Velvet Mirror

Chapter 3

I buttoned up my blouse again. After taking it on and off and putting it back on again, it was just going to have to be the ugly pink pinstriped shirt today. I changed from my grey slacks to dark jeans. I was having dinner tonight at the Tevises' house for the first time since the accident. For the first time since Wendy and her son Antony came home from the hospital.

Antony and Colin had been inseparable since their first day of kindergarten, Wendy and I have been friends since. Wendy and her husband Rufus had a clan of their own children: Stephanie, Antony, Kai, and Ruben, from oldest to youngest. They were a beautiful family, and I was so incredibly jealous of their happiness. Especially now.

I walked over to my floor-length mirror to pin my dirty blond hair into a twist. I hated wearing my hair down. It was flat and gross. Even though I worked with eclectic artists for a living, I still felt that I wasn't at the liberty to shave it all off. I twisted my hair up and pinned it, focusing only on my face and hair. I didn't want to see anything besides myself in my reflection, and if I ignored everything else, I should not have been able to see anything I did not want to. I could not handle seeing Colin's apparition twice in one day.

But when I fixed a stray strand of hair, my eyes could not help but drift down beside me, where Colin was standing, maybe where he would be every day now. He moved his tiny hand and pressed it against the other side of the mirror, as if he were reaching out to me. Without thinking, I moved my hand out to reach his. I pressed it up against the mirror, expecting to feel its cool touch, but instead I was met by the warmth of his hand. The veil between us was something between water and air. My breath caught in my throat. It took every ounce of strength within me to not wrap my fingers around his, and also to not run away screaming in fear.

I blinked and walked away, trying to keep my poise. I didn't know what I was seeing, or why seeing him through a mirror was a reoccurring event. I needed to figure this out, but not now. Not now. I needed to keep breathing and stay strong. I did not need the Tevises scrutinizing me for weakness and trying to heal these wounds left by Colin's bereavement.

I reentered my room and dropped to the floor to search for some comfortable shoes, which I suspected were hidden underneath my bed. When I located a pair of satisfactory shoes, I slipped them on, snagged my purse, and headed downstairs and out the door. I made sure to lock the door behind me. God knows I did not want Jocelyn walking in uninvited again. I walked down the stairs out front to my little blue car, which Colin used to call the TARDIS once I started letting him watch Doctor Who.

*****

I pulled up to the Tevises' house, and I was greeted by their whole family. Ruben ran up to me and hugged my legs, with Kai following quickly behind. Stephanie followed after, pulling her kid siblings off of me, which was her own way of saying hello. Wendy and Rufus hung in the doorway, waiting for the commotion of their children to pass through the door again before they could say hello. Wendy's arm was in a permanent cast now. Wendy greeted me first.

"Hi Valerie," she said, squeezing me with a warm hug that fills all the contours of my frail body. "Oh wow, you've lost some weight. Are you okay, honey? It's a good thing Rufus and I made enough food to fatten you back up again tonight."

"Heh," I chuckled. "I'm fine, Wendy, thanks. How are you doing? How are you, Rufus?" I moved to greet her husband as well.

"We're all very sorry for your loss," he said, fuly aware that he had not suffered the same.

I nodded as I passed through the doorway, which Wendy closed behind me. I walked over into their dining room, which was already set with steaming food on the table, just like every time I came here. Man, did that woman love to cook. And she knew what she was doing, too. I had never had better food anywhere than at the Tevises' house.