Inevitable, page 4
Just then Nathan’s cell phone started ringing, and the two of them shared a look of mutual irritation at the unexpected interruption.
“Go ahead and get it,” Sasha consented, taking a deep breath. Nathan dug into his pocket and started inspecting his phone. A pale blue light from the screen caught his face as his eyebrows rose in excitement. Snapping it closed, he returned to Sasha full of lighthearted amusement.
“You’ll never guess what that was! I just got an email from my college stating they’ve accepted my application for deferment. I’m all set to go right back to school in a year. Can you believe it? Future saved!” he mused.
But Sasha did not seem at all pleased by this turn of events. As he glanced at the menu, still hoping to salvage a decent night out, Sasha looked as though the deer she’d been trying to mercy kill had just bitten her arm.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” she said in disbelief. Her reason for the break-up had been torn to shreds. It wasn’t the real reason why she needed to dump him though, and now she had no choice but to tell him the truth. A grim snarl marred her face as she steeled herself for the last act of her grisly struggle.
“It just goes to show that sometimes things turn out better than you expect,” Nathan smiled optimistically, reaching for a menu.
“Put it down,” she winced. “That’s not the only thing we have to talk about. I have to break up with you. I’m trying to be nice here and it’s the only fair thing to do.”
“What exactly is the problem then?” Nathan threw up his hands, his brow scrunched low over his eyes in concern.
“Since going off to college, I’ve actually been spending a lot of time talking to your friend Mark. It started off as just random chatting and jokes but then…”
“Whoa, what?” he cringed, pale as a ghost.
“We discovered we had feelings for each other. It’s not like we’ve done anything yet, because you and I were still together, but…”
“Ok, please just stop!” Nathan ordered, his temper rising. He couldn’t imagine suffering from a worse act of cruelty than this. Not only was she going behind his back to seduce his best friend, she’d come in here and fed him some garbage about not having a future as an excuse to break it off. It was despicable, heartless, and low, and for once he finally saw her for what she was, a manipulative, cold-hearted bitch.
“Cammie was right.” Nathan shook his head, chuckling even at the absurdity of it all. They say that true love is blind, but it turns out that false love is blind too, and that’s what had prevented him from seeing the truth.
“Don’t even bring your sister into this,” Sasha sniped, completely repulsed.
“What could you possibly say against her? It turns out she was the one who always had my back, while you were busy just trying to go behind it!” he accused, raising his voice.
Enflamed, Sasha had something akin to fire in her eyes. No, it wasn’t fire. It was more like hatred.
“I hate to say this, but your sister isn’t all she’s cracked up to be. She may be smart, but she’s got the social graces of an autistic. If I were her mother, I would’ve forced her to put down the books once in a while and try to have a life. The only…”
“Don’t you say another word!” Nathan demanded, incensed. Some people had noticed their fight, but he didn’t care. As bad as what she’d done to him was, hearing her talk about Cammie and bring up his mother seemed even worse. Those were things he could not tolerate.
“Lower your voice and stop acting like a child!” she leaned forward over the table and hissed through her teeth.
“Why not, when that’s all you’ve ever treated me like!” he raved. “Cammie was right from the beginning. You don’t care about anyone but yourself, and that’s why you’ve always found ways to needle me and act condescending. I put up with it because there were times when you were sweet and thoughtful, but now I see how few and far between they were. Since Mark’s just as self-absorbed and merciless as you are, you’ll both get the unhappiness you deserve!”
Throwing down his napkin, Nathan got up and stormed out of the restaurant, leaving Sasha behind and hoping to never see her again. Emerging onto the sidewalk, he felt the brisk air brush against him, and he turned for the parking lot. It was nearly dark, and the lights from cars and buildings cast a soft glow over the area. His truck sat right beside him in the parking lot, but he just kept right on walking.
He had to get away from what just happened, had to escape because once it sunk in it would just be too painful. The betrayal, the selfishness, and his own lack of understanding were crushing him.
Nathan was a guy who didn’t want things to be complicated, didn’t want to play games. He’d tell you how he felt and you could trust that it was the truth. There wouldn’t be any revelations later that it had been some kind of phony setup. He didn’t understand why other people didn’t want to behave the same way. It just made life easier.
Striding across the street and into a park, his hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans, the bitterness and the resentment started to take hold of him. An entire year of his life had been flushed down the toilet with Sasha, and in his mind he somehow started to connect her to the recent downward spiral his life had taken recently.
Maybe if she’d actually been supportive he would’ve been able to find a better job. Maybe he wouldn’t feel like things were constantly going over his head if she hadn’t kept so much from him. Most of all, maybe he wouldn’t be left feeling abandoned and worthless if she had cared.
Hanging lamps illuminated a path covered in fallen leaves leading through the park. He wanted to be alone because then no one could see his pain, but at the same time he desired the kind of close contact that would make him forget about what had befallen him. No one else was around, and Nathan’s pace slackened into a sulking stroll as he approached the park’s beautiful pond.
