Fae Second Chance

Chapter 3 - The Awakening

Chapter 3

A month and a half have passed, and I am sitting in the apartment watching television.  I have only left to go to the grocery store or for walks in the park.  I am tired of feeling like a prisoner and have decided it has to stop now.  John has come in for lunch.  He has taken to coming home for all meals, ‘to be with his wife’.  Whatever, it’s just an excuse so he doesn’t have to eat at any restaurants where there may be magic people at.  John is currently making a plate from the food I made and left on the stove.

I am clicking through channels when he comes to sit at the dining room table to eat.  I stop and turn off the TV.  “John, we need to talk.”

He looks up from his plate, “what about?”

“I want to find a job.”

He looks slightly sick, “Why? Your job is taking care of me and making sure my career moves forward.”

I keep from rolling my eyes, “That was easier in DC when I could lunch and volunteer with the wives of the men who could help you, but here I cannot do that here”.  He frowns at his food looking for a good excuse to stop my logic, so I carry on quickly, “But you have noticed that many of the international companies’ in DC have branches here.  If I can get a job at one of those places, I can be in a position to talk to the visiting mangers and get your name noticed by them. “

He shakes his head, “How would a secretary be able to talk intelligently with men from DC.”

I am fuming, doesn’t he realize the power a secretary has over the people she manages and second, I have a degree just like he has.  I take a deep breath and I keep my control barely, “Well I do have a college degree so I am pretty sure that I will be hired as something more than a secretary.”

I can see the wheels turning in his head, calculating how he can make this work for him.  He shrugs his shoulders and states, “Mike always said you having a job could benefit me. We can see how this goes.”

I am one moment away from smacking him. Mike, his chief of staff, wants me to get a job so that makes it acceptable.  Doesn’t matter that I want to work.  Fine, whatever, I won this battle.  “Great, I will start applying for junior management positions today.”

“Okay, just make sure they know who your married too.” He smiles at me like he is issuing me some great treasure.

“Sure, hon,” I state.  There is no way in the world I am telling anyone I am married to this man.

After he leaves to go back to work, I call Jordan and ask if she can help me find a position.  She laughs and asks what took me so long. I relay my conversation with John and once she stops laughing, she tells me she will what she can do.   

A few weeks later I start a wonderful job at one of the international companies that have an office at the Border City.  I am a junior manager in the accounting department.  Not the job I had dreamed of as a child, but to finally feel useful again is worth doing something that is not my cup of tea.  My boss is a magic being, not sure what species he is, he seems to be some type of cross between a human and an animal.  His large red eyes seem to scan the room, but he is a whiz with numbers and can see trends that only the supercomputers can pick out.  He is nice enough and demands perfection and professionalism at all times.  I’ll admit, I left off who I was married too during the interview.  I also forgot to tell John about my manager. 

After a month or so of working I am excited and energic again.  I am fussing less with John and other than the snide remarks about having to fix his own lunch, the apartment is peaceful.  One night I am sitting on the coach with my laptop open analyzing this week numbers for a meeting I have tomorrow morning.  John comes in from a late meeting carrying a few files and for the first time since we left DC he is smiling. 

“What has you in such a good mood.” I ask him barely looking up from the computer.

“I just finished my last meeting with the Peter, and we leave for the new government session in DC next week.”  I stop what I am doing and look up at him. 

“I can’t leave for DC for a month!  I just started this job.  I don’t have any time off.”  I tell him. “I have to work; I have projects and timelines.”

“So just quit.”  He states as he moves into the kitchen.

Quit, I just got this job.  His life is so much more important than mine that he feels I can just quit.  I am looking around the room to figure out a reason not to quit or looking for something I can throw at him.  Finally, I stand and walk into the kitchen. “Won’t that look bad on you?”  I ask innocently.  “I have only been working for a month.  It will look like I can’t commit and what will that say about my husband?”

He stops rummaging through the refrigerator and turns to look at me.  He has that stumped look he gets when he wants to argue but can’t think of anything to say.  I usually save him in these situations, but I want to keep working and he is my problem right now.  Finally, he sighs and nods, “You are right I didn’t think of that.”

“I’ll probably have enough time saved up to leave for the next session and if you get moved to a different committee, having some seniority will make it easier to transfer to the DC branch.”  I tell him slightly bouncing on my feet knowing I have probably won this battle.

“True, I will be fine for this session without you.”  He turns to go back to the refrigerator, and I breathe a sigh of relief.  I am not sure what I am happiest about a month without John looking over my shoulder every five minutes or the fact I get to keep working.

The next week I call Jordan to see if she wants to do lunch sometime.  I have avoided this since John wants me home for lunch with him.  She happily agrees and tells me when and where to meet her. 

