THE DEVILS ANGEL [18+]

FOURTEEN

Annabelle

Do you ever wake up some days and have crippling anxiety, like a noose is wrapped around your neck and nothing you do seems to get rid of it. I have had an extremely unsettling feeling since the moment I woke up and I can't shake it. It's like those stories you hear about after a major disaster, people not taking their usual route to work because they just had a feeling something was going to happen. That gut feeling that they listened too ultimately saved their lives. Now, I'm not saying I'm about to walk into a life or death situation but I know that something bad is right around the corner. It makes me want to curl up in my cozy little house and hide from the world, but unfortunately life doesn't work like that.

So here I am, trying to get through my shift at the studio while my head is a million miles away. No amount of meditating is helping me lift the dark cloud of worry that is hanging over me. Every spare minute I get I keep checking my phone but there isn't anything. Another clue that maybe I'm just going batshit crazy. I hate that I get something into my head and my mind just runs with it. I'm sure a therapist once said it's to do with childhood trauma but I never went to any more than one or two sessions, my gran thinking it was a load of crap. Her exact words were 'suck it up, we all have shit to deal with.' Like I said, she was a real character.

"Thank you ladies! I hope you all have a great rest of your day." I call out to the last remaining women who attend my morning class.

Taking a deep breath, I roll my shoulders back in hopes that I can release some of the tension in my shoulders. The stress that has been building has my back in knots and I just feel off balanced, I call myself a yoga instructor and I spend most of my days an anxious mess. Huffing as I find no indication from my phone that something is wrong, as I throw it in my bag a voice startles me.

"Why are you in such a grump today?" Connie asks from the doorway, her eyebrow quirked as she waits for me to answer. A huge part of me wants to be alone right now to let the anxiety completely take over but I'm glad Connie has shown up. Hopefully she can pull me from whatever it is I'm feeling.

"Woke up with this horrible feeling like something bad is going to happen but I don't know what it is." I confess, shoving all of my stuff into my bag.

"Okay." She nods before opening the door wider, gesturing for me to follow her. "We are gonna go for some lunch and try and figure this out. Come on." Connie urges and I go with her without resistance. I couldn't think of a better way to try and ease this chest tightening feeling. I feel extremely stupid but it's like I'm in a hole that's being filled in and I cannot for the life of me get out of it. It's like the oxygen is being ripped from me and Connie is the oxygen tank that I so desperately need. I take her outstretched hand and we head out into the bustling streets of the city.

We choose a quietish café just up the street from the studio since my lunch break isn't that long. I pull out my phone for the fifth time since Connie arrived and before I can look at it, It's swiped out of my hand. "Hey!" I exclaim, trying to grab it back.

"No I'm going to keep this until we have had something to eat and then you'll get it back. You've checked it and nothing has gone wrong, plus you need to have cool off time before you go full postal mode." Connie sternly tells me before putting my phone in her bag.

Huffing, I sulk in my chair but I remain quiet, knowing she is right. Connie taking my phone takes the pressure off my shoulders even if it's only for an hour or so. We order our food and descend into an easy conversation. Firstly talking about work and how our day to day life is going, catching up since I haven't seen her since she came to my house in tears about her shitty ex.