(Author's Note: This episode was previously, for the most part, written by EL R, with some minor errors fixed.)
Olivia turned and saw Joseph Dell, the son of Pastor Dell, walking up to her. Genie stood up quickly, brushing the dirt off her pantaloons.
Joseph was a man in his early thirties, but was already showing signs of salt and pepper hair. He was in good shape, but not muscular, and looked right at home in a good suit with a red tie. He had a strong chin and brown eyes partly masked by thin framed glasses. He was the pastor's son, but considerably less devout than his mother or the rest of his family. Regardless, he would still go to church more or less regularly. There was, at the moment, no Mrs. Joseph Dell, or the potential of one. His last girlfriend left him a year ago, partly due to his job, which required him to be somewhere else for 20 weeks of the year, and partly because of his coworker he was having an affair with. The breakup was hard on everyone, but most especially Joseph, who lost both. One of them he still pined for.
He made good money, but his job in financial auditing took him away for a week at a time almost half a year. Consequently, he lived frugally in a smallish, lonely, apartment. He liked the people there, or did, up until the office gossip about his affair got around. It seemed like the only thing going well in his life right now was his fantasy football team.
Joseph stopped a few paces away, jaw agape at the strange sight of Olivia Harrison, kind, old Olivia Harrison standing next to a woman who still wore the classic genie outfit with the thin bra, veil, and baggy pants. But Genie resolved not to be embarrassed by her attire. She looked quite good in it, and Joseph noticed.
"Mrs. Harrison? Where have you been, and who is your friend?"
"Where I've been, dearie, is a strange story, and this is my genie. She's a wicked little thing who's been begging for me to set her free." Hearing that actually made Genie blush in shame. Why did it hurt her so much to be called wicked and evil by her master? She wanted, needed, to prove to her that she was not evil.
Hearing Olivia's explanation, though, only made Joseph more confused. "Are you okay, Mrs. Harrison?"
"I see you don't believe me," Genie's master said dryly. "Let me prove it to you. Genie, I wish ..."
