Saints Awakening

Excerpt from Saints Awakening

Rain dripped off the tips of his dark hair as his golden eyes bore into mine. There was so much pain behind his bright eyes and he looked at me as if he were waiting for me to understand something, but I didn't know what. I never knew and he never told me.

He never said anything.

A sad smile tugged at his lips, he let out a sigh and walked away from me. Sorrow and hurt spread through me. Tears mixed with the rain on my cheeks as I reached out for him. I screamed for him to come back to me but nothing left my lips. I tried to go after him but I was rooted to the ground as he disappeared into the mist.

***

"Miss Remida!"

"Fuck!" Leni jumped as she popped her head up from her desk. Her arm jerked and spilled coffee over the pages of drawings and notes in front of her. "Shit."

"Leni, Mrs. Harken is here," her assistant announced as she burst through her office door. "Oh dear, did you have a rough night again?"

"I-I'm fine, Amber," Leni sighed as she dabbed the coffee off her notes. "Is she waiting to meet with me right now?"

"Yes. She's with the designers and they want to look at your plans for the new spring line," she said as she hurried across the room to pick up the fallen notes on the floor. "Girl, you need to get yourself together. You can't let Mrs. Harken see you like this," she huffed as she brushed off her shoulders and took the coffee stained notes out of her hand. "I'll print you a new copy. Now, get up and do something with your hair."

"Fuuuck, why is she here today?" she groaned and slid her hands over her face.

Amber slid her hands to her hips and shook her head. "You've known about this meeting for weeks and you know how Mrs. Harken is. That woman gets after you for the littlest things. You've got to get more sleep, Leni."

"I'm trying. I just -" she sighed as a pair of sad golden eyes floated through her mind. She shook her and stood up. "I'm fine. Just give me five minutes and I'll be ready."

"Mm-hm, I'll get you another coffee too," she said as she left the office but not before dumping the stained notes in the bin.

Leni crossed her office full of fabric and garment samples to stand in front of the mirror. She tucked a few curls back into the half braid around her head and ran her fingers through her curly tresses.

She smoothed her hands over her tan and burgundy plaid pants and buttoned her burgundy blazer over her black turtleneck. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as a heavy weight of sadness washed over her. She pressed a hand against the mirror and took a deep breath as she blinked back her tears.

That fucking dream.

It had been a regular occurrence in her life for ten years. They started on her eighteenth birthday, but they weren't as frequent or as emotionally draining as they were now. Every time she closed her eyes he was there. Staring at her with that sad look on his face and her heart broke every time he walked away from her.

She wiped the tear rolling down her cheek.

Come on, Leni. Get it together.

She took another deep breath and straightened her jacket. She rolled her shoulders and pointed her finger at her reflection to recite the mantra she'd created to keep her sane. "That man isn't real and his sorrow isn't yours to bear."

She looked herself over once more and her heart thumped as a faded image of the phantom in her dreams materialized before her.

"No!" She screamed and threw a blanket of fabric over the reflection. Her hands shook as she backed away from the mirror. She'd never seen him like that before. Not without closing her eyes.

"Fuck, I need to sleep." She slid a hand over her face as Amber popped her head into her office.

"Miss Remida, are you ready?"

She pulled her hand away from her face. "Y-yes, I need you to cancel any meetings I have after this. I'm taking the rest of the day off."

"A wise decision. Here's your coffee and your notes," Amber smiled and pressed a hand to her shoulder.

"You've worked hard on this, we all did. Mrs. Harken is going to love it."

"Thank you," she sighed. "Um, would you mind having someone remove that mirror from my office? It's um, taking up too much space."

Amber raised an eyebrow and looked over her shoulder at the fabric draped haphazardly over the mirror in the corner of the expansive corner office. "Do you want a smaller one?"

"No, just...just have it removed."

"Sure thing. It'll be gone when you come back."

"Great," she nodded. "Wish me luck."

"You got this, Miss Remida."

Damn straight I do.

Mrs. Harken was a formidable owner and executive director, but Leni had worked her ass off for this new clothing line and she wasn't going to let her tear her down again. Nor would she let that dream or that hallucination throw her off her game.

I got this.