La Douleur Exquise

"Excuse me?" The nerve of this guy. This was unbelievable! He disappears for a long time then he comes back telling me of this bizarre task to match two people together. What was his deal?  "Look, this was sort of a...command?" It was actually more of a question than a statement. Which made me not take him seriously.  "Uh-huh," I said crossing my arms.  "I'm an angel." He said out of the blue with a straight face.  Is he serious? I couldn't contain it any longer and I burst out laughing. "An angel? Seriously? Are you trying to be funny?" When my laughter died down a bit, I continued: "That might have worked when I was younger, thinking you were my guardian angel s***h imaginary friend, but come on now--give me some credit."  "I'm not joking. I'm serious. Well, I'm not an angel...yet. But I'm an angel-in-training."  "It's not funny anymore, you know. Quit it. I'm starting to get annoyed with you now." Raising my brows, I asked: "What’s your deal?"  "I've been telling you! I'm an angel-in-training, I broke a few rules, and I have to do something to make up for what I did."  "Okay. Suppose I believe you and your...story. Not to sound rude or anything, but what's that to do with me?"  He pinched his brows as if irritated with my constant questioning. I scoffed; the audacity of this guy. "I was assigned by Eros with someone's help to connect two hearts together."  "And that someone is me?" Didn't take a genius to connect the dots. He wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t me. "Why am I involved in this? I mean, why me?"  "Yeah, the thing is, I'm assigned as your love angel. And the moment I knew that this was my punishment, I had an inkling that you will be involved."  I had my hand raised with my fists clenched ready to punch him. And he must have known this as he rushed what he said next. "I'm really sorry for bringing you into this! The task is simple, really. We just need to connect six hearts and you could pretty much return to normal. Well, normal for you humans. This is a common occurrence for us love angels."  There was only one thing that stayed in my mind. "What do you mean return to normal? What's going to happen to me?!"  "Let's go outside," he replied taking my hand. "Rather than explain, I'll just show it to you. Much easier that way." He said, winking. I, on the other hand, just had the urge to poke his eye.  We went outside the apartment I was renting and saw Mrs. Anderson. "Oh, lovely to see you, Keira. Going for a walk?"  I furrowed my eyebrows. "Um, yeah. I'll be back soon."  Once we were out of ear shot, I faced Gabriel. And yes, I decided to call him that. I mean, Gabriel was the first thing that popped in my mind when I heard the word angel so sue me. Besides, he liked it so win-win. "Why does she have this, this golden thread on her ring finger? And she doesn't see you! How was that possible?"  "I've been telling you! I'm a love angel. Your love angel. Which means that no one can see me except you. Unless I decide to show myself to other people. And we'll be discussing about the colours of strings a different time. Too much to cover." "Sweet baby dragons! Why do I see strings everywhere?" I exclaimed when we were outside.  "Those strings are connected to each person's ring finger. We'll just find those two people in which that string connects. Easy, huh?"  "Easy?" I said incredulously while he chuckled.  "Don't worry. Once we've accomplished our task, you wouldn't see those strings again."  "And that would be when?" "Have a little faith. We got this. And lucky you, you have me. Think of it as an opportunity to spend more time with me! A lot would want to be in your shoes."  Oh Lord, give me strength.