V

I quickly turned my eyes to Graham, who looked as startled as I probably did. But his shock lasted for only about five seconds before his eyes narrowed slightly and he had a hint of a smile, returning the stranger’s greeting.

“Michael.”

My eyes went back to the handsome stranger and my head was reeling as I tried to figure things out. Okay, so this guy knew who Graham was, meaning that he can see him, and vice versa. What does that mean?

He chuckled, and I marveled at his velvet voice. “I’ve been looking for you.” Then, his blue eyes focused on me and I blinked back my surprise. Michael smiled sweetly at me. “Ah, and you must be Cecille. It is a pleasure to meet you, dear,” he said and proceeded to hold his hand out.

I was immediately confused at how he knew my name—and peeved at his usage for the term ‘dear’—but I instinctively went with the better, mannered part of me and glanced at Graham. At his sharp but steady gaze I found no cause for alarm, so I reached my hand out and placed it in Michael’s. At the abrupt contact, I gasped and snatched my hand back, holding it to myself as if I was burned. When in actuality, his hand was anything but hot.

It was as icy as Graham’s and then things clicked in my head. The visibility (obviously to only Graham and myself), the temperature . . .

“You’re . . .” I squeaked out before I shut my mouth and cursed my inability for normal talking. A second later I found my guts and vocal chords. “You’re an angel,” I lamely stated, for lack of a better greeting.

Michael lightly laughed and nodded his head. His smile was blinding, and I briefly wondered why Graham wasn’t so breathtaking, albeit he had his slight attractiveness. Then, his name registered in my head and I realized why he was much more regal than Graham.

“Oh my God—I mean, gosh—you’re Michael.”

He nodded. “I am.”

I still wasn’t over my surprise. “The Michael? You’re Archangel Michael?!”

He nodded again and looked bemused at my surprise, giving Graham a look before smiling back at me. “You’re very reactive, aren’t you?”

Graham snorted and I turned at the sound. “She threatened to call the cops when she first saw me.”

I rolled my eyes. “You were vandalizing public property. And, you’re not as good looking,” I said, flushing at my last sentence. Graham scowled and Michael laughed musically.

“I would like to continue with our pleasantries and explain to you my reason for being here, but we are not in the right place. Do you mind if we talk somewhere private? I wouldn’t want people to walk by and see you talking to no one,” Michael said, glancing around us.

“You’re unseen too?” I asked, and he nodded. “Does that mean I can see other angels too? How do I know if someone’s an angel or not?”

Graham took hold of my wrist and pulled me away from my frantic questioning. “Okay, this isn’t the time for an inquisition. Let’s go back to your apartment first, okay?”

I looked at Michael. He nodded. “Yes. I’ll meet you two there; there are some errands I need to run beforehand,” he said. With a final nod, he was suddenly gone from our sight. My eyes widened at the notion—I still wasn’t used to the whole teleporting thing.

After a minute passed, I realized that Graham was still holding my wrist and I turned back to look at him, but stopped myself before commenting when I saw his expression. He was still gazing at the spot that Michael stood on, his eyes thoughtful and serious. I noted the crease on his brow and carefully touched his shoulder.

“Graham?”

“Huh?” He blinked and focused his eyes on me, widening them as if noticing me for the first time. Then he glanced down at our hands and abruptly let go of me. “Sorry,” he muttered.

“Are you okay?” I asked, staring intently at his distant behavior. “What’s going on?”

He seemed to snap out of it and looked around before turning back to me. “I don’t know; that’s what we’re going to find out. Come on, we have to go back to your apartment.”

I didn’t say anything as we made our way back. It wasn’t as if I would’ve gotten a straight answer from him, anyway. Graham seemed very deep in thought, and I hoped that Michael’s visit wasn’t anything bad.

And speaking of visit, my mind was running with twenty different questions, the same ones that I had for Graham, along with different ones regarding angels and heaven and our little problem. I figured that Michael was here for a reason, and that reason had to do with me and Graham and Graham’s limbo existence. At that thought, I really hoped that Michael wasn’t here to further complicate our situation, or worse, take Graham away.

My eyes widened at my thoughts, and I realized that I was way in over my head at this point. I suddenly felt selfish, stupid, and guilty for wanting Graham to stay longer, because who was I kidding? It wasn’t logical to have some relationship with a guy who doesn’t exist in the world I’m living in; it wasn’t healthy. Moreover, he’s an angel. That was probably morally wrong.

Now I was cursing myself for stopping by the alley that night.

