Chapter Seven
“Pandora, what are you doing?”
“Sweet baby Lucifer!” Dori screamed and jumped as her bedroom door flew the rest of the way open to admit one of the scariest beings she had ever known. “You scared the crap outta me, Nana. What the hell?”
“Your mom called me again, Missy, and she told me that you’ve been using a lot of magic lately.” The tiny fairy stormed into Dori’s room in her four-inch heels and pastel pink Chanel suit ensemble.
Her nana looked pointedly at the remote viewing crystal ball Dori had been watching closely. “More like wasting magic as I can see it! Why can’t you just watch HBO like the rest of us when you want a little drama, girl? I’ve told you over and over, magic isn’t a never-ending resource. The energy you use to create it comes from somewhere, and there is always a toll on the user. Your mother is terrified that you will up and fade away one day if you’re not more careful!”
“Nana, I’m not watching TV. I’m keeping tabs on my clients to see how they’re progressing,” Dori said as she closed the view screen, but not before her Nana got a good look at the handsome vampire through it … and by the flare of her sparkly green wings, she recognized him.
“Was that Viktor The Destroyer you were spying on?”
“I’m not spying, per se. You make it sound like I’m some creepy pervert with a sharp tooth fetish, Nan, Gods.”
“Wait—you said, ‘client’. Please tell me you haven’t been selling your charms to the beasts and undesirables down at The Pit again. Goddess help me, Barbara from my bridge club will never let me live this down!” her nana wailed throwing her hands up in a dramatic fashion that only Dori’s grandmother could pull off.
“Good grief, Nana, could you be any more dramatic?” Dori matched her with her own eye roll and hand gestures. “If you must know, I’ve started a new business. I’m finding Happy Ever Afters for those who are too much of a challenge for the non-talented Fairy Godmothers. You know I’ve got the skills, so I’ve just decided to use them for the greater good just like you and Mom are always droning on and on about and all that crap.”
Dori really thought that her declaration would have made her Nana happy, even dare she say … proud? But inexplicably, an even more devastated look took up residence on her grandmother’s magically non-wrinkled face.
“You’ve gone rogue?! Oy vey! What have I done in a past life to deserve such a horrible grandchild? I’m going to get kicked out of my bridge club once this gets out!” she cried out once again throwing her hands in the air.
“First of all, Nan, we’re not Jewish, so you can just can it with the guilt trip. Second, I haven’t gone rogue. I’m not poaching names from the official listing of Happy Ever Afters. I’m simply reevaluating those who may have been rejected or overlooked due to some behavioral issues in their past.” Dori tried to explain to her Nana what she was too afraid to tell her mother when she decided to start her new venture. Her poor mom had been judged enough in her life because of Pandora. What she didn’t know now, Pandora hoped, wouldn’t hurt her.
That news, once it sank in, had her nana’s waterworks drying up quickly, the switch was so immediate Dori couldn’t help but be impressed. Obviously, her own exceptional “people management skills” must have come straight from her grandmother.
“Hold on, are you telling me that you’re using your vast magical abilities to find Happy Ever Afters for … villains?”
The look on her nana’s face said it all. Sure, it was half confusion, but the other half was as though she’d just stepped in the biggest, foulest pile of dog shit ever.
“You know, Nana, you’re such an elitist. Most of these so-called villains are simply different and misunderstood, just like me. It’s about time that someone helped them for a change, instead of all of you having your heads crammed so far up ‘Prince Charming’s’ ass that you can see his tonsils!” Dori ranted as she heard her mom finally wander upstairs to see what all the noise was about.
“What’s going on up here with all the yelling? Belinda down the street just called and asked if my daughter had finally gone full ‘Vader’ on me and if she should call the enforcers to come and put you down!” her mom said as she stood at the doorway to her room.
Pandora couldn’t help but snort out a laugh. Oh that Belinda, she is such a funny old bitch. Dori made a mental note to send her an anonymous bouquet of stink-weed in a Darth Vader mug. Good luck getting that stank outta your drapes, you old cow!
“Do you know that your daughter is finding Happy Ever Afters for criminals and villains, Tabitha?” her Nana blurted out before Dori could break it gently to her mom.
All three of them were silent for a few moments after her Nana so rudely outed her to the only person in the world whose opinion actually mattered to Dori. She was almost afraid to look at her mom’s face, terrified at the disappointment she might see there.
“Is this true, Pandora?” her mom questioned in a quiet voice.
Dammit, Tabitha Bellor was the only being on this planet that Dori wouldn’t lie to.
“Yes.” she sighed back.
“Why?”
Huh? Her mother had found out what she’d been doing with her magic and there was no immediate yelling and grounding? That was a first.
“Because—I don’t know, it just came to me one day that there was no reason why all of those beings without a ‘perfect record of goodness’ didn’t deserve a chance to be happy just the same as all those pansy-ass do-gooders on the Grand Fairies stupid listing. People aren’t supposed to be perfect you know. That doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve happiness, too!”
Dori didn’t want to admit to her mother or grandmother that one of the reasons she was so passionate about this, was that she herself would not be eligible for a Happy Ending according to Fairy Godmother law. Her dark wings had marked her from birth that she wasn’t like the rest of them. But that didn’t make her evil. Sure she had a tendency to find more trouble than most fairies, but a girl had to have some fun, right?
“Dori, look at me,” her mother said as Dori refused to make eye contact after her rant.
Finally, with a sigh, she looked at her mother and was surprised to see a gentle smile on her face.
“I’m so proud of you, Pandora,” her mother said.
“What?”
“What!”
The matching outbursts came from Pandora and her grandmother both.
“You’ve finally found your purpose, my dear,” Tabitha said as she walked over and gathered her daughter in a tight hug. “I always knew that you would be destined for great things, and I agree with you. Everyone deserves a chance at a Happy Ending, and it’s about time that someone finally came along with the power to make it happen.”
Pandora hugged her mom back. She was so incredibly happy that someone else understood what she had only stumbled upon by instinct. She felt a small amount of shame that she hadn’t trusted in her mother all this time. After all, Tabitha had believed in her even before she was born.
“What if I suck at it?” Dori whispered her doubts out loud for the first time since this whole idea had taken root inside of her.
“Impossible!” Her mother laughed and looked down at her. “Who could be better at manipulating people than you are, love?”
It felt so good to laugh along with her mother, with everything out on the table now. It was like a giant weight had been lifted off of her wings.
“Oh, I don’t know, I think Nana could give me a run for my money.”
Even her crotchety old grandmother couldn’t help but laugh at that.
“Now come down to the kitchen and tell us all about your first clients, baby. I want to hear everything!” her mother said as she tugged Pandora out of her room and down the hall to where the smell of her mother’s homemade double chocolate chip cookies was beckoning. Not even Nana’s cranky disposition could fight the double chocolate chip.