“My God, I’m exhausted,” Eve whined as she pushed through her hotel room door with many bags dangling from her arms. “I had no idea Kat was going to take us to so many stores.” She threw the bags on the ground and flopped down on the bed.
“Who are you kidding, you know you had fun,” I said as I followed in behind her.
“Yeah, I did. Kat is a total sweetheart. Too bad Heather hates me,” Eve sighed. “Kat told me not to worry about what she says, that she’s just upset about Randi dying, but what if she’s right?”
“Right about what?”
“Brian being too good for me. I mean look at him. He’s good looking, millions of screaming girls love him, he’s talented. What am I in comparison to that?”
“Eve, you and Brian have, or are going to have, something really special. Don’t let some snob change that.”
“You don’t know that Miranda, you’re just saying it to make me feel better.”
“I’m dead, remember, I can see these things and I know that you and Brian are made for each other.”
“Yeah, well…”
“Well nothing. Now come on, it’s six o’clock and Brian’s picking you up at seven,” I reminded her. “It’s time to get ready.”
“Do I have to?” Eve groaned.
“Do you want Brian?”
“Yes.”
“Then get your lazy ass up.”
Eve did as she was told. She stood up, retrieved her bags, and promptly dug through one and then the other, tossing everything that she wasn’t looking for over her shoulder. Finally, she pulled a brand new mint green tank dress from the last bag, grinning triumphantly. “This is what I was looking for,” she declared, waving the dress for me to see. “The perfect dress for tonight.”
I admired it thoughtfully. ‘Brian likes green, so he’ll like this dress’, I decided. ‘He always said it was my best color.’
“Miranda?” Eve called, waving her hand in front of my face. “Are you gonna help me get ready or not?”
“Yeah, sorry.” Eve trudged into the bathroom and carefully closed the door. She emerged a few minutes later wearing the dress, a white cardigan to go over it, and white sandals. She twirled around so I could see the front and back. “It’s nice,” I commented. “It really brings out the color in your eyes. Are you ready for make-up and hair?”
“Yeah,” Eve said excitedly. “Can you teach me how to do it, I really wanna learn.”
“Sure, but not tonight. It would take too much time and we really can’t afford that right now. So, how would you like your hair?”
“I want it up and kinda messy… but not too messy,” Eve decided. “Do you know what I mean?”
“I think so. Sit down on the bed and I’ll work on your hair.” I picked up Eve’s brush and comb and began to work. Twenty-five minutes later, I was done. I had put her hair up in a bun and left some curly tendrils to frame her face. Eve was satisfied, so moved on to her make-up, which was easy because all I had to do was touch ups. “All right, finished,” I announced as I closed the mascara tube. “Go have a look in the mirror and tell me what you think.”
Eve jumped up and ran to the mirror. “Miranda, I love it! You are incredible!”
“I know.” I grinned. “You look awesome. There is no way Brian will be able to resist you after tonight,” I promised her.
“How do you know that?”
“Because I’m going to make it happen.”
* * * * *
“So Eve, why don’t you tell me more about yourself,” Brian said as they waited for their food to arrive at an Italian restaurant in downtown Manhattan. So far the date had gone pretty smoothly, there weren’t any slip-ups at all. “I know you’ve been with us for awhile but we’ve never actually gotten to know each other.”
“Okay. My full name is Eve Miller, I’m 24 years-old, and originally from Jamestown, New York.”
“Is that the best you can do?” Brian teased. “Come on, there’s got to be more to you than that.”
“No, there’s really nothing else.”
“I’m sure there is. Do you like basketball?”
“Like it, I love it!”
“What’s your favorite team?”
“Knicks.”
“Magic.”
“I guess they’re okay.”
“Only okay? The Magic kick ass!”
“Like hell they do.” I was surprised by how Eve had become so animated by the mere mentioning of the word ‘basketball’, she seemed like the type of girl who hated sports.
“Do you play?”
“Me? Oh no, I can’t,” Eve replied shyly. “I’m not very coordinated.”
“I bet you can.”
“No, really, I can’t.”
“How about we play tomorrow?” Brian suggested. “You know, a little one-on-one. I can teach you a couple of moves.” Eve blushed furiously and stared into her glass of water. Brian realized what he had said and laughed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Actually, I kind of wished you had.” My mouth literally dropped to the floor. That was the last thing I ever would have expected her to say.
