by Meltem Y. K
CHAPTER 20
Jayna was working as fast as she could, trying to do a color portrait of Ethan and herself before it was time to shift to the Astral plane. She had come home straight from Pavlina’s and made several sketches, some of Ethan by himself, and a couple of the two of them together in charcoal. She didn’t have time to do the portrait in watercolors; that would take several hours, and a lot of waiting around for the paint to dry before she could go to the next step. She decided to use pastels for this project.
She would make many more paintings of them.
Her mother poked her head in Jayna’s room after lightly tapping on her door. When she opened the door and saw Jayna busy at her easel, she stepped in to peek at the work. Grace knew that Jayna was a talented artist. However, what Grace wasn’t prepared to see were the half dozen sketches taped on Jayna’s bedroom walls. They were obviously the precursor to the pastel portrait she was working on. Grace’s eyes popped out and her face broke into a huge grin.
“Let me guess,” she said. “This is the elusive Ethan whom we haven’t had the pleasure of meeting, but have been assured of his existence, witnessed by your faithful brother.”
“Yep, this is he.”
Grace carefully scrutinized the drawings on Jayna’s walls and the pastel she was working on.
“Hmmm, he is a very handsome guy, Jayna.” Grace looked at her daughter and smiled proudly. “You guys make an attractive couple.”
“Thanks, mom.”
“So, are we going to be meeting him soon?” Grace asked.
Jayna shook her head. “No, not yet, mom. Just trust me when I tell you that he is the most wonderful boyfriend a girl could ask for. We love each other very much.”
“But, you aren’t ready to introduce him to us yet.” Grace finished for Jayna.
“Right.” Jayna confirmed.
“Okay, I’ll stop bugging you about meeting your boyfriend; at least I got to see that he really is as hot as you claim.”
“He most definitely is.”
Grace smiled at her daughter, remembered what it was like to be young and in love and decided to give Jayna all the time and space she needed to introduce her boyfriend to her family. She knew that her daughter had a good head on her shoulders. Grace trusted her daughter’s judgment completely.
Grace closed the door behind her and left Jayna to work on her portrait.
Jayna put the finishing touches on her pastel and checked the time. It was almost ten o’clock in the evening. Soon she would be meeting Ethan. She wanted to give Ethan a double surprise: if she took the portrait and put it in his office now, Ethan would find it in the morning and he would also see that Jayna was able to transport light objects between locations. She couldn’t wait to hear the surprise in his voice when he would walk into his office tomorrow morning and find the portrait on his desk. Jayna figured he could handle the framing himself since that would add more mass to the portrait and she wasn’t sure if she was capable of transporting it with a frame.
Jayna gave the portrait one last look; it was as good as it would be. She lied down on her bed holding the portrait in her hands, closed her eyes and shifted to the Astral plane. She was in Ethan’s office with the portrait in the next instance. She placed it on Ethan’s desk, and looked around feeling proud of him all over again; he was young, talented, and successful - and oh so sexy. She couldn’t help, but add sexy to his credits.
Jayna promised herself she wouldn’t look too closely for clues to identify the physical location of Ethan’s office.
The office was in a beautiful building. Jayna stepped outside of the office to admire the building from the outside, no harm done, she thought.
She had known all along that they lived in the same time zone, so it was also ten o’clock at night in Ethan’s hometown, wherever it was. She didn’t expect to see anyone in the building at that time. This was a professional building, not a factory where people worked shifts.
So what were those two guys doing?
Something made Jayna’s spine tingle. She didn’t have a good feeling about these guys. She thought she should check them out, see what they were up to. They wouldn’t have a clue that they were being observed by someone. Jayna was invisible to them.
She went close to the two men and saw that they were wearing hosiery over their heads.
Oh! This can’t be good, Jayna thought.
One of them was carrying a plastic jug of some liquid and was pouring it along the building. Jayna went right up to the two men to see what exactly they were doing. At close range there was no mistaking the smell of gasoline.
These two dudes were pouring gasoline outside Ethan’s office.
What the hell is going on here?
