Destined (6 page)

“We’ll go over there right now to see
what you might need,” she said, taking off her apron. I waited while she asked
John to watch the flower shop, then we crossed the street and went into my
store.

I turned on the art deco chandeliers,
and the room glowed. Laurel oohed and aahed, amazed as I had been by the
assortment of exotic goods. We strolled around the showroom admiring various
treasures, and she spotted the bar at the back of the room.

“Wow!” she exclaimed, “Do you realize
what this is?”

She approached the espresso machine,
shining brightly now thanks to several hours of my time and a bottle of Brasso.

“If this still works, it’s a gold
mine,” she murmured, running her hand over the elaborate design etched into the
gleaming metal. An eagle with spread wings adorned the domed top like a hood
ornament on the front of an elegant car, and the name
Victoria Arduino
was inscribed below.

“Lets’ see what you’ve got here!” She
slipped behind the coffee bar to open cupboards and drawers, pulling out metal
containers and other mysterious objects that looked like machine parts.

Snapping the pieces together expertly,
she assembled a little metal basket with a handle that fit into a slot on the
machine, and slid a small glass coffee pot into place underneath it. She
plugged the espresso machine into the wall and cooed with satisfaction when a
little red light turned on.

Laurel picked up a stainless steel
pitcher and grinned at me.

“Got any coffee beans? Wanna try this
baby out?”

We found some Dark French beans in the
pantry and filled the pitcher with cold water. After grinding the beans for
quite a while, Laurel packed powdery coffee into the little metal basket. She
poured water into an opening in the machine. Flipping a switch, she caused a
deep rumble then a steamy swish, and in a few minutes a dark thick brew oozed
out into the waiting glass pot. It was thick, the consistency of honey. We
filled two of the espresso cups, stirred with two of the little silver spoons,
and sipped.

Outrageous! We grunted with
satisfaction and sipped again. The flavor exploded in my head and I saw happy
stars.

“Okay,” she said, “So we will
definitely serve this at your party. And,” she added with a sigh, “I’ll be over
every morning from now on for my daily fix. We don’t have an espresso machine
yet, though it’s on my wish list.”

I laughed and told her she’d be
welcome.

Laurel advised setting up a buffet on
folding banquet tables positioned in front of the display windows. She said she
knew a
barista
we
could hire to work the event, an expert at drawing the dark nectar out of the
espresso machine and making the fancy coffee drinks. I vowed to learn to do
this myself, eventually.

“We use only organic fruits and
vegetables in our kitchen, by the way,” Laurel said. “We grow our own organic
herbs and salad greens in the garden behind the restaurant. And our meats and
fish are either organic, free range, wild caught or all of the above. Organic
whole grain pasta, rice and baked goods, plus gluten-free alternatives. We use
recycled paper products, too. We’re the only truly ‘green’ restaurant in town.
We’re pretty serious about nurturing the Earth.”

She reached up and touched her
pentacle earring, rubbing it between her fingers as though for luck. I wondered
if John was a witch too, and decided to wait until I knew them better to ask
about their religion.

I remarked that considering her last
name and the lime green theme across the intersection, being “green” was a
great marketing niche for them. She laughed and made a joke about hidden
subtexts in the menu and subliminal messages embedded in the background music.

I felt I had found a good friend, and
a very useful ally. The opening party seemed less daunting now.

Laurel seemed to know a lot about
healthy foods. The way she and John lived seemed noble and smart. The idea of a
lifestyle with a low impact on the environment was very cool. I had a feeling I
would learn a lot of useful secrets from my new friends.

That night I dreamed I was floating in
outer space, looking down at the Earth. I wasn’t inside a space ship or wearing
a special astronaut suit, it was just me, hanging in the blackness.

The planet looked beautiful, like a
blue and green jewel. I noticed that there were several bands of particles
circling the Earth. On closer inspection, the particles were people and animals
floating along weightlessly like me. A zebra flowed past, moving his legs as
though he were running. A little girl riding a tricycle followed. Everything was
in slow motion.

I moved my hand and discovered I could
change position by flapping it. Waving my arms like a bird, I flew over to a
little cluster of creatures and watched a mother dog nurse six squirming
puppies. She smiled up at me, panting a little, then reached down and washed
one of the pups with her tongue. A man and woman floated by, wrapped in each
other’s arms, kissing and pressing their bodies together. I started to feel
lonely. But the Earth was sparkling up at me, twirling me around with all of
life. I got the feeling everything would be OK.

