"

She nodded.

"And you'll do whatever it takes to get it."

She nodded again and he saw the worried pain in her eyes. At some point, she would pester him until he would wish for anything just to be done with her. "You know I'm actively working on that wish, right?"

"Yes, Master," she said. "But the universe despises indecision."

"Good to know," he acknowledged. So far, she had tried tempting him into making a wish. He didn't want to know how it would feel for her to pester him into it. He imagined the distraction of her constantly requesting a wish. Literally, a constant, badgering request until he gave in just to shut her up. With a stab of panic, he imagined her assuming her true form as she requested his third wish, and it sent a shiver through him. His encounters with her true form had been brief, but he knew that wasn't what he wanted greeting him every morning or following him throughout all of his days.

He offered to share his dinner and she declined with a patient smile. With nothing but time to kill until his online date, he offered her control of the TV again. This time, she refused. "You may wish me into being your constant companion, Master."

Positioned in front of his computer, Mason made sure he had a drink next to him before logging into the cam-girl service. On a whim, he rejected using the discounted line Sindee had made available to him. He could afford to pay full price and to talk with her as long as she was willing.

"Hey, you!" Sindee squealed as soon as they were connected.

"I like your hair," Mason grinned. Sindee sported a two-toned look he hadn't seen before. The inside part of her hair looked purple while the outer layer was still bright red.

"You know me, I love my colors," she giggled, flipping her hair to show it off. "What are you doing calling me on the full price line?"

"It's okay," he said without offering more of a reason. To his surprise, Sindee frowned at his answer.

"Guys only call me on the full price line when they're going to break up with me."

"I'm not breaking up with you."

"Okay, but those free minutes don't apply to this line."

"That's okay, too," he assured her. He liked how concerned she was about remaining affordable.

"Then promise you won't tip me tonight," she insisted. It was a feature of the service. After rating a call, the caller was offered the opportunity to add a gratuity. Mason always added an extra 15%.

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't," he said. When given the opportunity to be a gold-digger, Sindee rejected it. While he respected that, it still made him wonder. "Have you forgotten that you do this for money?"

"That's not the only reason, silly. I have met some really nice guys, too." Pulling up her Bluetooth keyboard, she tapped at it for a moment. When she glanced up at him, it looked as if she was staring directly at him although he knew she was actually staring at her giant monitor. "I'm trying to apply as many free minutes to this call as I can but since you're maxed out on the other line, it won't let me."

"It's okay," he insisted.

Sindee put down her keyboard and stared at him. She looked genuinely concerned. "You swear you're not breaking up with me?"

"If I were, I wouldn't have shaved my balls this morning."

Her eyes narrowed to thin slits as she stared directly at her camera. "Have you been seeing another cam-girl?"

"No," he laughed. She glared at him and he laughed harder. "I swear, you're the only girl in my life." He glanced past his computer at his genie sitting on the table. The genie didn't react. She remained all smiles and remarkably quiet.

"Well, in a way, that's sad," Sindee said, dropping the glare. "We need to get you a girlfriend. One who isn't crazy."

"I have one," he said, smiling at his camera.

"I meant a real girlfriend. And one who isn't crazy."

"You're not crazy."

"I have a therapist I see once a week, so the jury is still out on that one."

He knew all about her treatment for agoraphobia. "Are you saying that you're not real?"

"I think I am," Sindee laughed. She cupped her breasts. "I feel real. But I mean someone you can touch and fuck for real."

"I'd like to really fuck you," he said, knowing it was a crass, but truthful statement.

"Well, I'd really like to fuck you, too. I guess that makes us even."

"Do you really mean that?" he asked.

Twice a week for the last six months, Sindee and Mason had met cam-to-cam and masturbated together. Along the way, they had shared more than intimate glimpses of their body parts. Their conversations were famous for straying far away from their shared fantasies.

They shared their secrets, too, like why the cucumber salad she once took to a potluck dinner had had such a unique flavor. During an especially intense night, Sindee had demonstrated what she could do with a cucumber. Mason knew all about what was hidden beneath her shoulder tattoo and how she had gotten the scar it covered.

Sindee knew about every girl Mason had ever dated, in great detail. She knew his preferences for breast shape and size. She knew his fascination with a woman being shaved. She also knew he liked being nude as often as possible. She even knew about the time he had discovered the book The Joy of Sex in the college library and how he had creamed in his jeans while reading it and squirming with a raging hard-on. She had giggled at his embarrassment over walking back to his dorm room with sticky underwear and a stain showing in the front of his jeans from his unintentional emission.

He knew of her boyfriends, past and near-present. He knew why she was between boyfriends and how cripplingly difficult it was for her to leave her apartment because of her phobia. In return, Sindee knew more about Mason than anyone else in his world. They had given each other virtual tours of their living spaces. They had learned how to read each other's faces and delighted in how easy it was to share their deepest truths with a virtual friend.

