I never did find out what exactly Jenna did for Sophie Kovalenko. No matter how many times I asked, the best I could get out of the genie was that Sophie was very happy with the way everything turned out.

  And to be fair, I was happy as well. So was Jenna.

  My life had taken a few unexpected turns in the st couple months, but overall it was definitely going in the right direction. In the short time since I got my real estate licence and made my very first sale I'd become a modestly successful agent. I'd been making a couple sales a month, earning myself some decent commissions. In fact I'd already earned enough money to afford a nice shiny new-to-me Jeep.

  I'd also learned that magic was real and our town was some kind of supernatural hotspot, I'd sold houses to witches and wizards and met unknown beings that wielded powerful magic. I'd seen fae and been warned about werewolves. I'd started noticing demi-humans all over town, from bunnygirls to foxkin. Even my neighbour's son somehow transformed from a rge angry boy into a petite waif of a catgirl.

  And if all that wasn't enough, I'd somehow found myself a girlfriend. Who happened to be a millennia-old genie whom I accidentally found then freed. And together we moved out of my little apartment and into a nice cosy house with a beautiful yard.

  That was nearly two weeks ago in fact, and I still needed to almost pinch myself now and then to convince myself it wasn't all just a really wonderful dream. In fact as I stood in front of my own personal mirror sink and counter in our huge patial bathroom, I took a moment to lightly pinch my thigh once again just to be sure.

  Then with a smile on my face and a skip in my step I turned and headed out of the washroom and down the half-staircase to the main level. I made my way into the kitchen where I found my girlfriend waiting for me, dressed in nothing but a smile and a cute pink teddy.

  "Got your breakfast all ready for you Vikki!" she announced with a wide grin as she held it out for me.

  Instead of a home-cooked meal or even a mug of coffee from the machine on the counter behind her, she was holding a little paper bag and a rge paper cup, both bearing the logo of a well-known coffee chain. Not that she'd gone out to fetch it for me, she'd obviously conjured it up a second or two earlier.

  "Thanks love," I replied as I accepted what turned out to be a tte and a jelly donut. "This is perfect! I'm running te this morning, I don't have had time for a full sit-down breakfast."

  Jenna nodded, "I figured. You're not going to be te tonight though, are you? It's super important and I've made big pns, so you can't miss it!"

  I smiled, "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. And there's no way I'd be te for that!"

  While I didn't know yet what her big pns were, I was well aware of the reason for them. This was August eighteenth, and one month ago we went on our very first date together. That made it our one-month anniversary as girlfriends, and it was honestly hard to say which of us was more excited about it.

  Ok not really, Jenna was definitely more excited. But that was part of her charm, as far as I was concerned. She could be serious when she had to, but most of the time she seemed to approach life with a child-like sense of wonder and enthusiasm. And the first anniversary of her first date with her first girlfriend was exactly the sort of thing she'd go overboard for.

  "Drive safe," she said as she pulled me into a hug. Then she gave me a kiss and added, "Have a good day at work!"

  "You too!" I replied as I hugged and kissed her back.

  Then with my breakfast banced on my folio and my purse over my shoulder I headed outside and into my car, while my girlfriend stood in the front window and waved at me. I smiled and blew her a kiss, then set out on the short drive to work. So short in fact there was no point even trying to eat on the way, I'd enjoy the breakfast she poofed up once I was seated at my desk.

  It was funny how quickly I'd gotten used to her casual use of magic. She'd been good about not using her supernatural talents when it came to my work, but anything outside that was fair game. And she'd taken to poofing up meals for the both of us on a regur basis. Not every single day, we still ordered in occasionally and I did some cooking now and then.

  In fact despite the casual and frequent magic use she'd actually been pretty careful with it, apart from that close call with the neighbour when we first moved in. Fortunately it turned out Mr. Harding hadn't seen the balcony suddenly appear out of nowhere. And since everyone knew there was no such thing as magic, it wasn't too hard to convince him it was put up a few days earlier while he wasn't around to witness the construction. He probably just hadn't noticed the small addition until Jenna and I were standing there waving at him from it.

  I felt a little guilty about making the poor guy question reality or doubt his memory, but in this case it seemed better than the alternative. Fortunately neither his wife or their full-grown daughter who lived with them found anything unusual about our new balcony, so they didn't have any problems accepting our expnation about it. And all three of them turned out to be friendly, which was nice.

  "Good morning Vikki," Jason greeted me when I got to work.

  That was another situation that turned out well. While I still felt guilty about how it happened, I couldn't deny that the man had changed for the better. Even Erin agreed, despite her misgivings about the use of magic in general.

  "Hello Jason," I responded as I made my way to my desk. "How are you this morning?"

  He smiled, "I'm doing great, looking forward to another busy day. You?"

  I smiled back, "I'm good, but hoping for a quiet day today. My girlfriend and I have pns for tonight, so I'd like to get away a little early this afternoon."

  "Ooh, exciting!" he grinned. "I'll let you get on with it then."

  While Jason retreated to his office I had a sip of my tte and checked through my emails. There was one from Erin that she'd sent to both Jason and I, reminding us that she'd be away for a few days but we could reach her cell if something urgent came up. I had no intention of bothering her though, I knew she and her wife were taking a little holiday. They'd rented a cottage on a ke in the Kawarthas, which sounded equal parts rexing and romantic.

