Next morning, Max found himself in the same position as the previous day, leaning against his office window, staring dejectedly out over the city.

He wasn’t sure what to make of last night’s events. Aside from the surreal aspect of Effie’s contribution, he’d succeeded against all odds in making it to the Winston ball, only to find that both his potential girlfriend and his potential business partner were intolerable, his secretary had been cheating him in the worst possible way, and now he was going to have to start from scratch when it came to finding a new one. Worse still, last night he’d found the torn stub of the Gantron contract in his pocket. It was going to take some explaining to get a new one from the clients. “What a mess,” he groaned.

“What’s the matter?” came a voice from behind him.

Max spun around, expecting to find his fairy godmother. He was going to give her a piece of his mind for disturbing him at work! But instead of Effie, he saw a girl with chestnut hair and a tentative smile.

“Hi,” she said. “Aurora Winston, remember? From last night?”

“Aurora!” Of course he remembered the lovely girl he’d danced with. “We danced a jitterbug. You complimented me for smelling of coffee!” Then something hit him. “Wait a minute… did you say Winston?”

She blushed. “Yes. I told you I was there because of my father. I just didn’t mention the fact that he was the one hosting the ball.”

Max’s head was spinning. Carl Winston’s daughter! Her father was one of the most affluent men in the city, if not the world. “I had no idea I was dancing with a princess.”

She laughed. “That’s a joke. I’m far from royal.”

“Either way, it was a pleasure to dance with you.” Max rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry to sound rude, but why are you here?”

“Oh yes,” she shook her head, and then held up a purple garment that she’d been carrying over her arm. “Your jacket. You left it at the ball. Normally the staff have a lot of trouble finding owners for lost property, but I knew immediately who this belonged to. I had a free morning, so well… I thought I’d bring it over…” She trailed off when she realised Max was staring at her in amazement. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“No, it’s fine! I’m sorry, I was just surprised. I thought I’d never see that again.” Hurrying around his desk, Max took the jacket from her and held it up. “How strange.” All the other aspects of Effie’s spell had disappeared last night, but here was the purple jacket, bright and eye-catching as ever.

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“It is your jacket, isn’t it?”

“Yes yes, of course it is.” Max jumped, and then bundled the jacket hastily under his desk. He didn’t trust it to stay visible. Turning back to Aurora, he put on a charming smile. “It was very kind of you to bring it over.”

She looked down at her feet. “I thought perhaps you could take me to dinner.”

“Dinner?”

“Yes.” She looked up and grinned. “You know. As a thank you. For returning your jacket.”

Max stared at her for a moment. Then he came to his senses. “Aurora, I’m most terribly grateful to you for bringing my jacket over. I’d love to take you to dinner as a thank you. Would you happen to be free this evening?”

“As a matter of fact, I am free.”

“Wonderful! Shall I pick you up at seven?”

“Perfect!” They smiled at each other for a moment. Then Aurora’s expression faltered. “But wait a minute, what about the woman you were with last night? Was she your girlfriend?”

"Absolutely not!" It was extraordinary how Max's attitude towards Rynda had altered after spending an evening in her company. "She's an acquaintance. I was doing her a favour, but we didn't get on. I won't be seeing her again."

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Did you enjoy the evening otherwise?”

“Honestly, no.” He sighed. “I’m afraid I found out something bad about my secretary and had to fire her.”

“Your secretary?” Aurora looked confused. “But then who was the woman who let me in here?”

“Woman?” Max stared at her.

“Yes, in the other room.”

He strode to the door and flung it open. In the outer office, a blonde woman sat in the secretary’s chair with her feet up on the desk. She was engaged in painting her toenails a glittery pink, but she looked up and gave him a cheery wave. If he looked very hard, he could just make out the outline of wings behind her. He closed the door again. “Oh yes, silly me.” He laughed nervously. “I forgot that Effie said she’d stand in this week while I was looking for a replacement.”

“Is she a friend?”

“Family.”

Aurora beamed. “That’s nice. It’s important to stick by each other when you’re family. Speaking of which…” she paused. “I know that your company has some spare capacity. My father owns some subsidiaries in the same industry who are on the look-out for new suppliers. Would you be interested?”

Max gaped at her. “Most certainly! Let me know the details and I’d love to hear from them.”

She smiled. “Great, I’ll have my father’s secretary email you. Until tonight then.” With a wave and a blown kiss, she exited his office. He heard her exchanging pleasantries with Effie.

Well. What a turnaround. Max strode over to look out of the window again feeling most satisfied with himself. He’d gone from utter dejection to having a new potential business contract and a new romantic interest in the space of 20 minutes.

“Well you can’t complain this time.”

At the sound of his fairy godmother’s voice, he turned and grinned. “No. This time you did really well. Thank you, Effie.”

She grinned and flapped her wings excitedly. “Great! Now let’s talk about clothes for your dinner date. I was thinking something in orange or cyan…”

The End