Promised Soul

by Sandra J. Jackson

  At six-fifteen, I locked the door behind me and carried my bag down the stairs, deciding to wait outside, as my eagerness got the best of me and made me feel like a small child on her way to Disney World.

  Using my small suitcase as a bench, I plunked myself down, imagining what the weekend would be like, what we would see and do.

  It wasn't long before an all too familiar blue car made its way down the street and pulled into the drive, there was utter disbelief in what I was seeing.

  Irritated, I jumped up from my perch and headed toward the driver's side, ready to take my frustration out on Peter. The door suddenly swung open, and I had to jump back to avoid an unwelcome collision.

  “Sorry,” he said. “I didn't get you, did I?”

  I looked at the tall, handsome man standing in front of me, looking me up and down for any signs of injury. At least that's what it looked like he was doing, the dark sunglasses he was wearing prevented me from seeing just exactly where his eyes were focused.

  “No, I'm fine, quick reflexes.” I smiled awkwardly.

  “That's good to know. I'm Aaron.” He thrust his hand out towards me.

  “Hi Aaron,” I said a bit too enthusiastically as I pumped his arm up and down. My hand disappeared into his and a strange, yet comforting warmth enveloped it. Though having never conjured an image of him in my mind, he certainly didn't come close to anything I could have imagined. For instance, he was quite tall, towering over me a good eight inches, with an athletic build and thick, dark, brown hair. His eyes, however remained unseen, protected by his dark sunglasses, though I imagined they would be nothing less than spectacular. He certainly was an impressive sight. “Well, let's go!” I said with so much zeal that I made a mental note reminding myself to take it down a notch – or five. I headed around to the passenger side.

  “Ah, forgetting something?” Aaron asked, pointing his finger toward my bag, which had toppled over when I jumped up from it.

  “Oh!” I laughed. “I guess I'm just a little bit excited.”

  “Don't worry, I'll get it.” It took him only a couple of strides before he reached my bag. He picked it up and brought it back to the car, tossing it in the trunk he'd opened with the key fob. I felt a little guilty watching him, but he moved so fast that I didn't even get the chance to do it myself.

  “Thank you!” I said as we climbed into the car. Plenty of questions ran through my mind as we pulled out of the drive, but I kept them to myself for the time being. My actions already seemed a little over the top and I wanted to show him that I really wasn't always so excitable. I patiently waited for him to speak first.

  “So, are you excited about going to London?”

  I took a moment before answering, slowing my heart rate and my breathing, wanting him to see a calmer side of me. “Yes, very. Couldn't you tell?” I made fun of myself.

  He smiled as he turned his attention toward me. My heart skipped, and I silently scolded myself. I was on a mission with Mary and couldn't allow myself to become distracted by every good looking guy that happened to smile at me.

  “Not at all,” he said.

  I laughed nervously, though I'd begun to feel a bit more like myself and not like some pre-pubescent girl.

  We fell silent for a moment, and it brought me back to the first time I'd met Peter and our seemingly awkward trip from the airport to Bourton, I hoped that the trip to London wasn't going to be the same.

  “I'm sorry I –”

  “Why are you driving –” We both spoke at the same time and started laughing.

  “Go ahead, you first,” Aaron said.

  “I was just going to ask you why you are driving Peter's car.”

  “Well, that's a bit of a tale. When I woke up this morning my car was gone.”

  “Gone?”

  “Yes; nicked, pinched, purloined…”

  I stared at him blankly.

  “Stolen,” he said, chuckling.

  “Sorry, I'm still getting used to some of the –” I paused, “well, for lack of better words; terminology.”

  “Right,” he said, nodding. “Needless to say, Peter wasn't quite thrilled about having to bring me his car at such an ungodly hour.”

  “No doubt.” I laughed, imagining Peter's reaction.

  “Anyhow, after having stood you up twice already, I couldn't possibly do it a third time. I asked him to stay behind and report it to the police.” He shrugged.

