by S. J. West
Fine. But you should know that I am pouting right now. My bottom lip is out and everything.
Stop.
You started it…
And now I’m stopping it. I don’t need to sit in my mother’s kitchen and feel this way. Good night, Mr. Collier. I wish you the sweetest of dreams.
As you wish. And don’t worry. I will have the sweetest dreams… about you… in your bed….underneath me…
Incorrigible…
Yes…very…but you love it.
I love you
And I love you. Good night.
I sigh and place my phone back in my pocket. When I look up, I see Mama Lynn and Faison staring at me.
“What?” I ask.
Mama Lynn just smiles. “Nothing. I just like seeing you happy. Now come on. Let’s play Jenga!”
I groan as Faison pulls me to the living room.
As I sit around the coffee table, a nervous wreck due to playing Mama Lynn’s favorite game, I can’t think about anything except what Mason might be planning for us. I pray the night passes quickly because all I really want is for it to be the next day and in the arms of the man I love.
When I go to bed that evening, I hear a noise outside my window. I hurry over to see if it’s Mason trying to climb through my window. I feel completely disappointed when I see John Austin climbing the tree and leaping over into Faison’s window. I just smile and shake my head, knowing this probably isn’t the first time he’s made a midnight visit to my sister.
I grab my phone and text Mason.
I miss you…
I miss you too…get some sleep… I will see you tomorrow…
I crawl under my comforter and sigh knowing it’s going to be a long sleepless night.
Chapter 19
The next morning I slip out early intent on taking a bath before I call Mason. I know we won’t have time to make good on certain promises that morning though. JoJo is sure to wake up that day and I promised I would be there when she did. In fact, it will probably be at least two days before we can do anything since Chandler is due to wake up tomorrow. I sigh in disappointment but know Mason and I will get our chance eventually.
As I’m walking up the sidewalk towards my house, I see George out in front of his home looking up at the Tear. I decide to have an overdue talk with my friend and neighbor.
“Morning, George.”
He looks down from the sky and at me. He smiles. “Good morning, Jess. How was the girls’ night?”
“I think I gained ten pounds from all the junk food but other than that it was good.”
George chuckles. “If there is one thing certain in this world, Lynn will never let you girls go hungry.”
I’m not sure how to begin the conversation I have in mind with George so I just blurt out what I want to ask.
“George, why did you want to leave your world?”
George looks at me in surprise. “How did you know that? I’ve never told anyone.”
“I’ve…come to understand how tearers are chosen to go through the Tear. You have to want it. Why did you want to leave?”
“My wife cheated on me,” George confides. “I just couldn’t stand to be around her anymore and I remember thinking that maybe my life would be better if I went through the Tear and started over.”
“But what about your kids?”
“I only saw them once a year. They had families of their own and not a lot of time for me. It’s just the way things work on my planet. Once you leave your parents home, you’re gone for good. We never feel the need to visit our parents except when we celebrate our birthday.”
“Why on your birthday?”
“Because that’s the day they gave us life. Here birthdays are completely opposite. It’s the person who was born who gets to celebrate. Back on my planet, it is the parents who are given a party.”
“Then why haven’t you made your move on Mama Lynn?”
“I didn’t want to get involved and then disappear on her. You know some tearers get sent back home.”
“Only if they want to go.”
George stares at me hard before asking. “You know this for a fact? I won’t be sent back unless I want to go?”
“Yes, George. I know that for a fact.”
The relief I see in George’s eyes makes me smile.
“Well, hot damn,” he says, like I’ve just lifted the weight of the world off his shoulders. “Do you think she’ll go out with me?”
“George, she’s been waiting ten years for you to ask. Yes, I think she’ll go out with you.”
George makes like he’s going to walk over to Mama Lynn’s house that instant.
“Why don’t you let her wake up first,” I suggest. “Last I saw, she was still in bed.”
George chuckles. Even out of his Santa Clause suit he still reminds me of Old Saint Nick when he laughs.
“Maybe you’re right. I’ll go get some donuts for her and Faison. Maybe by then they’ll be up. You want some?”
“No, I’ll be fine. I have a busy day planned. I might not even be here when you get back.”
George leans in and kisses me on the cheek. “You gave me the best gift ever, Jess. Thank you.”
When I make it back into my house, I head straight to the bathroom and take a shower. Thirty minutes later I’m dressed and groomed for the day. I text Mason.
Can you come and get me?
Almost instantly, Mason is standing in my living room.
He looks at me somewhat disappointed.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, walking up to him.
“I was hoping you literally meant I could come and get you and have my way with you. But you have clothes on.”
I drape my arms over his shoulders. “Not today. Probably not tomorrow either. I need to be with JoJo and Chandler when they wake up. It’s important.”
Mason sighs. “I know. And I will wait. But just so you know, I don’t like it.”
He pouts and purposely sticks his bottom lip out.
