“You really are quite the charmer, Mr. Jones.”
“So formal. You can call me Jake.”
“Okay, Jake. I also missed you.”
“I know you worried about me, too.”
“Of course.”
“I’m sorry to put you through that.”
“It’s okay, Jake. You’re worth it.”
And he was. She kissed him and he kissed her back and then there wasn’t any more discussion. Beryl figured she’d be spending the night here as Jake’s guardian. Because she knew that what Jake thought was a drug-fueled fever dream was actually true.
The invisible medieval marauding alien was out there, likely waiting for another chance at Jake.
Beryl would do everything in her power to stop him. But next time, she needed to be better prepared for what they faced.
An invisible being—how on Earth would she conquer that kind of crazy?
After a great night’s sleep in his own bed, in his own home and with his favorite person on Earth at his side, Jake tried to get back to business as usual.
Beryl had thought he should stay home and take the day off, but he was tired of lying in bed. Whether in hospital or at home, Jake just wanted to get up, go wherever he wanted to and basically just live his life. Still muttering about his stubbornness, Beryl dropped him off at the shop and carried on to start her own day at the supermarket.
Soon after Frederick went to lunch, Jake was surprised to see Ian come through the door. He’d decided to go ahead with commissioning an art piece for his girlfriend. However, he had changed his mind about what he wanted Jake to make.
“I feel like she isn’t going to want to wear a veil of iron and if I’m going to spend that kind of money, I want something she’d love to wear, not some novelty item that would go in a drawer. You know what I mean?”
Jake nodded. “Yes. I get it. You want something special created for your girlfriend that she can actually use.”
Ian nodded and pulled a folded piece of paper from one pocket. “This is a very rudimentary drawing for a necklace I thought might be cool. Keep in mind, I am not an artist. She really likes the color violet, too, so I thought a center stone of that color would work in this design. What do you think?”
Jake flattened the paper on the counter and looked the sketch over with a critical eye.
“I think it’s better than a basic sketch and you might be more artistic than you realize. Honestly, I love this design. I think she will, too. And I can definitely recreate this in whatever metal you choose, though I would suggest platinum. Do you want a precious stone like a purple sapphire or maybe purple tourmaline, or something more affordable, like an amethyst or purple crystal?” Jake asked. He rattled off the range of pricing per carat for all the choices he’d given.
“Purple sapphire,” Ian said with a decisive nod, not batting an eye at the price. He must really love his girlfriend.
“Excellent.” Jake wrote up the order and told Ian he’d source a selection of stones for Ian to choose from.
“No. That’s okay. Better that you select it. I’m certain you have a better eye for such things.”
Jake smiled, embarrassed by praise. “All right. I’ll get the one that is the most flawless, the purest and the closest to the color violet, okay?”
“Perfect. Thank you. One other thing,” Ian said. “I also have an inscription I’d like you to put on the back of the piece.”
He flipped the paper over and Jake read, “Even when we are far apart, my heart beats as one with yours.Nice.Got it.”
While she half-heartedly worked through her morning, Beryl thought a lot about a more proactive way to help Jake with his problem. The foremost issue, as far as she was concerned, was preventing someone from snatching her boyfriend off the streetagain. It was past time for the gloves to come off, no more waiting around to be victims.
Time to woman up!
Next time—and she had no doubt that there would be a next time—she needed to be better equipped to deal with the problem of an invisible enemy. Instead of just waiting for it to happen and reacting by chasing an abducted Jake to parts unknown, she wanted to have some sort of plan of action. At the very least, she wanted some tools in her toolbox that she could use to thwart their enemy.
