Soul Control

by C. Elizabeth

  That time, he stopped my heart.

  ~ * ~

  Sloppy’s was filling up fast, but we were in luck. Todd was there holding a booth for us.

  He smiled. “Hey.”

  Norma and Becky slid in beside him, making him scowl, and Angie and I scooted to the other side, with me sitting on the end.

  I reached over and slapped his arm.

  “Hey!” he yelped, rubbing it. “What was that for?”

  Wagging my finger at him. “You were supposed to come to church! You told Father you would.”

  Smirking, he said, “I had better things to do, like saving you a seat.”

  Ignoring mine and Todd’s interaction, Becky chirped, “Wasn’t the party a blast?”

  Todd moved in closer with a mischievous grin on his face. “Yeah, it was awesome. There was an endless supply of drinks and food, and even Mr. Braxton was there, chatting everyone up. He’s one cool guy and has the most amazing stories of places he’s been to.” He rolled his eyes. “Amazing!”

  “Okay, I get it. You’re in love with Mr. Braxton,” I teased.

  Angie flapped her hand in the air at him. “Oh that’s nothing, Saydi,” she giggled, tapping my arm. “Saydi...”

  “Spit it out!” I urged.

  “Job and I talked all night! He’s just as fascinating as his dad. He’s been to all these exotic places and the things he’s seen—wow!” With a sigh, she looked off in the distance.

  I waved my hand in front of her face. “Earth to Angie.”

  “Huh? Oh yeah, he even sent me flowers yesterday because he said he shouldn’t have let me drink so much.” She bounced up and down in her seat and clapped her hands really fast. “Eww! Isn’t it great?” She couldn’t contain her excitement. It made me smile.

  Becky was no different when she opened up. “Never mind that. Joshua is just as fabulous and held my hand, asking me about everything—what I wanted to do when I finished school, my family, my friends, everything!” She rotated her hands around to give effect. “He was interested in me and even walked me to the door...” Becky bounced up and down, too. “And he kissed me!” Her eyes were alight with stars. “He’s so wonderful!”

  It was great to see them so happy, but I had to have my fun. “Yeah, after Nathanael drove you home?”

  That silenced them. Evidently, my statement was enough to calm them down and have them fix on me.

  “How’d you know?” Norma asked.

  The memory made me smile. “I have my ways.”

  “Oh, Saydi Gardiner, you’re not telling,” Angie deduced, shaking her finger at me.

  Todd moved his hand in a quacking motion, rolling his eyes. It made me laugh.

  “Well, you’re next, Norma,” I said.

  “I met a boy and he’s very sweet.” She blushed with a small smile, then quickly, very quickly took a peep at Todd.

  Darting my eyes back and forth between them, I wondered. “That’s it? That’s all you have to tell me?”

  Todd seemed to cower into the corner, looking a little frightened. Norma smiled and nodded. Something was amiss over there and I was going to find out exactly what at some point.

  “So, none of you saw Nathanael at the party?” I asked, trying to be reserved.

  Norma and Becky shook their heads. Todd looked surprised.

  Angie spoke up. “I did for a split second. He said ‘hi’ then excused himself.” The words ‘excused himself’ was not Angie’s kind of terminology and it sounded funny coming from her.

  “Are you double-checking on my story again?”

  It was my turn to blush, because it seemed to be the norm when he was around—my face heated up as I slowly turned. Nathanael, Job and Joshua towered over us. Again my mouth detached from my brain, which at that point had completely shut down. There were no words.

  Nathanael chuckled. “I’m going to take that as a yes.” He bowed slightly. “Miss Saydi, how are you today?”

  They had changed their clothes. Nathanael was wearing jeans with a long sleeve blue t-shirt, and still looked gorgeous. My mouth was open; I could feel it. Brain, work the lips. “Fine.”

  His attention went elsewhere, probably giving me time to adjust to his presence. “Angie, Becky, Norma, nice to see you have recovered. You’re all looking beautiful.” They giggled like school girls.

