Page 64 of Continuum

Kwame Mitchell:I know you’re going to do what you do and get this account. You’re special and anyone with any kind of sense can see that. Go get that money.

I rubbed my eyes and then stretched before I started my day. After showering, getting dressed and doing my hair, the early morning fog started to lift from my mind.

“Nope!” I said aloud as my mind started to drift to Kwame as I packed my work bag.

I have to focus on my stuff. He left to focus on his and I need to do the same.

I arrived at my meeting early and wowed the potential client. The one-hour consultation turned into a two-hour meeting as I agreed to do business with them. The contract was signed, and a schedule was set. I walked out of that meeting feeling great.

Until I climbed into my car and checked my phone.

A bunch of missed calls from numbers I didn’t know.Damn spam calls.

And three missed calls from Italy.

Italy Johnson:Call me as soon as you get this!

There wasn’t a time in history I’d ever called anyone as fast as I called Italy.

“Aisha!” she answered the phone on the first ring.

My heart was thumping in my chest. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“I got a call this morning from a woman telling me she needed to go to the airport,” Italy said uneasily. “And I told her she had the wrong number, but she couldn’t hear me, I guess. I was about to hang up and she said she needs to go.”

The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

My voice shook. “Why would someone call you early and ask you to take them to the airport when you work a nine-to-five?”

“That’s the thing… I don’t think the call was for me.”

I froze. My breathing was becoming labored. “Who do you think it was for?”

“I think the call was a message for you. I think it was a message from the universe that I needed to make sure that you went to the airport.”

“Do you—who do you think it was calling? You think it was Angel?”

Italy was silent. “What? No! I think it was a confused old lady! Why would you think that?”

I had goosebumps as a flash from my dream came back to me. “I had a dream last night and do you remember back in college, the day I was supposed to tell Kwame how I felt? After I didn’t do it, we said we weren’t going to let that happen again. And in my dream, I heard Angel say, ‘Tell him. Fuck it. What’s the worst that could happen?’ And when I woke up, I had a goodbye text from Kwame after he snuck out of my place in the middle of the night, so I didn’t call him and tell him and now with what you’re saying, I just don’t know…”

“Okay hold on… what?” Italy reacted to my rambling.

I gave her a quick recap of what happened the night before with Kwame.

“Okay, where are you now?” she asked.

“I just got on the highway headed back home,” I told her. “I had a meeting over in the Rosenburg area.”

“Go to the airport. You’re not that far away and from what you said, a noon flight wouldn’t start boarding for at least forty-five minutes.”

“I don’t know, Italy,” I complained as I got off the exit nearest me so I could make my way toward the airport. “I think everything that was supposed to happen, happened.”

“Go to the airport. The woman on the phone was an old lady who was clearly confused. But the way she said get her to the airport made me instantly think of you and Kwame since you said his flight was at noon. I didn’t know all the other stuff that had happened overnight, but something told me that I needed to make sure you made it to the airport. And after hearing those text messages, neither one of you really said goodbye. Now where are you?”

“I’m heading that way now.”

Italy stayed on the phone with me until I parked.

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