A couple of days later I leave work not to head home but to do lunch.  It is a beautiful day, and I am excited to have girl talk.  I have not had that since college.  It is a simple deli with a nice outdoor patio area to sit at.  When I get there, I see Jordan already seated with a soda in front of her.  I wave at her and run inside to order quick before I join her at the table.

“So, how’s it going?” she asks

“Great, I love where I am working.  The people are great, and the work keeps me busy.” I pause and look at her, “Can I ask you a question, why are there so many Fortune 500 companies with offices here in Border City?”

She laughs, “You may have noticed that certain magic people have abilities that are not just magic but are better at doing something than a human can do?”

“Yes, my boss can look at any group of numbers and see a pattern.”

She smiles, “That is why they set up branches here.  They get a workforce full of people who have abilities that helps the company’s bottom line.”

I nod.  It makes sense. 

“And how is your husband doing?” She asks me.

“He could be better.  He called me last night all upset.  He had a couple of meeting go really badly.  It’s odd he has never had this problem in the past.  He kept complaining that it was because I wasn’t with him this time.”  I state shrugging my shoulder.

Jordan c***s her head to the side to look at me. “Well, that make sense, you are the reason when he talks it is so powerful.”

I laugh at that comment. “I don’t have anything to do with his job.  He has a team for that.  I think he just thinks of me as his good luck charm.”  I bite into my sandwich.

Jordan sets down her food and really studies me for a moment.  “You really don’t know, do you?”

I set my food down as well, “Know what?”

She starts to chuckle, “Your fae, sweetheart.  I knew it from the moment I met you.  I figured you were just hiding it because of your husband”

“I am not fae,” I stated.

“Yes, you are.”

I am now staring at her like she has lost her mind.  There is no way I am fae.  They look different and have magically abilities.  I am just a plain old human. “There is no way I am fae.  I would have noticed if I suddenly look different or had magic.”

“What did your family tell you of the ‘Awakening’?” she asks.

“Awakening?” I ask.

“That is what we called it, when the magic emerged.” She states as she picks back up her sandwich and resumes eating like she hasn’t just dropped a bombshell on me.

“My mom said it was horrible.  I was too young to remember any of it.  She said that people were killed on both sides.  She lost all her family during it.  I don’t think they were killed, or they all scattered for safety.   I know that I was injured during it.  It is why I can’t have kids.”

Jordan sets her food down again, “I’m sorry I didn’t know.”

I wave my hand at her sympathy.  I have gotten over it a long time ago. “John said it is a good thing.  It means we didn’t have to get tested when we got married.”

Jordan raises her eyebrow at that comment.

“Have you ever heard of light fae?” She asks me.

“Yes,” I tell her. “They are like dark fae, but apparently, they look human, with enough magic to hide the ears.  They are supposedly just rumors.  No one has ever seen a light fae.”

She laughs at that, “They are not rumors.  They exist, some have the ears, and some do not.”  She reaches out and lays her hand on top of mine, “You my dear are a light fae.  My guess is your family hid it and hoped no one noticed it during the Awakening.”

“That is impossible! I do not have any magic.  I am just a human.”  I pull my hand away and stand to leave. 

She looks up to me and pleads, “Please sit back down.  I did not mean to upset you.” I look around at the people staring at me and slowly lower myself back to my chair.

“I can’t be a fae.  Oh My God, John would have a fit.  What about my family?  Does this mean they are fae too?”  I am just babbling any thought that is inside my head.  Jordan is watching me lose my mind right in front of her. 

She finally reaches for my hand again, “Your family may not know exactly.  Depending on the strength of your magic, it may not show up unless you are tested.  Do you have any sibling?”

I shake my head No.  It was always just my parents and me.  I have aunts, uncles, and cousins but after the Awakening everyone left, and we haven’t seen them since.  I haven’t even really spoken to my parents since they gave me the ultimatum, John or us.  God there are days I wish I made a different choice back then.  I am staring at our hands as puzzle pieces of my life slowly start to fit together.  I remembered hushed conversations that my parents had when I was a child, and they start to make sense. “I don’t have any magic,” I whisper, “This can’t be true.”

“You said that whenever you are with your husband, he is very charismatic?”

I just nod.  “He can convince anyone of anything.”

“I don’t think that was him.  I think that is you.”

I am shaking my head no, “I do not talk to them.  I do not give the speeches.  I just stand there.”

“You stand there, beside or behind your husband smiling?”

I nod at her; I am still shell shocked.

“He takes you around with him when he meets people?”

I nod again.

She continues, “Meeting with my Peter, is the first time you have been with him that he failed miserably?”

I nod again.