  As for me and my desire for a nice quiet day, I actually got what I wanted. At least for the morning anyways. I had some routine work to take care of, answered a handful of emails, and got caught up on some paperwork. I even had time to review all the new entries on the online listing services, to see what sorts of pces had come on the market in our general area.

  It was just approaching lunchtime when the silence was suddenly broken by my phone ringing. My good mood was reflected in my voice when I answered, "Hello! This is Vikki Lawrence of Rhodes Real Estate, how can I help you?"

  "Hello Miss Lawrence," an older woman's voice responded. "I'm not sure if you remember me, my name's June Walker. You visited my husband William and I a few months ago, you provided us with a valuation for our farm?"

  I nodded, "Yes of course Mrs. Walker, I remember. What can I do for you today?"

  Even though I'd had a lot going on over the past two months, I hadn't forgotten the Walkers. Or more specifically I hadn't forgotten William compining to me about their neighbours, an alleged pack of unruly werewolves that trespassed on his nd and bothered his dogs with their te-night howling.

  "After a lot of discussion and some very careful thought, Bill and I are finally ready to sell the farm," Mrs. Walker expined.

  She almost sounded embarrassed as she continued, "My husband had another run-in with our neighbours st week. And Ms. Tate made that same offer once again, to buy us out."

  "I don't know if William told you this two months ago," she added with a sigh, "But the Tates' offer was substantially higher than the valuation you gave us. That's why we opted not to list the pce after all? Well, that and we had some hopes of changing our children's minds, that maybe one of them could be persuaded to take over the farm for us."

  I nodded as I listened quietly, then prompted "I take it that didn't work out?"

  "Nope," she replied. "Not that I can bme them, all three of them have better jobs and brighter futures as it is. But with Bill and I both slowing down..."

  Mrs. Walker sighed again, "Well it just seems silly to hang onto the pce for nothing more than sentimental reasons? Especially not when that Tate woman is offering us so much. We could have a very comfortable retirement and still leave something special for our children."

  "So what can I do to help?" I asked her. "Are you and your husband going to accept their offer?"

  The older woman replied, "It's not an easy decision, but yes. I think we are. And we promised you'd be involved in that, since you did all that work for us earlier."

  I smiled, "I appreciate that Mrs. Walker, but to be honest if it's going to be a private sale you can probably get by with just a wyer? That'll save you some money, and if you don't already have a wyer I can recommend someone I've worked with before."

  "That's awfully kind of you Miss Lawrence, but I think William and I would prefer to work with you?" she replied. "Would you be able to come by and see us again today, to help us get the process started?"

  I hesitated as I thought it over. On the one hand they really didn't need me, I could just put them in touch with Jesse Vaughan and she'd handle everything. But Mrs. Walker wanted to work with me, even if it cost her a bit more money. And while I didn't like to admit it, I was more than a little curious to actually meet some werewolves.

  So I finally replied, "All right Mrs. Walker. I could come by this afternoon if you like? How does two o'clock sound?"

  That seemed to make her happy. She sounded like she was smiling as she responded, "Thank you, that'd be perfect!"

  It was perfect for me as well, since I'd already been pnning to leave the office early. Even if I spent ninety minutes at the Walkers' farm I'd still be able to get home an hour earlier than if I stayed at work all afternoon.

  Jason emerged from his office as soon as I was off the phone. He asked, "Sounds like you're going to have a busy afternoon after all? I don't suppose you're interested in joining me for lunch before you have to head out?"

  "Sorry," I grimaced. "I was just going to pop out and grab a sandwich, then come back and eat at my desk. I've only got an hour and a half and I have to get everything organized before I go and see this client."

  He gave me a look, "You know Erin wouldn't approve of that. But if that's what you want then how about I pick something up for the both of us?"

  "That would be great! Thanks Jason," I smiled.

  I ended up giving him cash to cover lunch for both of us, since he volunteered to go and get it. Then he headed out, and about fifteen minutes ter he was back with our food. He went to a local sub shop just down the street where they made everything fresh, including the bread. I had a small sliced turkey sub with cucumber and mayo, while he got a rge BLT with extra bacon and sub sauce. And we both had cans of soda.

  "Thank you!" I told him after he dropped off my lunch.

  He shook his head, "No, thank you. I just pyed courier, you're the one who paid for it."

  "Well thanks for pying courier then," I smiled.

  Jason smiled back before retreating into his office, while my attention returned to my computer. I nibbled at my sandwich and sipped my co while I put together all the information and got everything ready for my second meeting with the Walkers.

  When the time came I loaded the file folder into my folio, along with my tablet. And with that in hand and my purse over my shoulder I bid Jason a good afternoon before heading out.

  I still remembered how to get there, from when I first visited William and June two months earlier. They were about twenty minutes north-west of town, and soon enough I was driving along a dusty dirt road past other old family farms.

  When the Walker's pce came into view I slowed and put on my signal, but just as I started my turn I realized there was another vehicle coming up their driveway at high speed. And instead of slowing down the old light-blue pick-up actually seemed to be accelerating, so I swerved hard to try and get out of his way.

  I caught a brief glimpse of the out-of-province licence pte on the front of the truck, and the dark hair and moustache on the driver's face, along with his angry expression. Then there was a nasty jolt as he clipped the back corner of my Jeep. I lost control, and a moment ter I felt an even stronger bang. The next thing I knew I was slumped against the steering wheel at an odd angle, and various parts of my body hurt.

  PurpleCatGirl