As she placed the tip of the pen on to the document she let her breath go, regret instantly seizing her.  There was nothing she could do now, she reminded herself.  No sooner had the pen lifted from the document than it swirled and disappeared into the ether with a small, dark purple and black puff of smoke.  Now there was really nothing that could be done about it.

“Wasn’t so hard now, was it?” Taeyeon’s voice interrupted her moment of reflection.

She looked around.  This didn’t feel like purgatory.  Everything felt just as it had before she signed away her soul.  Even knowing she had signed away her soul didn’t feel as heavy as she thought it would.

“Is there a problem?”

“Aren’t there supposed to be … I don’t know … flames?  Demons?  Flashes of lightning?  Noxious gases?”

Taeyeon raised her eyebrow.  “How much Disney Channel did you watch again?”

Jessica glowered at her.  “I’m serious,” she intoned.  “It doesn’t feel the way I thought it would.”

A vaguely perplexed look crossed her face before she shrugged, rose from her seat, walked towards the front door and opened it.  As Jessica followed her with her gaze, she saw a short, fat, grumpy figure walk to the centre of her living room, scratching his protruding gut and his crotch, dressed in what could only be described as Halloween demon hobo attire with a flashing LED hoop hanging around his neck.  He was badly unkempt and had terrible body odour.  If she didn’t know any better, she would have assumed he was actually a hobo.  Lethargically, he took two cigarette lighters from his pockets and lit them, then half-heartedly leapt into the air, loudly breaking wind as he landed.  The smell was foul and obscenely disgusting, vastly more than regular flatulence, and it took all of Jessica’s energy not to throw up there and then.  The figure shuffled out of the room, leaving his ‘gift’ to infect as much empty space as it could, and Taeyeon closed the door behind him.  She smiled proudly.

“Better?”

Jessica choked and waved her hand in front of her face.  “What the hell was that?”

“Fire, a demon, flashing lights and noxious gases, like you asked for.”

“I think I’m gonna hurl.”  She jumped up, running to the bathroom to vomit.

Taeyeon turned her head, watching her sprinting quarry, before walking through the stink without issue.  She waved her hand once and the gas and odour dissipated, as she turned around and sat in the chair.

“I think she liked that,” she beamed as her mark vomited everything her stomach hadn’t digested from last night.  She flung her legs over the arm of the chair and waited.

 

“Ugh,” Jessica groaned, rinsing with the nearby bottle of Listerine.  The minty freshness swished through , clearing the debris from her violent expulsion.

That smell was the foulest, she recalled, spitting the residue into the basin.  She spent a few moments to collect her thoughts, looking at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.  She didn’t look any different.  She looked just like she always would.  As she examined herself, she thought about what happened.  She now had four wishes at her disposal.  Four chances to create the greatest future for herself.  So, her soul would be owned eternally by the Devil.  What would she be doing with it anyway?  What would the Devil want with her little soul?  He had more important things to consider, surely.  Or at least had a full schedule with Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler and whichever bright spark came up with the idea of the fidget spinner.  She took a deep breath and returned to the living room.

“Did you know that Listerine is actually floor disinfectant?” Taeyeon asked excitedly, her legs over the chair, absently reading a magazine, her back to the entrance.

She froze and blinked, her eyes widening at this revelation.  “Wh-what?”

“It was invented by some British guy.  Surgeon, I think.  He said that surgical equipment should be cleaned in some kind of antiseptic thing.  I dunno.  It worked great, but because they wanted more money, they went and sold it as a floor cleaner and as a treatment for gonorrhoea.”

Jessica silently stuttered.  “Wait ... gonorrhoea?  You mean ...”

Taeyeon looked up from the magazine she was reading, perplexed.  “The one that makes it burn when you go pee-pee.  What other kind is there?”

Jessica’s face contorted in disgust.

