The next day, I helped load their suitcases into the ole Royce Phantom and took them to the train station. I hadn’t got to drive much since I’d moved here. No wonder my dad had put so few miles on this car.

I bid the girls adieu and wished them well on their vacation again before heading home. It was just before noon. But as I was driving, I realized something. Something that made me exceptionally nervous.

Arduwan was in Callist and Stephanie and Anabel would be in Monaco for the next week. That meant that I’d be all alone at the Mansion with Emily for a whole week! You’re probably thinking, ‘so what?’ But let me tell you, the thought of being alone with nothing holding Emily back was scary. She had been tiptoeing around and having us sneak off to each other's rooms and what not all this time. But that big house with nobody at home and no neighbors within earshot to hear any throws of passion. I really wasn’t sure I was ready for this.

When I got back to the house, I pulled into the garage and just sat there for a few minutes. I was almost afraid to go inside. This was silly. Was it really such a big deal? So after another minute of contemplation I went in.

It was quiet. Too quiet. There was no sign of Emily. What the hell was she planning? Was I just gonna come around a corner only to have her jump me and have her way? Was she upstairs, prepping for some wild BDSM stuff? I don’t know if I was scared or excited!

But when I came into the drawing room, I found her in her normal spot, quietly reading. She looked up at me and smiled. As per usual, I had to awkwardly spark the conversation.

“So. The girls are off, heheh,” I nervously laughed, “say, are you getting hungry?”

“Actually, yeah. I kind of am.”

Oh. Well okay then. Maybe I had been over-thinking things a bit.

“Great! Well, I guess with Anabel gone, we’ll have to fend for ourselves. How about

Chinese?”

“Thanks. I’d like that.”

I grabbed my phone and then horror took over. Stephanie had my bank cards and I couldn’t remember my account information. That’s when it dawned on me. This must be the second important thing I forgot from using that spell on those MI5 agents.

I explained it to Emily and decided to call Steph. No answer. It didn’t even ring. They must’ve been in a dead spot. I’ll try calling her back in a little bit.

“Well, that sucks. Let’s check the cabinets.”

“Sure.”

The two of us went into the kitchen and started scavenging.

“No lunch meat? No chips? No cereal?” I questioned.

“Afraid not. Anabel doesn’t buy that shit. She cooks almost everything from scratch.”

“Hang on. I’ll try calling Steph again?”

It rang this time. But went to voicemail. They must’ve been in a better spot this time but she couldn’t hear the phone ring. I left a message just in case. After I hung up, I let out a sigh and said, “well, guess we’re gonna have to wait for her to call me back. Hopefully not after they get there. It’s almost a fifteen hour train ride. I tried to convince them to fly but Anabel wanted to see things from the ground.”

“Well,” said Emily, “there’s only one thing to do I guess.”

“What's that?”

“Fuck, until she calls us back.”

* * *

She didn’t call us back. Not in the time it takes to do Emily's suggested activity. We layed upstairs in my room and cuddled in bed for the afternoon.

“I’ve been thinking,” she said, “Anabel does a really good job of keeping this place up.

But there’s something missing.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“Decor. This place hasn’t had a makeover since…well, time immemorial. Do you think I could spruce it up a bit?”

“I don’t,” I joked, “you’re not gonna turn this place into a haunted house are you?”

“Nothing like that!” she insisted, “Maybe just some black sheer curtains. Some black ornamental wood molding. Black chandeliers.” “Black carpeting?” I continued to tease.

“No…maroon,” she corrected.

I decided to halfway entertain her and said, “I don’t know. Maybe I can let you pick out a few things here and there but I’m not so sure you’re cut out for interior design.”

“I am too!”

“Hey, you said it yourself that it was Anabel’s arena to keep the domestic stuff up.”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

“True. But I am a woman you know. I have some sense of domestication.”

“Oh yeah? Well what can you do to fix this hunger problem we’ve got?”

She gave me a perplexed and almost fearful look in response. Like she wanted to sink into the covers and hide from me. I laughed at her and said, “It’s alright, Emily. I remember how you lived before. That tiny apartment where you survived on coffee, takeout, and cigarettes.”

“Well, I suppose I can try my hand at a little something in the kitchen,” she proposed.

“Emily, it’s fine. You don’t have to prove anything. I wasn’t doing much better before Higgins brought me over. We’re just not cut from the same cloth as him and Anabel were, that’s all.”

“No, no. There’s no challenge that Detective Grimwood can’t face. I’ll go downstairs and see what I can whip up.”

I shook my head as she got out of bed and put some clothes on.

“Whatever,” I said, “I’m gonna take a shower and I’ll be down after a while to see how it’s going.”

About thirty minutes later, I came downstairs and went into the kitchen.

It…was…a…disaster! There was flour everywhere. Sugar everywhere. Broken eggs. Spilled milk. Pancake batter. Orange juice. Melted chocolate? How did she even manage that?

In the midst of it all, there was Emily, in a panicked state. She had more color on her by way of splattered ingredients than I had ever seen her wear. Whatever it was she was trying to prove, I had to stop her. My beautiful kitchen that Anabel spent so much time painstakingly maintaining was turning into a marshland of broken culinary dreams.

