Wish (Wishing Well #1)

Chapter 1

There hadn't been a busier day at the library for as long as Emily could remember. She wasn't sure if it was because of the torrential downpour outside or because of the free coffee inside, but suddenly, the library was the most popular place to be. Okay, that was a lie. Emily was sure it wasn't for the free coffee that everyone was suddenly in the library, because the coffee was always cold and tasted burnt. Still though, even on other rainy days, Emily had never seen the campus library this busy. Patron after patron had come in looking for one book or another.

Finally, when it was almost time for her to go to lunch there was a lull. Emily hailed her boss, Angela, and gestured letting her know she was going to head out for lunch. Angela gave her the "okay" sign and headed toward the desk. Emily reached under the desk and grabbed her purse and thanked her lucky stars that Angela was the type of boss that she was. Emily had worked under bosses before that seemed to live to make everyone miserable and only knew how to stir up drama and cause trouble. Angela wasn't like that. Angela tried to make sure that everyone working for her was able to get along. She listened to their opinions and tried to take everyone's feelings into account, when it was feasible. Having grabbed her purse, Emily made her way around the circulation desk and waited for Angela to reach her.

"You want me to grab you anything?" Emily asked when Angela reached the desk.

"Not today. Ralph made some crazy macaroni concoction that he wanted me to try so I promised I would have that for lunch today," Angela stated, a slight grimace on her face.

Ralph, Angela's husband used to be on track to be the CEO of some company, but when he hit 45 a couple years back, he suddenly quit his job, deciding he wanted to be a chef. He was currently working his way through culinary school and often used Angela as his guinea pig, sometimes much to her chagrin.

Emily giggled at her expense, having had the honor of trying some of Ralph's concoctions before. Angela shot her a look that very much communicated she should shush if she didn't want to be a co-guinea pig again. Emily instantly sobered, remembering the "dessert quiche" Ralph had sent for the library staff a couple of weeks ago. Marshmallow fluff, sour cream, and eggs. Emily shuddered involuntarily at the thought.

"Hopefully today's venture will be better than some others," she said optimistically.

Angela heaved a sigh, "I can only hope. So, what quirky music are you going to be testing out during this lunch break?" she prodded.

Emily smiled brightly. No one really got her enthusiasm for random, bargain bin albums, by lesser known bands, so any time someone asked about them she was more than happy to share her excitement.

"Well," she started enthusiastically, "This time when I went to Tracks they had just gotten in a shipment of new music and some of the albums they order off of the internet for the bargain bin and I found this one album called Wishes by DJ Inn. It took me a minute, but then I realized it's a play on words. DJ Inn. . . Djinn. Get it??"

Angela gave her a blank look. "No. . ." Angela answered. "What am I supposed to be getting from that?"

"You know. Djinn. Genies? The album is titled Wishes?" Emily explained patiently.

Angela gave her a very dry look.

"Only you would recognize something like that and buy an album based off of that observation," she deadpanned.

Emily couldn't help but laugh at that statement. Angela wasn't wrong. As much as she loved random, bargain bin albums, she also loved puns and clever plays on words. Angela gently reached out and pushed her in the direction of the exit.