Just Like Heaven (24 page)

“What?” he as
ked with a smile
.

“Nothing,” she said, flustered that she’d actually been staring at him with a dreamy smile of her own. How embarrassing!
He probably thought
she was having a mental moment.

Nick looked at her with an intensity that made her want to look away, but she he
ld his gaz
e. And this time, she could see that the desire in his eyes matched
her own.
He
inch
ed
closer to her, his expression
becoming more open and vulnerable
,
and
she closed the distance between them, wanting to taste his lips.

“Fine,” Roland said, raising his voice.

Nina, startled by the interruption, jerked backwards and noticed that Nick had the same reaction. She glared at Roland, who took
Mei Lee
’s hand and led her toward them and onto the ground. To alleviate some of her animosity at having dashed her hopes of kissing Nick, she said, “Okay, Mr. World Class Scattergories Champion, are you ready to get trampled?”

As Nina
handed out a pencil, a
pad on which to write
answers,
and a category card containing three
list
s of topics to each participant, Roland explained the rules to Nick
.
Then she grabbed the twenty-si
ded letter die and rolled it. “B
.”

Rola
nd hit the three-minute timer, and
everyone
began jotting down answers
that began with the letter “B
.”
Before long, the timer clicked, signaling
the end of that round.

From here, each player would rattle off the answers they had accumulated.
Mei Lee
started off. “A Boy’s Name: Bobby. U.S. Cities: Bartlett – that’s in Illinois. Things that are cold: beer.”

“Wait,” said Roland. “Beer is only cold if you place it in the refrigerator. It doesn’t originate there.”

Nick laughed. “I don’t think it ‘originates’ in a can either, Roland.”

“I’m only stating that a person must place it in a refrigerator. It’s not in its natural element.”

Mei Lee
stared at him, annoyed. “You’re serious? You’re arguing that beer doesn’t belong in the fridge? Are you a man? When you were on
e
arth
, did you go to a bea
ch and have a friend say, ‘H
ow about a warm beer?’ No. Because people don’t drink warm beer.”

“But in heaven—”

“How m
any times do I have to say this? I
f it’s obvious on either heaven or
e
arth
, the answer is acceptable for this game.”

“But without electricity—”

Nina decid
ed to handle this one. “
I work as a bartender.
In all my time
, I never served anyone a warm beer.
And no one ever asked for a warm beer. I’m with
Mei Lee
on this one.
”
She looked to Nick. “Do you agree?” Watching him nod, she said to Roland, “Three to one. She gets a point.”

He just shook his head.

Mei Lee
nodded in agreement. “Your argum
ent is null and void. Moving on, school supplies: books.”

Roland threw up his hands. “A book? That can’t cou
nt.
You can’t do something with a book except read it.
School supplies are pens,
paper and pencils.”

Mei Lee
said, “Clear out your ears, old man. The letter is B not P.”

She stood up and approached Roland, narrowing her eyes at him. “What’s this about? And don’t tell me the intri
cacies of the game.” Sh
e motioned to Nick and Nina. “It’s them, isn’t it? This is all about them
.
”

Roland craned his neck in their direction but didn’t let look at them. “I’d rather not say.” His low, almost guilt-ridden voice indicated that
Mei Lee
had hit the intended target.

Even though Nina had no idea what
Mei Lee
referred to, she
didn’t like the
insinuation
.
This method of conflict resolution
re
minded her of her parents
: in one way or another,
whenever
they
fought, they
used her
existence to prove their point or rationalized that Nina shouldn’t be exposed to certain
words, ideas, images, etc. It didn’t even matter what they argued about. They addressed their issues by stating what shouldn’t be done, lest they warp her values or morals.

After
each
argument, her parents had difficult
y
looking at her, let alone talking to her because her presence made it impossible for them to pursue their interests and the ways they wanted to lead their lives.
Nina not only felt unwanted and unloved
,
but
she
concluded
that her existence had ruined her parents’ lives.

This inability to earn her parents
’
love and respect encouraged her
to find solace in Whitney Houston’s music. Although
Whitney
’
s songs often revolved around
romantic love, Nina connected with the themes in a much broad
er
sense.
Since she
didn’t know what it
felt like
to have another person love her, she first connected with Whitney’s song,
“
How Will I Know
”
because it
posed the question
she wanted an answer to
: “How will I know if he really loves me?”
She n
ever knew what it felt like to have her father smile at her. Never knew what it felt like to have her mother kiss her forehead.

So when Nina sat alone in her room, singing along to Whitney’s music, she asked the same questions that her favorite artist asked: “Where Do Broken Hearts
Go
”
and
“Why Does it Hurt So Bad.”