It occurred to her that she should let Ethan know.
Ethan, there are two guys outside your office dousing the place with gasoline. I think they are going to set fire to your building. Call the police.
Jayna, where are you and what are you doing? Ethan yelled at her, absolute terror in his voice.
I am in your building, well, outside of it now. This just blows my surprise to hell, but whatever, safety first. Hurry up, Ethan, call 911 and report this arson. These guys will set the place on fire if you don’t hurry up.
Ethan was beside her in the next instant.
Jayna threw her arms around him. Did you call?
I will in a second, I wanted to see what was going on before I call the police.
Ethan looked at the guys that were pouring gasoline around the outer walls of his office.
You are right, Jayna, these goons are committing arson.
Go back and make that call, Ethan. You don’t have a second to waste.
You are right; I don’t have a second to waste.
Ethan tapped the one pouring gasoline on the shoulder, the arsonist turned around to see who it was and received an invisible punch in his face. His nose started to bleed. He screamed and cursed. His buddy looked at his cohort, wondering what was going on.
“Who the hell are you swearing at, Frank? Shut up, will ya. You’ll get us caught.” He warned his partner in crime.
“Someone punched me, man.”
“There is no one here.” Billy’s eyes took in their surroundings.
“Then why the hell am I bleeding?”
“I donna. May you are just having a nosebleed.”
Ethan hit the second guy in the stomach in a series of fast punches. The guy keeled over.
“Hey, who is there?” Billy croaked.
Ethan hit Frank again.
“Jesus. Who is here?” Frank asked Billy. “Do you see anyone?”
“No, man. I don’t see no one. Let’s get outta here. This place is haunted. Nobody paid me to fight a ghost.”
Ethan disappeared for a second and came back with a rope. He tied them together, and then disappeared for a few seconds again.
When he came back, Jayna looked at him with her mouth hanging open.
I don’t believe what I just saw you do. You beat up two guys while in your Astral form and brought back a rope to tie them with; and here I am thinking I’ve accomplished something great by bringing you a portrait, a single sheet of paper. What else can you do that you haven’t told me about?
A police cruiser pulled into the parking lot with its lights flashing and sirens going. There were two policemen in the car. They drove right up to the spot where the two arsonists were on the ground tied to each other.
The policemen came out of their car and went to the criminals on the ground.
“Hey fellas. Do you have something to tell us?” One of the policemen asked.
They didn’t answer.
“I asked you a question: What’s going on here? And why is this place wreaking gasoline?”
We’ll let the law deal with them, Ethan said. The Police will get in touch with the property manager. We have nothing else do to here.
Ethan took Jayna’s hand and kissed it. I want to see the portrait you brought me.
&nb
sp; He saw it as soon as they were in his office. The portrait was on Ethan’s desk. His face lit up. He walked the few steps to his desk and lifted the portrait to have a good look at it.
I love it, babe. You are a talented artist. I will have it framed first thing tomorrow morning. In fact I will have it copied so I can take one home to hang in my room.
Jayna felt a huge weight lift from her shoulders. She wasn’t sure if the portrait was as good as she thought it was, or if it was only her imagination. Jayna loved any picture that depicted them together. After four years of a restricted relationship, she was ready to shout her love for him from the top of a mountain.
Ethan heard her thoughts and beat her to it. In the next instance they were standing at the summit of a mountain. Being in their Astral forms, they didn’t feel the cold.
I LOVE YOU, JAYNA, Ethan shouted.
I LOVE YOU MORE, ETHAN, Jayna shouted back.
Little heart shaped snowflakes fell down from the sky all around them.
Ooops, Ethan said, I think we disturbed some monk. There are a lot of monastics meditating in these caves.
Jayna’s mouth opened in shocked embarrassment. Her hand quickly went to close her open mouth.
It’s okay Jayna, they are not upset. They are the ones who sent down the heart shaped snowflakes.
Jayna closed her eyes and sent a silent bow to the monastics meditating in the mountains. Sorry to disturb you, she said.