Then Mr. Paradis appeared, seated at a
small table playing chess with the dark man I had seen that first day. My
employer shook his finger at me, waggled his eyebrows and said, “Emily, time to
get to work!”
 
The younger man
seemed annoyed at the interruption, but then he smiled and stared at me
admiringly.

I wondered how I must have looked,
wearing nothing but my scandalous shortie nightgown!

Then I woke up, lying sideways across
my bed under the bright blue skylight. Tree was at the head of the bed curled
up on the pillow, staring at me with his gorgeous kitty eyes. It was another
glorious sunny summer day, and I was finding my place in the circle.

Description:
 
Serene and elegant, the experienced
mother rests a hand on her swollen belly.

Meaning:
 
The earth mother. Nurturing, protection
and soothing. Comfort food for the body and the soul.

Just after two o’clock on the day of the Grand Opening, I
walked through the store tweaking the showroom for the umpteenth time. Nursing
a slight headache, I suspected I had taken on more than I could handle and
actually snapped at Mr. Paradis, immediately regretting it and feeling
humiliated. He scurried back up the stairs to his private lair, getting out of
my way, which was probably very wise.

Two banquet tables covered by pristine
white cloths had been set up in front of the broad windows that looked out on
Crescent. The windows contained a smashing display of unusual objects. Banners
in the windows proclaimed, “
Grand Opening Party, Tonight 6-8 p.m., Open
House ~ Free Refreshments.
”

Several flower arrangements had just
been delivered by a young man dressed in kitchen whites and a Green Thumb
apron. I snapped at him, too, when he put the vases down too close to the edge
of the coffee bar. The food was scheduled to arrive at around four o’clock.

I was looking forward to seeing the
place filled with people for a change. Maybe I would even meet an interesting
man or two. I hadn’t dated anyone for a while, and socializing could be fun as
long as things didn’t get too intense. I definitely wasn’t going to surrender
my independence to some attractive guy who probably had more than one hidden
agenda up his sleeve. I had learned a lesson about that from my last
relationship.

I went outside to scrutinize the
storefront one more time. I had trimmed the ivy around the front door and the
stonework beneath was now fully revealed. A beautiful stone angel with long
curling hair and a beatific smile looked down from above the entrance, blessing
all those who passed. I was thrilled to have discovered her and hoped she’d
bring us luck today.

I grabbed my broom and briskly started
working on the sidewalk in front of the entrance. The sound of childish shouts
came rolling toward me down the street, and I looked up to see my Indian friend
approaching with her baby stroller and parade of pre-schoolers. Today she wore
jeans and a purple T-shirt, but somehow looked just as exotic as before.

Our eyes met and I stopped sweeping to
lean on the broom. Just the sight of her seemed to calm me down, somehow. She
was very beautiful, with a voluptuous hourglass figure and full sensual lips.
She wore not a spec of make-up, but glowed with natural vitality. Her shining black
hair was worn loose today, hanging down to her waist. She looked gorgeous.

“Hello again!” I said. “What a lovely
day for a walk!”

She paused for a chat. The children
climbed up and down the front steps, peaking inside the door but not daring to
enter. Their busy hopping, shoving, tussling and clamoring would have driven me
crazy, and but somehow she managed to stay cool and serene.

“I hope you received an invitation to
our party tonight,” I said. “I sent them to everyone who lives nearby.”

“Oh yes,” she replied. “We did receive
it. Thank you very much, we’ll stop by after my husband gets home from work.”

I asked if any of the children were
hers, and she proudly introduced her son and daughter. He was one of the older
boys, dark and slim like his mother, and she was the hazel-eyed blonde baby in
the stroller.

“My name is Siri Ajala, “ she told me.
“We live in the large yellow building, just there,” she said, pointing down the
street.

“What a lovely name,” I said.

“Yes, it means, ‘Beautiful Earth.’
Very poetic! But my married name is Rodgers.”

Two of the little boys had dared to
step just inside the open front door, and she called to them sharply.

“No, no,” I said, eager for the chance
to get to know her better. “They’re welcome to look around. Won’t you come in
for a minute, Siri, and give me your opinion?”

Her dark eyes gleamed.

“I would very much like to see,” she
said with excitement, “If you are certain that the children will not be a
bother.”
 

She lifted her daughter out of the
stroller and put her into my waiting arms. The little girl looked at me with a
shy smile, her fingers heading toward her mouth. Then she got distracted by my
earring and gently touched it, her eyes wide. Picking up the second baby, Siri
deftly stepped on a lever that folded the stroller into a narrow bundle. With a
call to the children, she was up the steps and standing inside the door within
seconds.