  Then he reached across the table in front of us. “Todd, nice to see you recovered as well.” Todd took his hand and shook it, but you could tell he was indignant.

  Job and Joshua followed suit with their greetings, all three leaving in their wake three drooling girls.

  “Hey, would it be all right if we joined you?” one of his brothers asked. I didn’t have a clue which one it was, but was pretty sure we all nodded at once, with the exception of Todd.

  “Awesome!” the other one said.

  They pulled the last table for two over and butted it up against ours, then grabbed the chairs. One of them stood over me and ran his fingers through his hair, acting a bit nervous.

  “Saydi, would it be all right if Angie sat with me on this side? It’ll be tight, but I’m sure we’ll manage.” Job smiled, and the only way I knew it was Job was because he asked for Angie. Before I could respond in any way, she shoved hard against me.

  Lunging forward, I laughed. “Apparently, I have no choice.”

  Nathanael gently took my arm while I rose. Job took Angie’s hand, helping her out. Then Nathanael held his hand out, gesturing for me to slide back in. “May I?” he asked, pointing to the empty space.

  Yes, yes, and yes! “Sure.”

  “Thank you.”

  Joshua sat beside Becky.

  Becky, Norma and Angie gaped at me and Nathanael. Todd sneered and huffed.

  “Thanks for letting us sit with you. We were concerned we’d have to sit with Segra and her troupe.” Joshua smiled, putting his hand on Becky’s knee. You could almost see her take off for the sky.

  “Not all of us let you,” Todd grumbled, directing it at Nathanael.

  I chucked a dirty look his way.

  And without missing a beat, Job quipped back, “Yes, that’s unfortunate, but majority rules.”

  Yay, Job! I felt like sticking my tongue out at Todd in victory. He beat me to it, flicking his tongue out and wrinkling his nose menacingly.

  Ignoring mine and Todd’s little exchange, Nathanael shook his head, chuckling. “We almost got ambushed. They just about caught us at the doors. Good thing Job saw them. We were able to slink away without being rude.”

  “I take it you don’t like them,” Norma assumed.

  Joshua shrugged. “It’s not that we don’t like them, we just don’t know them that well. However, having said that, from the amount of rumors that fly around about them, they’re not the type we would want to associate with...” He gazed at Becky “Romantically.”

  Oh! I thought for sure her head was going to pop off.

  Nathanael draped his arm on the back of my seat and reached over. “Excuse me,” he said. His cheek almost grazed my chin as he plucked the menus from the holder at the back of the table. He kept one and passed three over to the rest, then sat back and opened his up. There was a whimsical amusement on his red face.

  “Well, what’s good?” he asked casually.

  “You not being here!” Todd spat.

  Eww! I could have throttled him. Instead, I kicked him.

  He jumped. “Ouch!”

  Nathanael turned a page slowly, and not looking up, said sweetly, “Now Mr. Lethars, is that any way to act in front of ladies?”

  Todd glared at him. “You keep calling them ladies. They’re girls!”

  “Well, I guess that’s the difference...” Nathanael looked right in Todd’s eyes without blinking. “Between boys and men.” Then he turned to me. “Have you ordered yet?”

  Yay, Nathanael! I shook my head.

  “How about you, Angie?” Job asked her.

  “No,” she breathed.

  He stroked his finger down
her cheek. “Well, we’ll just have to take care of that, won’t we?”

  “Mm-hm.”

  Todd huffed and crossed his arms.

  “I’m going to assume you haven’t ordered, either?” Joshua asked Becky.

  She shook her head.

  “So, what’s good?” Job looked around the table for an answer.

  “We usually get the chicken burger or split a pizza,” Angie offered.

  Nathanael smiled at me. “What do you feel like having?”

  Shrugging, the thought of eating anything was repulsive only because I could visualize pizza all over my face, toppings falling in my lap, and talking to him with a piece of something in my teeth. I struggled to think of something that wasn’t messy, but everything was!

  Michelle, the waitress, hovered. “You guys ready?” She smiled only at Nathanael.

