by Lauren Wynn
Time for some late-night action? Providence kisses me on the lips.
Knox checks his watch. We nod to each other and make our way out of the restaurant.
He shakes my hand. “You are a better man than I.” He runs his fingers through his short, spiky, black hair.
Not for long. Give me a week and I’ll be banished from heaven.
The Guest
Providence and I lie tangled up together in her twin bed. Our legs intertwine. My arm is wrapped around her body. Her hand lies flat on my chest, and her face settles in the crook of my neck. I stroke her arm with my free hand. The warmth of my fingers sends tingles up and down the right side of her body. Crisp white sheets with red polka-dotted trim are draped randomly around her figure, showing glimpses of her olive skin, an ankle here, a knee cap there, her shoulders, arm and head.
“So, what did Gabriel come to the restaurant for tonight?” she asks curiously. Her heart jumps as her final word leaves her lips.
I remain silent. I haven’t thought through how I was going to break the news to her that I only have one more week, less than a week now, actually.
“Zan, please…just tell me,” she whispers. “And don’t sugarcoat it. I know it couldn’t have been good, for one, that he showed up there, and for two, you were gone for awhile.” She rolls toward me and raises herself up on her elbows so she is facing me. She mindlessly draws heart shapes on my bare chest waiting for me to respond.
I lay my palm on her cheek. “I have one week, Prov,” I finally reply without blinking. Her heart leaps and a knot forms in her throat. She quickly sits up taking deep breaths in and out. “I know, a little quicker than I expected.” I rub her back emitting calming light to her, something I haven’t given to her in awhile.
“You’ve answered your callers. We haven’t done anything, you know, that we ought not to have.”
“I know.” I nod. “We knew this was coming. I begged him to give me the rest of the week so I could help you with your exam and I could take mine. He agreed.” I continue to rub her back.
“So you have one week,” she whispers, staring toward the blind-covered window, searching for a glimmer of light.
“Providence, I will be back before you know it. Just think of it as a business trip.”
A tear rolls down her cheek. “Yeah, one where they sever your wings and send you back in excruciating pain,” she chokes out. “Some freakin’ business trip.”
“Come here.” I pull her into the circle of my arms. My golden glow encloses around us. “I can handle the pain. Plus, I’m kind of looking forward to you nursing me back to health.” I brush a few wild hairs out of her face and wink at her.
A grin slowly creeps across her face. “Oh, I’ll take good care of you,” she says in a deep raspy voice still trying to swallow her need to cry. A minute later she pushes back away from me. “Hey, no fair with the influencing, twerp.”
I open my mouth and suck in a breath, “Did you just call me a…a twerp?” I’m trying to sound appalled.
She giggles. “I did. What are you going to do about it, twerp?” She squints and bites her bottom lip.
I pull her back until her head crashes against the fluffy white pillow and a poof of cotton scent floats through the air, “This,” I say and I tickle her until she laughs so hard tears stream down her face.
She slowly uncurls and relaxes her body. She tugs my chest to hers and I rest my chin on her, inches from her face. “I can’t imagine being away from you for more than a day or falling asleep without you by my side. And I know its temporary, but it still sucks.” She huffs.
Using the frame of the daybed, I push myself forward and kiss her lips. “Just remember though, when I come back, we are going to get married, and you’ll never have to fall asleep without me again.”
Her lip curls up in a half-smile and she sighs. “How are we going to pay for the wedding? Dad really doesn’t have much money to give us. Not that I was planning something extravagant, but…”
“Your name is on our bank account, Prov. I want you to plan the picture you have in your mind right now.” I tap my finger on her temple. A glow rises on her face along with a smile. I hold up one finger. “I only have one request...”
“What’s that?” she spits out, having a hard time containing her excitement.
“Save enough money to buy a larger bed,” I say, rolling us both over so she is now on top of me.
“Ah!” She pouts. “You don’t like the twin?”
“I love the twin, but I don’t think my human body will be strong enough to roll us like I just did. We’ll need a little more space for that.” I wink.
