Page 10 of Shade
We stayed like that for a long while before Diego finally pulled back. He sniffed a little, then gave me a rueful smile. "So, where do we go from here?"
Five
Diego
Finding the 'monster' thatused to live under my bed and was once upon a time my best friend again, and then discovering he's my soulmate was a big deal. Like change-your-whole-life big. And yet, on Monday, I went to school like usual, taught my kids like usual, and the longer I spent following my routine, the more the weekend started to feel like an extremely realistic dream.
I knew it was real—I knew I hadn't imagined the whole thing—but it was still so hard to believe.
I'dkissedhim. I'd kissed Shade, and he'd kissed me back.
When he'd said I was his soulmate, the person that was most important to him in the whole world? I'd just reacted.
I knew I'd rushed things. We'd just met after more than a decade apart. I wasn't the same person I'd been the last time Shade saw me.
What if we got to know each other and Shade didn't like me?
He'd seemed a little hung up on my blindness. It wasn't the first time that'd happened, but I would be heartbroken ifShadechanged his mind because of it.
While I'd given him that whole speech about accepting my blindness, I knew I would kill to be able to see him again. But I also knew that wasting time wishing I could was useless, and I'd already done quite a lot of that over the years. I supposed I shouldn't expect Shade to be okay with it when it'd taken me a while to do the same.
"Diego? Hello?"
I jumped, then turned my head toward the voice of my coworker, Jess. She also taught third grade, and was my only friend at work, mostly because we spent a lot of time together.
"Hey, Jess," I greeted as I heard her take a seat across from me. I'd been in the middle of my lunch in the teacher's room when I got lost in thought, and I made myself take another bite as I felt Jess's gaze on me.
"You were deep in thought. Thinking about something special?"
I chewed furiously, shrugging my shoulders. It wasn't like I could tell her about Shade. What if she asked to meet him? What would I say? "Sorry, my partner is a shadow-being who can't come out in light." She'd think I was making shit up, and I'd look pathetic.
"Someonespecial?" she pushed, and I wondered if she wasn't all human. She made strangely accurate guesses.
"There's no one. I was just thinking about this week's lesson plan. Then I remembered I left my notes at home, and I was praying Pixie stays far away from them, because she chewed on them last time and I couldn't read them at all."
All of this had happened before, so I was hoping Jess wouldn't think I was lying. My cat, Pixie, did tend to chew on any piece of paper she could find, and she'd more than once messed up my notes.
"Mm-hmm," was all Jess said, but she didn't push, and we ate our lunches in companionable silence before returning to our classes.
The rest of the day went by in a blur of answering questions and talking with my kids—my favorite part of the job—and by the time I went home, I was utterly exhausted.
I ditched my keys and wallet in their usual spot near the door, then leaned my cane against the wall before taking off my shoes and heading deeper into the apartment.
Pixie meowed loudly as she raced over to me, something she'd learned to do after the first few times I'd tripped over her when she came to greet me silently. I'd tried putting a bell on her collar, but she hated those things for some reason and would refuse to move anytime I put one on. In the end, we'd come to a compromise: I wouldn't put bells on her if she agreed to always verbally greet me first before body-checking my legs. So far, it was working for us.
Leaning down, I picked her up, nuzzling her soft fur. The pet shelter had told me her fur was gray and white, but I'd mainly picked her because of her loud purrs and long fur. She was a great cuddle-buddy, and I loved holding her fluffy body.
"Hey, Pixie. Did you miss me?"
She started purring, and I grinned, then smacked a kiss on her face, falling just shy of her nose and hitting her eye instead. Thankfully, she'd closed it before my lips hit, but she still gave me a smack on my cheek for my folly.
"Sorry, sorry," I murmured, then placed her back on the ground.
I made my way to my bedroom, grabbing some comfy clothes to change into after my shower. Then, I'd make myself some dinner and put on an audiobook while I ate and try not to think about Shade.
As I was about to head into the bathroom, Pixie gave a loud yowl, a sound I'dneverheard her make. I turned around, almost tripping over my own feet in my haste.
"What's wrong?"
