H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (100 page)

“That’s good. I should, with all the
exercise and nutritious food I eat.”

“No, Tommy.” And this is where it began to
get very weird. This bizarre woman looked deep into my eyes as if
she was trying to speak to my innermost self. “Tommy, you’re going
to live a very long life.”

“A very long life? That’s good, right? Isn’t
that the whole point to all of this, to try to live as long as
possible?” I looked up and winked at Maya. Maya looked on, with as
serious of an expression I had ever seen from her.

The psychic then grabbed my arm. “An
exceptionally long life!” she said, loudly.

“I get it,” I said. “I’ll probably see a
hundred candles on a birthday cake when all is said and done.”

She continued to look at me with a freakish
glare and continued, “Your life span is not the part that is
overwhelming me.”

Overwhelming her? That’s a bold
statement!

“You will have an extraordinary life, Tommy!
I almost want to tell you that it will be the stuff of
legends.”

I once again looked up at Maya. “Legends,
even!” I laughed.

The lady then let go of my hand and stood
up. She turned around and didn’t say a word.

“Are you all right?” I asked.
“Yes, I’m sorry,” she said. “I have never had a reading like this.
I’m not even sure how to act.”

“It’s okay…really it is. You can tell me
anything.” This woman was obviously pushing for the biggest tip
she’d ever gotten.

She sat back down and said, “It will be a
life full of adventure and also one full of heartbreak.” She then
looked up at Maya and smiled. Okay, that was creepy.

Still, I had to admit, she now had my
attention. “What kind of adventure?” I asked.

“You will be the first do certain things and
also be the last to do others. You will have whatever you want,
whenever you want it. But all of that will come with a price.” She
again let go of my hand and looked at me, perplexed.

“You okay?” Now she was freaking me out.

The lady got up and just walked away from
the table. She didn’t even ask to be paid. She just continued to
walk as if she was trapped in a daze. I looked up at Maya and
grinned, “What a kook!” But it wasn’t over. The lady turned around
and walked back to us. I thought she must have realized she didn’t
get paid. I reached into my wallet to pull out a twenty. She walked
right up to me and I handed her the money. She rejected the money
and said, “Make the right decision, Tommy. Everything rides on it.
Everything!”

“Right decision…regarding what?” I
asked.

“You will know when it happens. It will be a
coin flip and you need to follow your heart!” She then sat down and
shooed us away and that was it.

I got up and grabbed Maya’s hand and we went
down the street and we were both pretty weirded out.

“That didn’t go anything like I thought it
was going to,” I said. “Don’t they usually want to get paid for the
reading?”

“Always,” Maya said. “Except this time.”
Maya stopped in the middle of the city walk and looked at me. “I
have gone to these ladies over a hundred times in the last five
years. I have never heard anyone get a reading like that. And I
always paid.”

“A hundred times? Look, Maya, I respect that
you really believe these women have the ability to see into the
future, but I’m still pretty skeptical. Was that off-the-charts
weird what she did? Yes! Does it validate that anything she said
would come to pass? I hardly doubt it. Let’s go get something to
eat.”

Maya smiled and said, “That sounds like a
good idea. When in doubt, eat something.”

I decided to go straight to the plush
restaurant part of the date, considering we needed a change of
scenery fast. There was a nice seafood restaurant at the end of the
strip and I was craving some mahi mahi.

“You like seafood?” I asked.

“Love it.”

I escorted Maya into the restaurant and they
immediately seated us. We ordered quickly and ate even faster. I
had the mahi mahi, and she had the shrimp platter. We were both
incredibly quiet during dinner. She was thoughtful and I wondered
that wheels were turning in her head.

After I finished eating, I looked across the
table at my Maya. She has the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen.
I decided to put aside what that palm reader said and just enjoy
Maya’s company. She looked adorable and hot; that wasn’t easy to
pull off. She caught me looking at her. I gently nodded my head and
winked at her.

“What are you up to?” she asked.

“Me? I’m not up to anything.”