Until that moment, they had never crossed the "what if we met" line separating fantasy from real life. Aside from using his real name, Mason respected the nature of their relationship. He had never asked where she lived although he had long since guessed it was in the same time zone. He never asked her real name, never told her precisely where he worked or even what he did beyond, "I work with computers." Yet, she knew his guilty fascination with the band "Paramore," and he knew her favorite Disney movie was "Lady and the Tramp" because she loved the spaghetti scene so much, especially when he nudges the meatball in her direction.

"Seriously, do you really mean it?" he repeated, pressing for an answer before realizing he was being like Dave. "Sorry, that was out-of-bounds." Mason quickly retracted the question.

Sindee tilted her head to one side and stared at his image on her giant monitor. "I do mean it," she said as a wide smile grew across her face. "I would fuck you on the first date as long as you weren't crazy in real life."

Mason laughed at the idea of a first date. "After everything we've told each other, wouldn't it be more like our 100th date?"

"That's how I know I really would do it," she smiled.

Mason stared at her as dozens of thoughts flickered through his mind. She could have turned his out-of-bounds comment into a joke by saying something like, Yeah, but what would you want to fuck me with? A comment like that would fit her sense of humor. Lots of little things had been said through the months that Mason had taken with a grain of salt. Like when she said she always has an orgasm with him. He was sure that particular white lie was repeated regularly to other men, so why did this feel different?

"You know, my name really is Mason."

"Alice," Sindee revealed. Extending her arm towards the camera, she made a handshaking motion. "Alice Margareta Sullivan." After Mason replied by reciting his first, middle and last name, they sat staring and grinning at each other for a very long moment. "I've never told a caller my real name," she said, breaking their silence. "And I don't think anyone outside my family even knows I have a middle name."

He believed her and risked believing everything she had ever told him, including the part about orgasms. It felt good to believe. It felt magical and he had a very real reason to believe in the possibility of magic.

"Should I call you Alice or Sindee?"

"You get to choose," she smiled.

"What if we were to meet somewhere?"

"Like a date, in public?" she asked, a brief look of panic flashing in her eyes.

"No, not a date. Not something planned or pre-arranged. Somewhere public, but it would have to be someplace where you feel safe," he said, watching her relax as he spoke. "I wouldn't even need to see you. What if you saw me first and you could either talk to me or run away? Has that ever happened to you?"

"Well, there's no way you would miss me," Sindee/Alice laughed and flipped her multicolored hair back. "I sort of stand out in a crowd."

"Still, it would be fun if something like that happened in real life," he said and dropped the topic before he triggered a panic attack. "Did you have any interesting calls today?"

Sindee laughed. "Whenever you ask me that, it always feels like you're really asking me, 'So, how was your day, dear?'"

"I guess I am," he chuckled.

"What I do for a living really doesn't bother you, does it?"

Taking a sip of his mixed drink, Mason considered that for a moment. "Why should it bother me? I get it, it's what you do and I know about all about it. If I was really your boyfriend, that's all I would care about. Oh, and I would care that you're having fun doing it."

"Sometimes it's really fun being a cam-girl."

"I hope it's always fun!"

"You would!" she giggled before her smile changed as she looked directly at him. "I wish I could meet someone like you in real life. Someone who didn't give a flying fuck that I get naked and pretend to play with myself in front of strangers."

"Well, I did date a stripper at one point." He knew a lot of men would never be able to do that.

"Veronica," she smiled, recalling the name without any effort. "And it really didn't bother you that she spent her evenings grinding on strange men?"

"I knew it was all an act."

"Would you believe me if I swore I don't pretend with you?"

"I think so," he replied, liking how good it felt to believe that. "Did any of your regulars notice that you had shaved?"

"Oh-my-God, you have no idea how much heat I've caught over that!" She zoomed out her camera so he could see that she was still shaved bare, just like him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your business or anything."

"Fuck'em," she giggled. "I told them I did it for my boyfriend."

"That's not a lie. That's why you did it the first time."

"And this time," she insisted. "You're as close as I've come to having a real boyfriend in a couple of years."

"Then why are we trying to find a girlfriend for me? We should try to find a boyfriend for you!"

"I'm fine," she said, glancing away from the camera. "You know how it is for me. I'm getting better, but I'm still different."

"I like different," he said, which brightened her demeanor. They slipped into the more fun part of their conversation, teasing and flirting with each other until he was showing off his shaved parts to her and enjoying her reaction as she played with herself.

While jerking off with Sindee, Mason ignored the constant presence of the Genie sitting behind his computer. He kept his focus on the girl with the multicolored hair. He had never met her equal and loved how open and free she could be. After their mutual orgasms, he remained on the call with her.

"You're going past your time," she mentioned.

"Don't want to keep your favorite caller waiting?" he said as a joke.

"I only have one favorite caller, that's the nature of being called my favorite." She giggled, and it still sounded like music to him.

"And who was your favorite caller before me?"

"Gosh, I don't know," she said, wiggling her nose side-to-side. He liked it when she did that, it was cute. "I'm not sure that I had a favorite."

"Aw, come on, you've been doing this for like two years now, haven't you?"

"Closer to three, but I really can't remember anyone else standing out as my favorite. I mean, I have regulars and I like some of them more than others. But being a regular only makes me their favorite way to get off, right?"

