by Lauren Wynn
My eyes widen and a smile spreads across my joyful face. “Wow! What an incredible opportunity. I would love to join your firm, Luke.”
“Wonderful. I will take care of the schooling.”
“I couldn’t possibly, I will get loans.”
“No, no, what I mean is, I will take care of law school paperwork.”
“What? Seriously?”
“There is no reason for you to spend all those years in school. You already know it all, and you can be here working.”
“Wow! Just like that?” Is he serious?
“Well, one exception. You are on your own for passing the bar exam. I can’t forge that piece for you.” He laughs a deep and hearty laugh.
“I think I can manage the exam.” I’m confident about that.
“I have a very close friend at a university in Illinois. He’s a professor at the divinity school, and has access to records. I’ll call him this weekend.”
“He would do that for me?”
“He’s a teal-eye, like us.”
“And he’s a professor?”
“He’s been here for over a century, and up and decided one day that he needed to do more, so he started teaching at the divinity school. Figured it was a good fit.” Luke raises an eyebrow.
“Wow! How can I ever thank you for everything you are doing for us?”
“You don’t, Zan. This is a gift. If you have the opportunity someday, pay it forward. That’s all I ask. Trust me, getting used to a human life is hard enough. You’ll see.”
“Absolutely.”
“You’ll start Monday, then. I have some cases piling up. I could use some help fact-finding until your identification comes in and you pass your exam. I realize you will have to step out for your other duties and that should remain your priority.”
I sigh, trying to absorb it all.
“I will pay you fairly, I know you don’t have much in the way of expenses right now, but you will and there is no time like the present to start building a nest egg for your new life.”
My jaw drops. “I’m speechless.” I walk over and give Luke a tight hug.
In the matter of a week, he has become a human father figure for me and I relish the idea of having an extended family to experience life with. I peek over his shoulder, Providence strolls in from the kitchen licking her lips and patting her stomach. The ice cream preoccupied her mind long enough to settle her nerves. I release Luke and slightly bow to him.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
Hope crosses the room and wraps her arms around her husband holding him tightly in a hug. She tilts her head up and he winks at her and tugs her closer.
“So, I guess congratulations are in order, Zan.” She smiles, knowing I accepted Luke’s job offer.
Providence slides her arm through mine and lays a hand on my chest. I smooch the top of her head. She fits naturally there.
“Yes, thank you. You have both been so kind.”
“For what?” Providence asks.
“I’ll tell you on the way home.” She nods. I notice the dark circles that have formed under their eyes. “It’s late, we won’t keep you. Luke, I will see you first thing Monday morning.”
The dark sky is clear but the light of the half-moon leads us to her car. I inhale a deep cleansing breath of the moist April air. Providence dangles the keys in front of me and I open the passenger door for her. She sits in the seat but doesn’t pull her legs in. Instead she tugs on my hand.
“Mr. Addison.” She tilts her head up and smiles. The moonlight shines, revealing the curves of her face. “I do love you,” she declares and pulls me down to kiss her. I bend my knees, rest my elbows on her thighs, and hold her cheeks in my palms. She presses her lips to mine and leans her forehead to me.
I will never tire of hearing those words flow from her lips. It’s reassuring. I have already made her my choice, but doubt always creeps in since we never truly know what the future will hold.
“I love you, Providence.” I rise and walk around the car. She holds onto my hand as long as she is able without moving from her seat.
After buckling her seatbelt, she slouches down into the comfort of the seat and lays her head on the cushiony gray rest. “So, what was the congratulation for?”
“Luke offered me a job at his firm.”
She abruptly leans forward, “Are you serious? That’s awesome. You start Monday?”
“Yep.” I grin at her.
“What will you be doing?”
“Fact-finding for cases now until I pass the bar exam.”
“Huh, cool. Wait, what about school? Don’t you have to, like, graduate first?”
“Well…Luke’s sort of taking care of that for me.”
