"Good morning Erin," I greeted my boss with a smile as soon as she stepped through the door. "How was your weekend?"

  She smiled back as she made her way to her office, "It was fine thank you Vikki, Sherry and I had a quiet rexing weekend. I'm much more interested to hear how yours was, so why don't you come join me in my office when you have a chance? Then you can tell me all about your big open house."

  "I'll be there in couple minutes!" I told her, as my attention returned to my computer.

  It was a few minutes past nine Monday morning, but I'd been in the office since half past eight. I wanted to get an early start to the day, since I was expecting at least two offers on that house. Or fingers crossed, maybe as many as four offers based on all the interest there'd been on Saturday.

  And sure enough I already had one official offer, from Harvey Abrams. Or more specifically from a legal firm representing him. I'd been going over all the details, and as far as I could see everything was in order. It was a serious offer, at full asking price. And there weren't any conditions or cuses either, Mr. Abrams didn't have to wait to arrange financing and the purchase wasn't contingent on him selling another property first.

  Unless the Melnicks or one of the other interested parties came in with a higher bid there was a very good chance that the new owner of the property would be a wizard. Or someone who was friends with a wizard.

  Once I finished reviewing everything I wrote back to Mr. Abrams' wyers with a fairly standard response, letting them know that the offer had been received. I said that it was being considered and we'd get back to them again shortly. Then I finished up an email to the seller, letting him know that the open house was a big success and we had a number of interested parties. I also mentioned we'd received one offer already, but I was going to wait until the end of the day to see if the others would come through as well.

  After all that was done I finally joined Erin in her office. As I took a seat in one of her guest chairs I said, "Thanks again for letting me borrow your SUV. And I can't thank you enough for remembering to put those signs in the back for me! You're a real life-saver Erin, I can't believe I forgot to add them to my list st week."

  "You're very welcome Vikki," she replied as she leaned back in her chair. "So tell me all about it, how did it go?"

  I spent the next ten or fifteen minutes filling her in on most of the details of my first solo open house. There were only a couple things I left out of my account. I didn't mention Jason's visit at all, and I also kept Jenna's name out it. I was pretty sure Erin wouldn't mind that I had a friend give me a hand with things, but I was still anxious about her finding out my friend was a genie. And of course I finished my little story with the news that I'd already received one serious offer and I was expecting at least one more today, possibly two or three.

  "That's wonderful news Vikki," my boss responded with a smile. "I knew it would be a success! Especially after all the hard work you put into pnning and preparation."

  Before I could respond she asked, "I hope after all that you managed to take it easy yesterday?"

  "I did actually," I nodded. "I had a nice rexing day, didn't even get dressed. Just lounged about the apartment and chilled all day long."

  She nodded, "Good. That's the real secret to success, you know? Working hard is important, but so is rest and recreation."

  "I'll try and keep that in mind," I replied. Then I added with a grimace, "Having said that I should probably get back to work now."

  My boss ughed, "Of course. Let me know how it goes with that property, if you get any more offers or not."

  "Will do," I agreed as I got up and returned to my desk.

  I didn't actually have any pressing work waiting for me, mostly I was waiting to hear from the Melnicks or the other interested parties. But while I waited I spent some time browsing our other properties and had a look on the MLS, to see if anything caught my eye.

  In addition to the rexing and chilling yesterday, Jenna and I spent some more time talking about what kind of pce she wanted. Although she insisted I had a say in that as well. And together we eventually came up with a short list of requirements.

  To my surprise and relief Jenna wasn't interested in a mansion or anything huge or pretentious. She wanted something small and cosy. Two bedrooms would be ideal, three at most. And she preferred a bungalow, or perhaps a split-level. Not that she had any issues with stairs, she just felt that two whole entire floors would be too big. On the other hand she did want some nd. Not an estate or dozens of acres, but she wanted a yard with grass and gardens and trees.

  As for me, there was really only one solid requirement I could think of. I told her I'd prefer something in or near town so it wouldn't be too far for me to get to work. Ideally I'd still be able to walk to the office, but I was already committed to getting a car soon so a little distance wasn't a problem.

  What didn't matter was the value of the property, the age, or the condition it was in.

  Which felt odd to me, even though I understood the reasoning. Apparently money was no limit since Jenna could take care of that with magic. And if the pce was a run-down fixer-upper she could sort that out too. If it was old and cked some modern convenience, or if it was new and cked some older charm, well magic resolve those issues just as easily.

  So those were the parameters I was searching for, and it didn't take long to come up with a half dozen locations in and around town that all looked ideal to me. I copied each of the listings so I could show them to Jenna ter, then if anything stood out to her we'd make arrangements to get a tour of the properties in person ter.

  I was just about finished all that when another email showed up in my inbox. And when I saw Mr. Melnick's name on it I couldn't help feeling some anticipation at the thought of receiving another offer on that property.

  Unfortunately there was no offer in his message. Instead it was just a short missive stating that after taking time to sleep on it and think it over, he and his wife had changed their minds and decided the property wasn't for them after all. He was polite about it and thanked me for all my help and everything, and that was that.

  It was a let-down, but I sent him a brief reply thanking him for letting me know and wishing him and his wife good luck on their ongoing search. While I was at it I also emailed the caterer to thank them for making the open house a success, and I mentioned that Laura did an excellent job. Then I did the same for the cleaning company, I wrote them a thank-you email and commended their staff.

  The next half hour or so things were actually kind of quiet, to my surprise. I'd been so sure I'd have a bidding-war on my hands for that property that I expected to spend the day juggling offers and counter-offers. Instead I found myself with very little to do, so I ended up looking at used car listings for a while.