“Anyway,” she continued, returning to her magazine, “they decided to cash in on something else, so invented the disease of ‘chronic halitosis’ and claimed that Listerine was the cure for it when good dental care was all you needed.  Basically, the only reason you use that stuff is the company that makes it tell you that you’ve got a disease that it invented, and it sells you a bottle of floor cleaner that it created to "get rid of it" so it can make money from you being gullible.”  She beamed, almost with pride.  “Pretty cool, huh!”

“What is it with you tormenting me lately?” she asked, exasperated.

Taeyeon chuckled and shrugged, smiling at her proudly.  “Every girl needs a hobby,” she quipped.

She sighed and sat down.

“So,” she twirled and lowered her legs, throwing the magazine aside onto the floor, devoting her entire attention to the honey brunette.  “What are you going to wish for first?”

“First?”

She nodded.  “No time like the present, right?”

“I don’t have to make them all now, do I?”

“No, but we both know there are two that you have in mind.  I mean, they’re kind of the reason I made this offer in the first place, remember?  Get them out of the way and then you can decide what else you want later.”

Jessica sighed and leaned forward, resting her arms on her thighs.  There were two wishes she could make.  There were two things she could ask for.  She thought back to the conversation earlier and took a deep breath.

“I want an agent,” she declared.

“Ok …”

There was silence.  Jessica looked around, wondering what would happen.  Was her agent going to appear?  Was Taeyeon even going to grant her wish?

“Specifics,” Taeyeon advised.  “Wish for an agent and you’ve got an agent who will screw you over quicker than you can say ‘I didn’t mean that guy’.”

“Fine.  I want an agent that can get me good movie deals and TV shows and stage shows, ones that will get me noticed.  I want an agent that will get me signed by a good recording label, one that will respect me and appreciate me.  I want him to work hard to get me a good deal, to make sure I can tour the world and meet my fans.  I want my work to get plenty of exposure.  I want him to think of me and what I want and need for my career, but I want him to push me a little out of my comfort zone.  I want to grow as an artist and as an actress, and my agent should help with that.”

“And make lots of money, right?”

“Well … I guess … I mean …”

“I know,” Taeyeon impersonated, “You’re an ‘artist’ and you want your work to be ‘valued’, but face it, babe.  If you don’t earn those greens, that career will be for nothing.”

“Ok … and he’ll help me make money.  Not obscene amounts, but … ‘enough’.”

Taeyeon nodded, impressed.  “That’s much better,” she conceded.  “Now, is that a wish?  Just say ‘I wish for an agent’ and I’ll make sure you get all of that.”

“I don’t need to say that again, do I?”

“Nope.  You said it now, I can fill in the blanks.”

She took a moment to breathe, to relax.  “I wish … for an agent,” she decreed.

“And so, it shall be done,” Taeyeon clapped her hands above her head, a loud thunderous sound emanating from her palms.  The room shook, the lights flashed, glasses rattled, and ornaments fell from the mantle.  Only a second passed before the commotion stopped.

Silence.

Nothing.

Jessica sat upright, holding onto her seat for safety.  That was unsettling, especially after the nonchalance from earlier.

“Better?”

She looked to Taeyeon, words not forthcoming anymore.

“The effects.  Did they make you feel better?  More comfortable?”

“Wh-wh-why … what … I … what was that?”

“I granted your wish.  But after the contract thing, I thought you’d want some kind of magical, demonic display or something."  She looked worried.  "Not enough?”

Jessica closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself from the shock she had endured.

“I mean, I could have just said ‘Here, wish granted’, but I just thought about you.”

She furrowed her eyebrows.  “You mean … you didn’t need to do any of that?”

Taeyeon puckered her lips and shook her head.  “That was all for you, babe.”

No amount of deep breathing would bring down this rage.

“Don’t.  Do that.  Again.”

Taeyeon frowned.  “But before … when you signed the contract …”

“Don’t.  Ever.”

She shrugged.  “Whatever you say.”  She lounged on the chair, her arms spread on the back cushions, legs crossed over one another.

“So … that’s it?” Jessica asked. “I have an agent?”

“Uh huh.”

“Ok … so … where are they?”