  “Yes, please!” Todd rolled his eyes. “I’ll have fries and gravy.”

  The others ordered chicken burgers and pizza, while my mind worked overtime trying to figure it out.

  “Is it okay if I take the liberty of ordering for us?” Nathanael asked.

  “Okay.” Please, please nothing messy, please!

  “Oh, this is sickening!” Todd shot out.

  Job gave him a warning. “Be careful, Todd.”

  Nathanael ignored him. “I’ll have the bacon cheeseburger, gravy on the fries, and our little Miss Saydi here will have a garden salad with chicken strips on the side.” He turned to me. “Is that okay?”

  Nodding, I mumbled, “Mm-hm.” He chose perfectly, a salad and chicken strips weren’t messy, and it was like he was reading my mind.

  “Cheap ass!” Todd muttered under his breath.

  The girls stifled a giggle. Joshua and Job slammed down their menus and scowled at him.

  I opened my mouth to say something to stop the brawl that was festering, but Nathanael put his hand on my knee and with a small shake of his head, said, “Todd, it’s not that I’m a cheap ass.” He paused, sat forward and laced his fingers together resting them on the top of the table. “I would order the whole menu if it was what Saydi wanted...”

  Again with the darn burning of the cheeks! Angie, Norma and Becky had big eyes, mouths open, hanging on his every word.

  “However, it has come from experience to know that when a lady is having a meal, with a man for the first time, chances are they don’t want to eat at all, and especially not anything messy.”

  All us girls glanced at each other with big eyes. My smile couldn’t be slapped off my face.

  “So, in my opinion it’s much better to order something they’d like, so they’ll enjoy a meal with you, rather than be a nervous wreck through the whole thing. It’s all about them being comfortable, don’t you think?”

  Norma reached out and swatted Todd. “Yeah, what he said.”

  We all laughed, except Todd.

  “Saydi, did you get a chance to read any of Father’s book?” Job asked.

  It astounded me he knew, or maybe it was the fact he was even interested. “I started the first chapter, but fell asleep.” The dream gave me a shiver inside and again, as if he knew what I was thinking, Nathanael wrapped his arm around me and rubbed the top of my arm.

  Joshua’s eyes lit up. “What do you think so far? That book is so cool.”

  Job and Joshua didn’t strike me as readers. “It definitely had my attention, but I was just too exhausted.” I shot a glance at Nathanael; he seemed to be listening to my every word.

  “What book?” Angie asked Job. Then she moved in closer and looked at me. “Job’s dad gave you a book?”

  “No, he just loaned it to me. Actually, I’m quite excited to read it. Tonight the book and I have a date,” I declared.

  Nathanael sighed heavily and hung his head low. “I’ve been ousted by a book.”

  “No, you haven’t.” How needy can you be? I hung down my perpetual hot face.

  A finger found my chin and brought it up to his eyes. “Boy, we really do have to work on that.”

  Before I could respond, he gently touched his lips to mine. A loud groan came from the far corner of the booth, and if I weren’t so wrapped up in the sweet breath so close to mine, I’d have kicked Todd again.

  Over our meals we discussed the book, not that any of the triplets revealed anything. We just talked about how it made them feel and then it got all of us into a big discussion about the pros and cons of both good and evil. It was an excellent conversation and quite the debate.

  Twelve

  When we left Sloppy’s, Todd pouted when Nathanael asked if he could drive me home, which left Norma with him. It would do him good to get to know her. She’d had a crush on him for years and something told me he made her think she was going to be part of his life at that amazing party.

  It was time to have a chat with Toddy boy.

  As we pulled out of the parking lot, Job was helping Angie into his car and Joshua was doing the same with Becky in his car. My girls were going to burst. It made me smile.

  “Are you full?” Nathanael asked.

  “Yes, thank you for lunch.”

  He wrapped his warm fingers around my hand, sending tingles to my tummy. “You’re welcome. Is this okay?” he asked, lifting them again.

  Yes! Yes! I nodded.

  Kissing it, he smiled. “Good.”

