Angelic Destiny

Angelic Destiny

Blinking my eyes, I cleared the dried tears from my sleepy eyes and tried to focus my vision. The light from my window temporarily blinded me as I realized that I fell asleep. I let out an audible groan as I was also hit with all the memories from yesterday’s event with Anthony. I rolled over and pushed my face into my pillow, praying that sleep would claim me once again. My prayers came unanswered as I realized my attempts to fall asleep were futile. 

            Reaching out towards my night stand, I found my phone. I let my right eye peek out from my warm pillow to read my phone. I groaned again as I came to understand exactly why I would not be able to sleep. It was almost noon. For me, I slept in a crazy amount. I didn’t even eat dinner last night. It was the incident with Anthony and then me in my bed. I don’t even remember falling asleep. I was probably out of it so much because of all the travel and the emotional wringer I just went through. 

            I let myself just lay in bed for a couple more minutes, still processing everything that happened to me. I rolled onto my side to look out my window. I could see the small street below and hints of my college peeking out behind the tops of the buildings. People were milling around on the street looking for a Friday lunch. The thought of food put my stomach into a fit and forced me out of bed. 

            After making my way to my bathroom and washed my face. I tried to scrub off any dried tears and any remnants from the previous night. I didn’t want to think about Anthony anymore. I thought about him and cried about him enough last night. I knew I was going to have to give Macie a run down at some point, but I didn’t want to have to think about him until that phone call happened. 

            I looked in the mirror and saw that my hazel eyes still looked red and exhausted as if all my emotions drained them of life. I rubbed in some face lotion, trying to bring some color back into my face. 

            Giving up on my face, I noticed that my curly hair was now unruly. Since my hair is too short for a proper pony tail, I pulled it back to be half up. This allowed it to look somewhat better. 

            I changed into shorts and a comfortable t-shirt that said “Namaste” on the front in green letters. My stomach then rumbled, reminding me that I needed to eat. 

            I made my way to the kitchen, only to find the granola bars I brought back with me from Egypt for snacks on my flights. I sighed as I opened one; I was going to need to run to the store today. I filled myself a cup of water and sat down to finish my sad excuse for breakfast/lunch. 

            I mentally made a list of the things I needed to do today to finish settling in. The list and errands would take my mind off everything. I was going to first need to finish unpacking my bags, run to the grocery store, clean, and visit the nearby boutique store about resuming my old job. I had a month before school started and I needed to work in the meantime. Now I couldn’t wait for classes to resume; it would keep me busy and bring me closer to seeing Macie again. 

            Begrudgingly, I made my way back to my room where the remainder of my bags sat waiting for me to empty them. I emptied the contents onto my bed and began to fold and hang my clothes and return my belongings to their rightful place. When everything was put away, I felt a bit of relief knowing that I made my room my home again. My room was the way it was meant to be; I was home. I wasn’t here often, but it was nice to have a home base. It was a place in the world that reflected who I was. 

            My room was layered in earth tones. The bed spread was a washed green color with pillows that were pattered with vibrant . There was little on my walls, except for a dream catcher with a tree in the center hanging over my bed and a small cross above my desk. I loved the outdoors; as much as I loved being home, I never really mined being so close to nature on the dig sites. I felt more myself outside, as if I was closer to God. 

            Next to my bed was my brown yoga mat. I sat on it and tried to remember the last time I practiced. I made a mental note to add yoga to my list of things to do today. I would often get a little anxious and used yoga and meditation to relax. It also helps me just tune into everything around me. I get so busy at the dig sites that I don’t keep up with doing my yoga. Running my hand along the mat, I looked forward to ending my day on my mat. 

            I found my backpack on the ground next to me and dumped out its insides. My journal fell on the top of the pile and I threw it on my nightstand. Under where my journal fell, I found a bracelet. I smiled when I picked it up and ran my fingers over it. This was the bracelet I got for my neighbor across the hall, Mr. Josiah. He was a sweet old man that treated me like his granddaughter. I would always go over to his apartment when I was little and happened to be home. I think he enjoyed having me over since I didn’t have any siblings or a dad. I assume he felt bad for me or thought I was lonely. All I know is that I really loved this old man and I missed him.            

            The bracelet I got him had his last name engraved in Egyptian hieroglyphs on a piece of silver tied to two pieces of small hand-weaved rope. I laughed to myself remembering how he asked for a bracelet from Egypt to start looking more hip before I left. 

            I bounced to my feet with the bracelet. I quickly felt happier knowing I was on my way to see Mr. Josiah. I knew he would make me feel better. He never had a difficult time making me smile. 

            I made my way directly across the hall with his bracelet in hand. Eagerly, I knocked on his door. 

            To my surprise, a young version of Mr. Josiah opened the door. He was tall, maybe a couple inches over six feet tall. He looked down at my 5’7” with a small smile as he said, “Hi.” 

            His voice was smooth and warm. I had difficulty getting any words out. I have never been so taken by a man before. I have never minded men that much. I mean I’m attracted to men, I just never felt a connection to a man before, I barely felt one with Anthony. The only reason I gave Anthony a chance is because we were such close friends. But wow, this man stopped me in my tracks. This was a first for me. 

            “H-Hi,” I stuttered. “Um, is Mr. Josiah here?” I just managed to get my question out. I kind of hated and loved how this man was affecting me. It’s like every feature I found the most attractive was on this guy. He had a strong, angular jaw line that matched his other strong features. His face was softened by dimples and warm green eyes. He also had dark curly brown hair that looked incredibly soft. He was definitely not who I was expecting to answer the door. 

            “Uh, no. Sorry,” he said, “I’m his grandson though. Is there a message you would like me to give to him for you?”

