Chapter 13 New Year's Eve of her 26th year.
Dahlia already knew this would be her favorite New Year's celebration so far.
How is it possible that one day in our life can completely transform everything about our life,
She pondered as she finished putting on her eye makeup.
Just yesterday morning,
Enro,
The human,
The soul,
The multi-dimensional man who had just turned her world completely upside down,
Wasn't even in her awareness.
And now,
Just one day later,
He was consuming all of her attention.
The last 24 hours were still spinning through her mind in flashes of images that overlapped and flowed waves of emotion through her body,
As her mind played them like a slideshow out of order.
That first kiss,
The way he squeezed her hand as she was sharing about her sister,
The breakfast they ate this morning in her apartment prepared by Laura with so much laughter and joy,
The way he looked at her when their eyes first met.
The images moved so quickly through her mind,
It felt impossible to slow down the experience she was having.
In that moment,
She heard Laura's voice from the bedroom door behind her.
Are you ready?
She asked,
With excitement and concern,
Blending in the way that only best friends can sense through the words.
Dahlia turned sideways in her chair,
Resting her right arm on its back and looked at Laura,
Knowing she could see right into all that was happening internally.
Laura walked a few steps across the room and leaned down on her heels,
Putting her hands on Dahlia's knees,
Squeezing lightly.
There was a quiet moment between them,
Where nothing was said,
And simultaneously,
Everything was understood.
Dahlia could feel some of the fear and doubt moving through her legs to her feet and releasing to the earth,
As Laura simply offered her support.
Is this crazy?
Dahlia said out loud,
Feeling the potential tears right behind the words.
Laura grinned,
Leaning a little forward to get closer as she whispered,
Yes,
Completely,
With a giggle.
And,
This is the magic of fairy tales and dreams come true,
And you know I believe in magic.
They both smiled.
Me too,
Dahlia said,
Knowing Laura's words were confirming what she already knew inside.
It feels so impossible,
And also,
How could all of these details of our stories aligning not be magic?
I think what scares me is how familiar the story feels,
Almost as if I wrote it.
Laura nodded,
Listening.
I have this sense of deja vu that has me a bit wobbly because it is so intense,
And yet,
I don't know what is supposed to happen next,
And all I can do is trust what feels right for tonight and let that be enough.
He's going back to Australia in two days,
And I live here,
And I don't know what that means.
She could feel the tears wanting to flow.
It's okay,
Laura said.
For tonight,
Let's celebrate the magic.
Let's dance and laugh and play and look for all the moments of perfection.
Tomorrow,
We can talk about what's next.
Tonight,
Let's play.
I'll be right by your side.
Well,
As close as I can be with Enro around,
She laughed.
Yes,
You are so right,
Dahlia said.
Of course,
Let's just be here and enjoy tonight.
I'm almost ready.
Give me five minutes.
Leaning forward for a quick hug,
Laura smiled back and then stood up to go grab her purse.
Turning around to look back at the mirror,
Dahlia exhaled firmly.
Tonight would be a celebration of all the incredible alignment of the universe that somehow brought Enro to their little beach town in Bali on the last night of this year.
Smiling into the mirror,
She felt a tingle in the back of her neck.
Enro had arrived.
How was it possible that she could already sense that he was close by?
What was happening?
With a soft laugh under her breath,
She put the makeup down on her dresser,
Grabbed her purse,
And stood up,
Checking her reflection in the mirror.
She looked like a woman in love.
The glow from her smile was powerful.
Even she could see it.
Smiling at her reflection in the new colorful long cotton dress she had found on a vendor's stand earlier this summer and kept for a special occasion,
Dahlia winked,
Sending herself an irreverent message.
Let's play tonight.
Hearing Enro's voice greeting Laura,
Dahlia walked across the room to turn off the light and step into the living room.
Tonight was a night to celebrate.