No sooner had she asked when her phone started ringing.  “That’ll be him now,” Taeyeon announced.

The number wasn’t familiar, she thought.  She answered, tentative but with hope.

“H-hello?”

“Jess, baby,” the gruff older male voice greeted her, ”it’s Eric here, Eric Drumph.  Heard you were on the market for an agent.”

“Y-yeah … I … I guess I am?”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“Well …” she shook her head, at a total loss for words.

“‘Well’, he continued, “I think I’m the answer to your prayers.  I got the best connections in the business, I’ve got people banging on my doors to give you the sweetest offers.  We’re gonna make you a star.”

“A star?”

“Yeah. You watch. All that with Grilled Generator or whatever … that ain’t nothing compared to what I’ve got planned for you.“

“Wow … ok …”. She tried not to be impressed by his pitch, but she couldn't help being hooked in.

“You’ll be up there with the best.  You’ll have your name on the Walk of Fame in no time, baby.  You and me, we’ll be the dream team.”

She could feel herself brightening up at the sound of his brash, New York drawl, making the emptiest of promises in honesty.  “Make her a star,” “best connections in the business,” she’d heard all of that before.  But this time, she knew he meant it.

She had wished for it after all.

“Why don’t you come down to the office?  Tomorrow.  11 am.  Give you chance to get your face on.  I know what you girls are like in the morning.”  He chuckled, amused by his casual ism.  Again, something she had heard all too often before.

“Sounds great …”

“Ok.  I’ll text you the address.  11 am, tomorrow.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Kay.  Talk soon.”

He hung up before she could reply.

“Well?” Taeyeon chimed in.  “How did I do?”

“I’m meeting my new agent tomorrow …”

“Great!  So … how did I do?” she pressed.

“He seems nice ... a little older, but I guess that’s not really an issue …”

“Ok …”

“Said all the stuff we’ve heard before … he’s ‘got the best contacts’, he’ll ‘make me a star’, all that stuff.”

“Sounds like I did good then.”

“I … uh … I guess?”

“You guess?  Huh!  You’re lucky I’m contractually obliged to give you another three wishes there, sweetcakes.”

“Well … I’ve never met him before, have I?” she explained.  “How can I tell if he’s a good agent from a minute-long phone call?”

Taeyeon glared at her for a second.  “Ok, I’ll give you that,” she conceded, “but come on!  You’ve got an agent now!”

“Yeah … guess I have …”

“Ok … and for my next trick?”

“What?”

“What’s your next wish?”

“Umm …. I guess … business investors?”

“Investors.”

Jessica nodded.

She stared at her, expecting.

"Oh," she realised.  "Ok, I want investors that will give me all the capital I need to start my business.  I want them to be advisors to me, I want them to help my business to grow, I want them to support me with my ideas …”

“Ok …”

She thought a little harder.  “They should know about the art world and the world of fashion.  Especially the major brand names.  Gucci, Armani, Versace, Prada.”

“Italian high fashion.”

“Yeah.  They need to know what works, and how that quality can be brought to the masses.  I want them to be hard-working, not afraid of anything.  Very protective of trade secrets, respectful to the founders, want the best for the company at any cost.  But someone who treats the business like they treat family.”

“Family?”

“Yeah.  Like, when I’m talking with him, I’m almost talking with my father.  Knows what to do, has the contacts in the business world, and looks after me.”  She chuckled to herself.  “Maybe someone who can make me clean up in the fashion world.”

Taeyeon nodded.  “Sounds like I’ve got enough to work with there.  Is that an official wish?”

She looked up, confused and fearful.  “You’re not going to do all that lightning and earthquake stuff again, are you?”

“No,” she mocked, “just a flash of light.  Nothing too extravagant.”

“Ok … I wish …”

No sooner had she said the magic word than the light bulb attached to the ceiling glowed immediately with the brightest light on Earth before it exploded with a loud ‘Pop’.

