The Angel Side (5 page)

Wrapping my arm around her, I pulled her into the bed and snuggled my head into her neck.
The scent of her vanilla perfume and almond body wash
awoke
all my senses. Peppering her neck with kisses, Etta squirmed until she rolled on top of me.

“Come on. Your shift starts in thirty.” Etta’s hands traveled up my chest as she leaned over
,
kissing my neck up to my cheek and finally
my lips. A strand of her wavy
brown hair tickled my ear. Pushing it back behind her ear, I pressed her full lips harder
with
mine
,
but
she jerked away, taking the blanket with her.

“I have plenty of time.” I
grumbled
as I went to pull her back in bed. Etta jumped up from the bed
toward the closet.

Rolling onto my side
,
I wanted
the best view of her hips swaying as she made the few steps into the closet, and
then
back.

“Maybe I should call in and take the day off.” I said
,
wiggling my brows.

“Get dressed.” Etta tossed my delivery driver uniform on the bed
.

I swung my legs over the edge and yanked Etta onto my lap. Et
t
a cupped my jaw, preventing me from covering her in the licks and kisses I had planned.

“Ra, you know better than anyone we need the money. Gabriel and Amy are getting married tomorrow. They’re going to need the house to themselves and I don’t know about you
,
but I do not want to live with my parents.”

“I have an apartment, Etta. We can live there. ” Annoyed at the dose of reality Etta splashed in my face, I fell back onto the bed
.

“I told you
,
Ra, it’s too small. Where would
we
put our stuff?” Etta pointed at my armor at the base of the bedframe. “It can barely hold what little you and Gabriel store there as it is.” She continued as she attempted to lift my c
uirass
.

“I’ll get that.” I replied as I took my breastplate from her and set it on the floor. Engulfing her
with
my body, dipping her, I caressed Etta’s back and hips and
feverishly nibbled on her throat
.

“Ra, stop.”
E
tta turned her head
as she pushed away from me. “You know the rules. Not as long as I am
h
uman and you are an Angel. Now, quit stalling
,
and get dressed.” Etta stormed away
,
slamming the bedroom
door
behind her.

“Cursed Giants.”
I snapped, yanking my breastplate and pauldrons from the floor.

The Giants had been
a group of four male
Guardian Angels sent to Earth to help a few lost souls. To show their great power they took the form of man
,
only their size dwarfed most trees and buildings of the time. Once here, instead of keeping to their task at hand, they succumbed to bodily pleasures with the local women. Father called them back home but lust-drunk
,
they had
refused his demand. Suddenly half-breeds between Angels and human
s
ro
se at alarming rates, wreaking havoc on the order of life on Earth. With the
outward
appearance
of a human and the abilities of celestial beings, the so-called ‘sons of man’ were waging wars, enslaving whole races
,
and threatening all life on Earth
,
as their fathers continued to procreate to keep their son’s ranks up
.

The Arch
e
s were ordered to remove
Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim,
and
Amorites
wings
,
damning them to life in Hell. Once we accomplished our mission,
Father released a plague
on Earth that would sterilize
the spawn of the
Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim,
and
Amorites
bloodlines, preventing their abilities from being
passed
from mother to daughter and father to son. Once Father
was
sure the threat had been extinguished, a new law
was
put into place
stating
that no Angel shall mate with any human
,
and any caught doing so would receive a fate worse than that of the Giants. They would be sentenced to Purgatory. But
,
understanding
the urges one would have, F
ather allowed mating between the Angels
,
but
only after marriage.

With the thought of that punishment, my engines went from full throttle to
a screeching
stop. I put on my pizza delivery uniform and stored my armor in the attic
,
as to not be accidently stumbled
up
on by
René
or any other veiled eyes.

As I finished fastening my shoes, Etta stepped back in
to
the room.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I know it’s hard for you. It’s hard for me too
,
but we can do this, Ra.”

“I know. I’m sorry too. I
didn’t
realize
I’d
gotten so
worked up.” I replied, resting my hands on Etta’s hips as
she
clasped her hands around my neck.

“Now, get to work. I’ll see you at tonight’s session.” Etta pecked me on my cheek.

“Tonight’s session?”

“Yes, Ra.
It’s Thursday. We always meet with Saraqael on Thursday. You’re going to make it
,
right? Or are you going to skip out like you have the previous three appointments?
” Etta stepped back
.

