I paced around Eve’s living room nervously, waiting for Maria to come so I could ask for her advice. Eve was in the shower and Brian was due over in a few minutes. ‘Why is it that she never comes when I need her?’ I thought to myself.
“I’m here,” came the pleasant voice from behind me. “Now what exactly seems to be the problem?”
“Maria, thank God,” I sighed with relief. “I have a major crisis on my hands. Brian is planning on telling Eve about me.”
“So?”
“So? That means I would fail my task!”
“No you wouldn’t,” Maria corrected me. “You would only fail your task if you yourself told Eve about what happened. You have no control over Brian. Actually, I spoke to the Big Man today and it seems as if your task may be complete soon. He is quite impressed with you Miranda.”
“Really?”
“Yes really.” Maria grinned at me. “I knew you could do it. Now I have to get back. Good luck with Eve.”
“No, wait.” Maria turned around. “If Eve asks me about what happened, should I tell her the truth?”
“You have to. Goodbye Miranda, I know you’ll make me proud.” Maria disappeared and I sank down on the couch.
“Miranda?” Eve came down the stairs and walked into the living room. “Who were you talking to?”
“Just myself,” I answered quickly. “So what do you think Brian wanted to talk to you about?”
“I don’t know, but I hope that it has something to do with the way he acted today. I’ve never seen him like that before, it was scary.”
As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Eve glanced at me nervously and went to open the door.
“Hi sweetie,” Brian said, stepping into the house and giving her a quick kiss.
“Hi. Come and sit down, I want to know what you have to tell me.” Eve led him into the living room and they sat down on her couch.
“Well, this isn’t going to be easy, so bear with me.” Brian sucked in a deep breath and began to tell his story. “One day, my long-time girlfriend and I were at the Tiny Mart, the store we stopped in front of today, to get some snacks to bring to a party Nick was holding. We had gotten up to the register when this guy with a gun grabbed my girlfriend and threatened to shoot if the man at the register didn’t give him the money.” He paused. “The guy gave him the money, but as he was leaving he fired a shot anyway. It… hit her in the chest and she died in my arms.” Brian was crying now and I was getting pretty close to it. “She was so young and helpless and to this day I still blame myself. That’s why I’ve been so protective of you Eve, because I don’t want to lose you like I did Miranda.”
“Did you say Miranda?” Eve asked, her eyes growing wide.
Brian nodded. “Heather and Kat sometimes called her Randi, it was her nickname. Here.” He pulled out his wallet and showed her a picture. As I leaned closer, I saw it was a picture of him and I at our senior prom.
“Oh my God,” Eve said, her voice barely audible. Her gazed was fixed on me. “You’re-”
“Eve,” Brian took her hand. “Do you understand why I reacted like I did today?”
“Leave Brian.”
“What?”
“I said leave. I-I can’t deal with this right now. Just go.” Eve practically shoved him out of the house. She slammed the front door and turned towards me. “How could you not tell me?” she screamed. “Don’t I have a right to know?!”
“Listen, Eve, there’s no need to get upset,” I said soothingly. “Just calm down.”
“Calm down?! How in the hell do you expect me to calm down when I just found out that my dead friend is my boyfriend’s ex!”
“I wanted to tell you, really I did, but I wasn’t allowed to. You see, I’m in training to become an Angel. I had to complete five tasks in order to do that, and this was the fifth one. Setting up you and Brian, two souls who are destined to be together.” My eyes started to water. “You have no idea how hard it was for me to set up my one true love with some girl that I had never even met. It was sheer torture watching him adore you while the whole time I wished it was me.”
“Oh Miranda, I’m so sorry,” Eve said softly, blinking back her tears. “I didn’t even think about how hard it must have been for you to do this. And Brian… my God, he must think that I hate him. I have to find him.” Without another word, Eve jumped up and ran out of the front door.
* * * * *
I followed after Ever as she ran the two long blocks to Brian’s house. After what had happened just a few minutes earlier, I was scared that I would fail my task. I didn’t have much time to worry about it, because a tear-stained Eve had already reached his front steps. She rang his doorbell and stood there, crying quietly to herself.
“Eve, I’m so sorry,” I said softly as I came up behind her.
“No, don’t be. I never should have overreacted. I just thought that maybe Brian was just using me to get over you.” Eve wiped her eyes and rang the doorbell again. “God, where is he?”
“I’ll go in and see,” I offered. Eve nodded and I went through the door. I searched his house until I found him upstairs in his room, staring at a picture of him and Eve.
“I knew I shouldn’t have told her,” he said out loud, letting a tear trickle down his cheek and splash on the picture in its frame. “She wasn’t ready… I wasn’t ready.”
‘Oh no,’ I thought sadly, shaking my head at the miserable site before me. ‘How am I ever going to fix this?’