Jessica cowered, protecting herself with her arms at the shattering of the glass.  Thin and light it may be, and she may have been protected by her clothes, but she knew how broken glass could get stuck in your skin. “Taeyeon!” she admonished.

“Whoops,” her companion winced in embarrassment.  “Didn’t see that coming.”

She sighed.  “I should have.”  She looked around, scanning both for any more mess and for anything new.  “So, that’s it?  I have investors now?”

Taeyeon returned the look of disbelief at her accuser.  “Are you wanting some kind of crystal ball?”

“Come on …”

“Because you can get it, but it’ll cost you another wish.”

She glowered at her tormentor.  “Where are they?”

She shrugged.  “Hell if I know.”

“You’re the daughter of the ruler of Hell and your response is ‘Hell if I know’?”

A cheeky smirk crawled over her face.

The second phone call of the day broke the sass.  As before, the number was unfamiliar.  In fact, it looked out-of-state.  “Hello?”

“Hello, am I uh … am I speaking with Miss Jessica Jung?”

“Yes, this is she …”

“Louis DiNozzo, LDN Industries.  Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Likewise.”

“I hear you’re uh … in the market for some investors.”  The older male voice on the end carried a strong, thick, New Jersey accent.  Definitely someone auditioning for the Sopranos.

“I am …”

“Well, I think we can uh … we can make a deal here.”

“I … I hope so.”

“I got a copy of your business plan from your bank manager.  Nice guy.  Little green, but we can work with him.”

“I’m glad to hear it …”

“Seems to me like you need a lot of help getting off the ground.  Capital, contacts, networks.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I think we can arrange that, Jessica.  Let’s set up a meeting, tomorrow, and uh … I’ll get a couple of my uh … my associates out to you.  Living in LA, right?”

“Yeah …”

“Sunny California.  I like it.  Perfect target for what we have planned.”

“Excuse me?”

“Business.  You’re in the middle of the uh … the movie people.  The Hollywood A-List.  Perfect for buying the uh … the merchandise.”

Everything about him screamed 90s TV mafiosa.  Everything.  His pauses, his dialect, the way he said “murr-chen-dice”.  Everything.

“So we’ll meet tomorrow, 2 pm, ok?”

“Thank you.”

“Ok.  Take care.  And Jessica?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Welcome to the family.”

“Th-thank you ... goodbye.”

He hung up and she glared at her phone.  “I gots me a new little friend,” she mimicked him, imbuing her poor imitation with a hint of Al Pacino.

“Excuse me?”

“He … never mind,” she placed her phone down on the coffee table and looked at the empty space in front of her.  “So that’s it.  I have an agent and investors.  This time next week, I’m going to have all I wanted.”

“And more.  You still have two wishes left.”

“True … but I don’t have to make them now, do I?”

“No, but you don’t have long.”

“I know …” she mused over her next steps.  “So what do we do now?”

“Well, you have your car back.  We could go for a ride down the coast.”

Jessica mulled the proposition over.  Getting out of the house would be good, she reasoned.  A chance to think and get used to having her life back on track after months of constant disasters.  Her ride last night was fraught with even more troubles, mostly at the hands of her guest.  But she had righted them today, to her credit.

She took a deep breath.  “Fine, let’s go.”  She stood up and looked at her companion.  “You’re not going out like that, are you?”

Taeyeon looked down at her outfit.  “What’s wrong with this?”

“Well, for one thing, when you came in earlier, you looked very … different.  People will notice.”

She continued looking at her body and her outfit, checking out her own rear, even cupping her own s and bouncing them in her hands by way of inspection.

“Taeyeon?”

Her trance was broken by the mention of her name, although her hands never left her chest.  “Sorry,” she smiled.  “But even I gotta check me out when I look like this.”

Jessica rolled her eyes and turned back to her bedroom.  “We’re leaving in five minutes.  Change back.”

She groaned.  “Fine, but you owe me.”

“You already have my soul.  Just change, ok?”

 

---

 

The pair got into the car, Jessica taking her seat behind the wheel.

“See?  Good as new, just like I promised.”