“What? Are you freaking kidding me?” I shake my head no. “Ah,” she whines. “I mean, awesome for you smarty pants, but…” Her mind scrolls through her vision of us sitting side by side in a quiet library, surrounded by other students studying our respective books and playing footsie.
“Prov…don’t worry. My new job will offer plenty of opportunities for that.” I chuckle.
She giggles and blushes. “Promise?”
I nod.
I have spent my entire existence preparing for what I knew to be true, never anticipating that I would choose the unknown. That I would turn left instead of right. That I would say yes instead of no. And because of that one choice, in that one moment, my existence will forever be changed. And, at least for today, I have learned that I cannot do life on my own. It may even take a little white dove to lead me along my path.
The Boys
I peek out a hole in the board covering my bedroom window. It is a crystal-clear evening—well, morning—nearly half past three. The air smells fresh and feels moist from yesterday’s rain—well, the air through the window. The loft actually stinks of mildew. I shuffle into the living room where Leo and Grant are reading at the dining room table. They both peer up from their books and I unfurl my wings.
“Ah yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Leo exclaims.
Grant checks his watch, stands up, and unfurls his.
“Sweet,” Leo says in a high-pitched voice as he stands up and follows suit, as if he needed Grant’s approval.
We stroll out the door into the hallway and take the stairwell up to the black-topped roof of the loft. Only a sliver of moon shines, which allows us to fly relatively undetected.
“Where to?” Grant asks, spreading his white wings.
“Anywhere.” I grin mischievously.
Between working during the day at the firm, spending evenings with Providence, and answering calls throughout the night, I haven’t had any time to hang out with Grant and Leo, except for our extremely brief morning meetings in the park. I’m psyched to go flying with them. Plus, it may be one of my last trips. Before my mood has a chance to slump, Leo takes off, so I spread my wings wide and follow.
The wind blows over and under my wings, my white feathers wave ever so slightly, and I feel the breeze float across my face. If I were human, streams of water would be flowing from my eyes, a natural response to the direct gusts of wind. We hover above the three-, four-, and five-story brick buildings in Over-the-Rhine, making slow arching circles like hawks hunting for food. The streets below are lined up in a perfect grid. The neighborhood remains quiet, apart from the banging of a metal garbage can that a cat knocks over. Grant banks hard to the east flying quickly toward the sixteen-story twin towers, rising and diving in steep swoops. I trail him closely. Together we look like fighter jets on a midnight getaway. We soar around the mint-green dome of Saint Xavier Church, each tapping our hands on the gold cross that tops it off. Then we head straight for the towers. Various lights throughout the tower windows and crown are lit up, showing the gray granite, circular exterior, but no one seems to be moving inside at this hour. I swoop around and in between the east and north towers and watch my reflection in the windows that cover the building, like a giant, white-winged butterfly coasti
ng through the air. Grant lands on the dome of the north tower roof, and I plant my feet firmly next to him. Leo lands at the furthest point of the dome and moonwalks over to us, his body moving in unison with his feet.
“Let’s fly…y…y…yy,” Leo sings, “Up, up, here we go.” He flaps his wings and somersaults several times in mid-air before landing back on the roof across from me. He dances the width of the roof singing aloud in a voice I never knew he had.
Grant and I race to the edge and leap. Our wings immediately pull us upward and we coast in opposite directions around the towers, meeting in the center, tilting our wings vertically as we pass each other, avoiding a collision. We hover next to the dome and Leo points to my favorite church on the hill. I soar upward and make a vertical loop and dash toward the church. The white cross resting at the highest point of the church is lit up. I stop to rest, sitting securely on the pitched, black-shingled roof. Leo and Grant join me, and we gaze out at the mocha river and the downtown skyline.
“Ah, man, this is beautiful!” I remark.
Grant nudges me with his elbow. “You’re going to miss this.”
I nod. “Yes, I will definitely miss this.”