  ~ * ~

  ...My teardrop crystal was gripped in my hand, the ocean still lay dark...

  “Take it with you,” the waves sang.

  ~ * ~

  “Saydi?”

  “Huh!”

  “Is everything all right?”

  “Sorry, yeah.”

  “Are you sure? You looked a little lost.”

  “Yeah, just thinking too hard, I guess.”

  “It’s worrisome seeing you so far away.”

  He’s so wonderful! “Sorry.”

  Though he seemed to be fooling around, something in his eyes told me different. “I only say that because...” he took a peek at me. “I think maybe you’re daydreaming about some other guy.”

  “No!” Oh, that didn’t come out too fast. Stupid!

  He smiled. “Where is it that you go? That is, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  There was no way I was going to say anything about my over active imagination that took me off to some unknown place. He would definitely think me a loon. “Nowhere in particular. I’m just thinking about how quickly things can change.”

  He raised one eyebrow. “Oh?” Then he let a little crooked smile out and started to dig for information. “For worse or better?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know yet, still scoping out the territory.”

  “Oh-ho-ho!” He laughed. “I do believe I was just slammed.”

  “Maybe,” I giggled.

  Nodding quickly, he bantered, “Okay, okay, I got this. You just got yourself a little contest going, Missy.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “You think so? You haven’t got a chance.”

  Kissing my hand, he eyed me. “Prepare to meet your doom. Mwaa-ha-ha-ha.”

  That attempt at being sinister made me burst out laughing.

  Shaking his head, he asked, “Oh that was bad, wasn’t it?”

  “Yup.”

  He threw his hand up to his heart and theatrically rested his head on the back of his seat. “Please...Please, don’t sugar-coat it. Tell me the honest truth!”

  “Oh, stop it!”

  He chuckled, snatching my hand back up into his.

  We were silent for a few minutes, until something occurred to me. “You never did tell me where you work.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah really.”

  “Hmm. I work in the oil industry. Father is high up in the ranks. I’m the mere peon learning the ropes.”

  “There certainly aren’t any jobs in this town like that. You must commute to the city.”

  “Mm-hm.”

  “Why? Why would you want to drive an hour both ways every day? Why would
n’t you just move to the city, instead of this one horse town?”

  He glanced out his window and shrugged. “Father simply liked the house and town.”

  The reaction was a little strange just from the way he said it. It was almost sad and there was definitely more to it. “Do Job and Joshua work with you, too?”

  Whatever touched him the second before was cleared away, and his mood lightened. “No, they’re glorified bums. They’ll help once in a while when they need cash, but otherwise, they don’t do too much.”

  “Oh...I’m sorry about Todd today.” I had no idea where it came from, but it was something that needed to be said.

  He grunted. “You don’t have to apologize for him.”

  “Well, I think I do. He is my friend and he wasn’t very nice...in more ways than one.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I think Todd did something at your party with Norma, and if he did, I’m going to kill him. Norma’s had a crush on him for years, and if he took advantage of that, I’ll kill him.”

  “As for the Norma thing, I’ll see what I can find out. But I’m not sure I’ll tell you...I don’t think you would look good in prison garb,” he kidded and without giving me a chance to react, it changed to being serious. “Now back to Todd and you.”

  “There is no Todd and me!” The words burst out, inducing immediate regret for how defensive it sounded.

  There was nothing about him to indicate he noticed. “Nonetheless, Saydi. I don’t blame him for the way he acted today.”

  “Why not? I sure do. He was being a baby.”

  Licking his lips, he explained, “First of all, he’s had you all to himself for years and he’s madly in love with you, everyone can see that. Then some new guy comes along and takes you away.” He smirked. “At least that’s what I hope is happening.”

  It was getting to the point, and possibly already too late, not to fall for him. With every word he spoke, it was virtually impossible to resist the ease with which he managed to sneak into my heart. “It is,” I casually admitted.

  There was a shy smirk on his part. “Good. Anyway, I’m waiting for him to call me out back.”