  “I'm sorry, but I would have understood.”

  Aaron looked at me incredulously. “Would you?”

  I laughed. “Probably not, but then I guess I would have thought that we just weren't destined to meet.”

  “Do you believe in that?” Aaron asked in all seriousness, almost a little too serious for our first meeting.

  “Yeah…” I hesitated, “I think so.” We drove on silently for a moment, while I contemplated the idea of destiny. I wasn't so sure that all outcomes of choices made were predetermined; after all, there was free will to consider. Would my choices eventually lead me down the path that the greater power – the universe – had in store for me? There definitely could be a wrong turn along the way, a distraction that might prolong the eventual result. I might even go as far as to ignore the signs – still if it was meant to be… But, if I ignored my dreams, the strange occurrences, what then? Would they eventually go away or get worse, eventually forcing me to do something? Would the higher power give up? I shook my head. My thoughts were too much and they didn't matter, I'd already made my decision. “What were you going to say?” I asked, remembering he'd started to say something earlier.

  The muscles in his arm flexed as he turned the wheel. I began to imagine what those arms would feel like wrapped around me. Stop it! I silently reminded myself.

  “When?” he questioned back, turning to look at me briefly.

  “Back there,” I said pointing behind me, “when we both spoke at the same time.”

  “Ah! I was going to apologize for causing you frustration when I showed up with Peter's car.”

  “What makes you think I was frustrated?”

  Aaron looked at me and smiled again. “It was written all over your face.”

  “Am I that transparent?” I asked, knowing the answer to the question. My emotions were easily discernible; anyone who looked at me instantly knew what I was feeling. It was just the reason why I wasn't very good at lying or making up excuses.

  Aaron shrugged. “Maybe just a wee bit,” he said demonstrating with his thumb and index finger as he pinched them together.

  I suddenly felt the need to ask Aaron about his mother but quelled the urge, afraid he'd think it intrusive. After all, we'd just met – in person anyway. Strangely though, it felt like I already knew him. Maybe it was the phone conversations, the e-mails, his hand-written letter, and of course, Peter, who spoke of Aaron quite a bit. In any case, this was a business relationship, even so it felt like we could also be friends, I didn't want to jeopardize my vacation plans by injecting myself into his personal life. Instead, I asked him questions about London and his plans for my visit, most of which he gladly expanded on. Some plans, however, were vague and I wasn't sure if that was intentional and meant as a surprise or reserved for last minute, spontaneous sort of side trips. By the time we'd reached London, I had begun to wonder if we'd ever run out of things to say to each other.

  “If you don't mind, I need to stop by my office for a moment, it shouldn't take long; traffic doesn't actually look too heavy.” Aaron smiled as we drove through one of the many districts of London.

  I was too busy staring out the window taking in the sights to look at him. “Sure, not a problem.” It didn't matter where we were going. He could have taken me to the most boring place in town, and it still would have been interesting.

  “My office is just across the street.” Aaron pointed to a building, which seemed to house a number of different businesses. “I don't normally drive in to work, so we might have to ride around a bit for a spot.” A
fter a few moments, we luckily found a nearby parking spot, exited the car, and made our way across the street to his workplace.

  “Aaron, it's so good to see you. When did you get back?” asked a beautiful, blonde-haired woman seated at one of two desks placed on either side of the large foyer and sitting area. She looked close to my age and a grin stretched across her face as she stared at him; her eyes twinkled. There was no doubt in my mind she was infatuated, particularly when her eyes left Aaron's face long enough to spot me following along behind. She immediately jumped up, making her way around her desk to stand directly in front of him. She wrapped her arms around Aaron, stood on tiptoe, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. The show of affection upset me for a fleeting moment, but my reaction upset me more.

  “Just last night.” Aaron said, seemingly unfazed by her attention, and then he turned his focus back to me. “Krista this is Cat, she's been with us for just a little over a year. Isn't that right?”

