ᴄᴏꜱᴍɪᴄ ᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ☾ jimmy page

IV.

we woke up in buffalo, new york a week later.

the band had a day off, and jimmy was determined to take me on an outing.
he'd seen an ad for an occult store in midtown on the back of a newspaper, and he wanted to take me there.

"get dressed, baby. I'm taking you somewhere fun today," he said, gently shaking me.
"where?" I yawned.
"some place very special. now come on, get up," he said, kissing my forehead. I stood up, stretched, and shuffled to the shower. I washed off and got dressed; it wasn't too terribly hot outside, so I decided to wear my black velvet flares and jimmy's green satin shirt.

"you look stunning," he said, kissing me when I came out of the bathroom.
"thanks darling," I said, grabbing my purse. he wrapped his arm around my waist, and we walked downstairs and got into a cab. I'd never been to upstate new york before, and I was taking everything in; the buildings, the streets, the people.

jimmy laid his hand on my thigh, and I laid my hand on top of his. holding hands was a comfort thing for us, like a security blanket; it was what bonded us when we first met. my hand fit perfectly in his, like it was made for it. I interlocked my fingers with his and turned to look at him, and he met my gaze.
"I love you," I mouthed to him, and he smiled, bringing my hand up to his mouth and kissing it.

the cab pulled up in front of a brick building on a corner, and jimmy came around and opened my door for me. the little shop was painted a bright lavender, and it had different celestial sun catchers hanging in the windows, as well as a sign that read, "crystals, incense, occult items and more," on the door, and I was smiling uncontrollably.

"anything you want, darling, it's yours," he said, kissing me on the cheek.
god he's so thoughtful, I thought. and I just know that he's going to spoil me rotten.
I took his hand in mine and we walked inside, and I was taken aback by all of the beautiful things on the shelves. I made friends with the little old lady that ran the shop; I spoke with her about the tarot and aleister crowley and fortune telling.

"is this your boyfriend, dear?" she asked, and I smiled.
"yes ma'am, he is," I said, giving jimmy's hand a squeeze.
"well I can tell that he's very in love with you, his aura is bright pink," she said, and he blushed.

"I imagine my face probably is too," he said, chuckling a little. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked over to a bookshelf where something had caught my eye, and the woman pulled jimmy aside. "come here, son. I have to tell you something."
"yes, miss?" he said, awkwardly.

"whatever you do, never let that girl get away from you. she's special. her aura is a brilliant rainbow, and I can tell that she's very thoughtful, and very kind, but she's also very sensitive, so take care of her. you don't want to lose her."

jimmy considered the woman's words, and he looked up at me; I was completely immersed in a book about aleister crowley, and I was clutching a piece of amethyst that I'd taken a liking to. he smiled to himself, and he noticed something in the windowsill that caught his eye; a moon-shaped dish filled with angel aura quartz, a stone that cast a beautiful rainbow-colored glow in the pale sunlight.

"we'll take everything that she's holding, and one of these," he said, taking the largest piece from the dish. "and would you mind wrapping that up? I'd like to surprise her with it."
the woman smiled. "you're a good boy."
jimmy paid her and she wrote down the purchases, and he slipped her an extra hundred-dollar bill for being so kind.

"thank you, jimmy," I said to him when we were outside, kissing him on the cheek, and he smiled at me, taking my hand in his and pressing his lips to it.
"anything for you, darling."

-

when we returned to the hotel, jimmy ordered me the biggest lunch on the menu. after I ate, I read him passages from my new book.

"I could listen to that wonderful voice read to me all day long," he said as he poured us some wine, and he put a glass in my hand and kissed me on the forehead.
"I really enjoyed today with you, jimmy." I marked my place in the book and reclined on the bed, and took a sip of my wine.

he smiled at me, and I watched him pull something out of his pocket. "I got this for you also, as a surprise."
he put a beautiful, shining crystal in my hands, and my jaw dropped.
"I've never seen anything like this before! what is it called?"
"angel aura quartz. the lady at the shop told me that you had a rainbow aura, so I wanted to get it for you."

I wanted to cry; he was so sweet. I got up and wrapped my arms around him, and I felt him kiss the top of my head.
"I love you, daphne. I hope that you know that."
"of course I do. and I love you."
his arms went to my waist where they fit so comfortably, and I laid my head on his chest.

-

led zeppelin was to play a show the next night.

I was hanging out backstage with jimmy and the band, and I was giving robert a tarot card reading.
"what is your query?" I asked him.
"how's tonight's show gonna go?"
I shuffled my cards and spread them out across the table we sat at, and he drew a card. "wheel of fortune?"
"the wheel of fortune card represents good fortune, success, and luck. a positive omen for sure," I said, smiling at him.

"ha! good on you for dating a fortune teller, jim!" robert laughed, and jimmy looked up and smiled at me.
"hey now, insight comes with a price. my services are not free, mr. plant." I held my hand out and smirked at him, and he shrugged.
"right, how silly of me," he said, defeated, slipping me a hundred-dollar bill.

jimmy laughed. "that brought you down a peg or two, didn't it percy?"
robert rolled his eyes and laughed, and then he went elsewhere.

-

jimmy and I were asleep in the private cabin on the plane; that night's show had been particularly wild and we were both exhausted, and it was a six hour flight from buffalo to seattle.

robert had gotten ahold of a polaroid camera from a girl that he was seeing, and he was having a great time taking pictures of his band mates when they least expected it; he had a photo of bonzo chugging away at a whiskey bottle, and another of jonesy passed out in his hotel room with his bass in his arms.

he snuck into the private cabin, intending to take a funny snapshot of jimmy and I.

we were passed out on the bed, jimmy's head on my chest, my hands in his hair. I awoke to a bright camera flash, and I struggled for a moment to figure out what was going on until I saw that robert was shaking a polaroid picture.
"what are you doing?" I asked, my voice low so I wouldn't wake jimmy.

"just thought I'd snap a picture of you two lovebirds. do you want it?" he asked, handing me the photo. "I was hoping for something a bit more comical, so you can have that one."
I rolled my eyes and smiled at him, and he left us alone again.

I studied the photo in the dim light; jimmy and I were fast asleep, holding onto each other tightly. his mouth was slightly open and his hands rested on my ribcage; he was so peaceful-looking and beautiful.

I smiled to myself and tucked the photo into my purse on the floor, and I drifted back to sleep.