"Here she comes!" I heard my genie announce in an excited voice as I made my way down the stairs.

  At the bottom of the steps I turned the corner and found myself in the doorway of a pce that looked very different from the basement we had st time I visited. The cheap vinyl floor tiles had been repced with thick plush burgundy wall-to-wall carpeting, while the scratched and dented drywall and its yer of bnd faded yellow paint was now dark polished mahogany wood panels, accented with brass fixtures. And instead of the room being empty save for a few storage boxes in the corner, it was now luxuriously furnished.

  I really had no idea what to expect when Jenna called it a 'games room'. I figured there might be a bunch of arcade machines down there, or maybe just a giant TV with some video game consoles. And in fact both of those guesses had been at least partially correct, there was a big-screen TV on the wall to my left, with a big bck leather sofa in front of it. And in the nearest corner on the left stood a couple arcade cabinets alongside two pinball machines.

  That wasn't all though. It turned out Jenna's definition of 'games' was a lot broader than my own.

  Further down on the left separated from the TV and sofa by a wooden railing, a fancy-looking dart board hung on the wall. Meanwhile in the nearest corner on my right stood a quartet of slot machines, each with its own padded leather stool in front of it. And beyond those was a rge round solid-looking wooden card table, with a green felt top on it. That was surrounded by a half-dozen leather upholstered bucket chairs. The very centre of the room was dominated by a full-sized pool table, with a rack of cues set up to one side.

  And finally, the far wall of the room was occupied by a rge private bar, with a row of stools in front. Behind the bar a beer fridge stood in one corner and rge temperature- and humidity-controlled wine storage unit sat in the other. In between those were a half dozen shelves, fully stocked with countless bottles of spirits liquors and liqueurs, along with a full assortment of gssware.

  My eyes were wide as I slowly took in our new games room, and the first thing that came to mind was this might be what you'd expect of a private room at some expensive Las Vegas casino. About the only thing missing were the staff, there was nobody tending the bar or representing the house at the card table.

  Which is where my girlfriend was sitting, along with her big plush pink pony, and two other people I hadn't met yet. The four of them were sitting in those posh leather bucket chairs, and there were cards and poker chips arranged on the felt surface in front of each of them. They also had beverages, but from the look of it Pinky was the only one with a cocktail in her gss. The other three seemed to be drinking soda.

  "Vikki!" Jenna excimed happily, "You have to meet my new friends!"

  My excited genie was seated in between the other two young women, while her pony sat in the chair opposite her. Actually on second gnce I realized the pony was wearing an official-looking white silk vest and some bck cuff things on her forelegs, so perhaps she was meant to represent the house in whatever card game they were all pying.

  My attention quickly shifted from the big plushie to our actual guests though, while Jenna began the introductions. And despite all the surprises about our basement, the thought I was left with was actually relief, more than anything else.

  I'd been getting more and more concerned over the st two weeks, that my girlfriend wasn't able to make any friends at college. I knew she wasn't happy, and that she was feeling lonely at school. And she was obviously trying to hide that from me.

  Not that I was any great sleuth or anything, but I knew Jenna well enough to know that if she'd made a new friend she probably wouldn't shut up about them for a while. The fact that she'd been quiet for so long told me all I needed to know.

  "This is Ember," my genie announced while she gestured to the girl on her left. "She's cool and tough and strong and brave, and also it turns out she's really good at poker! She's in her second year at college, learning stuff about cars!"

  Ember had long curly jet-bck hair, dark eyes, and dark skin. She wore a dark grey shirt with some sort of logo printed on the front, and a comfortable-looking pair of bck jeans. And she had a very pretty and confident smile, as she nodded to me in greeting.

  Meanwhile Jenna was already gushing about her other friend, "And this is Ashley! She's cool too, and smart and brave and really good at numbers! Like seriously, do not py bck-jack with her because wow! Ashley's in her second year at school too, she's studying math stuff and science stuff!"