“Okay, I’ll believe that for now but I do
want to ask you a question.”

“I like questions,” I said, sitting up. “Go
for it.”

“What’s your story?”

“My story?”

“Yeah, I can see that waters run deep with
you,” she said.

Water’s run deep? I’ve never been told that
before. And to be honest, I wasn’t even sure what that meant. “Do
you want to know my life story, or my belief system?” I asked.

“I want to know what makes you tick.”

I looked at her and didn’t want to ruin this
moment by saying something stupid. I had a hundred stupid responses
to her question. I decided to filter them and said, “I’m just a
regular guy, wanting to be happy.”

“That’s the generic answer, Tommy. If you
read a book on how to answer that question that would be what the
author would say is the right thing to say.”

I defended myself by saying, “No one has
ever said my waters run deep before, especially after a couple of
meetings.”

“Tommy, living in Southern California has
taught me a few things. The main one is that people our age don’t
show their soul to people right out of the gate.”

“And you think I have. I haven’t really
broken down and said too much have I? You think I’m already
exposed?”

“Not exposed, Tommy. You’re real. It’s how
you act. It’s the way you talk. It isn’t really what you say but
how you say it.”

This was starting to freak me out; first,
crazy palm reading lady and now Maya. I was starting to feel like I
was a guest on the Dr. Phil Show and I was about to be told some
horrible news.

Maya pulled back, “I’ve made you
uncomfortable, haven’t I?”

“No,” I said. “I’m just not very good at
this.”

“At talking?” she laughed.

“No.” I was quiet for a moment, and then I
said, “I think the same thing about you.”

“What is that, exactly?” Maya asked.

I looked at her and knew what I wanted to
say, but I was afraid to say too much. This was our first date, for
heaven’s sake. “When I look at you, I can tell there is a lot going
on. You seemed to be connected.”

“Connected?”

“A lot of times people say things and their
words aren’t connected to how they feel, or they feel things and
aren’t quite sure how to say them. With you, it seems effortless. I
barely know you, but at the same time. I feel I know exactly who
you are.”

“I feel the same way about you, Tommy.” Maya
gazed at me in a way that no woman ever had done. It made me
nervous and excited all in the same breath. I felt like my heart
was going to come out of my chest and loved every minute of it.

I stared across the table and I looked into
her eyes. I was once again quiet and, for the first time in my
twenty-two years of life, I took a woman in. I saw beyond her
looks, I saw past the beauty, the hair, the makeup. I saw her for
who she was on the inside; I heard and felt her without a word or a
touch.

She looked back at me and was also very
quiet and very still. If two people ever knew the exact moment they
fell in love, this was that moment. At least it was mine. This
little fire cracker, a woman I had met just hours earlier, defined
me, and stood her ground. She wasn’t running for the hills;
instead, she was right here in the moment with me.

I stood up and walked over to her side of
the table. I grabbed an empty chair at an empty table beside us and
sat next to her. She didn’t seem surprised at the grand gesture I
had just made. Instead, she never quit looking at me. I reached out
my right hand and she grabbed it with both of hers. I leaned in and
gently kissed her on the lips. I took my left hand and placed it on
the back of her head. Her lips were soft and tender. The kiss
lasted about ten seconds. It was the single greatest kiss of my
life. We both opened our eyes, and continued to stare at one
another. I had never felt anything so intense in my life.

“You’re very handsome,” Maya said rubbing
the back of her hand across my face. “But, you know that, don’t
you?”

I smiled because it didn’t matter what I
thought. The only thing that truly mattered to me at that moment is
what she saw in me and what thought of me.

“I think you’re the most beautiful woman I
have ever seen.”

She smiled shyly and said, “Wow, number
one?”

I nodded my head and then kissed her again.
This time, the kiss was a tad more passionate. By now, we must have
been making a little bit of a scene in the restaurant. But I didn’t
care.

Maya leaned into me and placed her forehead
on my chest. “You’re like a brick wall!” She let go of my hands and
put them over my chest and abs.