I nip his pouty lip with my teeth which leads to a full on kiss.
Finally, I break the kiss and take two steps back.
“I am not going to let you seduce me right now,” I say to him imperiously. “I’ve waited a long time and I won’t be rushed the first time we make love. So, take me to JoJo now please. I have work to do.”
“You do realize,” Mason says, “that she might not wake up for a few hours. A few hours we could be putting to good use.”
“And she could wake up in the next minute. No,” I say firmly, "we do it my way. You’ll just have to reign in your urges for two days.”
“Two days?” He laments. “Are you trying to kill me?”
I didn’t want to admit it but I felt like I might die as well. So, I simply hold out my hand to him and say, “JoJo.”
Mason grabs my hand and pulls me roughly to him kissing me so hard I don’t have time to breath. When he decides to let me go, he looks mighty pleased with himself.
“Just a small taste,” he says and smiles before phasing us to his villa.
Mason ends up being right. JoJo doesn’t wake up until almost five hours later. When she finally does begin to stir, Mason smirks at me in an “I told you so” fashion.
“I know, I know,” I say, but stand behind my decision. There really was no way of telling when she would wake up. And I promised Chandler I would be at both their bedsides when they finally did awaken from their first encounter with their archangels.
When JoJo opens her eyes, a warm yellow aura only I can see surrounds her. I assume its presence means she and her archangel are indeed connected.
“Hey,” I say to her, sitting on the bed at her side, looking into her jubilant face.
“Bonjour,” she says, smiling happily up at me.
“How do you feel?”
JoJo pats her stomach. “Famished.”
“Come with me then. Mason made his famous chicken soup for you. It’s down in the kitchen.”
After JoJo eats her first bowl of soup, I ask, “So who is your archangel?”
“Jophiel,” JoJo beams. “Ah, she is so beautiful and sweet.”
“Did she explain to you that she looks the way you think she should look?”
“Oui, oui, she told me that.”
“Did she tell you anything useful?”
“Not anything more than what you said Michael told you. We mostly played.”
I feel sure I misunderstood what JoJo said so I ask, “Played?”
“Played dress up! I could dress her in anything my mind imagined. I can not tell you how much fun that was for me! And we danced,” JoJo says with a smile, hugging herself as she relives the memory. “We had a so much fun together.”
I have a hard time imagining Michael and I ever dancing. Maybe the archangels really were matched perfectly to their human host.
“When will Chandler wake up?” JoJo asks me
“Theoretically? Tomorrow some time.”
JoJo finishes her second bowl of soup in record time.
“Another?” Mason asks her.
“Non, I’ve had enough.” JoJo yawns. “I think I need to sleep again.”
“You should only sleep for one more day,” I tell her from my own experience.
“Ca va, I don’t mind. Jophiel is so much fun to be with. I can’t wait to see her all the time!”
“All the time?” I ask.
“Oui, when the connections are made,” JoJo says spinning her index fingers around her head. “Then I can see her when I am awake, oui?”
“Yes, then you can see her when you’re awake.”
“Do you see Michael all the time now?”
“Uh, no. I only talk to him when I have to.”
“Why?”
“I don’t see any reason to bring him out unless I need to ask a question.”
JoJo looks at me like she doesn’t understand me. I thought I was pretty plain in my explanation. But, she just shrugs and doesn’t ask any more questions.
After I tuck JoJo into bed with Chandler again, she instantly goes back to sleep.
I turn to face Mason who has a wicked look in his eyes that makes me very aware of his needs.
I sigh.
“No, not now,” I say. I swear to god I feel like I’m dealing with a teenage boy instead of an angel. “I need to go to Mama Lynn’s and help her prepare for the party.”
“You…are…killing….me.”
I can’t help but laugh at his plight.
“Ok, let’s make a date. Be in my house at five tomorrow night. I’ll even cook.”
Mason growls and tugs me to him. “I don’t need food.”
I melt against him. “Then I’ll make something that can be eaten afterwards. I assume we’ll be hungry?”
“For food? Probably.”
Mason’s phone vibrates.
“I have to take this,” he says, kissing me before he pulls the phone out of his pocket.
“Yes?” He says to the caller but keeps me in his arms. “All right. I have the afternoon free. Ask Isaiah to come back to the villa to watch over JoJo and Chandler.”
Isaiah appears almost instantly in the room and I try to pull away from Mason but he doesn’t let me.
“See you in a minute, Nick.” Mason ends the call. “Isaiah, would you mind turning your back to us for a minute?”
Isaiah grins knowingly and turns his back to us.
“I have to go apologize to your President for leaving so abruptly yesterday,” Mason tells me. “But I will be back for the party tonight.”
“Was he mad you left without saying anything?”
Mason shrugs. “Miffed would be a better word. But it was definitely worth it. I just need to go stroke his ego some. Make him feel like I think he’s important.”
“You don’t think he’s important?”
