Keys by KororowoxDD
http://www.deviantart.com/art/keys-79877806
You can see Part 1 here.
Part III
The new account needed to be set up and work begun on sending the client the required products. Each time she sent the owner an email or talked to him on the phone, she fingered the key. It occurred to her about the third time she did it, that she knew the key was working because she’d feel dizzy or nauseous. She did her best not to be fingering the key all day long. It seemed greedy, somehow. But for important transactions, dealing with her clients, sitting at the partner meetings, she would stroke it once or twice and then take her hand out of her pocket.
At the end of the month she remembered the antique store owner, Eleanor. I need to talk to her. Get more information about this key. Ying left her private office early, telling the partner’s secretary, Sharon, “I have some personal business to take care of. See you on Monday.”
Outside of the antique store, Ying hesitated. The tray of keys was no longer in the window. What did that mean? She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. I’ll have to ask.
Inside Eleanor was ringing up a customer. She nodded at Ying and went back to her transaction. Ying wandered the store. She saw a carved, enameled screen, black with gold edging, an oriental scene done in the same pastel colors she had decorated her apartment in. It would look stunning in the living room corner.
Eleanor arrived as Ying was turning over the price tag. “It is a lovely piece, isn’t it?”
Ying’s eyebrows rose at the $3,000 price. Too much for her. She wasn’t used to her new pay scale yet. She dropped the tag. “Yes. Very pretty.” She turned to Eleanor. “I’ve been using the key.”
Eleanor’s cocked an eyebrow. “Interesting. Let’s sit down. Tea?” She led Ying to a small seating area near the counter.
“Yes. Thank you.”
Eleanor went into the back and came out a few minutes later with a china teapot on a tray, two cups on saucers and a plate of cookies. “I do believe the English tea time ranks right up on the civilized behavior scale with the European mid-afternoon nap time.” She poured for both of them and sat back, cookie on her saucer and cup in hand. “Tell me all about your month.”
Ying settled back and related the subway terrorist incident, her other uses of the key and that it made her dizzy or sick when used.
“The sickness is in the book. I can confirm that. I’m interested in the key saving you the first morning. You were taking care of the key. It seems to me it was reciprocating the favor.”
Ying sipped her tea, now cold. She leaned forward and poured more into the cup to warm it. “I hadn’t thought of it like that.” Cup returned to the saucer she sat back. “What happened to the tray of keys in the window?”
“Those?” Eleanor looked over the rim of her cup. “I change the display often. I moved them into the back.”
Ying had the feeling the tray was supposed to attract her inside the day she found the key. “Does the key show up on a schedule?”
“Perceptive. It does have a cycle. It was time for it to appear. We never know where, though.”
“We? Who are you? Your group?”
Selecting another cookie from the tray, Eleanor dunked it lightly into her cup. “I suppose you could call us guardians. We know the history of many powerful objects and do our best to keep track of them.”
“And the key is just one?” Ying’s mind began to race at the thought of many of these objects circulating through the world.
“One of many. When one does show up, we try to offer the finder help.”
“Why not just get the things and lock them away?”
Eleanor chuckled. “That was tried, centuries ago. The objects have a mind of their own. They select their users and will not be denied. The key is benevolent, for the most part.”
A shock ran through Ying. “What do you mean?”
“Magic has to be paid for. Nothing is free, in this world or the arcane world.” Eleanor shrugged. “How have you been?”
“Fine, except for when I use the key. But that’s just a little momentary discomfort. Why?” Ying put the cup and saucer back on the tray and waited for the answer.
“Have you been out at all? Socialize, date?”
“I’ve been too busy. I was just made partner. I’m working eleven or twelve hour days, six days a week.”
Eleanor nodded. “The key is giving you what you want. You’re a professional woman. You’re focused on your job. You’re young and already a partner. Did you have any plans for a family?”
Ying blinked. “Someday. Of course. When I find the right man.”
Eleanor sighed. “In the key’s history, there has been no mention of the users ever marrying or having a family. That’s the price your object charges.”
Up until now, a husband and family were just vague future plans. Her parents had been riding her since high school to find a husband and start a family. They were very Chinese that way. But she kept putting it off, first for college, then to work. They approved of her every advancement but grand-children were their primary goal. “I. Um, I’m not sure.”
“Sure of what?”
“Whether I want a family. What if I do? Will the key leave me? Has anyone tried to have a family while they had the key?”
“If they did, the other guardians never made a note of it.”
Ying stood up. She had to think. “Here’s my card.” She pulled a card out of the little pocket on her briefcase. “Has no one given up the key?”
Eleanor shook her head. “Not that we know of.”
Thank You!
Part III: 989 Words