As if I didn’t have enough on my plate
.
After
the last ba
ttle for Etta’s soul and F
ather granting her and Amy
the right
to keep their knowledge of the world beyond the veil, Etta
explained that
we needed to strengthen our relationship by going to marriage counseling. Due to our unique situation the only available ‘counselor’ had been Saraqael. Once a week I’d
been
forced to talk about my ‘feelings’ with my wife in front of a fellow Arch.

It wouldn’t have been an issue if Saraqael
had the capacity to
separate personal
life
and work life. There I’d be, ready to engage in battle
,
and Saraqael would ask if Etta and I
had done
our ‘
marital
homework’. Trust
me,
the last thing you want to think about when fighting off bloodthirsty Demons is how badly a trust exercise blew up in your face with your wife.

“I’m going to make it. It sl
ipped my mind is all with the bachelor party tonight.
”

“Well
,
if you made
a
h
abit of going maybe it wouldn’t ‘slip’ your mind. You have to start taking the counseling more seriously, Ra. We both have major trust issues
,
and Saraqael’s trying to help.
” Etta snipped.

“I still disagree with ‘Dr. Saraqael’s’ theory about my time in Hell giving me trust issues
,
but I am taking it seriously.” I rebutted
.

“Are you? Because all you’ve done is mock him and his advice.”

“I’m not mocking it. I just think he’s off base. Look, I don’t
want
to fight with you too. I’ve done enough fighting for one day. But you have to believe me that I’m not skipping out on counseling on purpose.
I don’t wake up and as
k myself ‘
how can I piss off my wife today? Oh, I know. I’ll
ditch out on marriage counseling
’
.
I love you. I will do anything to make us work
,
and I am honestly trying.
Please, see and trust in that.
” I pleaded as I held her hands firmly
in mine
.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I love you
,
and I just want us to
have
every chance possible to make it.
Som
e
times
it feels
as if
I’m doing it by myself
,
but we can talk about it later tonight. You better get to work. I have some homework to get done before counseling
and
the bachelorette party.”

“Oh, that’s right. You and the girls are going to check out half-naked men.” I joked
.

“Oh
,
please
.
Even if I wanted to see someone other than you half naked, Amy would never go for it. Her sisters are coming tonight. We’ll probably do something stupid like toilet paper wedding dresses while we sip 7-UP.” Etta teased back as she walked me to the door. With a soft peck on the cheek, she said goodbye
.

As I sauntered down the stoop, I realized I left my work hat
at
my place down the street. I had been running behind, so after making sure the coast
was
clear, I flashed to the apartment I shared with Gabriel.

We
rented
a meager two bedroom
apartment
above the
laundromat
where Gabriel and I committed our first crime aft
er coming to Earth as human
s. I didn’t see how the owner of our shabby shack
had the audacity to
call the renovated attic an
‘
apartment
’
.
The bedrooms were nothing more than oversized
closets
.
The living room and kitchen combined were
cozier
than
most studio rentals.
But with Gabriel’s student income and our pizza delivery jobs, it had been all we were able to afford.

Though I would have
been
perfectly happy staying at the Divad’s,
René
started
asking too many questions
.
Gabriel had
to keep up appea
rances for Amy’s family
,
since their religion forbade the love birds from living together before marriage.
The upside to
our
place
…
it
was
a two minute walk to the Divad’s
house
and Amy’s
house
,
and
right next door to the
pizza joint we worked at.

Grabbing my hat from the coffee table I ran out the door toward work. As I walked in
,
Gabriel gave me an eye roll warning me our little weasel of a manager, Richie
,
had been waiting for me.

The
Napoleon
complex
afflicted
jerk made it known from my first interview that he
didn’t
care for
me
.
B
ut being the only pizza parlor in town, two short blocks from the Marine Corps barracks and a couple miles from base housing, he had been desperately short handed on delivery d
r
ivers. With no other applicants, he had been forced to hire me but never let me forget
he’d fire me in a heartbeat should I slip up even the slightest. I’d given the
short, fat, balding
rat plenty of occasions to let me go, but the demands of running a successful delivery joint took precedence over his disdain for one man.

“Ramen!
You’re late.
That’s the third time this week.
I should fire you right now
,
but w
e got three deliveries waiting on you. Clock in
,
and get on it.” Richie shoved the heating bag full of blazing hot pizza into my arms.

“Yes
,
sir.”
I
mockingly
replied
.

“Only
one more day
, Brother.
After the wedding I won’t need your help with rent anymore.”
Sensing my aggravation toward our mutual pizza nemesis,
Gabriel whispered i
n my ear as he gave my arm
a light squeeze.