Spying the smiling genie prompted Mason to ask a different kind of question. "If you could have one wish come true right now, what would it be?"

"Oh, that's so unfair," she smiled.

"Why?"

"Because right now we're cuddling and all I can do is wish that we could meet in real life. Well, that or ice cream. Maybe I would wish for all the vanilla ice cream I could eat for the rest of my life."

"Of course, you'd say vanilla," he laughed, finding it ironic that such a colorful woman would choose such a bland flavor of ice cream as her favorite. "But I think I like the first idea better. Someplace where you can see me first and see if you really wanted to talk to me or not."

"You know how hard it is for me in public."

"But if it was somewhere really safe?"

Smiling, she nodded. "If it was you, I might be able to talk."

"I bet you didn't know that I have my own, personal genie, did you?" he asked. Sindee giggled. "What if I promised to buy you ice cream?"

"Well, then I would have to pick meeting you because then I get ice cream, too," she laughed. "But if you really did have a wish, you shouldn't waste it on meeting me. What if we didn't like each other in real life!"

"Too late," he said, sure of himself as he looked past the computer at the mythical being sitting cross-legged on his table. "I wish that we could meet in real life in all the ways that we've said. Someplace where you would feel safe enough to approach me if you wanted to. Someplace where you would see me first and get to choose if you wanted to approach me and, if you didn't, I would never know our paths had ever crossed."

The genie gave Mason her biggest smile yet and repeated the five most important words in her vocabulary, "Your wish is my command." And then she was gone. Mason glanced at his coffee table. The genie's bottle was gone, too.

With no reason to guess about her future, Sindee looked delighted as she giggled and said, "If we ever meet, I hope you're shaved then, too."

"And I hope I can remember to call you Alice instead of Sindee."

"Did you like seeing the pictures I sent?"

"I didn't check. I wanted to be surprised."

They talked for another hour until Mason began to yawn. It would take a while before he could imprint the name "Alice" on her. He felt good—relaxed and sated for the moment. Before saying their good-byes for the evening, Alice made him promise not to leave a tip. After disconnecting from the call, he did it anyway. He left fifteen percent, just like always.

When he woke on Thursday morning, he glanced at his dresser where the genie usually sat. His dresser was empty, and he felt a strange stab of absence. What if he had never made that third wish? Shaking away the foolish thought, he did his morning business in peace, went for a run, and took a shower without the audience of the genie watching him. His second shower of the day felt extra lonely, too.

After pacing around his house for an hour, Mason didn't know what to do with himself. He felt lonelier than usual and craved the idea of being around people. That helped him realize he wasn't ready to retire from work, not yet. With nothing better to do, he decided to do something he genuinely hated, he decided to go car shopping. If spending the day around a bunch of sleazy car salesmen didn't make him want to be alone, he didn't know what else would.

With a bank account filled with an amount that felt obscene, Mason convinced himself that car shopping might be fun. He drove across town to the fancy dealerships. If he could afford the best, why not shop the best? As he pulled up in his late-model Buick, he laughed at how quickly he was greeted as if he had stopped to ask for directions. Certainly, someone who drove a Buick couldn't afford shopping at a high-end dealership. He savored his private joke as he walked into a BMW dealership. The first salesperson greeted him with a big smile. "Hey! I know you!" the sharp-dressed man announced.

"Probably not," he replied, accepting the aggressive handshake from a man with slicked-back hair.

"From the lake," he insisted. "I'm afraid I was pretty rude to you. It was last Sunday, and you were jogging?"

As if it had happened a thousand years ago, the memory slowly came back to Mason. "The guy with the dog?"

"Kenny," he said, slapping Mason on the back as if they were old friends. "Kenny Myers, and boy, were you right about that mutt!"

"Is your baby okay?"

"Oh yeah, he's fine. I'll tell you what, I was pissed that afternoon! My wife and I have been fighting about that dog since I brought him home. She always hated him."

Mason felt confused. "But your son is okay?"

"After seeing you in the park, my wife wouldn't let the dog get close to our boy and then the dog tried to take a chunk out of my wife's hand. Talk about trying to bite the hand that feeds you!"

"Is your wife okay?"

"Oh yeah, she's fine. He didn't even draw blood, just growled and tried to bite her. And wait until you hear the craziest part." Kenny looked around to make sure they wouldn't be overheard. "My wife insisted that I give the dog to a no-kill shelter. Go figure! The damn mutt tries to bite her and she still won't have it put down. Women, am I right?"

"Good for her," Mason said. He still felt awkward about interceding but was happy things had worked out. He made a silent wish that the dog would find more appropriate owners, maybe a family without kids.

"So, what brings you to this side of town? Need directions or something?"

Mason laughed and had the brief fantasy of buying out the dealership just so he could fire judgmental dickheads like Kenny. "You'd be surprised how many times I've been asked that today." Shrugging off the idea of buying a car in-person, he thanked the man and left with the gift of a free keychain for warning him about the dog. He laughed again when he saw the shiny penny inside a tiny bottle for good luck.