Smoke and Mirrors (3 page)

“Don’t cry,” Skye said to the man as she knelt down beside him. She tried putting a hand on his shoulder, but her hand just passed through him. She couldn’t feel him or even touch him. She looked at the crumpled, bloodied woman that lay in his arms. She looked so sad, an empty, gloomy shell.

The woman looked up, when she heard someone calling her. “Skye.” 

She looked to see where the sound was coming from; it sounded so much like her grandmother. But that was impossible. Her grandmother had passed away many years ago, when Skye was only a teenager.

“Skye.” She heard it again. Skye stood and looked around her, this time seeing her grandmother a few steps behind her.

“Grandma, what are you doing here?” she said as she ran over to the timelessly beautiful woman.

“I’ve come to guide you, dear.” Her grandmother extended a hand to her, waiting for Skye to take it.

“Where am I going?” Skye asked with a smile. Seeing her grandmother after all these years was an unexpected joy.

“The choice is yours, Skye. But first you need to see something. Come.”

Both women, fingers tightly entwined, stepped into the most brilliant of serene, purple lights imaginable. Her grandmother wrapped her in a tight embrace and took Skye back to a time she remembered with great fondness.

“Oh gosh, Grandma, my fourteenth birthday.” Her family home had been set up with all the familiar birthday trimmings, and there were the happy sounds of kids playing and family members enjoying the mouthwatering barbecue.

Skye stood to the side, and watched as she and her friends were trying to play a prank on her older brother. He knew what was going on, but let the girls think they had the upper hand.
Skye laughed as she recalled that happy time. Skye and her grandmother stood there for five minutes, or maybe five hours, she couldn’t be sure. All Skye could feel was the immense love that radiated from all of her family members.

“Come, Skye, we have another stop.” Her grandmother held out her hand again, and when Skye took it, she was instantly transported to her twenty-first birthday.

This one was a little tougher to watch, because this was the day the man she thought was the love of her life broke up with her, telling her he didn’t want to be tied down. He was going to Europe for a back-packing tour.

That was the last time she saw him alive. He died when he jumped into a river, head first, not checking the depth of the water first. He hit his head on a boulder on the bottom of the shallow river. He was killed instantly.

Though that time was tragic, Skye could still feel the love emanating from all the people around her, even her now-deceased ex-boyfriend.

“Skye,” she heard his voice calling her. It was deep and caressed her ears. The hair on her neck stood when she felt his warm hand encircle hers. Instantly, her grandmother disappeared, but not without whispering tender, loving words in her ear.

“Jackson, what are you doing here?” Skye asked as she threw her arms around his neck.
“Now it’s my turn to guide you,” he said.

Within a single blink of her eye, she was standing outside, in a garden. The flowers were in full bloom, and people were gathering, dressed in attire that was simply extravagant. She didn’t remember this from her past, and she was curious as to what was going on.

“Jackson?” she asked, holding on to him a little tighter than necessary.

“It’s okay, Angel. I’ll look after you.”

Skye instantly relaxed when Jackson uttered the pet name he’d always used for her. She did recognize the people in attendance though; they were just older now. Her parents and her brother, but her two best friends were missing.

Music started, and her two best friends appeared, dressed in stunning, matching, deep teal dresses. She soon saw herself, walking with a bouquet of pansies in her hand, her white, slim-fit dress, off one shoulder. Her black hair was casually, but elegantly swept up into loose curls.

“Oh my,” she said as tears fell from her eyes. “This is my wedding. But I’m not married,” she whispered as she swiped at the tears clinging to her cheeks.

“No, not yet. But you can be,” Jackson said, smiling down at her.

“I don’t understand.”

“Look at the groom.”

Skye wiped the tears from her eyes and she looked toward the front of the gathering. The man looked familiar. She’d seen him, but couldn’t place where.
Oh damn it, where have I seen him?

“It can be either way you want it to be, Skye. You can take my hand and come with me now, or you can let go and live the rest of your life.”

Jackson smiled at Skye. He knew what he wanted her to do, but this was her choice to make.

“I can go back?”

“You always have a choice.”

“I have a choice?”

“Of course, Angel. Choose with your heart.”

Skye looked down at their entwined fingers. The choice was not easy. Life on this plane was so tranquil and easy. Here, she’d be accepted with open arms. But there was so much more of the world she’d yet to explore and experience.

“I choose life,” she said, letting go of Jackson’s warmth.

Skye looked left, looked right, then looked left again.

She didn’t see the car approaching, because the sun had created a blind spot. Her earbuds were in her ears, blasting AC/DC. She was listening to “Thunderstruck” and singing along.

Skye’s right foot came down off the curb first, quickly followed by her left. One step, then a second.

Xavier was running late for work. He was supposed to start in ten minutes, and yet he was a good twenty minutes away if he didn’t hit any traffic.

Xavier looked down at his ringing phone and saw his boss’s angry face blinking up at him. Obviously, his boss was pissed off already this morning, so, “I’m running late,” wouldn’t be something he wanted to hear.

But today was different. Today he wasn’t going to rush.

And today, a huge gust of air blew Skye’s earbuds out, just in time to hear a car approaching.

Xavier drove past the girl waiting on the side of the road, ready to cross – but something about her looked familiar. He had to know who she was.

Skye’s squinting eyes saw the man driving the car, and it was a case of deja vu. She knew him. Skye couldn’t remember from where, but she recognized him.

Xavier pulled the car over and got out, and headed for Skye cautiously. He didn’t want to scare her.

Skye turned her body and took a few careful steps toward him, though for some reason every cell of her being was telling her he was ‘the one’.