  Ashley had shoulder-length curly auburn hair, and her fair skin showed off the freckles on her cheeks. She was strikingly beautiful, and her eyes were especially captivating because of their colours. The right one appeared green while the left one looked blue. She wore a simple purple tea-dress, over what looked to be a pair of dark leggings or tights.

  "Ashley, Ember, this is my girlfriend Vikki," Jenna continued. "She's smart and kind and generous and compassionate and gives the most amazing hugs ever! She sells houses, and she also helps people buy houses too!"

  "Hello Vikki," Ashley greeted me with a perfect smile. "Jenna's been telling us all about you."

  Ember added, "It's nice to meet you."

  "It's nice to meet the two of you as well," I replied with a polite smile. Then I asked, "I guess you all got to know each other at college? I'd ask if you shared any csses, but probably not if you're both in your second year."

  My girlfriend made a terrible attempt at lying to me, "We met up the usual way? And since then we've been hanging out at lunch."

  The dark-haired girl ughed, "C'mon Jenna, be honest with your mate."

  "Me and Ashley noticed Jenna seemed kind of shy and nervous," Ember added as she shifted her focus to me. "And we knew she'd been hiding in the can during lunch break. So today we went in there and introduced ourselves to her."

  Ashley was grinning as she continued the story, "And once she realized Ember and I were friendly, your girlfriend dropped the shy anxious act. So we hung out together for the rest of lunch break today, then she invited us back here after css to check out your awesome games room."

  By that point my genie was cringing and blushing. Then she tried for a distraction, "What's that Pinkie? Oh sure, I'll get you another drink."

  "Anyone else need a refill?" Jenna added as she stood up and picked up the plushie's gss. She looked to me and asked, "Vikki can I get you anything? Oh! And would you like us to deal you in for the next hand?"

  "We're pying 'go fish'," Ember told me with another wide smile. "Your girlfriend's cute and fun and enthusiastic, but she's not that great at card games."

  By that point I was trying not to smirk too much as I looked at everyone around the table. Then I finally nodded to my girlfriend, "I'll have a gss of red wine please Jenna. And sure, I'll sit in for a hand."

  "And you know what they say Ember," I added as I settled into the chair between her and Pinkie, "Unlucky at cards, lucky at love."

  Ashley raised an eyebrow, "I'm not actually sure that's how the saying goes. But I get the idea."

  "So you're taking math and science stuff?" I asked her. "And Ember, you're learning car stuff?"

  The two girls stifled some giggles as they eborated on what my girlfriend tried to expin earlier.

  "Ashley's the academic," Ember stated as she smiled at her friend. "I'm just the grease-monkey. I'm taking a course in automotive repair, incase that wasn't clear from Jenna's description. The way I figure it, as long as they keep making cars people are gonna need folks who know how to fix 'em."

  The other girl frowned, "Don't sell yourself short Ember. I know you know at least as much about all the electronics and software they pack into cars these days as you do about transmissions and brakes and all the other icky greasy bits."

  "As for my math and science stuff," Ashley continued with a smile of her own, "It's more science and less math. I'm studying biology, with a focus on the biochemistry of pnts. Mathematics is more of a hobby for me. I'm minoring in that because I think numbers are fun."

  That's when my girlfriend finally returned to the table. She was carrying a tray in both hands, which she carefully set down on the edge of the card table before setting out each of the gsses. Another fancy cocktail went in front of the plush pony, then she pced a proper wine gss before me. Finally three full gsses of co went in front of her new friends and her own empty seat. Then she gathered up the three half-finished gsses they had from before, and carefully took them on the tray back to the bar.

  The fact that my girlfriend was doing all that stuff by hand rather than just poofing up fresh drinks caught my attention. I also realized that nobody had said a single thing about magic or the supernatural so far. And both of those details combined left me wondering if Jenna's new friends were normal mundane humans, since I knew she was really hoping to learn more about how to blend in with people and pretend she was one of them.