“So you said.”

She hesitantly turned the key and listened as the vehicle roared immediately, the satisfying growl of the engine and rumble of the motor as the beast came alive before her.

“Ok, so far so good.”

“You doubted me?”

“I thought I knew everything about you, but today I find out you’re evil.”

“I’m not evil,” she chuckled.  “Just a Devil.”

“There’s a difference?”

“Many,” Taeyeon explained, although the single word wasn’t really much of an explanation.  Not that Jessica was expecting any now.  “We need to stop at the garage, though,” she added.

“We do?”

“Well, yeah.  You think I could just magic up a new car like that?”

“Well … you got me an agent and investors.”

“You wished for them.  This is different.”

“Why?”

“You didn’t wish for it.”

Jessica groaned.

“Look, it’s still on me, ok?  I told the garage we had to give it a test drive before we paid, and they said ok.  So, come on, kiddo.”

“‘Kiddo’?”

“Just drive.”

She rolled her eyes and turned the key in the ignition, following the directions Taeyeon gave.  The sooner this rubbish was over with, the better.  She drove through the city, finding some back alley mechanic to be her destination.  She wasn’t expecting any kind of meticulous and surgical kind of operation, but this was a dive by anybody’s standard.

But they had fixed the car, and it hasn’t yet exploded, so she wasn’t going to complain.

They pulled into the run-down building and got out of the car as a tall, burly, unkempt man walked towards them, hirsute body and a buzzcut hairstyle.

“Yeah?” he grunted, looking at the pair walking in.  He noticed Taeyeon and nodded towards her.  “Car ok?”

“Yes, my friend is very pleased with it.”

“Kay.  Well, total is $35,000.  Cash or plastic?”

“Plastic,” Taeyeon announced.

“Mmmkay.”

Jessica looked around the shop at the staff there, some repairing cars, some transporting inventory around the store.  No more than a minute passed than there was a tug at her shirt.

“What?”

“Problem.”

She looked to her shorter companion.  “What kind of ‘problem’?”

“You might have to pick up the tab …”

“The ‘tab’?”

“Yeah …”

“Ok … if I ask ‘What tab?’ and the answer is the $35,000 for the car that you totalled, I’m going to be very upset.”

“I’m sorry, ok?” she whispered.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“I left my wallet in the underworld,” she hissed.

“Can’t you just … you know … get it back?”

“What?  Just wave my fingers and ‘poof!’ bring my wallet here?  Jess, a little trick like that and the next thing I know, I’ve got them calling their friends, they’re callin' me on the phone all the time, I gotta show up at shopping centres for openings and sign autographs and stuff like that and it makes my life a hell.  Okay?  A living hell.  And I live in Hell, so I know what I’m talking about.”

“Taeyeon …”

“I’m sorry.  Really.  Can you just cover me this once?”

Jessica sighed.

“I’ll make sure you get the money back.  I promise.”

“You better.”  Jessica took out her purse and her MasterCard and handed the piece of plastic to the mechanic.  He walked to the machine and inserted it, waiting for the system to respond.

“Wait,” Jessica turned to her companion as realisation dawned on her, “so if all of that’s hell, why are you in the band?”

“Shh!”

“Declined,” he announced, handing the card back.

“D-declined?” Jessica looked at the mechanic, stunned.  “Uh …” she rifled through her purse and pulled out her American Express card.  “Try this.”

He shrugged and walked away again.

“You’d think he’d be happier if he’s getting paid,” Taeyeon mused to herself.

“That one’s declined too,” the mechanic reported, returning with the card.

“What?  How?”

“System just says ‘declined’.  Hey, you two had better not be pulling a fast one here.”

“No!” she shook her head, panicking at the predicament Taeyeon had gotten her into.  “I swear … give me two minutes.”

“I want paying.”

