Chapter Two
‘Do you know how easy it is to get lost in your eyes?’
His question startled me. It was the middle of the night. The man that spoke slid into the seat opposite me. The hiss of the coffee machine behind the counter was the only sound in the cafe. I had been deep in a daydream, not paying attention to anything.
‘Do you know how bad that chat up line is?’
Meeting his gaze was impossible. His directness startled me. I had never been any good at small talk. He was handsome with striking blue eyes, which made it hard to notice anything else about him. Picking up my mug of hot chocolate, I closed my eyes and drank the last mouthful.
‘Don’t go yet, we’ve only just met.’ He waved at the waitress and pointed to the empty mug when she looked over. I shook my head but he put up his hand. ‘I insist.’
I wanted to run. I wanted to pick up my bag and leave. The house was my only option. I wasn’t ready to go back so I stayed.
‘I’m Antony, what’s your name?’
I glanced around the café. We were the only people there. It wasn’t a surprise, considering it was stupid o’clock in the morning. I was suddenly aware that I was alone with a stranger.
‘Pisces.’ I glanced down at my bracelet.
When I looked up, his gaze rested on the silver charm that dangled from my wrist.
‘Interesting. Were you born in the month of February, or March?’
My eyebrows rose as he sat back in his seat. The waitress placed two cups of hot chocolate in front of us.
‘March.’
‘And what are you doing out so late in your pyjamas?’
A smile tugged at my lips when I looked down at myself. I wasn’t usually the type to pop out in nightclothes. In my anger, I had completely forgotten that I wasn’t even dressed.
‘I’m not as mad as I look.’ I laughed as he grinned at me.
His smile was sweet. Dimples appeared in his cheeks and a warm glow started to surround me. It was nice to be chatted up. It happened so rarely.
‘I am as mad as I look,’ he said, taking a sip of hot chocolate and cursing when it burnt his tongue.
‘You don’t look mad.’
‘Exactly,’ he said, winking.
‘Well, that’s a shame.’
‘What is?’ he asked, reaching out. I froze when his fingers touched my arm. They were cold and I struggled with the urge to pull away.
‘Well, you have to be a bit mad to talk to me.’
He chuckled and sat back, taking his cold fingers with him. I was torn. I didn’t want to keep talking but I wasn’t a rude person. A part of me was enjoying the attention.
‘Well. I’m also up in the middle of the night so you could say I’m a little weird.’
I sighed as my escape plan backfired. ‘I don’t do small talk very well,’ I confessed.
He didn’t flinch like I assumed he would but laughed instead. I stood to go.
‘Oh, come on, I was just having fun,’ he said, sitting up in his seat.
‘I know, and I’m sorry, but it’s been a long day. I need to get home.’
As I left, I could feel his gaze burning into my back. When the café door shut behind me, I started to run, just in case he felt the need to follow me. My instincts told me that I was safe so when I got to the end of the road, I glanced back. I had no idea what I expected to see. Would Antony be in the doorway, gazing longingly after me? Or maybe he would be running to abduct me? Either way, he wasn’t there so I sighed and carried on walking towards the house.
What would I have done if he had wanted me? Would I have given him a chance to get close? Probably not.
‘Where have you been?’
The hissed words made me jump. I put my hand to my chest and took a deep breath. ‘Don’t do that to me, Cancer, you know I can’t deal with it!’
My senses were heightened, like all of the water signs but I was extra sensitive for some reason. When I heard loud noises for long periods of time, or watched continually flashing lights, my senses would go into overload. I knew when it was time to cocoon myself and so did the others.
‘Sorry,’ she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me into the house. ‘The boys said that you went off on your own and I thought you might have run away again.’
‘I didn’t run away.’ I took her hand to release the grip she had on me.
We made our way to the bedroom. I swallowed my sigh as the four walls enclosed around me. Cancer and I had shared a room since we were children and I was sick of it. I was twenty years old. I could do without sharing a room with another woman. However, I would be happy to share a room with my twin flame soulmate. If I ever met him.
‘Pisces, I missed you!’
Cancer hugged me, which caused me to stiffen. Despite us being good friends, I still wasn't a fan of physical contact.
‘No offence but—’
‘Don’t say it. I know,’ she said, backing off.
I glanced down at her wrist. The bracelet she wore was a different colour to mine but still a shade of blue. ‘Do you think we’ll ever be able to take them off?’
The bracelet made me feel like I was branded. We were trapped in the house of weirdness and had been our whole lives. Cancer glanced down at hers. Her bobbed blonde hair fell forward and covered her face as she looked at her own birth sign charm. Whenever we had tried to take the bracelet off, we found that we couldn’t. It wouldn’t budge. Even though it wasn’t tight.
‘I don’t want to.’ She moved over to the window.
Her slim frame was curvy in all the right places. We had similar figures but I was taller. We often shared clothes, except trousers. My hips and legs were bigger than hers but I didn’t mind.
‘It seems you’ve lost faith in our mission.’
The words were said quietly. They shot straight into my heart. They were true and I hadn’t acknowledged it. I sighed and lay back on my bed. Closing my eyes, I fought against the lump that rose in my throat.
‘I think I have,’ I replied, not able to lie to her.
She gasped and came over to the bed. She looked down at me. I kept my eyes closed but could feel the heat of her gaze.
‘Go away,’ I muttered, feeling my energy drain.
‘You will meet your twin flame.’ She grabbed my hand and shook it.
When we were young, our parents had explained that we were to complete an important mission. There wasn’t enough love on the planet. People had lost faith in happily ever after and stopped believing in romance. All twelve of us had agreed to be born on earth to show the world that true love exists.
Being told by someone else was in no way the same as experiencing it yourself. I couldn’t remember my life before I was about five. How was I supposed to know what had happened before I was born? Mother always chastised me for being impatient. I wanted more answers. Apparently it would all become clear as we got older.
‘Do you really believe that? Twelve of us are literally here to find a soulmate and live happily ever after?’
She let go of me. I opened my eyes and watched her move to her own bed.
‘It’s not just any old soulmate, though, is it? And no…I don’t believe that’s all we’re here to do and neither do you.’
I swallowed as I shifted onto my side. The bed felt familiar. I was bored with familiar. I needed something new and exciting. I had been trapped in the same house my whole life. I had to find a way to breathe…I had to get out somehow.
‘You don’t know what I believe,’ I whispered.
Her laugh was typical. She assumed that I was having one of my emotional sulks. She was right, of course. I hated that I had lost confidence but I couldn’t help it.
‘You’ll find him, Pisces, just keep the faith.’