  And if that was the case, I also couldn't help wondering what Ashley and Ember thought of our games room. Because it definitely wasn't the sort of thing I'd expect to find in a little unassuming small-town house like ours.

  "Ok," Jenna announced as she took her seat and picked up the deck of cards. "Who's ready to py?"

  A couple seconds ter my genie was shuffling the cards then dealing out hands for me and her two friends and herself, but Pinkie opted out. Or at least that's what Jenna told us. According to her, the rge plushie pony had had enough for now.

  I picked up my cards and looked at them for a few moments before something occurred to me. I grimaced slightly as I asked, "Can anyone remind me what the rules are? I can't actually remember the st time I pyed 'Go Fish'."

  Ember grinned as she quickly reminded me how it worked, then the four of us got on with the game. It was kind of silly, but it seemed like my girlfriend and her friends were having fun with it. For that matter so was I. None of us took it too seriously, and in the end Ashley won the round.

  "Well done Ashley!" my girlfriend excimed. "So who's up for another hand?"

  Before anyone could respond I chimed in with a question, "Ashley, Ember, are you both staying for dinner? We could order something in if you like?"

  "Oh wow that'd be awesome!" Jenna added with a wide happy grin. "We could get pizza! Or wings! Or whatever you want! It's Friday night, who's up for a party?!"

  Unfortunately neither of our guests were as enthusiastic, and my girlfriend's shoulders slumped when she saw the expressions on her friends' faces.

  Ashley shook her head, "Sorry Jenna. I have to work tomorrow so no parties tonight. Maybe some other time though? I should actually be heading home now, unfortunately. I promised my mom I'd be there for dinner."

  "Same," Ember sighed. "I've got work tomorrow, so I need to get some studying in tonight."

  She added quickly, "It was cool hanging out though! I had a lot of fun."

  "So did I," Ashley agreed. "It was nice getting to know you Jenna."

  Jenna sighed, "Aww. Well, thanks for coming over. I had fun getting to know you two as well."

  We all got up from the card table, then my girlfriend walked her friends up to the door to see them off while I stayed behind. I took the opportunity to get to try and familiarize myself with our new games room.

  As far as I could tell the slot machines were the real deal, they seemed like they took real money and had the odds of winning posted on the sides of each machine. Likewise the arcade games and pinball machines all ran on quarters. Everything behind the bar seemed authentic too, right down to the soda gun with a half dozen buttons on the back for various kinds of mixers. There was even a small sink back there, and a miniature dishwasher for cleaning the gssware.

  "Sorry for all the surprises Vikki," my girlfriend apologized when she returned a few minutes ter. "I hope you're not upset about all this?"

  I pulled her into a hug as I shook my head, "I'm not upset Jenna. I'm happy you made some friends!"

  "I'm a little curious though," I added. "What did they think of all this? Do they know about you, or your magic? And are they normal humans? Or are they something else?"

  She returned the hug then shook her head, "They know I'm not a normal human, but I haven't told them I'm a genie. And um, I shouldn't say anything about them."

  That was all I needed to hear. I didn't need to know the details, but if they knew she wasn't human then they probably weren't either. So I gave her a little kiss and apologized, "Sorry love. I shouldn't have asked about your friends, that was rude of me."

  "Actually now that we're alone there's something I needed to ask you," I continued after a slight pause. "Hypothetically speaking, if I used a wish to cure someone of any sickness or disease, would you be able to do that in secret? I mean, without the person finding out about magic or the supernatural, or even that they were healed by a genie?"

  Jenna's expression slowly shifted to a worried frown as she stared at me. Then she held me a little tighter and asked, "It's your boss, isn't it? She's sick?"

  "It's not Erin," I shook my head. "It's her wife, Sherry."

  A sad look settled on my girlfriend's face as she sighed, "Oh."

  PurpleCatGirl