  Her smile was so broad that each one of her teeth was visible. As a result, she reminded me of a carved pumpkin with its wide grin. I feared that if she continued smiling in that manner, her face would freeze that way forever. The momentary vision brought a laugh to my lips that I stifled before it escaped. Fortunately, her hair wasn't red as that would have made it impossible to remain sober. I silently reprimanded myself.

  “Absolutely!” Cat radiated bubbly to the nth degree, at least where Aaron was concerned. She turned her eyes from Aaron for a brief second, acknowledging me and extending her perfectly manicured hand. Her eyes gave me a quick once over. “Catriona.” She held out her hand, her fake smile was more than obvious.

  I took her hand in mine only to find she was one of those limp-handed shakers. Either she lacked confidence or she was feigning interest. Whichever, it was clear she didn't want to make my acquaintance, but I didn't care; I didn't like her either. Thankfully, there was no need for any small talk as Aaron whisked me away to his office with Catriona calling after him something about getting together for drinks sometime.

  Aaron's office was at the end of a hall that housed four offices, two on one side and two on the other. Each office had glass front walls with blinds in varying degrees of openness. The doors of the first two offices, which faced across from each other, were wide open as well as the blinds, and their occupants sat at their desks busily scanning their computer screens. Each looked up briefly as we passed, calling out hello. We stopped in front of a door on the left side; Aaron searched his pockets, finally producing a set of keys.

  “This should only take a moment,” he reassured me as we entered.

  I sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk as he went around to the other side and turned on his computer. The modern, black furniture stood out cold and harsh compared to the soft grey walls of the office, and the space lacked that personal touch seen in many workplaces. There were no pictures of family, trinkets, or any other artifacts, which would suggest he spent little time there. Even the walls were bare save for a few framed black and white travel posters. In fact, the room was quite stark and devoid of any real colour, except for a small rack of very colourful brochures that stood in the corner.

  Aaron removed his sunglasses and placed them on the desk in front of him. All the while keeping his gaze averted from me as he looked through the files on his desk waiting for his computer to come to life.

  “Sorry, I've been away and just need to check a few things.” He kept his focus on his work.

  I shrugged. “So, you just got back then?” I regretted the question the moment the words spilled from my mouth and hoped he didn't think I was prying.

  “Yes, well with my mother being ill…” His voice trailed as he busied himself with his search. The tone of which alone was enough of a hint for me to drop the subject of his mother.

  I shifted uncomfortably in my chair, noting the growing silence as Aaron worked away busily at his desk while I patiently watched. Part of me hoped he'd stop and look up at me while another was quite glad he didn't.

  There was a light rap on the door, and I turned around to see a familiar face smiling at me.

  “Hello, Krista, did you enjoy the drive?” Peter asked as he stood in the doorway.

  “Yes, I did.” I stood up and hugged him. It was comfortable, like old friends greeting each other. Whatever tension there had been between was gone. We pulled away from our embrace, and I looked back toward Aaron, completely oblivious by Peter's interruption and our embrace.

  “Aaron, could I see you in my office for a second?”

  Aaron held up a finger indicating he'd be there shortly, without another word to Aaron, Peter turned away, and headed to his own office across the hall.

  Not wanting to sit and twiddle my thumbs, I grabbed some brochures from the rack to flip through while I waited.

  “I'll be back in a moment, and then we'll get going.”

  I looked up briefly as Aaron headed out of the office and then turned my attention back to the article I had been reading.

  “Ready to go?” Engrossed as I was in the travel magazine, I jumped slightly as Aaron's voice interrupted. The beat of my heart quickened for a moment, but just as quickly resumed its normal pace. Aaron stood in the doorway, ready to leave; his sunglasses already back on his face.

  “Yup!” I jumped up and began replacing brochures and magazines back in the rack.

  “You can keep those if you want.”

  “Oh, well maybe this magazine.” I grabbed the travel magazine back from the rack and followed Aaron out the door.

  “Have fun,” Peter called from his desk.

  I waved and followed Aaron out front.

