Your Wish Is My Command

THE DIET COKE CHALLENGE

For a moment, Madison could not move. She could only stare aghast at the strange young man in the middle of her living room. He was beautiful. Breath taking. His dark curls hung in his eyes and around his ears like chocolate frosting on an expensive wedding cake, slipping gracefully over his dark gleaming eyes. There was no life in those beautiful, mysterious eyes, and yet Madison could not tear her gaze away from them.
“What did you call me?” she demanded, voice shaking. He stared back at her, face expressionless,” My mistress.”
“Mistress? Who are you?”
“I am the Genie, your eternal servant, the deliverer of your darkest fantasies…”
“Hey, hey, slow down!” Madison cried, waving her hands in distress,” Mistress? Genie?”
“Yes,” he said evenly,” Your eternal-”
“You already said that,” she narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously,” Is this some sort of trick? A prank or something?”
He blinked… the largest expression he had managed thus far,” There is no falsehood in what I say. I am your Genie.” Correctly interpreting the scowl that crossed her face, the strange young man added,” Make a wish. Wish for anything, anything in the world, and I shall grant it.”
Madison hesitated, but said slowly, her curiosity overwhelming her sense,” Well… all right. I wish for… um… I wish for a… a Diet Coke.”
He blinked again, and the corner of his mouth twitched uncertainly, as if he could not remember how to arrange his features into an expression,” Is my mistress… sure? My mistress may have anything she wants…”
“A Diet Coke,” Madison crossed her arms defiantly,” Unless you can’t do it, of course.”
His mouth twitched again, though the faintest of sneers could be seen within his empty, reflective eyes,” I mean no disrespect to my mistress. I only suggest with the humblest of hearts…”
“It’s all right if you can’t do it,” she smiled triumphantly,” I just wanted to prove you were a fake. I’ve got a whole case of diet Cokes in my fridge, anyway…”
He stared at her for a moment in disbelief, but slowly croaked,” My mistress wished for something… she already had?”
“Want me to wish for the Nile instead?” Madison smirked.
For a moment longer the strange young man continued to stare, but he snapped his fingers and there was suddenly a diet Coke, dripping condensation onto the carpet, in his hand where a moment before there had been only empty air.
Madison started violently in surprise,” How did you do that?”
“I told you,” the young man answered, his voice a degree colder than before,” I am a Genie.”
“You’re… you’re actually serious!”
He scowled, the expression now more pronounced,” My mistress seems to deeply distrust me.”
“Stop calling me that!” Madison snapped, and feeling suddenly dizzy moved around the arm of the couch and dropped into the worn-through cushions. “I just always thought genies were a fair tale,” she muttered weakly,” And now I… and you…”
She glanced up at the young man, the diet Coke still dripping in his fingers. “So… I have two wishes left?”
“No,” he replied shortly.
“But I thought genies give three wishes… and I wished for a diet Coke, so…”
“That is mere fairy stories,” he cut in curtly,” I am your ETERNAL servant. I am your Genie until the end of your mortal life.” He examined her up and down disdainfully,” Unfortunately.”
Madison looked up at him, mouth agape, and suddenly leaped to her feet. “But… I don’t want you!”
“I beg your pardon,” he sniffed contemptuously, but she barely registered he had spoken. “I don’t want a genie! I’m taking you back tomorrow!”
“You can’t just… take me back!” he narrowed his own gloriously shaped almond eyes,” I am your Genie, your eternal servant, and you are my mistress.”
“But I don’t want to be!” Madison exclaimed,” I just want to be left alone!”
“Can you honestly be serious?” the Genie cut in, flushing deeply himself,” I’ve never had a master turn me away! I am the fulfiller of your darkest fantasies, and you would bargain me away like a worthless antique!”
“I don’t need a Genie,” Madison snapped.
The Genie openly, and deeply, sneered at her,” None of my other Masters had such problems with the concept. Honestly, what do you think a Genie is FOR?”
She shifted uncomfortably,” Well, I… well, what are you for?”
He answered quite matter of fact,” Sex.”