“Fine. Double it is. But nothing larger. We have no need for one of those gargantuan king-sized beds.” She gasps and covers her hand over her mouth. “Oh my gosh! I never thought about where we are going to live? Holy smokes! I better start apartment shopping. We certainly can’t live here, with my dad. Yuck! That would be weird.”
“Well…I’ll, uh, be at Luke’s for a week or so.”
Providence interrupts. “But you can’t go back to the loft after that. And I certainly can’t tell my dad that my Lexus-driving attorney fiancé doesn’t have a place to live. He’ll freak.”
I lay my palm on her rosy cheek. “What do you think about that house down the street from Luke and Hope? You said you liked it, and I checked yesterday. It’s still for sale.”
“Are you serious?” Her eyes widen. “Can we afford it?”
“We have enough for a down payment, unless, of course, you splurge on the wedding.” I slide my hand back, running my fingers through her hair. “We can get a loan for the rest.”
“I won’t splurge on the wedding. And I do want that house. I really do love it. Zan, it has two fireplaces, two huge, stone fireplaces. Have you seen? The whole side of the house is stone, oh…and all those windows, and decks.” She loses her breath.
“I want to give you everything. You deserve everything. If that vision you had of our wedding is what you want, then I want it too, no matter what it costs. Only get married once right?”
“Yep, no do-overs.” Her eyes are serious even though she giggles. “And, Zan, that is the wedding I want—the place, the flowers, everything, and best of all…”—she brushes her cheek across mine—“it’s not very expensive,” she whispers, scooting backward to get a better look at my face. “I started planning on a really tight budget, so we’re good.”
Raising my head up, I graze my lips across hers. She shifts her body on top of mine, letting her legs fall in between mine. She pulls her lips away, “So, we’re gonna get—”
“The house, yes. I’ll talk with Luke about it tomorrow. Now, where were we?”
“Alexander!” she exclaims and presses her lips intensely against mine. Late night action. Her lips smile against mine.
* * * *
Grant changed the location from the park at the last minute, so I walk into the loft using the front door, the human way. He and Leo stand in the kitchen quietly whispering to each other. A deck of playing cards lie scattered across the dining room table as if they were in the middle of a game. I walk over and lean against the refrigerator wondering why they are acting so peculiarly. Grant tilts his head to my bedroom door. I turn my head back to the wall where our bedrooms are and gasp. Lenox stands in the doorway to my bedroom, the pointed toe of her black-leather, knee-high boot points at an angle, and her hands—fingernails complete with bright-red nail polish—rest on her hips. Her human skins glows tan almost as much as her golden angelic haze, particularly against her short, tight, black-leather skirt and strapless, even tighter, black-leather bodice. We all suspected her human form would come close to Godly perfection. And I’m not surprised she chose an outfit that reveals her perfect hourglass figure and her long slender legs. She twirls her long, wavy, platinum hair between her fingers letting it fall over her shoulder. I blink, just to make sure I’m not imagining things. But her heart-shaped face, her high cheek bones, and teal e
yes stare back at me.
“Alexander, nice of you to join us this morning.” She winks at Leo, who is now standing behind me, possibly waiting to catch me in case I faint.
“Lenox.” I race over, pick her up, and spin her around, hugging her tightly. “What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you.” I turn my head back to Grant, he shrugs, and I rotate back to face her and smile.
After Grant and Leo were assigned here, Lenox became my best friend back home. They knew her, but I don’t think I’ve talked about her since I’ve been here. We used to spend all our time together, hanging out, studying, and competing against each other to see who could imagine the best heaven. At home, I remember I could simply think of green grass and it would grow underneath me. Pretty much anything God created, we could manifest there. I kind of forgot about that. Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I’m not sure who actually won, but she was always more creative than I was. One time, her imagination left me hanging upside down from a giant sequoia tree by a thick, splintered vine that she had wrap around my golden radiant body. I remember her angelic laugh, which probably would have brought her to tears if she were human. I, on the other hand, was not laughing at all.