This time, in response to her apology, colorful butterflies appeared around them. Clearly, they were forgiven. They both bowed to the monks in meditation and sent them their well wishes.
Ethan took Jayna by her hand and transported her to his bedroom at home. Jayna gave him a quizzical look.
What are we doing here, Ethan? Aren’t we breaking the rules?
I don’t think we’re breaking any rules. As I said yesterday, don’t try to pinpoint where it is so that you are not tempted to come here in your physical form and find me.
I wouldn’t break the rules, Jayna said.
We have free will, Jayna. That’s never been taken from us. We decide how we will live our lives, follow the rules, or not. No one’s pulling our strings from the Astral plane.
Jayna nodded. I know that.
It breaks my heart that even after four years of being with me, your mind still goes to what life would be like if we were together on the Earth plane. You’re heartbroken that we can’t be together.
Jayna gave him a hurtful look. And you don’t care that we can’t be together on the Earth plane, can’t be married, can’t have children and raise a family?
Would you like that, Ethan asked, to be married and have children?
Doesn’t every girl? Jayna asked. I look at Pavlina and Hope and wonder if I will ever have a child of my own?
Ethan wasn’t sure what to say to make her feel better.
I want to have children with you, Jayna said tears running down her face. She wiped them away unashamed.
Please, don’t cry. I can’t stand the site of your crying, Ethan begged.
Jayna shrugged and sighed. That’s the way I feel, Ethan. If we were an ordinary couple, we’d be making plans for the future. We can’t do that the way we are.
Ethan walked up to her and went down on one knee.
“Will you marry me, Jayna, and be my wife? Share your life with me for eternity?”
For the second time that night, Jayna’s mouth fell open. She was speechless.
“Will you marry me?” Ethan asked again.
“Yes, but how?” Jayna answered switching to use her voice. “How will we get married?”
“We’ll get married in the Astral plane, since this is the only place we can be together.”
Jayna was dumbfounded. One minute she was crying about not being able to be with the love of her life, next minute she was engaged.
“We have to tell my parents,” Ethan said. “Will you just stay here for a second? I will go find them.”
Jayna nodded and sat on Ethan’s bed. She looked around and admired the beauty and elegance of his room. The person who designed and decorated this room had impeccable taste. She decided it had to be a collaborative effort. The room was only marginally masculine. She figured she would feel quite comfortable moving in with Ethan. It would be only an Astral move anyway, she would shift at night and go to his room. This would be the place they would call home base.
What would Ethan’s parents say to their decision to be married?
Ethan came back and took her hand. “They are waiting for us in the family room,” he said.
They walked together, hand in hand, to the family room. Jayna admired their home. It was a beautiful home, built to resemble the Astral buildings; lots of columns and marble. In contrast, the furniture was contemporary. The blend of ancient and contemporary was spectacular. Jayna decided Ethan’s parents had great taste. His father was an architect, she knew that.
Estelle was one lucky woman to have such a home. The place also smelled of money, and lots of it. Jayna decided to keep those thoughts far away from her head, or she risked embarrassment.
Estelle and Roy were waiting for them. They popped out of their bodies and came to welcome Jayna in their Astral forms. They hugged and kissed their future daughter-in-law.
They were clearly very happy for them.
“I am delighted to have you in the family,” Estelle said.
“It’s about time,” Roy added.
Jayna laughed.
“How soon were you planning to be married?” Estelle asked the two of them.
“I am actually quite flabbergasted,” Jayna said. “Ethan just sprung this on me. This isn’t going to be a traditional wedding, so I have no idea what we should be doing.”
Estelle clapped her hands. “I love weddings!”
“It will be a spectacular wedding; the first of its kind. We’ll send out Astral invitations to everyone we know. It will be an incredible event, I just know it.”
Jayna looked as stunned as she felt. She also felt quite stupid.
“Why don’t we set the date to a month from tonight? I need time to find a wedding gown, or think of one, you know what I mean.”
Estelle was delighted. “Of course, dear, you can have any wedding gown you desire. Go through all the wedding magazines and see what you would like. A week is plenty of time to choose a wedding gown, you don’t need a month. I will get busy and find myself a suitable dress, too. You have to decide who will be in your wedding party.”