  Then around half past ten my coworker finally showed up at the office. After all my fear and concern about my accidental wish doing something terrible to the guy, I should have known nothing would change at all. Showing up te on Monday morning wasn't the least bit out of character for Jason, although it left me torn between relief and disappointment that nothing came out of -

  "Good morning Vikki," he greeted me quietly as he stopped in front of my desk.

  That's when I noticed he was carrying a tray with three rge cups from the fancy cafe on Main Street in one hand, and a box of donuts in the other hand.

  Jason grimaced slightly as he apologized, "Sorry I don't know how you like your coffee. The one on the left's double-double, the one on the right's a tte, and the one at the back's for Erin. Help yourself to whichever of the first two you like."

  "I got donuts as well," he added as he nodded towards the box in his left hand. "Didn't know what kind you liked so I got a dozen assorted. Again, help yourself."

  By that point I was so shocked it took me a few seconds to respond. I finally reached out and accepted the double-double, then opened the box and took a Boston Creme donut. I set the cup down on my desk as I said, "Thank you Jason, I really appreciate it. I uh, don't know what to say though? What's the occasion?"

  "I wanted to apologize for being such a lousy coworker," he replied in a glum voice. "Not just the other day, but right from the start."

  He sighed as he added, "You were right Vikki. About that stuff you said on Saturday, I mean? I have felt threatened by you. You're young, attractive, and you work harder than I ever had to. I know you'll go far in this business. That's why Ms. Rhodes likes you so much, you know? You're a lot like her, and I'm sure you remind her of herself. You're both hard working women, surrounded by zy privileged men who had it easy their whole lives."

  "And it's really hard for me to admit this," he continued quietly, "But you deserve the truth. Not that this will be news to you, but the fact is I've deliberately taken advantage of you at times. Your eagerness and na?veté made it easy. I even tried to sabotage you once or twice, so you wouldn't out-shine me. I'm not proud of that, but I can guarantee it'll never happen again."

  After a brief pause he finished with, "Anyways that's all I wanted to say. I'm sorry, and I promise to try and be a better person going forward."

  I was left completely speechless as he turned and headed away from my desk. He didn't go to his own office though, instead he went to Erin's door with the rest of the donuts and the other two coffee cups. I heard him ask, "Boss, can I please have a word with you?"

  Then he disappeared inside, and closed the door behind him. Meanwhile I was almost stunned. I ended up just sitting there staring at Erin's door until Jason emerged again five or six minutes ter.

  Then as he finally headed for his own office he set the box of donuts ontop of a filing cabinet and said, "You can help yourself to more of these if you like, Vikki. I got them for all of us."

  "O-ok Jason," I replied. "Thanks again for the coffee, I appreciate it."

  He smiled and nodded, then disappeared into his office. Meanwhile I was trying to focus on my work and not worry about what my coworker may or may not have told Erin, about what happened to him on Saturday.

  For the next few minutes I was convinced I'd be called into the boss's office at any moment and asked to expin what my supernatural friend and I did to Jason. Or at the very least I figured she'd want to know why I didn't tell her Jason showed up and tried to cause a scene at the open house.

  Except the minutes kept ticking by and Erin never asked to see me. I remained tense for another half hour or so, but eventually I found something new to worry about. As the morning shifted into afternoon I took care of some paperwork and answered emails, had another look at those listings I wanted to share with Jenna ter, and ate enough of Jason's donuts that I didn't need to worry about lunch at all. But by te afternoon I hadn't heard from either of the other two potential buyers for that mansion. And that struck me as odd, since I'd been positive there'd be at least two offers coming in, maybe as many as four.

  That left me wondering about Mr. Abrams again, especially what Jenna said about him. If he really was a wizard, maybe he did something to make the Melnicks change their mind about the house. He definitely knew they were interested in it. And if he did that, then it was pusible he did something else to ensure there weren't any other bids either.

  Then again I wasn't sure if there was anything we could do about it if that's what actually happened. For that matter I couldn't even really talk to Erin about it, without also telling her about Jenna. After all, I didn't have any other way to expin how or why I suspected a potential buyer was probably a wizard.

  I was still trying to puzzle my way through that little problem when I was distracted by my boss's voice.

  "Vikki? Would you mind joining me for a few minutes?" Erin asked, from where she was standing in the doorway to her office.

  "Sure," I nodded. "I'll be right there!"

  My heart rate picked up as I got up and headed for her door. It felt like she'd waited so long it couldn't possibly be about the Jason situation, but then I couldn't think of any other reason she'd want to talk to me in private like that.

  "Close the door please Vikki," she said as I entered. "And have a seat."

  By the time I got comfortable on one of her guest chairs my heart was racing, while I did my best to look calm on the outside. I asked, "What was it you wanted to talk with me about?"

  "When Jason came to see me earlier he made some rather surprising confessions," Erin responded.

  From her tone and expression I knew she was serious as she continued, "I haven't decided yet what to do about him and the things he admitted doing, but in the meantime I asked him why he decided to own up to them now. I wanted to know what happened, or what changed, to make him suddenly want to come clean. Interestingly enough he refused to tell me. He said he didn't want to discuss it."

  "Oh," I commented as I tried not to let on how nervous I was. "I was surprised too, when he apologized to me for a few things."

  My boss nodded slowly before stating, "I know he turned up at your open house on Saturday Vikki. And I'm a little curious as to why you neglected to mention that when we were talking earlier? You also forgot to tell me that your friend Jenna was there as well, giving you a hand at the front door."

  "I'm sorry Erin," I grimaced. There was more I wanted to say, but she cut me off before I could expin.

  "I'll get to the point Vikki," she said as she kept her eyes on me. "Your friend's appearance here on Friday was rather unusual, with the exploding bouquet and the flower petals and everything. After today's surprises from Jason I'm a little concerned. Do you know if there's anything special about Jenna Jenkins?"

  PurpleCatGirl