“Don’t think I’m taking you for a ride when you’re human. No way. That’s like taking another dude for a ride on a motorcycle. Awkward.” Leo’s voice rises when he says “awkward.”
We all laugh.
“I’ll take Providence, though.” Leo winks. “You can fly with Grant.” Leo slaps Grant on the back.
“Oh, no he can’t,” Grant quickly replies, shaking his head.
“And there is no way I would allow you to take Prov. You’re way too reckless,” I add, violently shaking my head.
“Ah, come on now…” Leo pouts.
“She’s precious cargo, man.”
“I’m not reckless.” Leo stands up, slides down the pitched roof on his feet as if he is snowboarding on a mountain, and drops quickly off the edge. Grant and I rush to our feet and flutter at the edge as Leo stares up at us smirking, hovering mid-air. He rockets upward and veers to the right. Grant and I follow. I speed up and pass Leo on his left.
He howls, “That’s my boy,”
I fly in between the twin towers, spiraling. I glance back. Leo and Grant follow in the same pattern, one at a time. I head toward the Purple People Bridge, soaring over and under in a corkscrew from the Ohio side of the river to the Kentucky side and back. Leo follows while Grant swoops around the tiara of the Queen City Tower. I ascend the forty-four story building and watch Leo in the reflection of the predominately all-glass building as he trails me upward. Grant rests on the flat rooftop, so Leo and I take a seat on either side of him. I lie back, bending my knees, and place my hands under my head. Staring up through the enormous steel bars of the tiara, stars twinkle faintly in the dark sky. The sliver of the moon seems even more distant than when we initially began our evening flight.
“I got a job,” I blurt.
“We suspected,” Grant says, frankly.
Leo nudges him. “You hit the nail on the head.”
“How’s it going so far?”
“Good, good. I’m fact-finding for an attorney.”
“That’s awesome,” Leo shouts over to me. “Let me know if you need any help.” He snickers.
“Ha, I do have a slight advantage right now.” I laugh to myself. I only use my angel form if absolutely necessary.
“You are the fly on the wall.” Grant laughs.
My eyes lift in the corners in a smile. Leo rolls up onto his side with his elbow on the rooftop, and he rests the side of his head on his palm.
“And Providence…” Leo leads. I turn my head to him and squint as if to say “continue.”
Grant jumps in. “You’re making the leap, Zan. We assume it isn’t just to be her boyfriend.”
I nod, “Oh…” I shake my head up and down. I sit up and grab my knees. “I’m going to ask her to marry me.” I swallow.
“Awe, snap. Our little Zan is going to be a family man.” Leo jumps up and shouts.
Grant hops to his feet extending a hand and pulls me up into a bear hug. “Congratulations, man. For what it’s worth, I think you are making a good decision.”
“Thanks. That means a lot. Really.”
Leo throws his arms around both of us. “Woohoo, bachelor flight.” Leo flaps his wings lifting us all up off the rooftop a few feet.
We race to the edge simultaneously and jump, spreading our wings and circling around the steel poles of the tiara a couple times before heading west toward home. We fly in V-formation over the top of the baseball stadium, swerving left above the Ohio River. We dip down so close we nearly skim the surface of the water, then veer back to the right in time to soar through the football stadium. We make our way north, away from the banks of the river, over several high-rise buildings to the convention center at the western edge of downtown. Grant flutters past the oversized, brightly lit letters that are attached to the western side of the convention center, spelling “Cincinnati,” and lands on one block making up part of the oversized letter N. I take my place next to him on an N while Leo lands on the top block of the A. We sit, letting our legs dangle over the sides. We each gaze at the hillside that rises on the not-so-distant horizon. Headlights from the early-morning commuters are streaming along the nearby interstate. I look at Grant as he sits watching the traffic. His dark-brown hair blows in the wind, and he lays his hands, clasped, in his lap. I turn to Leo, who is staring up at the sky and swinging his dangling legs like an excited child waiting for a cookie.