Jayna was puzzled. “Well, I can have my brother, Hope and the children from your side, but other than that I am not sure that anyone I know can even come to this wedding.”
Estelle was thoughtful for a minute. “I wonder if we can request a special permission to have your friends, Pavlina and Ayshen attend the wedding. We can always ask, no harm done.”
The possibility of having her best friend and their surrogate mother attend her wedding thrilled Jayna.
“I would be so happy if they could attend,” she said.
“Why don’t we all go to the Council of Ascended Masters and ask them,” Roy suggested.
“That’s a great idea, darling,” Estelle said.
Instantly they were in the Council Hall. Estelle and Roy offered a joint telepathic request to the Council to speak to them. There were several Masters there; they were ushered in.
Greetings Masters, Estelle said and bowed deeply. Her family followed suit.
The Masters rose and bowed back.
What brings you here this night? The Masters asked as one voice.
Esteemed Masters, Estelle said. We are here to request your blessings for our son, Ethan, and his fiancée, Jayna. As you know, they have been together the past four years. Tonight, they became engaged and wish to marry in the Astral plane. We are hoping that you will endorse this union and perform a marriage ceremony in a week’s time to unite them for eternity. Estelle posed to give the Masters a moment to consider what she had just said
. As far as she knew, this would be a first. There had never been a couple such as Jayna and Ethan. They were one of a kind.
We approve and bless this union, the Masters declared, and grant their wish. We shall celebrate their wedding in a week’s time.
Jayna’s heart was going so fast, she thought she would pass out. Ethan held her hand for support. Upon the Masters’ acceptance of their marriage Ethan and Jayna bowed deeply, followed by Roy and Estelle.
The Masters bowed back.
Ask your request, dear, Estelle said.
Jayna took a deep breath and exhaled. I have a request for our wedding ceremony. I am wondering if you would allow my family and a couple of close friends to attend our wedding. They do not know how to shift to the Astral plane as we do, in fact my family does not know anything about the Astral plane. I would have to tell them about it first.
There was a murmur amongst the Ascended Masters. Jayna held her breath and waited while they deliberated.
Your wish is granted. You may bring your family and friends to the wedding. We look forward to this joyous occasion.
Jayna bowed very deeply, followed by Ethan and his parents.
While they were paying their respects, the Masters spoke again.
Although we approve of your marriage in the Astral plane, we request that you continue to see each other only in the Astral vibration. We do not recommend that you start seeing each other on Earth.
Jayna and Ethan spoke as one. We will not go against your wishes.
The Masters bowed back and sent Astral light to the group, in effect blessing them with their energy.
Jayna was elated. Estelle gave her a hug. “We have a wedding to plan. We’d better get busy.”
“I will take care of the invitations to all our friends and family who are able to shift into the Astral plane at will,” announced Roy. “We’ll invite everyone, even those who live in different time zones. They can arrange to join us for the wedding. I am sure they will want to attend. This is a very special occasion.”
“I will go with you darling,” Estelle said to her husband. “Jayna and Ethan need to have some privacy. They haven’t had a moment alone since they became engaged. I will take care of the details for you. You can call on me anytime, Jayna, day or night. You only have to think my name and I will hear you.”
Jayna nodded. “Thank you for your support, Estelle. This means a lot to me.”
Estelle and Roy left, leaving Jayna and Ethan by themselves.
“We have a lot to talk about,” Ethan said.
“We do, and not just wedding stuff.”
Ethan took Jayna in his arms and kissed her passionately. Jayna enjoyed the kiss, maybe a bit too much, because she felt herself losing her focus.
“That was amazing, babe, but you didn’t distract me enough to make me forget what I asked you a while ago,” Jayna said.
“What would you like to know, my love?”
“I would like to know since when you could punch people and give them bloody noses while in your Astral form?”
