Tree of Wishes

New Girl Woes: A Juniper Perspective

I knew it was going to take a while to adjust to the new life I had laid out in front of me, but the massive scale was greater than anything I could have imagined. On top of studying the tree and everything at college, I had to figure out how to function as an upper-class adult who had to deal with big business meetings and talking to a lot of strangers. It was so much to take in I wound up breaking down and whining like a baby in the shed while Eddie and Anubis watched. It was embarrassing, but if I didn't vent, I was going to explode from all the pressure!

At least I was being given plenty of help. When we toured the main headquarters, which towered over any other building for miles, I was introduced to the people assigned to be my assistants. There was my secretary, who had her hair up in a cute, brown bun and had the strait-laced dress shirt and pencil skirt you'd expect from a modern, professional woman. Her wide, starry eyes and cheerful disposition were like a breath of fresh air, and one glance at her tidy desk with all her neatly, organized papers told me everything I needed to know. Then there was my lawyer, who had her black hair up in a ponytail and was decked out in a blue suit that definitely screamed business. While I was intimidated by her deep, black eyes that seemed to stare into the very depths of my soul, I was just glad she was on my side. She spoke super politely, sprinkling her pleases with some bows whenever possible.

As nice as they were, the most memorable one was my tutor. I was shocked at the tall, masculine figure towering over me, adjusting his fancy, blue tie and pushing back his slick, sandy locks like some kind of model. Not that he had to because his short hair was already gelled and parted to perfection on one side, and he certainly knew how to dress to impress in his black business suit. I should be overjoyed at having this handsome devil as my tutor, but the ghosts of my not-dead-yet aunts looming over my shoulders instead filled me with dread.

"This doesn't really fit with what my aunts asked for," I said with a nervous laugh.

My tutor looked over at Cypress with those perfectly jade eyes of his, and Cypress nodded as if he was approving something. He then pulled back his sleeve to reveal a tattoo that read 'Sex Change'.

"I can present myself as female when necessary," my tutor explained. "Although personally I prefer not to. I went through quite a bit to become the man I am today."

"I can respect that," I said. "We'll save it for emergencies then. But it sure does sound like a convenient power."

He smiled. "It is. My boyfriend is certainly happy with it."

And then I died. On the inside.

Pushing that all aside, the months that followed did get a little easier one day at a time. I learned the difference between a salad fork and a dinner fork, found out my family might as well be royalty with how much land and power they own, and even got to enjoy some breaks in-between playing around with Anubis. The more I got into the routine, the less stressful it got, and I had to be corrected a lot less often by Cypress and my tutor. Everything seemed to be going well.

Then I had to prepare for my debut at a business party, and that's when I started to panic. What if I messed up? What if none of the people there liked me? These kinds of thoughts kept rushing through my head until the fated day came, and I couldn't sleep a wink the night prior. At least I was dressed nice for the occasion with a long, green sequin dress. It was long sleeved and came with this little, black cloak to wrap around my neck, yet I liked how it hugged me in all the right places. It got a whistle and an applause out of the boys when I showed it off to them. They were staying behind to watch the tree, much to Anubis's dismay, but from all the stories I'd heard, this was for the best.

By this point, I was getting used to riding around a limousine to get around for important business stuff, yet that only helped my anxiety a little bit. Cypress kept assuring me that everything was going to be fine, but he wasn't psychic. What did he know?