Destined (33 page)

I was starting to understand what
Henry had meant by saying “a man like Tony.” Tony was an amazingly intuitive
person, I learned. He believed that when the universe gives us a sign, an
intuition, we should spring into action. I had actually seen him do this now,
several times. Successfully, I might add. His intuitions were right on the
money. I was trying to learn to have confidence in mine as well. It was hard to
ignore the negative voice in my head that told me I was being silly, but when I
managed to drown it out, the results seemed to justify the leap of faith.

Take my intuitions about Amy, for
example. The attractive displays she had designed for our store windows were
pulling in more and more new customers every day. The manager of a women’s
clothing store down the street had noticed, and called to ask me who had done
the windows for us. I told her it was a brilliant young art student who was my
summer intern, possibly available for some freelance work if the price was
right. Amy got her courage up and went over to show them some of her sketches,
and they hired her on the spot. She was totally thrilled, and so was I.

Meanwhile, the girls and I had started
taking turns every week hosting Ladies’ Night. We met early, right after work,
had a nice chat and a quick drink, and then everyone hurried home for dinner
with our loved ones. Everyone brought her own beverage of choice, plus any
snacks we had kicking around in the fridge.

I invited them all to come over to my
apartment, when it was my turn. Tony had left his “Latin Lounge” CD on the
stereo, so I turned it on, loud. The first number is a dramatic tango. Bella
came over and raised her eyebrow at me, snapping out her hand in time with the
music, palm up. I slapped my hand down into hers, we pointed our arms toward
the far wall and tangoed across the floor together, giggling all the way.
Laurie and Alyssia joined in, and then everyone else, and soon we were all
dancing crazily around the room.

“What else do you have?” Siri wanted
to know, flipping through my CDs.

“Oooh! Look, play this one!” said Mei,
holding up my Aimee Mann album. We put it on and everyone sang as we danced.

I poured some wine for Laurie.

“How’s it going with your sweetie?”
she wanted to know. “He sure is one handsome man!”

“Oh yeah,” said Bella, dancing
suggestively. “He can have a three-way any time he wants!”

“You’re offering your services?” I
asked, pinching her on the butt as she wiggled past.

Somebody put on Sly and the Family
Stone, “Dance to the Music.” We all jumped up and flung ourselves into it, each
in her own way. Siri moved elegantly, swaying and spinning in circles. Bella
whipped her body around, moving her arms in wide, expressive motions. She was a
fabulous dancer, coordinated and athletic. Laurie was graceful and controlled,
with obvious ballet training. Alyssia rocked her hips back and forth to the
beat, using her hands and facial expressions descriptively. Mei moved in
delicate, flowing motions that matched her spry, petite body, but she sang as
loudly as the rest of us, a big voice in a little package. Mindy had great
rhythm and that bendable, flexible body. She stepped into sync with Bella,
copying her moves. They laughed and flung back their heads, matching their
steps as we all sang the chorus together, repeating the words. “Dance to the
music,” we all sang, jumping up and down in unison. The floor shook.

I started to worry a little about my
downstairs neighbor. I wondered if he was home. If so, we might be hearing from
him quite soon. I turned the volume down a tad and went into the kitchen to get
some crackers and cheese. Laurie had brought guacamole and pita chips, too. I
carried everything into the main room and put it on the coffee table. We
settled down on the couch and the floor, clustering around to dip our chips
into the heavenly green mush.

“Oh Emily, I forgot to tell you,” Siri
said, “My father has some news about Amy and her mother. He thinks he’s found
out where they’ve been living!”

“Really? Where?” I asked.

Alyssia nodded and said, “Yes, Rashid
told me about this. Some of the kids were helping out at the church, painting
down in the basement, where they have the Sunday School rooms.”

“There is a small storage room in the
back of the building that is usually locked,” Siri said. “But this time it was
not, and the boys went inside. It looked like someone had been sleeping there.
Two pallets were laid out on the floor and there was a bundle of clothes and
personal items.”

“Is it possible for someone to stay
there without anyone knowing?” I asked, doubtfully. “Wouldn’t the minister or
the deacons or someone find out about it?”

“Yes, you would think so. It’s a
mystery,” Siri said.

“Do any of you know the people who run
the church?” I asked, but they all shook their heads. “What denomination is it,
anyhow?”

“I think it’s Unitarian, whatever that
means,” said Bella.

“Rashid knows the minister, who is a
woman,” Alyssia told us. “She does a lot of work with the neighborhood kids. That’s
why he was helping with the painting. They’re turning one of the rooms in the
basement into a gathering place for teens, somewhere for them to hang out and
listen to music, so they won’t get into trouble on the street.”

“That’s a great idea,” Laurie said. “There
really isn’t anywhere for them to go, at the moment. I see them sitting on the
sidewalk smoking cigarettes all the time.”

“I hope my son is not smoking
cigarettes!” Alyssia said, alarmed.

“No, not Rashid,” Laurie calmed her. “He’s
a good boy, don’t worry.”

“So, the boys didn’t actually see
anyone in this room, right?” I asked.

“No,” said Siri. “I don’t think so.
But they told my father they’ll be keeping an eye on the place. It’s just a
matter of time before someone sees who it is.”

We moved on to other topics as we
polished off the last of the snacks and drained our glasses. The girls got up
to find their shoes and bags, helping me bring the dishes to the kitchen and
put them into the dishwasher. Just as they were about to leave, there was a knock
on the door. Bella was the closest, so she opened it. Tony was standing in the
hallway with a Sorrentino’s Pizza box in his hand.

“Am I too early?” he asked, looking a
bit overwhelmed by the mass of femininity gathered right inside the door.

“Oh no, baby,” said Bella, pulling him
in the door and shooting me one of her raised-eyebrow grins, “You’re right on
time!”