“Watch it, young lady. This is a family
restaurant.” I looked around and there wasn’t anyone watching.

She continued to feel my chest and my
stomach. “You’re built like a gymnast.”

I grinned, “If a gymnast could be so
lucky.”

“And here is where Tommy’s cocky side comes
out,” she laughed.

“Well, I hate to say it, but I’m a pretty
confident person.”

Maya looked up at me and said, “I like that,
that’s a good thing.”

“Hey, let’s get out of here,” I said.
“There’s a place I want to take you.” I looked down at my watch and
it was 10:30 p.m. “We still have enough time to go there and get
you back by 1:00 a.m.”

“You know you don’t really have to take me
home at 1:00 a.m.”

“Oh, I’m taking you home at 1:00. Your dad
was very clear to me. And as long as you live under his roof,” I
joked, “you’re going to abide by his rules.”

“Oh, great, you’re going to be on his side,”
she laughed.

“I will until he likes me.”

“He likes you, Tommy. Trust me on that
one.”

“Really?”

“Yes, he likes you a lot. He figures you’re
two for the price of one.”

“Huh?”

“You can be in both his son’s and daughter’s
lives. He sees how much Josiah looks up to you.”

I really liked the idea of her dad liking
me. “I think your little brother is pretty cool,” I said.

“He’s not so little.”

“I know, he could probably kick my ass, even
at fifteen.”

Maya looked me over and then surprisingly
said to me, “No, I think you could keep up with him.” And she was
as serious as a heart attack.

Chapter Three

We left Irvine Spectrum and headed toward
Balboa Beach. There was a great spot near some rocks where I had
always wanted to bring someone special. And Maya was as special as
they get.

I parked my Mustang on a side street. I
opened Maya’s door and held her hand as we walked up to the beach
area.

“Uh-oh,” Maya said. “You’re not taking me to
your prime makeout spot are you?”

“Actually,” I said, as I continued to walk.”
I have never been up here with another person.”

We approached the sand and we both took off
our shoes. We walked out toward the water and stopped just short of
the high tide line. We both looked out into the spectacular ocean.
I dropped my shoes on the sand and I put my arms around Maya.

“You really have never been at this spot
with anyone before?” she asked.

“This is the first time. I promise.” I was
telling the truth.

“How did you come across such a beautiful
spot?”

“One night when I was sixteen, I decided to
drive down to PCH and park and do some jogging by the water. I ran
for what seemed like days, and I ended up here. I sat right here
and stared off into the deep ocean. The moon was directly over the
water, much like tonight. I just sat here and had a moment of
solitude, a moment of tranquility. And I’ve been coming back two to
three times a year ever since.”

“Your special spot. I am honored you shared
this with me on our first date.”

“Don’t feel honored,” I said. “Someone that
sees the world the way you do deserves to know about places like
this that are just around the corner.”

I held Maya close. I could feel her heart
beat up against me. She felt so natural in my arms. I was so the
unromantic, but on this night you would have thought I was Casanova
himself.

“I love how the moon sends a strip of light
across the ocean,” Maya said. “It’s amazing that just a half moon
could give off so much glow.”

A half moon? Oh shit! In two weeks it will
be a full moon again and all that weird shit will start happening.
“Maya, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Maya looked up at me and winced, “Oh great,
here it comes.”

“Here what comes?”

“The… you have a girlfriend speech, or ‘this
is a little too much-too fast’ speech.”

“I love how quickly things are going. But
that isn’t what I wanted to tell you. And, no, I don’t have a
girlfriend, either.” I paused and began to rethink what I was about
to say. I had no idea how to say what I wanted to tell her without
sounding like a complete idiot. Or worse yet, someone who is
disillusioned.

“Okay, what is it, Tommy?”

I took a moment. I let go of her and sat on
the sand. Maya wiped herself off and sat next to me. This was going
to be hard to share with her and I sighed heavily, “Maya, there’s
something about who I am that cannot really be defined. And I can’t
tell you exactly what it is because I am not even sure what it is
myself.”