Life after Death

Chapter Ten

After a nice shower and dressing into some clean clothes (a blue Polo shirt and black jeans), I was ready to head to downtown and see where the action was. But no sooner than I opened the front door when I was greeted by the beautiful and fox-faced young woman named Catalina Slade, she dressed in a sensual and flowy yellow sundress with her bronzed skin glowing from a tan and her brown Afro hair kept in a neat bun. "Uh, hi," I said uneasily. "Can I help you?"

"I just came to formally greet you," Catalina replied in her sensual accent as she stepped inside the foyer, her heels clicking onto the marbled floor. "And I'm sorry for coming off as acidly standoffish last night at Chance's get-together. I was used to being in the spotlight and all before your arrival. You can say that I'm like the showgirl of Chance's flock and all."

"But of course," I replied. "I was just about to head out to town for the first time, actually."

"Oh, you mean the capital of Nexus known as Axis? My, I originally thought of you as a homebody, someone who liked to keep to himself and stay in. You know, get a glimpse of life if you weren't around and maybe remember your not-so-charmed life," Catalina replied, giving me a fake surprised look. "A cutie like yourself is too pure for the big world, anyhow."

Okay, folks. It looks like we have a self-righteous diva around me. Thankfully, I knew enough to keep my sordid opinions about beautiful girls with ugly hearts at bay. "Miss Slade, I assure you that I am still new around here and I do want to get a view of my new home, even though I still plan to do what's needed," I replied. "For the moment, I am in dire need of some fresh air and I am looking forward to expand my horizons."

"But of course," Catalina purred. "Just know, dear boy, that it'll be best for you to know your place around here."

I heard a loud cough from behind me. Turning around, I saw a glaring Louis and the two archangels looking at Catalina as if she was an unwanted guest. "Oh, hi," I said. "What are you three doing here?"

"Coming to check in on you," Louis replied. "And Miss Slade is just leaving, I assume?"

The young woman batted her eyes, looking coquettish as she sent me a small smirk. "I do have errands to run," she replied smoothly. "To be continued, Chamblee."

As soon as she was out of earshot, I let out a deep breath. "What the heck was that about?" I exclaimed. "She reminds me so much of my mother!"

"Yikes," Michael winced. "Unfortunately, we've been getting a few complaints about Miss Slade before you came here, but there's no solid proof. For now, both of us alongside Abaddon and Azrael in hell have their eyes on her. Hezekiah, if you suspect that something's wrong with her, you let one of us know right away."

"Right," I replied.

"Did you get your visit from God and Lucifer yet?" Louis asked me, changing the subject.

I nodded. "He explained everything to me and I kind of guessed that I was never meant to fit in with anyone back on Earth," I replied. "In a way, I felt like an oddball in every sense of the word. No one other than the maids and servants back home thought that I was worth anything. I did everything right and rarely complained, but it never felt enough for anyone, not even my mom."

"How sad," Gabriel noted, shaking his head. "No wonder my boss is ready to give them all their just desserts. Don't worry, kid. They'll get theirs. For now, just take things slow here in the Nexus and remember your viewings of the other timeline. Okay?"

"I will. For now, I'm heading to town to see what it's like here in the Nexus. I mean, I can't sit inside all day like Catalina assumed I would do."

That earned some smirks from the trio before they took off. Taking a deep breath, I opened the front door and headed outside, ready to take on the day. Let the REAL adventures begin!

*************************

There are two words describe the capital of Nexus entirely.

Pleasantville and picturesque.

After navigating various neighborhoods (all of them having the same one-bedroom mini-mansions) and parks, I soon found myself in a beautiful downtown area that was a mix of old-school and new school. There were random shops, restaruants, business buildings, and even a couple of museums that displayed things from Earth's past civilizations. There were various people who seemed to be enjoying themselves while taking time to run errands, get some leisure time, or even walk around town (there were no vehicles around to pollute the air). What's more, it seemed like everything was in full high-definition Technicolor like the moment when I got a first look at my new home and yard.

During my walk through town, I managed to pick up a few things for the house before catching a short film at a retro-themed movie theater and enjoying some freshly-squeezed lemonade from a small delicatessen shop. "I could get used to this," I said as I decided to head back home after some window-shopping at a men's department store.

"Hezekiah?"

I turned around to see a well-dressed Chance coming towards me with a smile on his face. "Hi, Chance," I replied as he crossed the street. "What brings you into town?"

"I was out running some errands until I saw you. First time coming here to Axis?"

I nodded. "Told myself that now was as good as ever to get a good look at the world I'm now in," I replied. "Even more so since my chat with God and Lucifer over morning tea."

"Did they explain to you why you were sent here?"

I nodded, giving Chance a full recap of what was said earlier as we headed down Orange Street and did some more window-shopping. "For the most part, I had a feeling that I was never meant to be around people, much less live in a world where I wasn't welcome," I finished. "My family valued money-minded conformity over principle-minded diversity and I never got the picture of why I felt so..."

"Alone?" Chance finished.

I shook my head. "Misplaced," I replied. "For me, I was the proverbial cheese that stood alone because no one wanted to give me a chance to express myself. I had to hide who I was and let them dictate my future plans. Well, my future wasn't really much since Mom and Dad thought that I didn't have much of a future anyway. Regardless of that, I guess this is when I need to appreciate how lucky I was to be in their home and not abandoned on the street."

"So what are you going to do now?" Chance asked me.

I turned to face him, the both of us stopping in the middle of a sparsely populated street. "All I can do is take it slow as I accept the new normal in the Nexus," I answered confidently. "I mean, all I have is eternity since I'm forever one day short from eighteen."

Chance grinned. "And I guess I'm forever sixteen," he replied. "Hey, you wanna come over to my place?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Why not? My evening's free."

Cumulative word-count so far: 10,592 words (and that means that I'm a little over 1/4th close to 40k words).

Well, folks, Chance and Hezekiah are starting to get closer and closer. But how far will they go before sparks fly between them? We'll see soon enough. In fact, the next chapter is where things can get...well, steamy and fade to black all at once! Oh, my! You're not going to want to miss out on this tea and shade! Stay tuned!

Song: "Super Trouper" by ABBA

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