            I didn’t know how to answer. I wanted desperately to keep talking to him. His voice was like honey to my ears. 

            “No. That’s ok. I just have a gift for him actually,” I replied softly. “I’m Analise, but most people just call me Ana,” I stated, hoping to know his name. 

            “I really like your name, Analise,” he said with a heart-warming smile that made me feel warms all the way to my toes. “I’m David. I just moved in here.” To my dismay, my heart beat with excitement knowing he was going to be living so close. 

            “Oh, you moved in with your grandpa?” I asked. 

            “No, he is moved closer to my parents. I took his old apartment so I could be closer to school.” He continued to smile at me, as if he was just as intrigued with me as much as I was with him. The thought made me very happy. 

            “Are you going to Liberty University?” I asked. 

            “Yes. I am a first-year med student this fall. Do you go to school there too?” He asked. I couldn’t help but notice a little bit of hope in his voice. 

            “Yeah! I’m going to be a junior this fall as a religion and ancient history major.” 

            “Double major, impressive. I’m glad that I will know someone at school now.” He looked so happy to know we attended the same school and I couldn’t help but beam at him. It was so strange how much I wanted to be around this guy. I don’t take to guys this easily. I don’t consider myself a lovesick girl, but maybe I am for this guy; I was having the worst day until this guy opened the door and smiled at me. Sounds lovesick to me. 

            “Yeah we will have to meet up some time,” I suggested hopefully. I couldn’t help want to get to know him, and at least be his friend. 

            “Well that shouldn’t be too difficult knowing that you live right across the hall,” he said as he gestured to my door. 

            “Oh, how did you know that was my door?”

            “Well, I think you are the girl my grandpa told me about. But I also saw you in the hall last night.” I paled when he said that. He was the guy that was walking down the hall last night when Anthony was here. I was automatically embarrassed when I knew he witnessed what happened. I began to back away. I didn’t want him to know me as some pathetic, cowardly girl. I didn’t want to see me as weak or someone that was unwanted. Suddenly, I just wanted to get away and curse Anthony for making me feel this way. I don’t like to be vulnerable and I definitely don’t want to appear that way. Everything felt out of control and I suddenly felt all the hurt and anguish from last night hit me all over again, and it all doubled knowing that it was going to ruin whatever David thought of me. I still didn’t know why I cared so much what he thought of me. 

            “Oh, I-I didn’t know you saw me,” I lied. “Um, I need to go.”

            “Wait, it’s ok. Why don’t you come in?” He seemed like he didn’t want to stop talking to me, but from the look in his eyes, I knew that he saw what happened. I could tell that he also felt bad for bringing it up. 

            “No, no. I need to go. Can you give this bracelet to your grandpa?” I held out my gift to him with my head down, not able to meet his eyes. 

            “Yes, of course.” He sounded a bit let down when I said that, but he reached out for the bracelet. 

            As he took the bracelet, our fingers touched. All of a sudden vision went black and my body was hit with some invisible energy that would have knocked me on my ass if David didn’t grip onto my hand to hold me or to hold himself upright too. 

            I felt this force ran through my veins and course through my body. It felt like warm electricity running all over my body; it made me tense up and grip David’s hand harder. The energy was like electricity that stretched from my fingertips to my toes. It was blindingly hot, but not painful. It made every fiber of my body feel charged with life. I suddenly felt the energy in my body settle in my chest and then a shocking release as it pulled me forward from the center of my body and reach out for David. I gasped at the intensity of what was happening. The invisible energy was pulling me forward as if it was searching for something. 

            My vision was still black but colors began to swirl at the edges and all I could see was David in the center. It was as if I was seeing him clearer because the background was taken away. There was this tether that was between us that was connecting us. Was this what I was feeling? The tether was iridescent and also colorful. The tether started in my chest and ended at David’s. I could also feel it pulling us together. The energy from the tether then travelled through my entire body again. It felt like electric heat in my blood stream. All of a sudden, I could feel his breathing and his heartbeat. It was as if this tether was connecting our entire bodies. I could barely register what has happening. The black background around David became colorful, with green being the predominant color. It moved around us and enveloped us in a soothing sensation, like I was in a warm bed, replacing the electric energy. I felt love, but not necessarily from David. The swirls of colors were mesmerizing, yet only made David more obvious to me. It was accentuating every beautiful thing about him. The colors seemed to elevate us and push us together. The green accents in the swirls seemed to outline wings behind David as he neared me in the vision. He looked like he was flying towards me. 

            Suddenly, the colors consumed my entire vision and there was a burning sensation on the top of my right hand that was not like the heat from earlier. I couldn’t move in response though; I was frozen in my spot. Then, just as suddenly, I hear my name whispered and everything stopped. I could see normally again, but David was still the focal point. 

            David was looked at me with a huge smile. His eyes looked glazed, probably in a similar way to the way mine looked, and he reached for my other hand. I gasped again, as I felt a slight heat the resembled the heat from just previously. 

            He flipped over my right hand to show glowing green letters. I looked down to see the letters DMJ in a beautiful green cursive.  This must have been what caused the burning sensation. He then turned his hand to show me similar glowing letters, but his were AJS. Those were my initials. I looked up at him in confusion. I still couldn’t explain what just happened. I had so many questions, but I remained silent. 

            He gathered my in his arms. I automatically felt all my tension dissipate. I barely registered that my response to his hug was strange. 

            He pulled away, and I noticed that I felt a bit more on edge in response. 

            “Analise, it’s you. You are my soulmate.” 

            I let out a shocked gasp and felt my eyes go wide as I realized he didn’t move his lips. I heard that in my mind. I didn’t even register that he said soulmate.