A Red Genie

Tarla hurriedly put her bike away before approaching the entrance where she found Bianca waiting for her.

Bianca is the only person she could call her friend, the girl did not even know she was a Genie when they became friends but even after that she never tried to use her so Tarla held on to her. It was rare to find a good friend after all so letting one go will be the stupidest thing.

"Look who decided to show up..." Bianca said with an apprehensive look.

"Sorry, woke up late" Tarla replied and then they entered the building.

"On the bright side, Madam Folio won't hold you up for it, you didn't even take an interview so lucky" Bianca sighed.

Getting a job in Softlines required luck, a large amount of it, and maybe being seasoned with years of experience. She had gotten the job through the recommendation of her mom's friend who was a friend of Madam Folio, long story.

They took the elevator to the third floor which had Madam Folio's office.

"Good day Madam Folio" they both greeted.

Madam Folio was a woman in her thirties with reddish brown hair tied in a bun. "Tarla Genie, welcome" she smile and gave Bianca a knowing look.

"Catch you later, bye" after saying that Bianca left them alone.

"Here is your contract" still smiling, Madam Folio hand Tarla the employee contract.

After reading it, Tarla frowned. "I'm sorry but the salary seems a bit lower than what was said before"

"You are a Genie, is not like you need it anyway"

Tarla's frown deepened and she dropped the contract on the desk. "It is exactly because I'm a Genie that I should be treated better, in fact, I'm not a Genie, I'm the Tarla Genie"

"Indeed, you are special but we already have a Genie working here so..."

"What?...that is not possible, my family has all the Genie in town...if another family was moving over I would have been aware" Tarla said, finding the news unbelievable.

In fact, she was the only Genie that wanted to work for money, her sister was too much of a goody-two-shoes to be working here and besides, she remembered leaving Kendra at home this morning.

"I do not know how you Genies have decided to scatter yourselves but I do have a Genie here" Madam Folio said with a serious expression.

"If you don't mind may I see this Genie?" Tarla asked since this could have been a made-up story to make her accept the contract.

Madam Folio gave her a scrutinizing gaze before dialing the phone. "Send Kazim over"

Tarla waited patiently and few minutes later, a boy with fiery red hair and eyes entered the office with a bright smile. "You sent for me..."

She stared at the door waiting for the Genie to come but then heard Madam Folio call her.

"Tarla...meet Kazim and Kazim this is Tarla Genie"

Tarla let out a laugh and stared at Madam Folio in disbelief. "He is the Genie? Is this a prank?"

Madam Folio was starting to get annoyed. "What do you mean by that Miss Tarla?"

"Are you blind? Genies have blue hair and eyes, I mean everyone knows that...you show me a red hair guy and claim he is a Genie?" Tarla was also upset, how can someone make fun of her existence like that? She was living proof that all Genies have blue hair and eyes.

"But I am a Genie" Kazim said.

"Oh keep quiet. You think you can keep up your act in front of a real Genie" Tarla was livid. "Let's say you dyed your hair, did you dye your eyes as well?"

Kazim raised a brow before snapping his finger and the tiles on the floor changed color.

Tarla scoffed. "Petty tricks"

Kazim did not say anything and instead made a glass of water appear on the table.

Tarla frowned. Now she couldn't deny the fact that he made something appear out of nowhere. "Doing all of this doesn't make you a Genie"

Kazim sighed and whistled with his lip.

This time Tarla was shocked when a carpet beside Kazim. "Impossible!!"

"Meet Ajar he is a bit wild" Kazim chuckled and the carpet moved as if saying hello.

Tarla was at loss for words, staring at the carpet that was waving its tassles at her.

"You can go back and make your decision...you have two days to think about it, but remember the terms of the contract won't be changed," Madam Folio said sternly.

* * *

"A red Genie? I still don't believe it, I should probably ask Grandpa" Tarla mumbled to herself as she walked out of the company.

"Please wait"

She heard someone call out after seeing who it was her mood changed for the worse. "What do you want?"

"Don't be mad, it's the first time I'm meeting a Genie and a pretty one at that" Kazim flashed a smile.

Tarla stared at him from head to toe and shook her head. "You must have a death wish"

"Come on, we Genie should stick together...don't you think?" Kazim chuckled.

Tarla scoffed and walked away with a frown on her face.

Seeing her disappearing figure, Kazim sight and turned to a certain carpet. "See...I tried, you won't be seeing your kind anytime soon"

Tarla was so angry she walked all the way home. Despite being a fake he spoke about Genies as if he was one...remembring the whole thing made her have the urge to punch someone.

"You're back so soon?" her mother said in surprise seeing Tarla walk through the door.

"Hi mom, where's Grandpa?" Tarla asked.

"He's out with Jake and Jasmine" her mom replied. "Is anything the matter?"

"Not really, I just met a Genie today..." Tarla frowned, once again recalling the face of the red-haired boy.

"Are you sure, I didn't receive any news about another family coming over"

"Tch he's supposedly the red kind of Genie?" Tarla said with folded arms.

"A red Genie? Come on Tarla, you never had such an imagination when your were a kid" her mom shook her head and continued her work.

"I'm being serious, the genie I saw had red hair and eyes and he also have a carpet"

Her mom paused for a while but then continued again. "I've never heard of a red Genie but your grandfather would probably know something...I'll be going out for my shift in an hour, they should be back by then"

"Fine...I guess I'll just go and sleep" Tarla then went to her room before entering her lamb, her thoughts were still revolving around Kazim. "How can there be a red Genie?"