Dangerous Bliss

Sleepy Head

Beep.Beep. Beep. The next time I awoke it was to the sound of my alarm going off.When I opened my sleepy eyes the sunlight was creeping its way through the cracks in my drapes. I sat up groggily as I looked around to see Raphael sitting at my desk asleep. He must've come in when I fell back asleep to make sure I didn't have the dream again. I got up and walked over to him slowly,looking at how peaceful he looked. He did look like an angel in a way, like this he looked graceful, beautiful, and like he could soar the sky at any minute. When I got over to him I knelt down and whispered softly in his ear,"Raphael." He mumbled something I couldn't understand but remained asleep. This time I spoke a little louder, "Raphael." His blue eyes fluttered open to see me crouched down in front of him. He looked down at me and I saw a slight blush run across his cheeks. I smiled up at him, "Come on it's time to head to work."I stood up and walked over towards my bed. I grabbed my phone and keys before meeting him by the doorway. I walked out to the garage with him following behind me. When we entered the garage and his eyes went wide, apparently he was expecting to see such an amazing motorcycle. I got on and stuck the key in the ignition, turning it until the bike roared to life under me. I looked back at him waiting for him to get on behind me. "Come on." I say loud enough that he could hear me over the noise. He walked over to the bike and slowly got on behind me. "You're going to want to hold on to me." I said as I backed out of the garage slowly. At first he didn't but as soon as I started speeding off down the road he quickly wrapped his arms tightly around my waist. I laughed and slowed down as we got near the light. It was a nice day out so the wind wasn't too bad, it was actually nice as we rode to work. Once I parked in the parking lot he got off and wavered a little. Riding on a bike for long periods of time like that can make your legs go numb against the vibrations of the bike. I got off and grabbed his arm to help him steady himself. I walked in to the small coffee shop and clocked in. "Hey Raphael do you want anything to eat or drink?" I asked him from behind the counter, the girl from yesterday was working the register again. "What do you recommend?" he asked sitting down near the window in the exact spot Daniel was yesterday. I smiled and went back into the kitchen telling the chef an order. I came back with a cup of sweet hot chocolate and a plate full of our famous pancakes with some hash browns on the side. I set it all down in front of him and smile. "I can't afford this." He said looking up at me. I just shook my head, "It's on the house." I walked back behind the counter and waited for the lunch time rush to start. Once people started coming in it got really busy. Raphael looked like he was nervous around all these people. I ran around from table to table, taking orders, bringing drinks, and bringing out food. There were only two other girls working the waitress shift today since it was a weekday. I heard one of the other girls call my name. I turned around to look at her, "It's your lunch break." I smiled and clocked in for lunch before walking over to Raphael. He stood up as he saw me walking towards him. "Come on." I grabbed his hand and dragged him out the door. I took him across the street to the pizza place that I took Daniel to yesterday. I walked over to my usual table with a box of pizza already on it and sat down with him across from me. I opened up the box of pizza and took a slice of the warm gooey goodness and took a bite happily. Raphael picked up apiece and took a small bite. The cheese melted in his mouth with a mixture of amazing and fresh flavors. He had a big smile on his face. "Wow this is amazing." He ended up eating half the box which I didn't mind since I didn't eat that much anyway. This is so nice. In just a week I made two new friends who are closer to me now then I have ever let anyone get to me in a long time.We talked about all the stuff that he did while he was up in Heaven. I found out that it's not all bright lights and peace up there. Every once in a while there would be a bad soul that somehow got up there and would have to be sent back or that some people don't always die when they are supposed to. I found out why Raphael did not like to speak much of what he does as a soul collector. In his time being a soul collector he has seen more death than life and the deaths that he sees are not ones that he would ever wish on anyone else. He explained how if you were a soul collector you collected souls from all age groups from young to old. For him the kids and babies were always the hardest to have to collect, not physically but emotionally. I guess I can now understand how he can be so young yet act so much older. He has seen more in his lifetime than anything I could even imagine. We headed back to the coffee shop and I clocked back in. the next few hours went by extremely slow. It was like molasses on shot summer day. Luckily I kept myself busy enough that when I looked back up at the clock it was time to go. I clocked back out and walked over to the table where Raphael was sitting to find him asleep with his head on the table. I smiled to myself and shook his arm softly. "Raphael come on its time to go home." He woke up and looked up at me still slightly asleep. He stood up and we walked out to my bike. "You know if you're tired you can take a nap when we get back to the house." I say getting on and turning the key in the ignition. He nodded and got on behind me making sure to wrap his arms around my waist so he wouldn't fall off. I kicked up the kick stand and made my way towards home. The cold evening wind whipped past me which helped to keep my mind off my dream from this morning. Suddenly I felt something warm and soft against my cold arms. When I looked down I saw Raphael's red hoodie wrapped around me with him keeping it from flying off me. I smile from the warmth it brought. As I drove I got what smelled like a mixture of something sweet and fresh mountain air. It must've been coming from his hoodie. Wow it smelled so good. Once we got home he got off, taking his hoodie with him. I parked in the garage and headed inside. I went to the kitchen and he followed me with his hoodie back in. "Thank you for letting me use your hoodie." I said opening the fridge. "No problem you looked cold." He said with a small smile on his face. I loved when he smiled because it seemed like he rarely did.