“Hi,” they both said simultaneously.

The moment their fingers touched in a handshake, they both experienced a series of snapshots of their futures.

And they both knew.

The universe had brought them together.

Madeleine looked over her shoulder at her boss, sitting in his office. Clearly, he was distraught over whatever he was looking at.

Mr. Jacobs, the company’s CFO, was in his late thirties and had started to go gray around the temples approximately eight years ago, after his divorce. He lost his home to his now ex-wife, and his kids informed him they never wanted to see him again because, “Well really, Dad, we barely ever saw you before,” his twelve-year-old daughter had told him.

He still sees them on special holidays, their birthdays. You know, important times.

But now he sat at his desk looking like he was about to pass out. His hands were running over his hair, and he was tugging at the roots out of sheer frustration.

“Madeleine,” he called for her sharply as his eyes kept perusing the email for any further information.

“Yes, Mr. Jacobs. Is everything alright?” she asked when she came into his office. He was obviously flustered.

“Is there anything going on around here that I should know about?” He looked up over his laptop and found her soft, green eyes.

“In reference to what?” She stood in front of the desk, looking at him with her head slightly tilted to the side.

“Just…anything,” he said, frustrated.

She shrugged her shoulders. Truthfully, she’d heard nothing disturbing. She wondered what had him so stressed and in such a panic.

“No, Sir. Nothing’s come to my attention.”

“God,” he whispered as he ran an irritated hand through his graying hair.

“Is there anything I can do to help with…?” He noticed Madeleine stopped talking, obviously completely unaware of the cause of his exasperated state.

“No, nothing. Just go away. And if you hear anything, come in here and let me know.”

Right, well, whatever
. Madeleine thought as she turned on her low heel and walked out of her boss’s office.

Graham Jacobs couldn’t keep his eyes off the damn email. He kept reading the same key words that had captured all his attention. The fact that the email started with, “I know who you are and what you do,” was nothing less than intimidating. Downright frightening.

How could this person know? He was always so careful…checking, double-checking, never using the same place twice. How?! Damn it,
how
?

Graham’s heartbeat spiked, beating with a crazy thump as it reverberated in his ears. He sat up straight in his leather chair.

What am I going to do?
he thought to himself as he tried to calm his erratically fast heartbeat down.

He stared at his cell phone for the longest minute, not sure if he should call and see if his partner in the company had received the same email.

But if he called and his partner hadn’t received it, that opened up more possibilities to be considered, and that’s not what he needed right now.

Not really. He was trying to regain some sort of normal relationship with his kids – trying to lay a foundation of trust and presence, but…

How could that happen with this threat hanging over his head?

Shit! What a fucked-up mess.

He’d just have to be more careful. Or maybe just stop altogether until he felt more comfortable. But, really he couldn’t stop. It was his only enjoyment in life.

The attraction was a rush, and the sneaking around was such a thrill. But the real jackpot was discovering something new about himself – now that was entirely something else. There was always a sense of fulfillment when he…

Graham’s partner, a man named Justin, stood at his door rapping on it for a good moment before Graham even heard the noise.

“Oh, sorry Justin. I was just lost in thought.”

“I could tell,” Justin said, waiting for an invitation into Graham’s office.

“Please, come in,” Graham said as he stood and gestured toward the comfortable black leather chair in front of his desk.

Justin stepped into the office, closed the door behind him and sat in the chair Graham indicated.

Sitting at her desk, Madeleine peeked over her shoulder at Mr. Jacobs’s office and noticed when Mr. Reddy walked into her boss’s office, he closed the door. In office speak, they were essentially saying they weren’t to be disturbed. Only a few heartbeats later, she saw Mr. Jacobs draw the blinds on the glass wall separating his office from her workstation.

Shit, what’s going on?
she thought to herself.

Fifteen minutes passed and Mr. Reddy was still closeted with Mr. Jacobs. Half an hour and the door remained shut. An entire hour passed by, and there was absolutely no movement from Mr. Jacobs’s office.

I hope I don’t get fired,
Madeleine worried, for she wasn’t as sweet and innocent as she pretended to be. She was doing something that was frowned upon in the corporate world. In fact, it would be frowned upon in
any
world.

Her pulse began to quicken as the minutes continued to tick by on her digital clock. Her palms were clammy, and she was nervous to her very core.

Shit.

Just, shit.

Madeleine pushed through the intrusive, uneasy feeling she was experiencing, burying herself in her work and keeping her head down.

Maybe they haven’t noticed.

Her back started to hurt because she was hunched over her desk, immersed in what she was working on.

Madeleine looked at the clock and noticed an entire two hours had passed since Mr. Reddy had gone into Mr. Jacobs’s office.

What on earth are they talking about for all this time?

Suddenly, the door flew open and Mr. Reddy strode out looking as delicious as he usually did. That man certainly knew how to carry himself. He wore a beautiful dark suit today, with a crisp white shirt and a royal blue tie. His hair was short and impeccably combed, and he always walked with an air of superiority. He simply exuded confidence and sex appeal.

Madeleine clenched her thighs together. She’d often fantasized about Mr. Reddy, and had even entertained daydreams of having him and Mr. Jacobs together.

Mr. Reddy walked straight past her. He hadn’t even looked at her, ignoring her like she was nothing more than office furniture. Didn’t that piss her off!

“Madeleine,” Mr. Jacobs called her into his office.

She stood from her desk, smoothed down her pencil skirt and walked into her boss’s office.

“Yes, Sir,” she said in her shy, sweet voice.