He went into the kitchen to put the
pizza down on the countertop, and as soon as his back was turned she rolled her
eyes and mouthed silently, “SO cute!” pretending to swoon and collapsing into
Laurie’s arms. Tony turned around to see what was so funny, a little suspicious
frown on his face.

“OK ladies,” I said protectively,
shooing them out the door. “I’ll see you all on Friday morning, if not sooner!”

We hugged and kissed each other
goodbye and they trooped down the stairs. I went back into the kitchen, where
Tony had put the pizza and two plates on the table. He was rummaging in the
fridge, and pulled out a bag of tossed salad.

“Did you have fun with your
girlfriends?” he asked.

“Sure,” I answered, “I always have fun
with them. They are really a great group of women.”

“I hope I didn’t interrupt anything,”
he said, uneasily.

“No, don’t worry. Bella just wants to
jump your bones, that’s all!”

“She what?”

“She thinks you’re cute,” I said,
putting my arms around him. “It’s a compliment. We all think you’re cute.
Especially me.”

He perked up and smiled, wrapping his
arms around me too. We kissed, slowly and deliciously.

“I’m glad your girlfriends approve,”
he said. “I hate to think what would happen if they didn’t like me. I’m sure
you would break up with me immediately.”

“Probably so,” I teased, “But only
after I had my way with you.”

“Emily, are you terribly hungry right
now?” he asked thoughtfully.

“Not frantically, we had hors
d’oeuvres.”

“Good!” he said, pulling my T-shirt up
over my head and dropping it on the floor. Unzipped in a second, my skirt fell
to the floor as well. Soon, we were using the kitchen counter for a purpose I
was fairly certain it had not originally been designed to serve. It was all
over with very quickly, but we smiled at each other afterwards in complete
accord.

“Can you concentrate on your dinner
now?” I asked playfully, picking up the trail of clothing scattered across the
kitchen floor. He was standing at the sink in his boxers, peeling carrots under
the running water.

“I’ll try,” he said, turning his head
to wink at me. I kissed him on the back of the shoulder, heading to the
bathroom for a minute. When I came back wearing my bathrobe, he moved all the
food to the coffee table. We sat on the sofa and ate pizza and salad, watching
the local news on TV.

“Look!” Tony said, pointing, “It’s
about your festival!”

They were doing a live report about
the upcoming Sidewalk Sales, talking about the “dog days” of summer and all the
fun things there would be for families to enjoy next weekend. Sarah Bennet was
on camera, being interviewed in front of the Gladstone Gallery. She was
composed and eloquent, an experienced hand at this kind of publicity. Lexi’s
windows looked great behind her, filled with some colorful new abstract
landscapes that I hadn’t seen before. They talked about the entertainment
events, mentioning the names of the performers who would be playing under the tent.
When the reporter signed off, I jumped off the couch and ran for the phone,
dialing Laurie’s cell.

“Did you see it?” she answered, not
bothering to say hello.

“Yes!”

“Omigosh, wasn’t it GREAT!” she
shouted excitedly.

“Can you believe it? Free advertising!
The best kind!”

“Did you know this was happening?”

“No, they must have called Sarah at
the last minute, she would have told me,” I said.

“Emily, if they’re already covering it
and it isn’t even happening for almost a week, we’re going to be mobbed!”

“I certainly hope so,” I said. “But I
forgot to watch the weather forecast, I got so excited and ran to call you.”

“Fair skies for this week, chance of
scattered showers after that,” Tony interjected, watching the broadcast. I
repeated this to Laurie.

“OK, so it might rain a little, and it
might not. Just like always,” she said. “We have to concentrate on good
weather, and that what we’ll get.”

“Right,” I agreed. We hung up and I
went back to the couch.

Tony put his arm around my shoulders
and gave me a squeeze.

“Congratulations,” he said, “You must
be happy.”

“Things are going well, let’s just
hope it continues,” I said, crossing my fingers.

“You need to picture it working the
way you want it to,” Tony said, seriously.

I nodded. “OK, will you help me?”

He looked flattered, and smiled at me
questioningly. “Sure, do you mean it? Or are you joking again?”

“I’m serious!” I said, taking his hand
in mine. “I want to learn how to do it, you know, the way you make things
happen.”

“OK,” he said. “Eat your dinner, then we’ll
meditate together and I’ll show you.”

I cleared my plate and we turned off
the TV, settling down to sit cross-legged on the floor, facing each other.
Following Tony’s instructions, I closed my eyes, slowing my breathing down and
centering my consciousness within my body. I went deeply into my mind, losing
awareness of the room around me as I floated up into my thought body. I
deliberately pictured the goal we had agreed on, trying to see it in my mind’s
eye.

As in a vivid dream, I saw Market
Street on a clear, sunny day. It was from the same perspective as if I were
standing in the doorway of the shop, looking out. I turned my dream eyes to the
left toward a bright glow and past it I saw the big tent, the intersection
roped off with stanchions, people milling about. Families were walking up and
down the sidewalks, kids with floating balloons and babies in strollers.
Everyone was happy, including me! I held the image and the feeling for as long
as I could, finally coming out of it when I noticed that my left leg had gone
totally to sleep.

Tony was still sitting opposite me,
his eyes open and watching me calmly.

“Welcome back,” he said, reaching out
for my hand.

“Thank you,” I replied, dazed.

“That was an amazing experience,
Emily,” he said very seriously. He looked at me with piercing eyes,
questioningly.

“It was?” I said vaguely, feeling
fuzzy. I straightened out my stiff legs and rubbed the tingling.

“You didn’t see me, did you?” he
asked, apparently disappointed.

“See you where?”

“Standing next to you, in the doorway
of the shop.”

“Just now?”