She turned to me with tears in her eyes and said, “I’m so sorry, Eric. I really wanted to show you that I wasn’t just some demanding little bitch and could do things for myself.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Is that what this is about? Don’t be that way. Remember what Anabel always says when we try to help her out? Everyone here has their roles and it’s perfectly understandable that we stay within them. You serve a purpose. I don’t need you to be some hand over foot serving girlfriend.”

“Really?” she sniffled.

“Of course not. Just be you. Now go upstairs and get yourself cleaned up. I’ll take care of this mess and see if I can get Stephanie to answer again.”

* * *

“Hey, Eric. Sorry I missed your calls. Reception’s been spotty,” Stephanie said, once I finally got in touch with her.

“No problem. It’s just…you remember that whole thing where I was going to forget something important because of the spells I cast on those agents?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, looks like one of the things I forgot was all my banking information. Can you text it to me?”

“Of course. I’ll do it as soon as we get off. Everything else good?”

I looked around me at the remainder of the kitchen mess. Not wanting her to get Anabel all worried, I simply said, “yeah, we’re good. I think we’re gonna go out to eat tonight.”

“Cool. Well, I’ll check back in with you when we get into our hotel.”

“Sure. Enjoy the trip,” I said, as we hung up.

A few minutes later, I received a text message from her. It has the name of my bank, my account number, and password to online banking. Great! Now I can just use my phone to pay for food. Emily is gonna be happy about this.

Speaking of Emily. She came back downstairs just as I was finishing up with the kitchen. She had cleaned up and changed into one of her more conventional ‘mall goth’ outfits. You know, mesh sleeves, leggings with skirt above the knees, spikes, chains…you get the idea. But damn if she didn’t look good wearing it.

“Good news. I got a hold of Steph. I figured we’d just go out to eat since you probably didn’t want to sit around and wait for delivery?”

“Sure!” she eagerly replied, a smile washed over her face.

“Great. Then let’s go now.”

The two of us stepped out of the house. It was still mid afternoon. We walked over to the garage and I went to get in the car when I noticed Emily frozen still. We had never gone anywhere by car, just the two of us. It had always been a taxi, or with Higgins and the other girls in the car. Emily always rode in the back seat. It was her way of coping with the accident she had when she was younger. The only way she could muster up the courage to still use the convenience of a car.

I wasn’t sure what to say, so I just offered, “Hey…it’s okay if you wanna ride in the back.”

“No,” she said, while shaking her head, “I’m a big girl now. I can ride up front.”

So she walked over to the passenger side and got in at the same time I got behind the wheel and closed my door. I waited a moment before just driving off. She took in a deep breath and let out a big sigh before reaching for my hand. She said, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt if you held my hand though. If you don’t mind?”

“No. Not at all. That’s fine. I can drive one handed.”

She gripped my hand tightly as I drove off down the driveway and into town. We decided just to go sit down at a good ol fashioned burger and fry fast food place. We specifically chose not to go to the one that reminded us of World X. Emily had enough trauma for one day just from riding in the front seat of a car for the first time in over a decade and destroying a kitchen.

The next couple of days were awesome. I got to hang out and relax for a change. There were no crazy villains, the house was quiet, it was blissful. We spent our days watching TV, eating junk food, playing board games…other stuff. For the first time since I inherited this place I felt in control of my own destiny.

The night before Anabel and Stephanie were due to come back home, Emily stayed in my room one last time. I’m pretty sure her next phase of growth was gonna come in the form of acknowledging we were in a relationship in front of the others. But I wasn’t going to press it. The two of us had come a long way from that night at her office in Murk. We’d been through a lot.

It had been so long since I had someone to share a bed with. If Emily did decide to move on in here after the girls got back, I sure wouldn’t be complaining. She looked so beautiful off in her own slumber with only the faint glow of moonlight peering around my curtains. She could be something else when she wanted to be. But she could also be really sweet and cheerful. Certainly a valuable companion in my mission to keep evil at bay.

* * *

When I woke up the next morning, she was already gone. It wasn’t unusual for her to get up before everyone else and put on coffee. But lately, she’d been sleeping in with me. I sat there for a moment before getting up. But then, I smelled something. It couldn’t be? It was! I smelled bacon! As I got up and put some clothes on, I thought to myself, surely Emily’s not down there trying to cook again.

I ran down the stairs to put a stop to her meddling before it got out of control when I ran into…Anabel?

“Eric! You’re back already!” she said.

“Anabel? What’re you doing here so soon?”

I noticed she was wearing her classic outfit from her world. White dress with the peach accents and her little bonnet. Hadn’t seen her wear that in a while.

With a look of confusion she said, “what do you mean? I haven’t gone anywhere.”

“Quit playing around! You and Stephanie have been gone for a week. I was supposed to get you guys from the train station later today.”

She looked even more perplexed and said, “Stephanie? Who’s Stephanie?”

Before I could even respond to her, I heard movement coming from the kitchen. The smell of bacon was still in the air. Then suddenly, a shadow came from around the corner. “Master Noble? Back so soon from Murk?” said Higgins, who stood there well and alive.