Between reflecting lights from buildings in the distance, and the glimmer of stars and the moon above, a light glow illuminated the pond. Nathan had so many thoughts and emotions to sort through that he feared he’d never be able to take control of them again, but he could still appreciate the calming beauty of this place.
Coming to a stop, he turned at the water’s edge and watched the reflection ripple on the surface. A soft October breeze pushed through the trees, sending a few more leaves down around him. His striking, yearning brown eyes searched the water for something to guide him, and his receptive expression, a trial of hope, was just what I’d been waiting for.
To impress a man, the most important factor is patience. It’s the timing that determines whether a sweet gesture gets thrown into a pile of half-neglected joys or shoots straight to the heart and resonates in his very core. Too much happiness, too much affection, and too much attention diminishes them all, making them indistinguishable.
No, it’s when that last semblance of satisfaction has vanished and gloom has taken over completely that a single ray of sunshine can seem like earth-shattering good fortune. That’s why I’ve been waiting for when Nathan was at his darkest.
At that moment, as he was staring blankly out at the water, something small dropped into the pond from the sky. It fell very fast and hit the surface with such force that it sent waves in all directions. A splash leapt into the air like an arm reaching from underneath and kept building into an entrancing and intriguing shape.
As the splash kicked into the air, hanging there and branching out, Nathan could’ve sworn it took the shape of a woman. She had her arms out as if she were dancing, her endearing face as clear as the water that composed her.
I can’t tell you what the odds of this happening are because the odds don’t matter to me. If I decide something will occur, it has a one-hundred-percent chance of happening. It took eons for that meteorite to sail toward Earth, burn up in the atmosphere until it was just a speck, and then plunk into the pond like a pebble. But to me, in my home outside of time, it all happened simultaneously.
For all the waves I made when I formed this figure springing up from of the pond, it sent bigger ripples into Nathan’s heart. It was my hope that he would catch a glimpse of something altogether entrancing and stunning that waited for him.
Even if he couldn’t understand it, I wanted him to know I was coming.
Chapter 4
Just to make it clear, I don’t like to get directly involved in human affairs unless I have to. Being in a body is so constricting, so limiting. It’s like wearing a mask that never lets you breath quite right. And of course there are all those strange sensations and feelings I’m not used to. I much prefer the vast space time affords me to stretch out.
But I make exceptions, and, as I said, Nathan is a very special and deserving case. It’s all part of my job to maintain order and fairness in the universe, even though most of the time things spiral out of control and I have to just chalk it all up to fate. In case you’re wondering, I can already tell that this is going to cause a disaster too. But then again we knew it was going to end in disaster from the beginning, and all that’s left is to find out if this one is better or worse.
Nathan cried that night over his separation from Sasha, though he kept it under wraps as best he could. Cammie was far too kind to say she’d told him so, and he went right up to his room without a word. Somewhere in his mind, he was still confused about what he’d seen in the pond before gravity pulled it back down to nothingness, but he would find out soon enough. He hated being so emotional and vulnerable, especially when he used to be known for his unflappable high spirits.
Only one day remained before the workweek would begin again, and that would be five days of having Sasha grinding away at his soul while he did his grueling work at the cement factory. That meant I had just one day to turn things around, and I had the perfect plan in mind.
Nathan was downtown running errands for his grandmother. Walking down the street, he was looking for a drug store that could fill Gladys’s prescription for sleeping pills. As he strolled along the sidewalk past trees and brush surrounding a government building, his sculpted arms swaying at his side and his messy brown hair drifting adorably over his forehead, he looked deep in thought. I needed something provocative to get his attention, and it’s a good thing it was a pretty warm day otherwise appearing naked in public would’ve been a big problem.
Leaning out from behind a tree, a building at my back, I stuck my head through the bushes to beckon the dashing young man walking by.
“Excuse me! Excuse me!” I said, and Nathan started to look around as though a fly were accosting him. “Over here!”
Finally catching sight of me, he gestured to himself to make sure I was really talking to him. Perhaps it was my looks or maybe it was just surprise at seeing someone hiding in the bushes, but the cutest expression of curiosity struck him. He crept forward, his eyes widening when he caught sight of my bare shoulder.
“Are you naked?” he gasped, his mouth hanging open.
“Yes, and I need your help!”
His eyebrows scrunched up, and I could see him puzzling to make sense of the situation. He was in something of a trance, and if I had my way he’d keep his eyes fixed on me like that for the rest of the day.
“What, are your friends playing a prank on you or something?” he guessed.
“Sure. That works,” I nodded, happy to go along with whatever explanation he liked. “My terrible friends stripped off my clothes and left me stranded here. I just need you to do something for me, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Wow,” he gawked. “Are you pledging for a sorority? I’ve heard about them doing stuff like this. Maybe you should rethink if you really want to join.”
Clutching the wooden tree, I prepared to make my proposal and hoped he would go along with it. Because if there’s one thing I can’t do, it’s make decisions for people, and so this first sign of agreement would be crucial. If he says no, I’ll have a hard time ever becoming anything meaningful to him. I just have to trust that he’s still the good person he will be someday.
