Chapter 9

She awoke the next mourning totally refreshed. She was ready to take on anything. The clouds of the previous day were gone, and the sun was streaming in. This was a perfect day to start a new life. She called Jennifer to ask her for some room service.

"Jennifer Dawson, how may I help you, Ms. McAlester?"

"Hi Jennifer, I would love to have some blueberry pancakes and bacon, a big glass of orange juice and the local newspaper brought up here. Could you arrange that for me?"

"Sure thing, Ms. McAlester. It should be ready and up to your room in about 20 minutes. Is that satisfactory?"

"Perfect, thank you so much. By the way, is there a health club nearby? I'd like to workout for about an hour or so, before I go meet Franklin."

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. It's a full service health club, and it's in the lower level of the hotel here. I can set you up with a personal trainer as well, if you wish."

"Fantastic, that would be great, thanks again."

"No problem, Ms. McAlester. It's my pleasure. Your trainer's name is Rachel. I'm sure you'll like her."

"I really appreciate this, Jennifer. Thank you."

"You're very welcome, Ms. McAlester. The pleasure is mine, really, you're such a nice and lovely young woman."

"Oh, I appreciate that, bye, Jennifer."

"Have a wonderful day, Ms. McAlester. Bye-bye now."

Click

Christy's breakfast was wonderful. They were the best blueberry pancakes she ever had. After breakfast, she dressed in her workout clothes, went down to the hotel health club, met Rachel, worked out for about 30 minutes, practiced her karate for another 30 minutes, went back to her suite, took a long hot shower and got dressed for her day. She wore a beautiful red sundress with red pumps. She also put on some perfume and her silver winged horse pendent. She looked in the full-length mirror, smiled and thought "That ought to do it." By then, it was 12:25 PM Saturday, time to go meet her destiny. The Eye Test. If he passes, she'll have a new boyfriend/lover/wonderful man to spend her life with. If he doesn't, she'll go back to L.A. and marry John. She had to be sure, certain. No guessing, this time. Yes, she was in love, but she had been burned badly once, never ever again.

With that set firmly in her mind, she went to go meet Angie.

Angie took her to the Pike Place Public Market, where she got out of the van and started walking with Angie. They walked through all the people until they got to Delaraunti's Deli. She saw Franklin sitting there, looking somewhat sad, as though he'd just got over a bout of crying. When he saw her, however, his eyes lit up, and his smile became radiant. She walked slowly over to his wheelchair. She got down on her knees, and he started to speak, but she put her index finger on his lips, as if to say, "No, not yet." She realized he was shaking with nervousness. She touched his arms to reassure him, and his shaking stopped. She looked deep into his eyes, probing his very soul. After about a minute, she saw nothing but love, honesty, purity, courage, sadness and just a tinge of regret. She thought, "I finally found him, after all these years. He is THE ONE. Now I know his soul is pure, and he needs me desperately to help him heal. By the Gods I'll be with him for the rest of his life!" She opened her mouth to speak.