Ch. 11: Sunny's Wings
August 18 | Night
Scrunched in the lotus position, I fumbled with the net of my attention and strove to let my thoughts flow through it like water. Unfortunately, big fish ideas kept getting in the way. Be like water. Like water. Earbuds piped the voice of a hypnotist directly into my ears, and I should have been better at following his mellow instructions. I focused on my breathing, the steady inhale held for three counts and huffed out for six.
However, a shark of emotion swamped the boat of my awareness, and I found myself thinking about Mal's fingers grazing the nape of my neck in the upscale clothiers, her whispered speech warming my earlobe. I pictured Jack's grin when I realized he was standing there, privy to the coy back-and-forth between the djinn and me. Had he appeared ruffled? No, although I had spent my day perusing books on human nature and knew that he should have.
Every description of romance had admonished against getting involved with the love interests of a friend. Regardless of what Jack said about her simply being his lawyer, it was obvious he had something kinky going on with Mal. Depending on the depth of their flirtationship, she and I having an intimate conversation could even be considered disloyalty.
I didn't want to be disloyal. Only, I couldn't keep this body from responding. It was bad enough that I had chemistry with Jack. My attraction to Mal hit me like a semi-truck. It seemed amoral, given what I was.
And meditation wasn't helping one wit.
Grumbling, I snatched out the earbuds and launched to my feet. There was someone at the door, and I could tell by the shadow slanting across the blinds of my kitchen window that it was Jack. I shoved my face in my palms. Was it too much to pray that he thought I wasn't home and just went away? I dropped my hands and opened the door. The streetlight blinded me. He was silhouette against it like a cutout of Adonis.
"Hey, there. You need something?" Smiling was labor.
As he let himself in, Jack slit his eyes and peered at me sideways. "You okay? You look like shit. Got a headache? Fever? There's a virus going around."
"No, I'm–" The back of his hand checked my forehead before I could stop him. Closing my eyes in resignation, I gently pushed his hand away. "I'm fine, really. I was resting."
"Ah, Taekwondo practice kicking your ass. Come here." He pulled me into a hug and rubbed the base of my skull. I let myself be held while his rumbling laughter tickled my chest. "Those little buggers can be insistent, can't they? I wanted to show you the gift Mal gave me last night, but now I'm sorry I interrupted your sleep."
"It's not the kids. It's something going on with work, but I wasn't sleeping. I was-I was trying to meditate."
Jack framed my face to study me. Somehow the innocent perusal thickened into something more. He slowly licked his lips as his gaze dropped to my mouth. I swear I didn't intend to follow his tongue. He leaned in by degrees. I held my breath. Before the kiss connected, I spun away.
"What did she get you?" I asked.
"What? Oh. This." He proudly showed off a bottle of expensive cologne.
"Good stuff. I smell it on you." I smiled easier.
"You like it?" He placed his wrist to my nose for good measure. Over eye contact, I took his arm and held it there for a deeper whiff. Peppery and powdery, with subtle notes of lavender, vetiver, and patchouli. My mouth went dry as I nodded.
"Suits you," I managed.
"So, tell me about the situation at work. Maybe I can impart some advice."
He took a seat as if he hadn't a moment before mentioned his regret at interrupting my rest. With a laughing head shake, I took the other midcentury modern chair across from him and pondered how to further my lie.
"Well, let's say," I replied, "you and a colleague both want the same...promotion..."
"Uh-huh."
"But there's...something between the two of you that complicates things."
"Wow." Jack rubbed his mouth. "You've got the hots for somebody at AngelGuard, too? If I didn't know any better, Sunny, I'd say you get around."
"Oh, it's not like that!"
"I'm not judging. Don't look so horrified." He chuckled as he patted my knee. He spread his legs, leaning back in his chair. His tamarind eyes grazed the ceiling in contemplation, then he scratched his chin and pointed a finger as if he knew what the situation required. "Talk to your supervisor about keeping you guys apart as much as possible so that you can focus on your assignment."
"We're sort of required to work together," I mumbled.
"Masturbate," he fired back.
My eyes bugged with embarrassment. I tried to laugh it away. "Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not, Sunniko. I don't see how anyone expects you to keep your eye on the prize if you're bound up with sexual tension at every turn. Take some of the pressure off. They'll never know." Leaning forward, he spread his hands in a shrug that said it was the most straight-forward solution in the world. How did I tell him I had never done that before?