Nonchalant, Ethan shrugged. “Let me think about that for a moment. I think the first time I gave somebody a bloody nose while in my Astral form was when I was in grade three and the school bully was threatening to beat up my friend, Joey. I hid in a corner of the school yard and shifted to my Astral form. He didn’t know what hit him. He ran all the way home calling his mommy.”
Jayna gave him a quizzing look. “Are you telling me you’ve been able to do that since you were a kid?”
Ethan nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“And I thought it was a pretty big deal when I brought you a piece of paper.”
Ethan wrapped his arms around her again and kissed her neck. “But it is a big deal, babe. You are now learning to carry things between places. It’s awesome.”
“I also took some pastries from Marie’s café to Pavlina’s house. They were a hit.”
Ethan laughed. “I bet they were.”
Jayna was suddenly serious. “Ethan, I almost forgot to tell you. You wouldn’t believe what Hope did today?”
“What did she do?” Ethan asked worrying that something bad might have happened.
“Hope pulled some stuff out of thin air. We rescued a desolate family this afternoon, and brought them to Pavlina’s for a meal; the children wanted some burgers and chicken. While Pavlina was wondering where she would find the meat in a jiffy, Hope whispered in her ear to look in the fridge. Later, she procured some buns the same way and confessed this wasn’t the first time she did it.”
Ethan simply said, “Wow.”
“Can you pull things out of the ether?” Jayna asked.
Ethan shook his head. “No, I can’t. No one in my circle can do that. Hope is the first. That’s amazing.”
Jayna agreed. “I was very impressed. She said she’s been procuring little things for Ayshen, but I am pretty sure Ayshen wasn’t aware it. She might have thought she ran out of things or misplaced them. We’ll have to have a talk with Ayshen about this.”
Ethan was thoughtful for a minute. “This is progress of a different kind.”
Ethan grabbed Jayna and swung her around. “How do you feel about getting married in a week?”
“I am deliriously happy about it, but it will take me a few days to believe it’s really happening. Once I start flipping through wedding magazines, it will seem more real. I have to choose a dress, and outfits for the children in the wedding party, and of course I want something very special for my maid of honor.”
“I have something for you.” Ethan pulled Jayna’s left hand and slipped a ring on it. Jayna’s heart skipped a beat. Ethan was putting his ring on her finger. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She looked down to see her engagement ring and squealed in delight. It was a heart shaped pink diamond surrounded by a row of clear diamonds. The mount was also inlaid with clear diamonds. The ring was breathtakingly beautiful.
“Babe, this is the most beautiful ring I’ve seen in my life. I absolutely love it. A heart shaped pink diamond, it’s so romantic.”
“I am glad you like it.”
“Is this ring physical or Astral only?” Jayna asked.
“It’s physical. When you shift back, it will still be on your finger.”
“How will I explain all this to my parents?” Jayna worried.
“You’ll feel a whole lot better once you tell them the truth,” Ethan speculated.
“Yeah, I will feel so much lighter with the weight of this big secret off my shoulders. The Masters gave us permission, they said okay to everything we asked tonight, but they made it clear we are still not to see each other in the Earth plane. You know what? I am okay with that, we are getting married which is a lot more than I dared to dream. Your family is supportive, and that is a huge plus. I want my family in on the big secret, too. I will sit them down tomorrow and talk to them. Once they get over the shock of another reality, they will be thrilled.”
Ethan hugged Jayna and kissed the top her head.
“I am sure they will be happy for you. Look at it this way: They know that Liam and I have met many times, so why wouldn’t they believe you when you tell them a bit more. You never lied to them; you only told them what they could believe. After four years, I think they should be able to handle the whole truth.”
Jayna nodded. “My mother walked in when I was working on the portrait. She knew immediately that was you.”
Jayna turned around and kissed Ethan lightly on his lips. “She thinks you are a very handsome guy - her words not mine - and that we make an attractive couple.”
“You see, you have nothing to worry about.”
Remembering her mother’s comment gave Jayna the courage to hope that somehow things would work out. Ethan heard the internal sigh of relief Jayna let out.
Have faith babe, things will work out. Everything we do is based on faith.