Color Me Love (2 page)

I
had to pause to catch my breath. I attached the phone headset to my ear so I
can go let my dog, Herbie out to pee.

I
looked out the front window. Usually my Aunt Matilda was here by now, but I
didn’t see her truck. I glanced at my watch and noticed that I had to hurry up.
Don’t want to be late for my new gig.

“There
has to be a better reason than that,” Rebecca said.

“Nope.”
I led the way to the back door and let Herbie out into the fenced in yard. I
waved and then put my finger up to my mouth when I saw Aunt Matilda pull her
truck into my driveway. That way she’d know I was on a dump. “Nick said that
your apartment stinks, your clothes stink. And guess what? He doesn’t’ even
like
cats.”

I
laugh out loud while I walked into the kitchen with Aunt Matilda behind me. I
grabbed an extra mug and filled them up with coffee before I headed back to my
office and plopped down in my chair.

“Well,
he said he did.” Rebecca shot back.

“A
cat, Rebecca, one cat. Not four.” I had to get to the point. I pulled out the
secrets Nick listed on his form so Rebecca would believe me and begin to accept
the fact that Nick had dumped her. “He says he doesn’t like the cat in the room
when you two are intimate.”

“You
mean sex?” Rebecca questioned. “They are cats.”

“Do
you bring one of the cats in the bed after you are finished having sex?” I know
this one is going to hit below the belt, but he said it. I read it right from the
form he had to fill out. “Eww…what about all that hair?”

“You
know what, this is a joke.” I could hear Rebecca fiddling around in the
background.

I
knew I’d gotten her attention. Time to move in for the kill.

“Rebecca,
do you understand that Nick has broken up with you?” I had to get her
acceptance recorded.

“So
he hired you?” Rebecca headed right into the denial stage of “the process.”

I
was hoping we could skip this stage. I glanced at the clock on my office wall,
and Aunt Matilda sitting in the leather chair next to the window in my office.
She tapped her fingernail on her watch.

Aunt
Matilda was a retired palm reader, and she will come in handy (pun intended) at
Color Me Happy. Erin thought it would be a great idea to use Aunt Matilda and
her knowledge of reading love lines.

Aunt
Matilda and I would do anything to help Erin’s business succeed. We thought
Erin’s last business, Plan It, was a brilliant idea. It was a party planning
business that did really well until the economy crashed.

Then
people started serving their own pigs in a blanket and cheap box wine. And Plan
It went belly up.

Unfortunately,
a lot of businesses left Park City. Even our very own SPCA where I met Bradley,
who introduced me to the furry love of my life, Herbie.

Really,
I met Bradley while I was working a kissing booth for the SPCA fundraiser that
Plan It coordinated. I’d do anything for Erin, even volunteer at the kissing
booth. Bradley just happened to be standing in line for a kiss for a donation
to the SPCA of course. He had me at blue aura.

Needless
to say, I helped out a little around the SPCA while trying to clear Erin and
myself of murder charges, and fell head over heels in love with Herbie. It was
really only going to be temporary. Herbie was going to be my watchdog because it
became clear someone was framing Splitsville.com when two of my clients turned
up dead. Thank God, I was cleared of any charges and Splitsville.com would
remain anonymous.

Herbie
was suppose to go back to the SPCA, but he wormed his little schnauzer self
into my bed and my heart, while Bradley took a new job at another SPCA across
the country.

“I
said he hired you?” Dumpee Rebecca bought me back from Memory Lane, along with
Aunt Matilda clearing her throat.

“Yes
he did. And let me repeat,” I paused, “he’s breaking up with you because you
are turning into the cat lady.”

“Whatever.
Is he going to let me borrow his car for a veterinarian appointment next week?”
Rebecca asks as if I was Nick’s handler.

“He’s
breaking up with you.” I tap the six stage of “the process.”

Anger.

“But
he said I could borrow his car because mine’s in the shop.” Rebecca’s voice
escalated.

I
gestured for Aunt Matilda to go on without me. Rebecca wasn’t accepting this
very well and it was taking much longer than I had anticipated.

“I
don’t know about next week, all I know is that Nick is breaking up with you
today. He’s dumping you and your cats.” I hated to be harsh, but Rebecca needed
a good dose of reality.

“Who
are you again?” The anger in her voice dripped through the phone.

I
took another look at her five-five frame and wondered if she was a true redhead.
She certainly matched her orange calico cats. This was one time I wished I
could read auras through the phone. I’d put money on it that she was an
environmental tan.

“I’m
Jenn from Splitsville.com.” I swear I say that so much, I rehearsed it in my
sleep. “Nick hired my online breakup service to break up with you and your
cats. Am I going to see you on some cable reality show about animal hoarders?
Am I?”

I
know…insensitive, but in reality, I’m the biggest sap you’ll ever meet. I love
to be in love, I love for people to be in love. But sometimes it was not love.

“No,
I take good care of them.” Rebecca said softly.

I
listened closely. I’m about to get the seventh and final stage of “the
process.”

Acceptance.

“Rebecca,
why do you want to be in a relationship with someone who doesn’t want to be
with you anymore?” I didn’t wait for a reply. “Your four cats just cost you
your relationship.”

There
were sniffles on the other end. I prayed Rebecca was getting it.

“Rebecca,
do you understand that you and Nick are broken up?” I held my crossed fingers
in the air. If she gives me the yes, I can hang up and be at Color Me Love on
time.

“Yes.
Fine.” She slammed down the phone.

Thank
you.

Two

Color
Me Love was a perfect name for what was really going on behind the scenes. The
night that Erin decided to close Plan It, Aunt Matilda said that she had a
vision that Erin was going to open up a dating service.