"I can't," I gulped.
"Then, I'd be more than happy to lend a hand," Jack murmured. My gaze snapped to his face, and he wasn't joking. Smouldering intensity gleamed in his eyes.
"What about you and Mal?" I chuckled. Diffusing the situation seemed best. He merely escalating things another notch.
"What about Mal and you?" he asked with a grin. "Are we not all adults? It's the twenty-first century. We can both get you off, and your workplace stud will be none the wiser. What do you say?"
He sat back in his chair. I winced, not really wanting him to believe I was horny for some muscle-boy at AngelGuard. He had called me Sunniko. I knew enough about the Slovaci language to recognize the suffix of endearment. But the alternative was to tell him the truth–that I wanted him and Mal so badly I couldn't think straight–and encourage this light banter about sexual trysts that would never happen. I dragged the conversation to safer waters.
"I think I'll talk to my supervisor like you suggested. I'm sure there's a way to reduce contact and still work together."
It was high time I talked to Wallace anyway. Maybe he could give me some pointers on how to curtail the djinn's seductive sway. I didn't know how much longer I could compete with a djinn who could do more than encourage Jack to think happy thoughts. I looked at Jack. He looked at me.
I cleared my throat. "Well, I better get going if I intend to catch him at the, uh, office before he leaves for the day."
"If you change your mind..." He sighed, standing to his feet.
"Jack, I won't. My career means a lot to me."
He tipped my chin and forced eye contact. I thought he was about to make another pass, but he didn't. His lips softened in a regretful smile, and he nodded. "Get some rest."
***
The AngelGuard company car eased into a parking spot in front of my apartment. I peeked from the blinds at the hyperwhite halogen lights cutting through a thin drizzle. Grabbing my umbrella and attaché case, I hopped in and pulled the door.
"Thanks for the ride."
"Mm." The driver eyed the GPS route to Bayou General. Wallace had directed me to find him there. Without a chatty chauffeur, I huddled in the backseat, riddled with anxiety, trying to rehearse what I would say to him about my dilemma.
"'Mr. Edison, we have a problem... Uh, I wanted to make you abreast of a change in circumstances. A dire change in circumstances.' Hmm, that sounds fatalistic. Well, it is a catastrophe, so." I rubbed my palms on my trousers and chuckled in frustration.
At length, the tires splashed through a puddle outside the hospital parking garage. I disembarked and thanked the driver, mumbling to myself, "'Sir, we have a–' Is that too formal? 'Wallace, I don't want to alarm you, but–' Blast it, be alarmed. Be very alarmed."
Juggling the umbrella to my other hand, I dug out my phone for the room number in my texts. The contemporary beauty of the medical center, with its soothing hues and modish furniture, went ignored. I wanted to get this over with, the right words be damned. As I entered the elevator, however, my attaché fell.
I groaned. "Sorry, folks. Let me just–" The doors wedged around me as I stooped to collect the report on Jack and Mal's ongoings. I dropped my umbrella. Two people stepped over me while I battled the hoist. Papers kept fluttering loose. A glossy wingtip blocked the doors open, and a brown hand reached down. I lifted my eyes with a mix of gratitude and embarrassment. My smiling mentor brought me to my feet and helped me collect my things.
"A tad off your game tonight, Sunny?" asked Wallace.
I turned to some helpful person in scrubs who had retrieved the last of my paperwork. "Thank you! I–" I faced the Guardian. "–I've got bad news."
Wallace inclined his head toward the full carriage of riders onboard with us. Privacy was paramount. At the proper floor, once we were alone, he beckoned for me to follow. "So, about Mal Ashivant."
"How did you–?" I stopped in the corridor.
He winked over his shoulder. "Come, come. Tell me about her," he said as he opened the door to a secured patient room. No one bothered to stop him. I gazed at the nurses' station and realized he had used an obscuration trick to prevent notice.
Slipping into the quiet room behind him, I whispered, "Sir, she's a djinn. A ghastly, beastly, disgusting soul-eater who wants to sink her claws into Jack."
"Alright. What's your plan?" Wallace crossed his arms.
"What's my–? I was hoping you could assist me in devising one." I dejectedly off-loaded my belongings on a recliner. "The djinn and I both signed a contract for Jack's soul. Thus, the Laws of Fate have forced us into this impossible tug-of-war, and I have to admit, the odds are stacked against me."