After she went away to college and the men she dated always broke up with her, she
found it consoling
to sing
: “Didn’t We Almost Have It All
”
and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).” Nina always reserved the most respect for recording artists who wrote and sang
their own material, but when Whitney’s voice opened up, she felt that this musician, more than any other, could identify with all of the self-doubt that plagued Nina throughout her life.

“I can’t bel
ieve this
,
”
said
Mei Lee
, walking away from Roland, only to return
to him
an instant later
, unable to contain her fury
.
“
We decided over 25 years ago, in
e
arth
terms
anyway, to go along with their wishes. That is our job.” She pointed to Nick and Nina. “We promised them. Regardless of what you think or feel, you promised them.”

“I only agreed to their terms because you wouldn’t let the issue rest. They’ve made a mistake.”

“Don’t make this about us.”

“Why not? In the end, it all returns to us. Why do you think they
chose us as spirit guides?”

F
or the first time in h
er life, Nina actually
had good reason to feel guilty for another couple’s fight. But unlike the past, she didn’t know why
Mei Lee
and Roland fought. She exchanged a glance with Nick. “Do you know what they’re talking about?”

“I have no clue,” he said, shrugging. “
Hey, Roland:
don’t y
ou
think it’s only fair to l
et us in on what we’ve supposedly done that has you
two at odds
?”

Nina nodded. “We deserve some answers.”

Mei Lee
crossed her arms and made her way over to them. “Roland and I…are soul mates.”

“Of course,” said Nick. “That explains why you’re both so happy around each other all the time.”

“So it’s not just a fable?” Nina asked. “There’s a true love for everyone?”

Mei Lee
said, “Yes. That’s not to say that you can’t get along fabulously with other partners at other points in your life on
e
arth
. But
each soul has
only one true
other half.” She sighed. “And I got saddled with Roland.”

Roland closed his eyes, confounded. “Spoken with such conviction.”

“But doesn’t that mean you’re supposed to be happy?” Nina asked.

“One would think,” said Roland, eyeing
Mei Lee
. “But God wants to keep things interesting, so we often disagree on certain matters.”

“Like the two of you,”
Mei Lee
said.

“What about us?” Nick said, glancing at Nina before returning Roland’s stare with a hardened expression. “Tell us what’s going on. Now!”

“We won’t tell you,”
Mei Lee
said. “But we can show you.” She walked over to Nick and extended her hand.

“Aren’t I supposed to go with Roland?”

“Not this time. You both wanted it this way.”

Nick turned to Nina. He opened his mouth to speak, but words didn’t trickle out.

“You can trus
t her,” Nina said
.

“Okay,” Nick said, rising to his feet. “But don’t be too tough on Roland. He needs a lot of
attention. He’s sort of like a dog that way.” He took
Mei Lee
’s
hand
and vanished.

“Well, it appears it’s our turn,” said Roland, peering down at Nina.
“Shall we?”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Nick appeared with
Mei Lee
at the Hal
l of Records in the middle of an endless aisle. Among row after row of leather-bound hardcover book
s, he spotted one with the name Nina Gilford
in elegant cursive writing along the spine.
It looked to contain about five hundred pages.

He removed it from the shelf
. B
ecause he didn’t expect the book to weigh more than a few pounds,
he
was shocked t
o discover t
hat it weighed over twenty pounds. The volume almost slipped from his grasp, but he clutched it tight and lifted it up. He didn’t think he could get used to the strange physics in this dimension.
He flipped over the cover, but thought better of going any further. Instead, he turned to
Mei Lee
. “What were you and Roland arguing about?”

“Roland didn’t want you and Nina to exist on
e
arth
at the same time.”

“That’s all? I thought it would have been a bigger deal.”

“Believe me: that is a big deal when we’re talking about soul mates.”

“What?
” he said, trying to remain focused to avoid letting his thoughts spin out of control. “Me and Nina are soul mates?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Nina said you could
trust me.”

“What makes you think
I trust Nina?”

Mei Lee
revealed a glowing smile. “You do trust her. But I’m guessing
you don’t know why
.”

He couldn’t have summed up
his thoughts and feelings
any better than that
. From the moment he met Nina
in the diner, Nick
couldn’t understand
the
strong connection
they shared
. If what
Mei Lee
said was true, he
now
had an answer. “This feels like an arranged marriage. I mean, I just met Nina. And now I’m told that we’re soul mates? That’s a lot of pressure. Okay, a
ssuming
you’re right
, why is it such a big deal to live on
e
arth
at the same time?”

“Because
e
arth
is a battlefield.”

“I thought ‘Love is a Battlefield.”