She smiles back at me. “I felt a strong pulse of magic when I enter the office.  At lunch I figured out it was from you.  That is why I separated you from your husband.  I did not want Peter influenced by it.  I never realized you did not know you were doing it.”

I am staring now at my sandwich hoping it can tell me the secrets of my life.  I finally whisper, “What can you do?”

“Remember when I told you companies setup here for our abilities?”

I nod.

“I can inspire people.”

I look up at her, “Inspire?”

“Well, it is more I can look at people and see who would be best working with someone else and build teams that are more . . . creative.”

“Marketing,” I mutter.  “You are building marketing teams.”

She grins at me.  “That’s it exactly.”

“Do you cast spells on people?”

She laughs, “No, I just see people’s potential and match them with others who they can work with.”

“Am I casting spells on people?”  I am about to start crying at any minute.

“No, I don’t think so.  I think you are projecting a persuasion over them.  If they really do not agree with you, they are still not going to agree with you.  But if there is some question in their mind then you can tip the balance to your side.”

That actually makes sense.  John has never convinced Mr. Clark on anything.  Clark just thinks he’s an i***t.  But the other people who want to believe in him jump to his side the moment he opens his mouth.

“What do I do now?”  I asked.  I am so confused and lost.

“First off, I am calling your supervisor and telling him you got food poisoning and I am taking you home.” She says with her hand extended, open and closing her finger in the give it to me sign.  “I need your phone, Amelia.”

I turn and reach into my purse and pull it out and hand it over.

“What’s his name?”

“Bob, Bob Johnson,” I tell her.

She quickly scrolls through my phone, finds his name and hits dial.  I sit awkwardly as she tells him I ate some bad fish, and she is taking me home.  I hear a few uh huh and then she hangs up the phone.

“Now, You and I are going to go visit the clinic and get you tested.” She stands and starts to clean up our lunch.

“No, I can’t do that.  It’ll be made public.  John will get so angry if he finds out.  It will ruin all his prospects.  I can’t do that to him.” I am rambling like crazy.

Jordan lays a hand on my shoulder.  “Calm down, this is a clinic in Border City, it will all remain confidential.  I will make sure nothing is ever said to anyone.” 

I stand and look at her, “What if someone see me going there?”

She turns and starts walking out towards the street and flagging down a cab, “Tell them you went with me to hold my hand, that I thought I was pregnant.”

“Are you?”

“God, I hope not. I have 3 little ones at home, I am not sure what I would do with a fourth.”

“You have three kids and Peter is the father? I have never heard of human and magic people having kids.”  I am so confused by everything right now. 

She laughs, “Yep, we all have the same parts so it makes sense we can have kids.”

I nod as I follow her to the cab.

The clinic is a cheerful little building near town hall.  We walk in and Jordan heads straight to the reception desk.  She appears to know the young woman behind the counter, and they speak in hush tones for a couple of seconds.  The receptionist looks up at me and nods her head.  She stands and directs Jordan and me to follow her into the back.

“The doctor will see you in a moment,” the young lady says as she leads us to a very plainly decorated exam room.

“I appreciate this, Sarah.” Jordan tells the receptionist as she nods and closes the door behind us. 

I look toward Jordan, “I thought DNA test takes week to complete.”

“They do, but we have figured out a blood test that will tell you within a few minutes if you are magic or not.  It will not tell you what type of species you are or the amount of DNA you have but it will at least confirm if my suspensions are accurate.”

“Why have I never heard of this blood test?”

“Because we haven’t let the human side know about.  Can you imagine?  They would be able to test anyone, anytime and there are some magic people who prefer to live as human and have no desire to be a part of this world.  We would rather let them live in peace.”

I nod at her.  The DNA test shows the percentage of Magic DNA.  Very few humans are 100% pure.  Most humans avoid the test so they can pretend to be pure.  The government only mandated the test if you are going to have children.  If you are sterile or on the government issues birth control you don’t need the test.

“So, the lower percentages can have magic,” I ask.

“It’s magic, there is no explaining it, so I do not see why someone with 1% of magic DNA cannot have some type of magic. “

Oh my, if that is the case it would seriously freak out the government.  The doctor comes in and smiles at us.  “So, you need a magic test?”  He is look at me.

“Yes,” I squeak.

He chuckles a little, “Nothing to be scared of,” He directs me to chair and pulls a needle and a blood collection tube from the drawer.  He ties a rubber band around my upper arm and looks for a vein.  Once he has found what he is looking for he stabs the needle into my vein and draws out blood into the tube.   He releases the band around my arm and finishes up drawing blood.  He pulls the needle out and places a bandage over the spot.  “This will only take a few minutes.  Wait here and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

He walks out of the room, and we sit and stare at each other as we wait.