"Didn't I tell you to get familiar with the guidebooks?" Wallace sounded perturbed. He moved to the other side of his ward's bed, She was sound asleep and unmoved by our discussion.
"Well, I-I-I read them," I stammered, "but–"
"Must I reiterate the rules concerning your sixty-day probationary period? You were to keep Jack from coming to life-threatening harm."
"And I've done that, but–"
"Have you?" He confronted me. "I'd say letting your probationary case slip into the clutches of a djinn is pretty life-threatening. I did my best to deter you from taking on this case."
"Entirely correct, sir."
"Your attitude was so high and mighty. Now, look what you've gone and done, Sunny!"
"Mr. Edison. In-in my defense, sir, this situation is singular," I said.
Wallace glowered. "Indeed, you've managed to get Fate involved."
In the hard silence, the drone of hospital equipment grounded me. I heard nurses in the outer hall, the gentle snore of the patient. The realization that I couldn't plead my way out of this dawned. "Have I lost my wings, sir?" My shoulders sagged.
"Oh, you'll know when you've lost your wings." With a harrumph, his ire relented. He laid a hand on the young patient's bruised forehead. A tangle of curls framed her battered face, body broken and frail beneath the blankets. "As a Guardian, there will always be details I can't reveal, especially details that might alter a person's destiny. I can't always tell you everything, Sunny, but the universe drops hints. Pay attention to the signs. They come from without and within."
I nodded. "What happened to her?"
"Exactly what needed to happen to awaken her to her full potential..." Wallace studied her tenderly. "Alright, what are your concerns about this djinn?"
"The Ashivants can give Jack anything he craves. The man has a hard enough time seeing the path of righteousness without Mal in his ear, prompting him to chase unscrupulous desires," I griped. "Love is supposed to triumph over materialism."
"Hmph! There's always the love of money." Wallace meandered to the recliner, and he casually opened my attaché. He raised an eyebrow at my notes. "'Jack's sexuality is fluid. Have to be vigilant when we're alone.'"
My heart went in my throat. "That-that's not relevant." I hurried over. Maybe I had been too thorough. My mentor flipped a page, ignoring my outstretched hand.
"'Mal doesn't like to be touched,'" he read, "'but has no qualms about putting her hands on me.' Well, now, that's pertinent, Sunny."
"Ah, heavens! I know how that sounds, sir, but–"
"Diving into humanity headfirst! I'm impressed." Wallace chuckled at my reaction. "I thought you were too sanctimonious for that, although maybe you should remember that maladaptive altered states of consciousness–which are strictly prohibited–are reached through illicit drug use, alcohol, and orgasmic sex. Careful not to drown, now."
I tried to laugh but the sound trembled into a squeak. "We absolutely do not have to worry about that. No, sir." I snatched the attaché case as soon as he put it down.
"Sunny, here's my advice." My mentor locked his hands and placed them behind his head, speaking to the ceiling. "Use what you have. Illuminate for Jack the difference between justice and vengeance so that, that tortured man can realize the wealth of love surrounding him. He has his parents, his martial arts students, you. Most importantly, he has himself. Right now, he thinks he has nothing to lose. That couldn't be further from the truth. Show him what's at stake if he rejects love."
"I'll try my best, sir."
I couldn't fathom how. To me, it was clear the value of the people in Jack's life. However, I could understand why after his many traumas, he was distrustful, isolated, and desperate for hope. All Mal had to do was dangle tangible resources in his face, and blind faith went out the window. Worse, all she had to do was look at either of us with those bedroom eyes. I was doomed.
The Guardian stated, "Your best is enough. Trust yourself,Sunny. Most importantly, stick to the rules. If you fail your probation, you'll fall from grace."
"Loss of wings is permanent?" I gasped.
His patient began to stir, and Wallace cupped my elbow to hustle me out the door. "It won't be forever, but you'll descend into full humanity with no chance of becoming even a lesser angel again until after you expire. Therefore, you must not let the djinn outsmart you, no matter how considerable her charms. Best of luck, Sunny."
"But what will happen to Jack if she wins?"
He shoved me out, and four nurses glanced up from their desk. "Excuse me, sir. Do you have a visitor's pass?" Darn it! My mentor's glamor was off.
"Actually, I was leaving. Wrong floor." I waved.
I heard one of them complain, "I'm so sick of the goddamn press trying to sneak in here. I'll be so glad when Ms. Hollywood Director's daughter finally gets released."