Twenty-Seven

Chapter One

"Den, calm down. I'm okay. You need to go and have your meeting with Skylar. You boys have been working on this project for months now," she said as she tried pushing him out the door. He wasn't going to miss his opportunity.

"The meeting can be postponed. I'd rather be here with you in case this storm gets out of control."

"I love you for thinking of me, but I'll be okay. I will message you if I get scared. This isn't my first storm without you." As he pulled her into him, she clasped her hands behind his head. Den gave her a quick peck, then rested his forehead on hers.

"Stay safe. The forecast said it has the potential to get really bad."

"I'll be okay. You go and show them how good you are. I love you."

"I love you too, my beautiful Lexa." She pulled his head down until his lips were on hers. She wanted him to have everything he dreamed of. As he walked away she tried to hold back her tears. He was it.

~*~

5 hours later...

The thunder rumbled through the house. She felt the vibration the thunder created move though her body. Lexa sat on the window seat in the lounge room with a cup of tea in her hands. She watched as the storm raged on in the darkness. While lightning lit up the night sky, she could see how the wind was bending the trees to its will. It wasn't normal for her to be so calm during a storm while her husband was out, especially sitting so close to a window. The heavy drops of rain took on a tinny sound on the roof, which she recognised as hail. The forecast hadn't mentioned hail. In that moment, as the storm intensified, Lexa knew that her husband had passed away. She didn't know how she knew, she just did. She placed her empty cup on the polished timber floor before getting to her feet. She walked to the office to get her phone. As she picked it up, it rang. She knew it would. Her husband's smiling face lit up the screen, along with their friend's. She put the phone to her ear.

"Oh my god, Lex. I'm so sorry. I tried my best. I couldn't save him. Lex, I'm sorry, but, um, Den died. I don't know what happened. One minute we were laughing and the next he was on the ground, gone," he said, confirming what she already knew. Lexa could hear the panic in his voice and she knew he was being strong for her. She didn't need him to be. She'd been preparing herself for this moment for months.

"It's not your fault, Skylar. Thank you for ringing to tell me. Stay safe in this storm," she responded, keeping the emotion out of her voice. Lexa disconnected the call and switched off the phone before he could respond. She unplugged the home phone from the wall to stop any calls. She unwound her long blonde hair from the low bun it had been in all day. Lexa didn't know how she felt. She couldn't find it in herself to mourn the loss of her childhood best friend and husband. Lexa had known this day was coming since she'd dreamt it would exactly twelve months earlier. It was part of the reason she'd married him. The bigger part of her loved him, even though she wasn't sure if it was the love he deserved. Lexa had known Den was in love with her since she'd turned eighteen, but she didn't love him in the way he wanted. Lexa did love him deep in her bones, but she didn't know if it was more than friendship on her side. Den hadn't known he was going to die when he left her that afternoon. He was a healthy twenty-seven-year-old male. There was no logical explanation. Lexa had known, but she'd never breathed a word of it to anyone as it would break the natural order of life. What people would call a gift, was Lexa's own personal curse. No one knew what she could do, and it was for the same reason she never told anyone. In two weeks she'd be in 1835, not in 2014. Sitting back on the window seat, she wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her shoulder. The storm wasn't letting up and it mirrored how she felt on the inside. She couldn't pinpoint one single emotion.