Angels are all essentially brothers and sisters, but like Grant and Leo, I always felt closer to her than others. I talked to her about everything, and until I came here, I confided in her about my fear of transitioning. She was so encouraging, though. I remember leaving my briefing with the archangels, feeling dazed and overwhelmed, and it was Lenox who was by my side telling me how great I was going to be at my new assignment.
“Oh, Zan, I’ve missed you.” She wraps her arms tightly around my neck and kisses both of my cheeks. She leans back with her arms still enclosed around my waist. “Let me get a good look at you!” she exclaims, circling me, the tips of her fingers running across my chest, to my side, my back, all the way back around to my chest, completing a full circle. “You look incredible. Not that I’m surprised or anything. You were always a total stud.” Leo chuckles in the background, but Lenox doesn’t pay attention to him. “It feels like forever since I’ve seen you. I guess I just missed that face of yours,” she continues and runs the side of her hand over my cheek.
“I missed you,” I echo, wondering if it’s true or not because it’s not that I didn’t miss her. It’s more like I haven’t thought about her since I set foot here. “Did they assign you here?”
“Not exactly.” She bites her bottom lip, and I think of Providence and how she does that in a sexy way, except Lenox’s bite looks anything but sexy to me. Hers appears more devious. And that’s when it dawns on me: He sent her here.
“What does, ‘not exactly’ mean, Lenox?” A hint of anger rises in my voice.
“Zan…” She looks down at the floor and taps the toe of her boot back and forth.
“Lenox,” I say sternly. I’m not angry with her, but I’m having a hard time believing he sent my best friend after me.
“Gabriel sent me.” She slowly peeks a teal eye at me.
“As I suspected.”
“Don’t be angry with me. I just…”
“I’m not angry with you. I just can’t believe he would. I told him last night my decision was…”
She interrupts. “He thought that maybe if I talked to you, you’d change your mind and decide to stay with us. Why don’t you come back with me for a little while?” she asks, hopeful.
“Lenox…”
“I’ve missed having you around. After awhile they’ll reassign you. Gabriel assured me.”
“Lenox…” I clasp my hands around her thin, muscular-looking arms. “I’m sorry…” I look directly into her teal eyes. “I’m not coming back, ever.”
She pulls away and the heel of her boot claps on the floor. “Gabriel is going to force you to come back. He told me you have one week .”
“And I will go back with him in one week. He can do whatever he needs to do, but in the end, I’m coming back here.”
She gasps. “You can’t be serious,” she screeches. “Mister That’ll Never Happen To Me,” She says in a masculine voice, trying to mock mine.
“This is your first time here. You have no idea…” I start to raise my voice and stop myself. It’s true, she has never been here before, never even had an assignment before. She has no clue what human feelings are like.
“You’re such a jerk, Zan. Nice, use that against me. I’m the stupid, little, worthless angel who can’t get an assignment. Jerk!” She stomps her foot, spins around facing the wall, and crosses her arms like a pouting teenager.
“Lenox, that’s not what I meant.” I grip the backs of her arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”
She yanks her arms away and turns back to me with a glare. “You know what they will do to you,” she yells. “You can’t, you just can’t!” She gasps for air, even though she doesn’t need it.
“Lenox, let’s sit down,” I say calmly, pulling out a chair for her. She takes a seat, crossing her legs. Her tan skin shines through her fishnet stockings. I pull my chair so I’m facing her and lean forward resting my elbows on my thighs.
“You can’t let them do that to you,” she whispers.
“It’s my choice,” I reply. “Lenox, you’re right. I never thought I would ever fall in love here.”
“But you did.” She interrupts, sounding more sad than angry.
“I did.” I shake my head up and down. “Providence, that’s her name, my fiancée’s name.” That’s one of the few times I have ever said fiancée out loud, and I feel my lip creep up at the corner, wanting to smile.