“You will be, I promise.  I’ll call the bank now and see what the problem is.”  Frantically the honey brunette called her bank and asked what had happened, then spent the next three minutes screaming all manner of obscenities at the poor customer service assistant on the receiving end as she was told how every single cent had been drained out of her account the previous day.  The only other person that had access to the account was Tyler, and he had cleared her out of everything.  Now Jessica was broke.

“Ugh, I wish I had money in my account.”

“Uh, Jess …” Taeyeon whispered in warning.

“What?  I do.  I had three million in my account yesterday and he’s cleared me out.  I needed something there.  I wish I had it.”

“You wish,” she warned again, “you had $3 million in your bank account again?”

“Yes,” she hissed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, wondering what she was going to do.

She shrugged.  “You asked for it,” she intoned as she clicked her fingers.  Unlike every other time, there were no visual effects, no rumblings, no broken electronics.  Nothing to give away anything unnatural to anyone watching, and nothing to interrupt Jessica’s rage as she stormed away, phone in hand.

“Miss … Miss Jung?”

“Yes,” she growled down the phone.

“I … It looks like someone has just made a deposit into your MasterCard account.”

She froze, stunned in confused silence.  “A … what?”

“Three million dollars has been paid to you from LDN Industries.”

“LD … N?” she paused for a moment, recalling her conversation with Louis.

“Yes, Miss Jung.  It seems to be above board.  Payments like that would have to clear our fraud team first before appearing in your account.”

“I … uh …”

“Try again with your transaction, Miss Jung.  I’ll wait on the line just in case.”

Mindlessly she handed over her MasterCard.  “Uh … try again …”

The mechanic shrugged and tried again.  “Huh … what do you know …,” he muttered to himself as he printed out the paperwork for the job.

“That’s … it’s ok now …” Jessica explained, looking even more confused than before.

“That’s great to hear.  Is there anything else I can help with?”

“No … no, I … uh … that’s fine …”

“Ok, well thank you for calling Bank of America.  You have a nice day now.”

“Thank you … you too …”

The agent hung up the phone, leaving Jessica entirely bemused.  “He put money into my account?”  She looked up at Taeyeon.  “How did he know I needed money?”

Taeyeon cleared .  “’I had three million in my account yesterday and he’s cleared me out,’” she mimicked, her devilish powers bringing her voice to an eerie match to Jessica’s own.  “‘I needed something there.  I wish I had it.’”

Jessica cupped in horror.

Her third wish, gone.

“I tried to warn you.”

She was right, she did try to warn her.

“If you’ll just sign here, Miss Jung, and we’re done.”

“I …” she spun around and saw the mechanic approaching her, clipboard in hand, and a small pile of papers attached to it.  Far smaller than the contract she signed earlier.

“Guarantees for the parts and labour.  Anything happens in the next twelve months, come back and we’ll replace it.”

She sighed and signed for the repairs, accepted her copy of the paperwork and left with her companion, sitting in her newly acquired car.

“I wish I didn’t …”

“Don’t!”

She stopped herself.  “I shouldn’t have made that wish.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s too late, babe.  You have one wish left.”

“Didn’t you know it was just an expression?”

“Yeah, that’s why I warned you.  You said you meant it, you said ‘I wish’ twice.  What else could I do?  My hands were tied!”  She lifted her arms and shows her wrists which were in fact bound together, by leather straps no less.  Another illusion.

“Really?”

“What?” she chuckled as the straps dissipated into thin air.  “Lighten up.  It was a mistake.  But it helped, didn’t it?  You wouldn’t have the car otherwise.”

“I guess.”

“And now you’ve got everything back to normal.”

“I … yeah … normal …”

Taeyeon leaned back and placed her sunglasses over her eyes.  “Let’s drink to celebrate,” she declared, flipping her legs onto the dashboard.

“Do you mind?” Jessica slapped at her thighs.

“Would you relax?” she laughed, removing her feet.

“You know I hate it.”

Taeyeon laughed, but obliged, sitting properly in the seat as the wind blew through her blonde locks.  “You never change,” she sang wistfully.

"You definitely did,” Jessica muttered as she drove.  Where to, she wasn't quite sure.