“I can’t believe you got tickets to this thing,” Kel said. He had two colorful drinks and he handed over the one that was full.
“I’m really good at my job,” Rose said.
They were on the deck of a large ferry where a party was in full swing. The boat was covered in lights that made the ambiance magical as it moved through the night, headed to an island for one of the most exclusive music festivals in the world.
“What do you do again?” Kel asked. “People ask and it’s so hard to remember how you explain it.”
“It’s complicated legal stuff, it really doesn’t matter unless you’re doing it,” Rose said.
“Well, here’s to you being damn good at legal stuff.”
The two toasted and took drinks.
“Really though, tickets to Third Heaven sell out the second they get announced, how did your job even get them?”
“My firm represents Seraphiel…” Rose started.
“You’re fucking kidding!” Kel shouted and some of the other festival goers on the ferry looked at him strangely as they walked by.
“No,” Rose said, “calm down, it ain’t that exciting.”
“Seraphiel is music!” Kel said enthusiastically. “He did that livestream from Amsterdam last year. It was the best concert ever, even though I wasn’t there in person.”
“Isn’t Seraphiel very old now?” Rose asked. “He came out in the seventies.”
“A legend is a legend, and he still sounds so good. Like he hasn’t aged a day.”
“Maybe not his voice, but he’s definitely an old man,” Rose said.
“Didn’t he start this festival?” Kel asked.
“He was the artist that Third Sphere organized the first festival around,” Rose explained. “He was their first Angel, or Archangel I guess. Third Sphere Records calls its male artists Archangels.”
“Is he here this weekend?”
“No, unless they’re planning a surprise.”
“That would be awesome,” Kel said. “Thanks so much for bringing me here, no one’s gonna believe that I managed to go to Third Heaven.”
“Be careful, Kel, I told you, you can’t go around bragging about this. About my job…”
“Oh, trust me,” Kel said, “I know. People kill to go to Heaven. Like that fan that murdered someone and tried to take their place on the ferry…I can’t believe I’m even on the ferry. I wouldn’t jeopardize your job by bragging about this.”
Rose smiled and the two hugged and Kel kissed her cheek. They’d been dating for a little over a year by that point and she loved the way he was always proud to be with her when they went places together as a couple. It was as though he was unaware of all the things that made her insecure, or if he was, they didn’t bother him nearly as much as they bothered her. He liked that she was curvy and he didn’t understand how a woman so beautiful could be unaware of that beauty and feel so self conscious when she moved through the world.
“I love you,” Kel said, “I’ll never forget this. This is so amazing.”
Rose excused herself to go to the bathroom and as she made her way through the mingling and excited crowd, the joy drained from her face. When she was out of Kel’s sight, she felt a firm hand grab her arm.
“You really had the balls to come here without a sacrifice?” a man said to her. He was about her age and she recognized him the instant she felt the grip on her arm.
“Let me go!” she said sternly, keeping her voice down to avoid drawing attention, and she snatched her arm out of his grip. “Of course I have a sacrifice. And it’ll be much better than the one night stands you bring every year. This is my first time going to Third Heaven and it’s going to be perfect. My sacrifice has loved me for over a year and they’ll reward me for so much love.”
“You’re not giving up love like that,” the man said. “That’s why most people just bring one night stands.”
“You all lack discipline,” Rose said. “When they see what I brought them, I’ll get a promotion for sure. Probably my own private cabin on the island.”
“Keep making wishes and hope it comes true,” the man said and walked away.
When Rose found Kel after she finished with the bathroom, he was smiling out at the water as it passed. She put a hand on his back.
“Almost there,” Rose said
“This is so surreal,” he said and put an arm around her shoulders. “Once we leave this island, I’m asking you to marry me. Get ready for it.”
Rose stared out at the island in the distance and tried to ignore the feelings of guilt that welled up inside of her. She’d waited a long time, most of her life, to meet a man like Kel who loved her for who she was. But since she’d been working with Third Sphere Records and they welcomed her into their family with genuine love and warmth that she hadn’t known since she started work as an attorney in New York, states away from her family and friends, she’d found real friends at Third Sphere and they gave her access to heaven on Earth. All she had to give them in return was real, genuine love.
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