Brian was just as shocked as I was, but quickly recovered. “I wouldn’t mind it too much at all. But seriously, do you want me to teach you how to play tomorrow? I’m sure you’d be great at it.”
“It’s a date,” Eve said, flashing him a smile and glancing at me excitedly.
* * * * *
“I can’t believe this night is over already,” Eve said softly as she and Brian approached her hotel room door.
“Me either. I had a lot of fun tonight Eve.”
“I did too. Thank you so much.”
“Your welcome.”
There was an uncomfortable silence. “Eve, kiss him!” I hissed. “Hurry up before he turns around and leaves!”
Eve nodded slightly in my direction, and took a deep breath. “Well, I guess this is the part of the date where the guys wonders whether or not to kiss the girl, so I’ll make it incredibly easy for you.” She leaned closer to Brian and pressed her lips up against his as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Brian closed his eyes and kissed her back.
The scene lying before me was more than I could take. As tears filled my eyes, I turned and ran down the hallway as fast as I could. Finally I stopped and buried my face in my hands, trying to stop the flow of tears. I knew that hooking up Brian and Eve was my job, but why did it have to be so hard on me?
“Miranda, stop crying,” came the terse command from behind me.
“Oh shut up Maria!” I cried. “Just go away, leave me alone!”
“I most certainly will not. You, my dear, have a job to do. So get back there and work on it.”
“I’ve done my job, Eve and Brian kissed,” I answered angrily, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand. “Now can I please become an Angel and leave this hell? I can’t take it anymore!”
“Miranda, you were assigned these people for a reason. Do you know what that reason was?”
“To torture me?”
“No, to prove that you are indeed worthy enough to become an Angel. If you were assigned easy tasks, there would be no point of the test. Listen, you can’t stop now, you’ve been doing so well. You’re almost there Miranda, don’t give up.”
“Maria, you don’t understand. You have no memories of your past, you have no idea how hard this is for me.”
“I know I don’t, but believe me when I say this will get easier for you to handle. With every step you take in getting closer to completing your task, you forget more and more of your life on Earth.”
“But I don’t want to forget my life, I want to go back there!”
“Miranda, this is the last time I’m going to explain this to you. Everyone’s fate is predetermined. Your fate was to die in a convenience store robbery, and Brian’s fate is to live a full live with Eve. And now it is your job to help fate along a little. So do your job and stop whining.” With that Maria was gone.
I slowly trudged back to Eve hotel room. I was about to walk through the door but then though better of it and traveled to Brian’s room instead. I found him and Kat alone, sitting on the couch and talking.
“Brian listen, maybe it’s not such a good idea to date Eve just yet,” Katrina said softly. “I mean yesterday you were ‘talking’ to Miranda, and today it’s all about Eve. What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing’s going on with me Kat, I’m fine. I just get these feelings sometimes that Miranda’s here, like she’s watching over me or something.”
“Yeah, I like to think that too. But if you aren’t completely over Miranda it’s not a good idea to go chasing after Eve. You’re going to end up hurting the both of you.”
“I am not. Maybe I’m not completely over Miranda just yet but I can’t take the empty feeling inside anymore… I need someone to fill it, and I honestly think Eve’s the one to do it.”
“So you do like her?”
“Yeah I like her. I like her a lot.”
“Okay then, I say go for it Bri. But just remember; don’t put your heart on the line if you aren’t ready. We’re going to be family soon, and I’d hate to see you hurting again.”
“Thank you Kat.” Brian reached out his arms and enveloped her in a hug. Out of instinct, I ran over to be part of the hug as well. Like the time when I was alone with Brian in his room, my hands did not go through them.
“Do you feel that?” Kat whispered. Brian nodded and closed his eyes. I realized that what I was doing was wrong and as much as I hated to, quickly pulled away.
“So when are you and Kevin getting married?” Brian asked after the sentimental moment had passed.
“No time in the near future. Kevin’s busy with his career and we don’t feel it would be right to rush right in to the wedding. Well I guess I’d better be going now. You know you can always come to me if you ever feel the need to talk about Miranda or anything else.”
“I know. ‘Bye Kat.”
“’Bye Brian.” Katrina stood up and headed over to the door. “And good-bye to you too Miranda,” she whispered as she opened the door and walked out of the room.
