The Guardian Angel

Chapter-11: Leah

I clutched the takeout bag from this nearby Chinese stall, as I removed my sandals.

"I'm back!" I announced. Jess peeked her head out of the kitchen, where she had been setting plates and cutlery up for the three of us to eat.

"Yo, go to your room. I've kept a gift there for you." She told, immersed in cleaning the already spic and span table.

"A gift?" I asked. She nodded.

"An apology for bursting out earlier." She said, giving me a megawatt smile.

Okaaayyy. Something was up, but my curiosity was eating me up from inside.

I placed the bag on top of the table and headed towards my bedroom. I opened the door and headed inside. I sat on my bed looked around for my "gift". I gave up, making my mind to as her about it later after not finding it. 

I brought one knee up and rested my chin on it. Jess still didn't know that James was.... Well James. James and I had had a silent conversation, where we had decided that even Jess was one of those who saw James as someone else and not who he really was.

She loved following news and all that. She had ranted to me about the attack in Afghanistan on many occasions. There's no way she could have forgotten that. So, the only explanation was that only I could see him as James, and not as someone else. Both of us didn't know why, but were in unanimous agreement that no one else should get to know of this. At least for now

Speaking of James, where was he? It was almost as if he had disappeared. 

I got my answer in a way I had totally not expected.

The door to the bathroom opened. James stepped out, only a towel wrapped around his waist. His chest was bare, exposing his damp skin, from his recent shower which I had somehow completely missed.

My eyes travelled from his head to toe. The way his collarbone joint with a toned and hard chest. A single drop made its way from his neck down towards contoured lines of hard muscles at his stomach. Waist below, only his calves and feet were visible. And thank God for that. With only this in sight, my thighs clenched together as my heart started pumping crazily. If he had been completely naked— No, no no no. Bad brain. Don't go there. I'll have to live with the images for the rest of my life.

I was pretty sure I had given out an undignified squeal when he came out. My eyes travelled back to his head. His jaws were bunched, a muscle jumping. His eyes expressed his astonishment. His lips parting slightly emphasized that all the more.

I bolted out of the room. And ran into Jess' room. She would die for this. I would do that. Definitely. My face felt like it had been put in the oven at maximum temperature.

No. That must have been cooler. I ran into Jess' bathroom, and splashed water over my face. I glanced at the mirror, seeing my face flushed bright red.

Okay, let's be honest here. I was never going to get that image out of my head. It was burnt onto my brain. An image I'll probably never erase from my mind.

How gutsy of Jess. I stormed out of her room, and stomped straight up to her. She sipped a glass of water, hiding her smirk behind the glass.

She set the glass down. "How did you like my gift?" She asked sardonically.

I had a reply. A very effective one, actually. I threw the remaining water on her face. She squealed in surprise.

"I liked it the same way you liked that." I said with an innocent smile.

Jess and I had insisted that James stay back for dinner. As an appreciation towards saving me. Jess seemed to have other ideas, but that wasn't on me.

Jess and I had settled on our chairs, just as James emerged. This time with his shirt and pant back on. My cheeks flushed at the memory making me duck my head down to hide it.

We were just starting to eat when Jess kicked me under the table. I raised my eyebrow at her. She jerked her head towards James and mouthed talk. I made a stabbing motion with my chopstick and mouthed shut up. She just rolled her eyes and continued with her food.

Just as James thanked us and was about to leave he turned toward me and asked, "Walk me out?"

"Yeah, she would love to!" Jess told enthusiastically just as I was opening my mouth. I elbowed her in the ribs before leading James outside.

We stood in front of the building, next to James' car. He had his hands thrust into his pocket, and eyes lowered to the pavement. I rubbed my arms; it was surprisingly chilly. And it was never chilly in Phoenix.

"Don't you have anything to ask me?" He surprised me by asking.

"Ask what?"

"Don't joke around with me, Leah." Leah. The word sounded foreign coming from his mouth. "I know you have a lot of questions, and I've been the only one asking questions. It's your turn to ask now."

"I do have a lot of questions." I admitted. He signaled for me to go on. "Are you dead? Like really, really dead? I remember seeing your face on the news. But now I see you standing here.... And I don't know what to think."

He laughed. "I'm definitely not alive. I can tell you that. Besides that, even I'm in the dark." He shifted one of the holes in his clothes, to come to a stop right above his stomach. A circular scar was there. Incredibly small, but you could see it.

My mind went back to the dream—vision— the one where he got shot. I touched the small scar, lightly circling it with my finger. The heat of his skin flowed into the tip of my finger, doing weird things I would rather not describe to my insides. It was fascinating how one small thing could take a life so easily.

"Anything else?" James asked his voice lightly sharp. I realized I was still touching him and quickly stepped back.

"Yes, in fact. What do we do now?" I asked

"We?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't play dumb. We had or have dreams about each other. You happen to be dead and the only person who can see you as you, is me. Not to mention you saved me from a bunch of rapists. What do you want me to do? Say thank you so much for your help, Adios?"

He whistled. "Way to put it out there."

"Okay see, I'm not letting you slip off that easy. We are going to meet sometime and talk this out. Okay?"

"Alright by me. When shall we meet?" He asked.

"When are you free?"

He cocked an eyebrow at that, humor lighting his eyes. Right. He didn't have much to do. Since he was....

"This Thursday works?" He nodded, shrugging lightly. "Then we will meet at this place. It should be deserted on a weekday." I gave him the location and we parted ways.

I told Jess about my plans on Thursday. Leaving all the death and dreams part out of course.

"Oooh a date.... How interesting." She mocked. I smacked my palm against my forehead.

But I secretly thought, it did very much seem like a date didn't it? Even if it didn't and was in fact just a casual meeting, my heart thought and reacted very differently to this new turn of events.