“He’s a blip in time as far as I’m concerned.”
“Am I a blip too?”
“No, you’re the reason time exists for me.”
I glance in Isaiah’s direction to make sure his back is still turned before showing Mason how much his words mean to me with my lips.
When I finally pull away, I tell Mason, “Please take me to Mama Lynn’s before I loose my will power to wait until tomorrow night.”
“We’re leaving, Isaiah. Call if you need anything or if there is a change in their condition.”
Mason phases me to Mama Lynn’s front door.
“I’ll try to be quick,” he tells me.
“Play nice.”
Mason grins. “I always play nice.”
“And don’t forget you’re supposed to bring my grandfather to the party tonight.”
He winks at me.
“I won’t forget,” he says before phasing to apologize to the President.
Mama Lynn is practically beaming with joy when I walk into her house.
“I guess George made it by here this morning?” I say to her.
Mama Lynn smiles brightly. “Yes, he did. He finally asked me out after 10 years of waiting. He told me you helped him finally get the courage to do it. What did you say to him?”
“Yeah,” Faison asks as she and John Austin are blowing up balloons with a helium tank in the living room. “What did you tell him?”
I explain to them about how the Tear works but swear them to secrecy. It’s not knowledge the general public knows but neither is it top secret information.
“So everyone who goes through wants to go through?” Faison summarizes.
“Yes. Apparently, that’s the way it works.”
“Then it isn’t exactly a bad thing,” she goes on to say. “If it just takes people who want to leave the lives they have to start over fresh, maybe it’s actually good.”
“For them maybe, but I don’t think it’s always good for the people who they leave behind. It’s selfish of them to just want a new life and leave their families and friends to pick up the pieces when their gone.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Faison agrees.
We spend most of the afternoon cooking and preparing for George’s party. Beau is the first to arrive with the much anticipated stack of cinnamon rolls. Faison and I both sneak one because we know they will be the first things to be eaten.
Our friends and neighbors slowly start to trickle in at around five and Mama Lynn sends John Austin out to get some more crushed ice.
By the time George arrives, the party is in full swing and Mama Lynn has already pulled out the Pictionary game.
“Where’s Mason and your grandfather?” Faison asks me. “I thought they were going to come.”
“Mason had to go talk to the President. I’m not sure what’s keeping him. I thought he would be here by now.”
“The president of what?”
“The United States.”
Faison’s mouth forms a silent ‘O’.
“Of course he’s talking to the President, should have known.”
I pull out my phone to text Mason.
Are you all right?
I get a response almost immediately.
Sorry. I should have texted or called. I am fine. He wanted me to stay for supper. I am on my way to get your grandfather right now. Love you.
Love you too. See you soon.
“He had to eat supper with the President. He’s going to get my grandfather now and be right over,” I tell Faison.
“Wow, do you think you’ll get to meet him one day? The President?”
“Apparently it’s not as exciting as you might think,” I tell her, hating to burst her bubble.
The door bell rings and Faison gets up to answer it since she’s on door duty until John Austin gets back.
When Faison opens the door, there is a highway patrolman standing on the other side.
“I’m sorry,” Faison says. “Are we making too much noise? You know how rowdy kids
can get now a day.”
The patrolman looks at the group of middle aged and elderly gathered in the living room but doesn’t seem to be in the mood for Faison’s joke.
“Are you Faison Mills?” He asks instead.
“Yes,” she answers hesitantly. “Am I in trouble?”
“Ma’am, I was asked by the family of a John Austin Allen to inform you of their son’s death. Please accept my deepest condolences.”
I walk over to the door. Faison is still standing there with a pleasant smile on her face like she’s frozen in time.
“You must be mistaken,” she tells him, shaking her head. “John Austin just went to get some crushed ice. He’ll be back in just a minute.”
It’s only then I realize it’s been almost an hour since John Austin left to get the ice. I’d been so concerned about Mason I didn’t even realize John Austin had been gone for so long.
“What happened?” I ask the trooper.
“An eighteen wheeler side swiped his truck as he was crossing Hwy 61. He died instantly from what I know, so it was a quick death. He didn’t feel any pain.”
“That wasn’t John Austin,” Faison tells the trooper. “He’ll be back any minute.”
The patrolman looks to me for help in the situation.
“Thank you for coming officer,” I tell him. “I’ll take it from here.”
He nods his understanding. I’m sure he’s dealt with people refusing to believe him before.
Faison stands stock still. I take her hand off the doorknob and close the door.
All has turned quiet in the house and everyone is staring at Faison. Mama Lynn comes up to Faison and tries to put her arms around her but Faison shrugs them off.
“Don’t,” she says, turning to walk into the kitchen.
Mama Lynn and I follow her. Faison starts to pull every drinking glass in the cabinets out and sets them on the counter in a straight line.
“Faison,” I say, but she holds up her hand silently telling me to not talk.