  “Have a good day, Aaron!” Catriona almost gushed as we walked past.

  Aaron gestured goodbye and as I walked past, Catriona's smile turned to a sneer as she glared at me.

  “What's with her?” I asked Aaron as we crossed the street.

  “Who? Cat?” Aaron almost snickered as if I'd discovered some private secret.

  “Ah Yeah! Didn't you see the look she gave me?”

  “No, but I'm sure she meant it as a compliment.”

  “Compliment?” I barked, surprised by his aloofness.

  We stopped at Peter's car and as I headed toward the passenger side, Aaron stood by the trunk and opened it. I noticed this time he used a key instead of the fob.

  “Yes, compliment.” He tried to assure me as he pulled my bag from the trunk and locked it again. I watched, confused.

  “What are you doing?” My attention briefly diverted from the conversation.

  “Peter picked up a hire car for me. It should be just…“ Aaron stopped as he scanned the nearby parking lot for the rental. “Ah, there it is. Come on.”

  I followed him down past the row of cars to a dark grey one, slightly larger and definitely fancier than the one Peter drove. Aaron opened the trunk and put my bag in. Then he unlocked the doors, opening mine for me; I got in and waited for Aaron to climb in on the driver's side. “What do you mean by compliment?” I fastened my belt and watched as Aaron did the same, not wanting to drop the subject until I got an answer.

  Aaron sighed, “I believe Cat feels threatened whenever she's in the presence of other beautiful women. So, take it as a compliment.” With that, Aaron started the car and pulled out of the parking space, the conversation on that particular topic, apparently over. Not knowing how to respond, I sat quietly as we headed down the street.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, finally breaking the silence.

  “I've arranged for you to stay at a bed and breakfast that a friend of mine runs. Since we're a day early the first night is free of charge, and she's given you a very reasonable rate for the rest of the weekend. Though, I'm sure it will cost me something.” Aaron laughed as we made a right turn.

  It wasn't long before we pulled up in front of a large, old home turned into a bed and breakfast. The exterior of which was so stunning I could only imagine an equally beautiful interior. Exc
ited by the prospects of staying in such a place, I got out of the car as soon as Aaron had parked it and started heading up the walk.

  “Aren't you eager?” He called out. I turned to find him staring after me. He was still standing by the car and flashing a wide grin.

  I laughed, “I guess so. Sorry!” I headed back toward the car realizing I hadn't even retrieved my bag.

  “I'll carry your bag.” Aaron said as he pulled it from the car.

  “That's okay.” I reached over and took the bag from his hand.

  “Suit yourself.” Aaron led the way up the walk and rang the bell. A dark haired woman somewhere in her early thirties opened the door, a small child resting on her hip. The smell of freshly baked goods wafted out the door.

  “Hello, Aaron, come in.” She smiled at him, stepping back to let us into the large, bright foyer of her home.

  “Hello, Anne.” Aaron leaned forward and kissed the woman on the cheek. “Hello, sweetheart,” he said as he patted the small child on the back. The child, who was no more than two, grinned in response.

  I was glad Aaron had his back to me as a sudden surge of what felt like jealousy, coursed through my body. I quickly shook it off, again perturbed with myself.

  “Anne, this is Krista.” Aaron turned and introduced me to the woman.

  “Hello, Krista.” She smiled genuinely. “It's so nice to meet you. I must apologize, I'm sure I look a complete mess,” she said as she pushed a lock of brown hair off her forehead.

  I couldn't help but think that if she thought she looked a mess that I must look absolutely disastrous. She was very much put together even with a child on her hip. Her hair couldn't have looked more perfect albeit for the stray piece she'd tucked back behind her ear. She was well dressed and wore little make-up; she was a natural beauty. Though I tried to look fashionable and up-to-date, I had nothing on her.

  “I just pulled a pie out of the oven when Christina here woke from her nap. It's been a bit hectic this morning.” She leaned over and kissed the top of her daughter's head.