Angel Love

Chapter 4 - The Encounter

After Maree cleaned up the kitchen and put away the leftover food, she comes out to the living room to say goodbye. Celeste and Adam are sitting on the couch talking and laughing. She realizes how much they look like each other. Their eyes have the same capturing effect, and their smile has the similar brightness.

Watching them makes her wonder if she has a grandmother somewhere who is as warm and loving as Celeste. Or if her father somehow still exists in this world. She suddenly longs for a family, something she never thought of all her life.

She wipes the tears running down her cheeks and pushes back her surprising emotions.

"Maree," Celeste calls out to her when she notices the young lady standing by the dining area. "Come and have tea with us."

Maree walks over to them with a wide smile on her face.

"Actually, I think I will go home," she says.

"You don't need to leave too soon," Adam injects.

"It's okay, I want you guys to catch up." Maree looks over at Celeste who looks disappointed by her sudden decision to leave. "But I'll be come by tomorrow after work." She planned to take extra hours at Macy's because it gets busy after Christmas due to people returning or exchanging gifts they don't want. But she hates breaking her promise to Celeste, so she will have to make up for today.

"Well, how about I take you both out to dinner tomorrow night?" Adam suggests enthusiastically. This brightens up Celeste's expression.

"That's a splendid idea," the old lady adds eagerly. "I'm due for a night out."

"Sounds like a plan," Maree gladly agrees. "Oh, before I forget."

She runs to the undecorated tree and picks up a small, wrapped box from the floor and runs back to Celeste.

"This is for you." She hands her the box nervously, glancing over to Adam who is watching them intently. "Merry Christmas," she adds.

"Oh, you didn't have to my dear." Celeste takes the box and looks up to Maree. "Thank you so much. Can I open it?"

Maree nods. "It's not much, but I hope you like it." She watches Celeste, trying not to fidget too much.

Celeste opens the box and takes out a Jade bracelet with a brass spacer in between the beads, tied by an elastic nylon.

"This is amazing!" Celeste gasps and examines the gift closer. "I hope you didn't spend so much on this," she says worriedly. She knows Maree's financial situation and though she loves the beautiful bracelet, she will feel bad if it dents her pocket.

"Oh, don't worry. I didn't buy it," she assures her. "I made it. I found the beads in a flea market and thought it would be nice to make you a gift out of it."

"My goodness! That makes this even more special."

"I'm glad you like it."

"You have a talent," Adam adds, grateful for this young woman who shows affection to his grandmother.

"Thank you," Maree responds shyly.

"I didn't know you make jewelries," Celeste adds as she put the bracelet on her left wrist, admiring it.

"I don't really make a lot." She can' afford the tools and materials to start a hobby.

"Well, you should and sell them," Adam suggest confidently.

Unlike most of the time she is in the elevator, she feels lighthearted and delighted. This must be what Christmas feels like, she tells herself. It gives her so much joy to make her employer happy. She walks out of the building wondering what she can do for the day. Her catering jobs are both cancelled, and she's too full to get her traditional quarter pounder meal. The library she goes to when she has some free time is closed for the holidays. And she has no money to watch a movie or something.

Oh well, maybe going home to her studio apartment isn't a bad idea, she tells herself smiling.

This year, the winter is more brutal than the past year. Making climate change more real than some people on TV try to make it. Maree opens her purse to fish out her trusty scarf. But her scarf is not there.

"Stupid," she whispers to herself. Then she stops on her track and takes out a red envelope with her name written on it.

She steps on the side of the sidewalk before people bump on her. Inside the envelope is a simple Christmas card. Celeste must have slipped it in her bag when she was in the kitchen this morning. She opens the card, and there's money inside. A lot of money, at least for Maree.

She hates charity because in her experience, charity comes with a bigger price. Last year, Celeste also tried to give her money for Christmas and she returned it. Her first instinct is to go back to the condominium and give her the money. Two thousand dollars is too much for a gift.

Then she reads Celeste elegant handwriting:

"My Dear Maree, Don't even think of returning this money to me. I want you to know that you have given me more than I can give you. Treat yourself to something nice because you deserve it. Merry Christmas. Love Celeste."

An argument starts in her mind and in the end, she decides to trust Celeste's good heart. Tears gathers in her eyes and she wipes it before they fall.

"Thank you," she whispers, looking up to the sky.

She doesn't pray, not sure she knows how to. But a part of her draws her to the heaven at that very moment as if it's part of her all this time.

Securing the money back to her purse, she walks again as she makes plans in her mind how to spend her Christmas Day for the first time in twenty-five years.

Maree only buys clothes from thrift stores and everything she owns were owned by at least one person before her. Maybe it's not too much to get a new pair of jeans and boots, then a couple of blouses. She also wants to get groceries to last her longer than a couple of weeks. And the rest of the money, she will start the savings account she's been wanting to do for years.

Her mind must be wandering, and she's not paying attention to where she's going. When she realizes it, Maree finds herself in an alley between a bookstore for vintage books and a whiskey lounge. Both establishments are closed. She's ready to turn around and go back to main street, but she hears someone groaning. There's no one there that she can see, and yet the unmistakable agony keeps going.

"Hello?" she asks, looking behind her to see if someone sees her. People, as always, are oblivious to her business.

"Here," a voice answers. It's coming from behind the tiny door by the concrete wall.

Maree steps closer to the door nervously, praying silently that there is not a robber behind pretending to be wounded. She can turn around and pretend she heard nothing, no one will know, she tells herself. But what if the person does need help? How can she live with herself?

"I'm going to open the door," she says, almost sounding pleadingly.

Slowly, she pushes the door and steps into the dark room. Giving herself time to adjust to the absence of light, Maree tries to make out of her surroundings.

Finally, her eyes land on a form of a man on the ground. She kneels down beside him quickly trying to assess what she's looking at. The man is very tall and bulky, what could have happened to him to bring him in this situation?

"Help me." His pain is evident in his voice.

Maree takes her phone out of her purse and turns on the flashlight. The man is severely wounded and Maree's mind is racing, trying to figure out how to get him out of there.

"What can I do?" she asks frustratingly.

"Help me up," he answers weakly.

Maree takes his arm and put it around her shoulders. He struggles to get his footing, but eventually he stands up. They stay there for a moment and Maree can hear his heavy breathing.

"I need to get home."

"Show me the way."

They finally emerge to the street and starts walking towards the direction when Maree came from. She looks up to him to see his face, and to her surprise, it's the man from the elevator the night before.

"I know you!" she says.

He doesn't answer, but Maree can see the concentration on his face. She doesn't see the wounds she saw in the alley and there's no speck of blood either. But the suffering on his face says it all.

Maree looks around them, and it seems no one is paying them attention. And she finds it odd, but says nothing.

After a tedious walk, they finally reach the building and go straight to the elevator. Thankfully, the lobby is empty. Maree is uncertain how to explain the situation to anyone.

The man presses the top floor, and they relax a little after the elevator closed.

"Thank you for helping me, Maree," he says at last.

Maree stares at him in surprise, unable to say anything. How does he know her name?

But more than the surprise of her name, she is in shock of what she's seeing.

The wounds on his face and his body are now visible to her again and the blood on him is a mixture of black and gold.

What the heck is he?