After
too many vodka and cranberries, we came up with the idea for Color Me Love. We
started out joking that if we placed couples together by their auras, Color Me
Love would get a great reputation and Erin’s list of clients would take off.
Millionaire Matchmaker would have nothing over Color Me Love. Hell, Erin might
be able to get a reality show out of it.

Plus
aura dating, believe it or not, was becoming very popular. Especially in older
adults. Recently, I had read an article that someone later in life was open to
aura dating because they’ve been around the block a time or two and didn’t feel
like going around that block anymore. They also claimed they could have a
deeper connection with their aura mate and better understanding of one another.

Park
City was not the smallest town, but not the biggest either. We’ve got the usual
McDonald’s, Target, Starbucks, and large grocery chains. But it’s still big
enough that there are some big players in the community that everyone knows.

So
keeping me, Olivia Davis (anonymous as Jenn, the girl from Splitsville.com that
was breaking hearts around the tri-state area) was super important. I get
several death threats a month by email from people that I’ve dumped for my
clients, but I know it’s only words. If those words ever came to reality, I
knew I could depend on Carl and Ian, two of Park City’s finest police officers,
to protect me.

Color
Me Love was close to the senior center and Aunt Matilda’s house on Main Street.
Aunt Matilda still comes over every morning to check on me, which is more than
welcomed. And now she checked on Erin too, since Erin moved in with me last
spring after her boyfriend was murdered in her apartment.

That’s
another story for another day, but needless to say, my door was always open for
my two favorite people. You’d think we’d drive in together, but Erin wanted to
make sure everything was ready for her client’s first few potential suitors.

The
Starbuck’s drive-through line was out into the turning lane off Main Street,
but I had to get my non-fat mocha latte with an extra pump if I was going to be
reading auras. The auras could be a little sketchy if these potential suitors
were trying to put their best foot forward to impress Erin so that she would
pick them.

After
I got my latte, I pulled into the open parking space in front of Color Me Love.
I looked past all the cut out hearts taped on the window, and saw Aunt Matilda
already had one lucky guy sitting at her palm reading table with his mouth
hanging open, looking completely dumbfounded.

I
laughed, and had to wonder what he was thinking as she ran her long fingernail
along the lines on his palm. Or maybe the heart headscarf that’s got her
massive blonde hair knotted up had gotten his attention. Either way, Aunt
Matilda was deep into his love line.

“Good
morning.” I said, nodding and smiling as I passed and made eye contact with the
guy.

I
didn’t want to disturb Aunt Matilda while she was in her zone, but he
definitely looked like he needed some saving, because his blue aura was taking
up all the space.

“I.
. .” I stammered trying to look away, but couldn’t.

My
body went limp along with my hand. Before I knew it, I was in the guy’s arms
and hot coffee was dripping off his clothes.

“Are
you okay?” He asked. His green eyes sparkled even more with the blue tint
surrounding his head.

Aunt
Matilda peered over his shoulder with her knowing expression. There have been
many times over the course of my life that auras take over all my senses and
I’ve passed out. Only one blue aura man had ever caught me and stolen my heart.

Bradley.

See
where that got me. . .alone. Bradley ran the local SPCA, and when it shut down,
so did Bradley’s job. He transferred across the country to run a different
SPCA.

We
tried to make it work, or at least I did. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do
for a man with a blue aura. Carl, Park City’s police chief, offered me a job
reading the auras of criminals, but I turned it down so I could follow Bradley
across the country. I had Splitsville.com, and it was entirely run through the
internet, so I had a job, but I didn’t have Erin or Aunt Matilda.

After
two weeks of living in the land of love, Herbie and I packed my old Toyota and
drove back to Park City. My heart just wasn’t complete without Erin and Aunt
Matilda.

“Olivia,
are you okay?” Aunt Matilda patted the beads of hot coffee off my sweater with
her headscarf. “You aren’t burned, are you?”

The
guy sat me in the chair that he had been sitting in before I up and fainted.

“Blue.
. .blue.” I made myself focus on Aunt Matilda as I fumbled for words.

“Yes,
dear. It’s very cold and blue in here.” She got in front of the guy while
completely understanding what I was trying to tell her. “Could you go and get a
glass of water from the refreshment counter, Joel?”

Joel
quickly ran off to retrieve the glass of water just like Aunt Matilda had told
him to do.

“Now,
get yourself together.” She peered into my eyes. “You are here to do a job, not
fall in love with every single blue aura you come across.”

I
knew she was right and this was exactly why I could never have a real job, but
it was Valentine’s Day and love was in the air.

“What’s
going on?” Erin smiled and tossed her head to the side making her bangs fall
away from her eyes. “Why are you in here when you should be in there?” She
pointed to the two-way mirror on the wall, which was really there for me to sit
behind and read the auras.

I
pointed to Joel. “Blue aura.”

Erin
grabbed me by the arm. “Get in there.”

“Wait.”
Joel said, stepping in front of us. He smiled. I closed my eyes before I fainted
again. “You forgot your water. Olivia, right?”

My
fingertip brushed up against his fingers that were wrapped around the cup. The
spark caused me to drop the glass and it shattered everywhere.

“Damn!”
Erin dropped her hand from my arm. “Here we go again.”

I
rushed to the back through the doors that lead to the offices, and Aunt Matilda
jingled the whole way behind me.

“From
now on, you need to get here before anyone else.” She grabbed the broom before
I could get it. “Now, go next door and grab another cup of coffee.”

I
started to walk back to the front of Color Me Love.

“Not
that way.” Aunt Matilda pointed to the back door. “That way. We can’t have you
seeing ‘Mr. Blue’ anymore.”