“Guess we should probably be heading home.” Grant’s tone is gloomy.
“Yeah, I guess,” I reply. I really will miss this, this view, the air time with my friends, the feel of wind against my face, my wings. But then I think of Providence, the image of her beautiful sleeping face is drawn in my mind, a black sketch on a piece of ivory paper, perfectly illustrating the curves of her face, the lines of her lips, the long, dark lashes of her closed eyes. “If Providence says yes, will you two be my best men?”
“Heck, yeah, dawg.” Leo throws up his fist for a knuckle punch.
“As if she would ever say no.” Grant shakes his head. “Absolutely, Zan.” He pauses for a moment in thought. “I’ll get to walk one of her cute friends down the aisle, right?”
“You’re not thinking about falling too, are you?” Leo shouts over to Grant.
“Nah, just figured if I had to wear some fancy suit, I’d at least have a pretty lady on my arm.” Grant leans forward, looking directly at Leo.
“She has some fine lookin’ friends.” Leo winks and holds a fist up to Grant and they knock knuckles.
I punch Grant lightly on the arm and laugh. “I should have known better than to ask you two teal eyes.” They laugh. “Let’s go home.”
We hop down off the sign letting our wings carry us gracefully a hundred feet to the sidewalk. We tuck in our wings in the shadows of the building and stroll side by side in the direction of our loft. The sky remains dark with only a hint of day breaking in the east. I take a deep breath, inhaling the crisp, spring air.
We pass an alley a block from our loft. A faint street lamp shines at the corner of a three-story, red-brick building illuminating a funnel of golden light down the alleyway. I glance into the light as we pass the opening between buildings. A familiar figure, tall and broad-shouldered, glows where the darkness of the shadow meets the light of the street lamp. An angel? I stop in my tracks and back step to the opening. I squint to see more clearly. Nothing. I turn my ear and listen. Nothing. I walk a few paces, but nothing lurks in the shadows. I stay still for a moment. Strange. I turn around and jog to catch up with Grant and Leo.
“What was that about?” Grant asks.
“Nothing. I thought I saw an angel in that alley, but he must have left.” I jiggle my head to shake off the unsettling feeling that lies in my gut. “I’m sure I scared him off.”
In this skin, he probably couldn’t tell I
was an angel. I can always see my own kind, and I know he was there.
The Diner
Weeks have passed since I’ve been back to the diner to serve on a Friday night. Somehow, between the last time I came and now, I have managed to fill my calendar every Friday night: that crazy rave, wasting away the dreadful night when Providence went on a date with Chance, my happier, quasi-date nights with Providence, meeting Hope, and receiving my offer from Luke. I refer to them as “quasi-date nights” since I believe dates are supposed to mean something like dinner and a movie, not sitting in Providence’s room talking while she eats fruit snacks. And while I wouldn’t trade any time I have spent with her, I will eventually give her the date night she deserves. However, this Friday night isn’t it. This Friday night, Providence and I are going to serve with Leo at the diner.
The April air is warm enough that I can pass jeans and a long-sleeve T-shirt off as sufficient. Leo and I wait on the corner for Providence to drive up. Her tires screech a bit when she stops and she rolls up a few inches onto the sidewalk. I hear an “Oops!” slip through her lips as I open the car door. I’m used to it now, but Leo jumps back a step just in case. We hop into her silver Civic and she speeds off to the church, only a few blocks from our place. She parallel parks, surprisingly well, behind the church in a fenced-in lot. This part of town can get rough. The chain-link fence is supposed to deter criminals, along with the guard that monitors the lot. Providence isn’t the slightest bit worried. She is convinced no thief would choose her eight-year-old Civic over any of the other cars in the lot. She exaggerates. Her car is in great condition.
Leo jumps out of the backseat and pats himself down making sure his body is still intact.
Providence laughs. “Oh, it wasn’t that bad, exaggerator.” She skips across the lot to the stairs leading into the church basement.