Elemental Reality by Cesya Cuono

see him all bubble-soaked afterward. As he rounded the corner at the end of the driveway, I went inside and locked the door behind me. I was overjoyed with the relationship that was forming between us. Moreover, I was curious as to how he knew we were soul mates. Strangely enough, it felt right. Okay, and maybe a little cheesy too. And what exactly was Dad hiding from me?
    I got dressed quickly, pulling on a pair of black skinnies, a T-shirt, and a blue pullover hoodie. I loved days when I didn’t meet with clients. I always felt so stuffy and confined by business attire.
    At work our receptionist Tara sat at her desk on a call. She gave me a smile and a wave before she went back to talking and scribbling on a note pad. I headed toward my office. As I passed the conference room, I saw that Dad and some of his employees were sitting around the table, listening intently to the voice on speakerphone. I strolled into my office and dropped my bag on the floor next to my desk. A stack of papers lay on my desk. I groaned. Half needed to be filed while the rest I needed for the meeting I had to set up. In no time at all the papers were sorted and filed, and the information I needed to type up for the meeting was ready. I booted up my desktop and waited for it to load. My phone beeped, and I dug it out of my purse. I had one new text message from Oli.
    Can’t wait to take you out later. Everything is planned and will be perfect.
    I couldn’t help my smile as I typed back a reply.
    It will be perfect because it’ll be with you :)
    I turned the screen off and placed the phone back in my purse. The computer bleeped, signaling it was ready. After slaving away in Microsoft Office, I printed the agenda for the meeting. Once the papers were hot off the press, I waltzed around to each office and dropped a copy into the mailbox that was attached to the wall next to their door. My mood was whimsical, and I even caught myself humming. I ran into Dad in the conference room. He was alone and had been going over materials from the meeting he was just in.
    “Hey, sweetie. I see you’ve been busy. Got it all covered?” he asked.
    “Yes,” I said. “Everything’s done.” This wasn’t the time or place to bring up the fact he was hiding something from me.
    “That was quick.” He glanced at his watch. “Did you want to grab something from the coffee shop?”
    “I’d love to, but I can’t today. Oli and I have a date,” I admitted.
    “You two are getting pretty close, huh?” Here came Poppa Bear.
    “We are,” I said with a smile I couldn’t suppress. “There’s something different about him. He ignites something inside me.” I threw that in there to see what kind of reaction I could get out of him, but the one I got was not what I expected. He looked nervous and ashamed.
    “That’s, uh, great to hear, sweetie. Have fun. I need to get back to work.”
    I was dismissed. I stared at him for bit and wondered why he reacted like that. I shrugged it off and headed back to my office. I saved my document and shut down the computer. Tara gave me a quick wave good-bye as I left.
    My heart fluttered as I wondered what Oli had planned for us. The ride home took a little longer because of the afternoon traffic, but I arrived home just in time to change. My phone was already in my hand, ready to call Oli to tell him to come over in ten minutes, when someone knocked at the front door. I didn’t even think twice; I opened the door and a wave of darkness crashed into me. I had zero reaction time and felt as if I were being tossed around under their murky depths. The darkness wound around my thoughts, binding me to the deepest corner of my mind. It was Cayden, standing there with his evil smirk in place. My internal struggle with the darkness failed miserably. It was stronger this time—much stronger than before.
    “There’s no point in fighting me,” he seethed.
    I internally snorted. That’s what you think, I thought