“You’re marrying her? Wow!” She takes a deep breath and swallows. “Gabriel didn’t tell me that bit of information.”
“Lenox, I didn’t know what true love was until I met her. It’s different than His love, not better, just different. I never knew what this kind of love felt like until I met her.” Leo makes a gagging noise in the corner, and Grant chuckles. I tilt my head around. “You two, not helping.”
“You knew what love was,” she says, almost confused. “You loved me. You told me so. We were best friends.”
“He told us that too.” Grant chimes in sarcastically.
“Still not helping!” I shout back to him and focus back on Lenox, taking her hands into mine. “After these two jokers left,”—I tilt my head back to them—“we were best friends. And I do love you…all.” I emphasize the “all” for Grant and Leo to hear. “But my love for Providence is…different.” I release Lenox’s hands and sit with my back against the wooden spindles of the chair. “I love her, Lenox. My decision is made.”
She covers her face with her hands, and a muffled “Oh” slips past her slender fingers.
“I’m sorry.” I pause. “It is nice to see you, though.”
“Yeah, it is,” Leo shouts from the corner. I glare at him.
“Even though I know I pissed you off. You have every right to be.”
“I’m not mad at you, Zan. I’m scared for you.” She removes her hands from her face.
Grant finally takes a serious tone and places his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll take good care of him.”
“Thank you,” I say, scowling at Leo.
“Man, I was just trying to lighten the mood. Ya’ll are so serious.”
Lenox looks up at Leo with squinty eyes. “This is serious. They are going to flipping burn his wings off. You jack…a…”
“Jack…a?” Leo mouths. I just shake my head back and forth as if to say “Don’t speak.”
“I know the consequences for the choice I’ve made.”
“She’s worth that much?”
“And more,” I reply confidently.
“Wow! Gosh! So, you’re getting married.” She is still trying to digest it, saying “married” as if it’s a curse word. “I’m still…in shock.”
“We all are, Lenox,” Grant remarks.
“Oh, you are not. Not anymore, anyways,” I reply.
“Good point. We were in shock.”
“I’m sorry you came all the way here.”
“I’m not. I didn’t have to. Gabriel told me you were in trouble. I wanted to help you. I figured you would have done the same for me. I thought this was going to be easy. I thought you’d be like ‘Hey, Lenox, what’s up? Sure I’ll come back and hang with you for eternity.’ Boy! Was I wrong!”
“I would have, done the same for you, I mean.”
“That, of course, would assume I ever get an assignment,” she mutters under her breath.
“You will, someday. Although, Lenox…”
“Yeah?”
“When you do, I wouldn’t recommend that outfit. It doesn’t exactly communicate the appearance that says, ‘I am your angel.’”
She glances down at herself.
“For some it might,” Leo says with a laugh.
“Not funny,” I reply. While Lenox is extremely attractive, I only see her through my sister glasses, and no sister looks appropriate in any sort of tight, black leather.
“Aw…is it really that bad? I thought I looked cute.”
“Cute is one word for it.” Grant jumps in. “I wouldn’t let my sister leave the house in that,” he mumbles to himself.
“It’s just,” I insert, “it’s a bit…revealing.”
“I’m sure I can find something more substantial.” She jumps out of the chair and runs into my bedroom appearing a moment later, tugging my Kelly-green, vintage, Cascade T-shirt on, covering her black-leather bodice. “Better? I’ve always loved this color, so cheery and fun.” She swings the shirt back and forth as it swims on her tiny figure.
“Yes, better. But don’t think you’re keeping that shirt.”
“Blah, blah.” She mimics the talking hand. “So, Zan,”—she leaps in front of me and takes me by the arm—“when do I get to meet her, Providence?”
“You want to?”
“Heck, yeah. I have to meet the woman who stole my best friend’s heart.” She pauses for a moment and punches me lightly in the gut. “Okay, maybe I am a little ticked off.”
“Ah, Lenox.” I place my hand on the small of her back.
