Page 46 of Divine Obsession

I carefully placed it in my wallet, before putting it away in the inside pocket of my pink jacket.

While I readjusted my white, fluffy ear-muffs and matching gloves, Maria tugged on her beanie, her hoodie over it along with a black puffer jacket. Glancing down, I snickered at our choices of footwear; me with my brown Uggs, her with her Chicago Jordans.

I smiled. Despite our diverse fashion styles, we always matched in jeans. Tonight’s pick had been tight, skinny, dark-washed Levi’s.

Maria breathed out a cloud of condensation, and as it floated up, it brought my attention back to Times Square. We’d sneaked out to watch the ball drop – the same way we did every year.

“Oh my God, it’s happening!” Maria squealed, tugging on my hand. She loved this; Christmas, New Year’s, the holidays, the traditions.

“Ten!” Everyone around us began counting.

“Promise we’ll always be there for each other.” Maria’s voice made me look away from the large screens, and back to her.

“Nine!”

The city lights glowed in her eyes, and I still couldn’t believe she was soon turning sixteen. She’d grown up so fast. “What?”

“Eight!”

“Promise,” Maria pressed, without further explanation.

“Seven!”

“Of course. I promise.” I smiled assuringly, resting my hand on her shoulder.

“Six!”

Maria brought up her hand. “Pinky-swear?”

“Five!”

I laughed.

“Four!”

I brought my hand up and interlocked my pinky finger with hers. “Always.”

“Three!”

“Twin flames?” Maria gave me a knowing smile.

“Two!”

I nodded. “Twin flames.”

“One!”

We both leaned in and kissed our knuckles, to lock in the promise.

“Happy New Year!” Chaos and cheers erupted all around us. Confetti fell from above and fireworks erupted in the sky.

“Happy New Year, Nat. Thank you for everything.”

I wrapped my hands around her as we both watched the show. “Happy New Year, my love.”

Chapter 12

Present

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