Meant to Be (The Saving Angels 1)

“I’ll see you later,” he said.

I smiled a little sadly. We both knew in just a few short hours we would be with each other in our dream world, and even though the dreams had taken a painful twist, neither one of us would give them up for anything.

My mom arrived home just minutes after Mark and Shawn left. I couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief that the timing had worked out. I just wasn’t ready to cross that bridge and introduce Mark to her yet.

“Hey girls, how was your evening?” My mom inquired, setting her overflowing bags on the settee that was against the wall just past the front door.

“It was fun.” Sam and I burst out laughing as we answered at the same time again. We were like two halves that had been put back together.

My mom smiled at our light hearted mood. “Do you girls have any interest in playing games with an old lady for a little while?”

“Mom, you’re not an old lady,” I protested, standing up to get some games.

“Ugh.” I groaned dismayed, as I began the search for a deck of cards that was buried somewhere within a cluster of games spilling off the overflowing shelves. How the closet had gotten this bad when we only had been in the new house for a few short weeks was beyond me. I lifted the Monopoly and Pictionary games out of the way and caught the Scrabble board as it slid out of its torn box. Finally, I spied the cards shoved all the way in the back. Juggling the games with one hand, I plunged my free hand toward the back of the shelf and groped around for the cards, praying silently that my hand wouldn’t encounter any creepy crawlies. I detested bugs and usually strayed away from placing my hand into dark corners.

We decided to play rummy since Sam had never played it before. Mom briefly explained the rules to Sam while I forged into the kitchen to make all of us hot fudge sundaes.

Sam kept us in stitches while we played the game; she had a hard time remembering the rules, so she made up her own. We laughed at her outrageous rules and soon we were all making up our own rules. We played cards late into the night, laughing and joking around.

Finally, my mom yawned and announced it was way past her bedtime. Sam and I were still hyped up from the ice cream, so we continued our game upstairs. We sat on my bed for another hour gossiping, while we played.

By 1:00 a.m. our sugar rush had disappeared and we were ready to turn in. I put the cards away and pulled out my trundle bed for Sam while she used the bathroom. When Sam was done, I shuffled to the bathroom; I washed my face and brushed my teeth. As I reached over to switch off the light, I caught a glimpse of my reflection and was amazed at the differences. I barely recognized the smiling girl who looked back at me. Mark and Sam had changed my life. The seriousness that had always circled my eyes was now replaced by laugh lines.

I crawled in bed and switched off the lamp, mumbling a goodnight to Sam and within minutes we were out.

My sobs woke both of us up an hour later.

Sam got up and sat beside me. I felt comfort flow through me just by her presence.

“Was it the same?” she asked quietly.

I nodded my head. “Yeah, it hasn’t changed. It just seems that with each passing night the pain from the separation has gotten more intense. I don’t understand why we’re going through this and you and Shawn never have.”

“I don’t know,” Sam said with sympathy, but I could tell she was relieved she had never experienced it. Shawn and Sam’s relationship was not as complicated as Mark and mine. They had known who the other was almost instantly when Sam had run into him while he was working at the Boardwalk. She of course had never seen his features, but she had embraced her lighting moment, and believed Shawn the instant he told her who he was. Their dreams had never taken the turn that Mark and mine were on, so Mark’s theory that ours had changed because of the move didn’t seem feasible now.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by the buzzing of my cell phone. I glanced at the caller I.D. already knowing who it was.

“Are you okay?” he asked as soon as I answered the phone.

“Yeah, it’s just getting harder each time.”

“For me too.”

“I’m glad you called, Sam and I were just going over it.”

“I’m glad she’s there with you, I worry about you after the dream ends each night.”

“I’m okay. I just wish I knew why our dreams have changed and theirs haven’t. We’re all looking for what ties us together, but the more we get torn apart, the less likely it seems,” I said as Sam got up to use the bathroom. I felt a small guilty twinge; I knew that Mark and my dream twist stressed her out. I didn’t want her to think I was wishing the cruel twist on them, it just felt grossly unfair to me.

We talked for a few more minutes until I started to yawn and began to feel drowsy. My body needed rest after the emotional upheaval it had suffered throughout the day.

“I’ll let you go,” Mark said as I stifled another yawn. “I’m picking Shawn up, and we will meet you and Sam by the entrance.”

“Okay,” I said, dying to say the three little words chanting in my head. “Sleep well,” I said, chickening out at the last second.

Chapter 8

I woke with Feline lying on my face. Pushing him off gently, I sat up and looked over at Sam who was snoring softly on the trundle bed beside me. I was glad to see that she was able to go back to sleep after I had woken us both up with my dream.