“I’ll definitely rethink whether or not I want to join, but first I have to stop being naked so I can come out and thank you properly. Here’s what I need you to do. Turn around and walk into the back alley you just passed. When you get to the second door on the left, a woman will emerge carrying a bag of clothes she’s about to throw away. Get them from her and bring them to me,” I explained, watching him and holding my breath for his response.
He peered at me carefully and scratched his neck. I tried to remain confident and look back into his deep brown eyes, but a strange tingle shot through my spine and I started to blink. Before I could regain control of my stupid body, he was laughing openly, a hand over his face.
“You must think I’m the biggest sucker ever! Is this how you’re scamming people now? What’s going to happen when I go into the back alley, two guys with clubs are going to give me a warm welcome?”
“No, I’m serious. You have to trust me,” I said, a little desperation creeping into my voice. “You have to hurry or you’ll miss it.”
Even though he didn’t trust me, and he’d flat out pegged my plea as a scam, he didn’t leave. As my body did things I didn’t want it to, like get watery in the eyes, he kept watching me, and I wasn’t going anywhere.
“If this is how people are getting mugged these days, it’s going to work every time,” he grumbled, scratching the back of his head as he shook it. “ I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
Sighing, he turned around and prepared to follow my directions. I can’t tell you how relieved I was.
“Thank you so much! I promise nothing bad will happen. Hurry!”
“Yeah, yeah,” he griped, starting off. Peeking around the corner into the narrow alley, all he saw were garbage cans and trash here and there. Not a person existed between where he stood and the street on the opposite side. Casting a quick glance back in my direction, though I was safely out of sight, he cringed and ducked into the alley. The buildings weren’t even, and so he checked into every crevice as he avoided small puddles on the way to the second door on the left.
Reaching it, he stared at the plain gray door which had a dumpster beside it. Taking a deep breath, exhaling, and waiting, he looked around nervously.
“Ok. I’m here. You can jump me now,” he goaded the door.
It burst open a second later, revealing a thin black-haired woman with her hair done up. She had a garbage bag in her hand and she was halfway through swinging it into the dumpster when she realized Nathan stood right before her.
“Whoa, what are you doing?” She jumped, recoiling into the doorway. Nathan couldn’t believe what was happening, and he just stared blankly, deeply perturbed.
“Are those clothes?” he stammered at last.
“Just take them!” the woman said, dropping the bag and scampering back inside. I just thought he would get them out of the trash, but this worked too, even if it left one woman frightened for her life. Do you see how easily things spiral out of control?
When Nathan returned to me, he had a dumbstruck look on his face. He plodded slowly, carrying the garbage bag in his right hand and letting it brush against his leg. I was still by the tree and the bushes, trying to make sure no one else saw me.
“I have the clothes,” he said simply, still in awe.
“Thank you so much! That’s so sweet of you. Here, hand them over.”
My face against the bark, I reached out through the bushes and felt the slick plastic bag in my hand. Ducking behind the tree, I started to get dressed. Grappling with what happened, Nathan just stood on the sidewalk while other people walked by.
“That woman didn’t know I was coming. She was just going to throw out her clothes. But you knew she was going to do that. Do you know her?” he asked.
“No,” I answered.
“Then how did you know she was going to do that?” he wondered as I emerged from the brush. I had on a cute pair of blue jeans and a plaid button up shirt. The only thing keeping me from looking like an authentic cowgirl was that the bag had sandals in it instead of boots. “And how did you know the clothes would fit?”
“Lucky guess. Sometimes you just have to leave it up to fate and trust it’ll lead you in the right direction. Am I right?” I smiled at him, stepping onto the sidewalk. He caught sight of me for the first time in my entirety, and in the nearby window of a hardware store I was able to glimpse myself for the first time too. I had golden blonde hair that tickled between my shoulder blades, blue eyes promising of infinity, and the kind of soft complexion that Nathan couldn’t seem to take his eyes away from.
I suddenly got this feeling from him looking at me that made my heart beat faster. I couldn’t explain what it was exactly, something magnetic that drew us together, and soon I was looking back into his eyes, wondering what exactly was behind them. I was the variable meant to make his life better before he selflessly gave it up, and now I would have to live up to promise.
“I want to thank you for trusting me. Most people probably wouldn’t have,” I said shyly, brushing the hair out of my eyes.
“It’s not a problem. I think most people wouldn’t have a problem helping you,” he added.
“Is that so?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Of course. By the way, I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you before. I’m Nathan,” he said, holding out his hand. “What’s your name?”
“My name? That’s a good question.” I hesitated while holding his strong hand and feeling his grip. What was the name of this girl I saw reflected in the hardware store window? She had a poster right next to her that must’ve been made by hand because it had an obvious spelling error on it. Then it all made sense.
“Apoxy. My name’s Apoxy,” I told him, and he gave me another curious glance. “It’s British.”
“Are your parents from Britain?” he asked.
“No, but they loved the Beatles,” I explained.
Right at that moment, a bus pulled up behind us and a few people started getting off. I casually drifted closer to the bus, tugging his eyes along with me as though they were attached by a string.
