She didn’t say a word but only stared at me. I mumbled another apology before hurrying out. I hated being this loaded, but my strength spell was working its magic, making the otherwise heavy bags feel like nothing. I rushed to the elevator only to cabin flying down.
I stopped dead in my tracks, threw my head back, and closed my eyes as I groaned loudly. As much as I had loved living in this antique building—which was classified as historical—I always had mixed feelings about the old school wooden elevator. It stood out with its ornate detailing and glass windows that allowed you to look around the building as you climbed up and down. It also possessed a retractable metal grid that served as a safety door, which had to be closed on every floor in order for the cabin to move. Sadly, it was as beautiful as it was slow.
As I couldn’t risk waiting forever for it to come back—assuming a different floor hadn’t called it before me—I settled for the stairs. Once again, I patted myself on the back for that strength spell. Without it, I’d be freaking out. It didn’t make my legs any less wobbly by the time I reached the lobby from the fifth floor.
As I hurried towards the entrance, I inwardly uttered a stringof unladylike curses when I found the elevator empty and the cage door open. If I had still been upstairs, I’d be waiting for that lift until the cows came home as it would never move until that door was closed. A part of me almost felt guilty for not going to close it for whoever else might need it. However, not only was this no longer my problem, but I had a cab to catch.
I half jogged out of the building only for my heart to sink when the spot where my cab had been waiting stood empty. Panicked, I jerked my head in both directions of the street only to see the rear end of my cab with its blinkers on as it was leaving without me.
“Are you fucking kidding me?!” I exclaimed, utterly pissed off.
I hadn’t been gone so long that it couldn’t have waited. Granted, time was money, and with the amount of business the drivers got, it paid more for them to do runs than to sit idling while waiting for a customer.
I glared up at the window of my old apartment only to find Mrs. Hopkins staring down at me. Even from a distance, I could see the weirdest smirk on her face. If I didn’t know better—or at least hoped better—I would assume she had sent my cab away. But how would that benefit her?
Defeated, I put the two bags in my right hand on the ground, whipped out my phone, and dialed with one hand to call another cab. As I feared, they informed me of the excessively high volume of requests which meant it would be close to forty minutes or more before they could have someone pick me up.
The depth of rage that burned in my guts couldn’t be put into words. For one very serious moment, I considered just trashing all Angelique’s belongings. I wasn’t her fucking maid or errant girl. But being my dumb people pleaser self, I sucked it up again and just made my way to the nearest bus station. It truly felt like a conspiracy theory.
I had my own car, which conveniently happened to be at thegarage getting an oil change and tuning. Had they warned me sooner that this needed to be handled today, I would have postponed the maintenance. But nope, Mrs. Hopkins called me not even an hour after I dropped off the car to tell me to come fetch everything since the others couldn’t. Otherwise, we’d all face a fine.
Next time, just pay the fucking fine.
With it being early fall, the weather was already a bit chilly. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long for the next bus to arrive. However, there was a reason I avoided public transportation as the damn things were always packed here. And today was no exception.
I squeezed my way to the middle of the bus before getting sandwiched by far too many bodies. With so many of them wearing coats or thick sweaters, it didn’t take long before I started feeling a bit too hot. I encouraged myself with the thought that it was only a ten-minute ride. If I tried to pretend I was in a sauna instead of a sea of humans, it might be a bit more bearable.
Except a sauna doesn’t smell like unwashed armpits and garlic breath.
And a burly dude on the left, all but towering over me, was zealously hammering me with both. It was in situations like this that I berated myself for not pursuing my witchcraft training with more assiduity. I’d give my left tit now for a stench suppression spell.
Just as I was bemoaning my situation, a violent shock suddenly rocked the bus, accompanied by a loud crashing sound. If not for the countless bodies squished together like sardines in the vehicle, I probably would have flown a few meters from the force of the impact. My stomach roiled with that freaky roller coaster feeling as the bus spun around before coming to a brutal stop as it crashed into something else. Sore and dizzy, it took me a moment to regain my bearings between all the screaming,moaning, and pushing as people tried to straighten or avoid getting crushed.
It took a moment before the people closest to the windows were able to communicate to the rest of us what had happened. Some vehicle had crossed a red light, ramming into the bus, sending us into a tailspin. Except we couldn’t get off as the front doors were busted in. The back doors were also blocked by the lamp post we’d crashed against, and which had stopped us from spinning farther away. The only positive in this mess was the absence of grievous injuries among the passengers.
To my dismay, it took them over half an hour to pry us out of what quickly started feeling like a freaking oven. The bus was getting hot and suffocating. By the foul smell wafting my way, at least one or two people had sullied themselves in the scare. Added to the ‘eau de sweat and garlic’ perfume my neighbor graced us with, it made the situation even less tenable.
Sweat was rolling down my back. Worse still, my armpit began to itch. But with the damn stone egg stuck underneath it, I could only try to wiggle in the hope of getting some relief. Then I felt a crack. My eyes nearly popped out of my head as my heart sank. The last thing I needed was for the contents of some rotten black egg to ooze all over Angie’s fancy ermine and my clothes in this freaking hellhole.
To my relief, the egg appeared to be intact. But that false alarm was enough to make me stand still.
After an eternity and a day, they finally let us off. The cool air never felt more wonderful. When they directed us to hop into another bus they specifically brought to get the uninjured people on their way, I almost declined. But I couldn’t see myself walking the remaining four miles home.
Thankfully, karma apparently decided that I’d had enough for one day, and the rest of the journey home went by undisturbed. I couldn’t recall being happier at the sight of my house, other than the day I officially received the keys when I bought it a fewmonths ago. I stepped inside the house and dropped the four bags at the entrance by the console. After carefully removing the egg from under my armpit, I plopped the ermine on top of the bags.
My jaw dropped when I noticed what appeared to be a fissure on the black shell of the egg. Although it had the same shine as a polished stone, the texture truly felt like that of an egg, even though it was far too hard to be one. The crack on it seemed to glow from within, as if it contained red flames. The egg felt unusually hot to the touch, but not as if something was burning inside. Could it simply be the heat of my body from having held it under my armpit for nearly two hours?
I groaned inwardly at the prospect of the hissy fit Angie was bound to throw once she noticed that her property had been damaged. The entitled bitch would likely also demand some form of monetary compensation, even though she absolutely didn’t hurt for it.
Once again, I berated myself for bringing this shit on me with my stupid need to save people from their own stupidity and laziness.
Maybe I can just hide it from her.
I seriously contemplated doing just that. Chances were that Angie didn’t even remember having that egg rock. The problem was that she eventually would when something related popped up. And then she’d be foaming at the mouth demanding her property be returned forthwith with copious accusations of me being a thief.
Fuck my life. There was simply no winning.
Not wanting to risk damaging the egg further if it fell, I headed into the kitchen and pulled out a large fruit bowl. I placed a thick towel in it and carefully settled the egg in the middle, tucking the towel all around it to make sure it was snug and stable.