I continued to silently berate myself as we kept walking; thus, all thoughts completely derailed when I physically did. A muffled sound came from my mouth and I quickly backed away from Graham’s cold body. I frowned at his back and started to ask why he stopped when he turned around and gave me a weird look. Taking a look at our surroundings, I realized that we were already at my door.

“We’re here?” I distractedly asked as I fished around in my bag for my keys.

Graham chuckled and I felt a little better knowing that he wasn’t so solemn anymore. “Silly girl. You’re lucky I was with you. You probably would’ve been hit by a car or something,” he joked and I sharply looked at him, finding no humor in his words. He sighed but kept his smile. “Sorry. Bad crack, I know.”

I finally found my keys and proceeded to unlock my door.

Once inside, I removed my bag and went to throw it on the couch, but dropped it in shock. “Gah!” I screamed, holding a hand to my mouth. My heart was jumping in and out of my ribcage, and I exhaled at what scared me.

Standing in the middle of my living room was Michael, looking as if he just perused my entire room without moving from his spot. Probably.

He smiled apologetically. “My apologies. I should’ve waited outside your door. But please, do not think me as intrusive; I had just arrived a few seconds before you two,” he said with his voice compelling me to do nothing but nod stupidly.

I finally found my voice and movement, shaking my head. “No, no, it’s okay. I was just a little surprised. Please, make yourself at home. Sorry if it’s a little messy,” I said as I hung my keys on the holder.

“Messy? I disagree, Cecille. Your home looks very clean to me,” he said and I looked around the room, realizing that he was right. I moved away from the door as I visually scoured my apartment, finding it tidy and not the way I left it this morning.

My accusing eyes immediately turned on Graham and he sheepishly shrugged. “I was bored when you left for class. I didn’t move anything I thought was important that you might forget about.”

I didn’t find it in me to be angry at Graham or his expression, so I smiled at him. “Thanks.” When I saw that we were still standing, I quickly ushered the two men to sit down before settling down on the couch. I took a minute to collect my thoughts before I dove into the interrogation.

“Well, now that we’re out of public eye, do you think you can de-confuse me?”

Michael laughed while Graham glowered. I focused on the former while I ignored the latter.

“Sure. Well, we can start by you telling me what you already know,” Michael said, slightly leaning back on the couch.

I bit my lip and glanced at Graham. “Okay. Um, well, I know that Graham is a ‘fallen angel’ to put it lightly—he’s not evil, though a bit annoying. He got kicked out of heaven for tampering with someone’s lifetime—that’s what they’re called, right?” Michael nodded and I continued, “And I’m the only one able to see him—and you, now—because I was involved when Graham gave me the man’s minutes.” I grimaced at the thought. “So now Graham is stuck here on Earth until he finds a way to fix what he’s done, and I suppose I’m to help since I can see him.”

“Hmm,” the older angel hummed in thought, considering all that I’ve told him. I anxiously waited for his reply. “Well, that is the main reason why I came down. I knew that you and Graham were bound to see each other sometime, I just didn’t know when. So, when you two finally did come in contact, I was immediately notified.”

I frowned ponderingly. “Are humans usually involved with the angels who make mistakes like this?” I asked.

Michael looked at me with quiet surprise. “Cecille, you are the only human who can unintentionally see us.”

“Huh?”

He leaned forward and looked between me and Graham. “This isn’t the first instance where an angel deliberately took time away from someone—and they usually are the young ones . . .”

“Hey!” Graham interjected, but Michael ignored him.

“It has never been a cause for alarm when that has happened, because it almost always is rectified. Human involvement is strictly prohibited in these matters. In this case, however, the other angels and I were dumbfounded because we did not know why this particular lapse had such a delay. My conjecture is that the problem exists because the man died soon thereafter. We didn’t expect you to be involved until the day you two met.”

“Did the man go to Heaven?” I asked, though my question was completely irrelevant.

Michael shook his head gravely.

“Oh,” I voiced. “So, because the guy died and didn't go to Heaven Graham got in trouble?”

“Well, that was not the reason for his castigation. The problem lies with you.”

I squeaked out, “Me?” the same time Graham said, “Lies?”

Michael nodded again. “From the moment Graham transferred the lifetime to you, things became difficult to manage. We immediately tried solving the problem by giving the man his timeline back, but it got complicated when we found that he didn’t have any time missing.”

“What do you mean he didn’t have time missing?”

“It means that he was perfectly normal and that he was already due to die in the time he had left. Graham wasn't the only one to put the blame on; it was a fault on our part as well—we should have been more attentive. When he died, we were rendered fruitless. Then, for lack of any other solution, we decided that since Graham was the sole angel responsible for this ordeal, it was up to him to correct it. We thought that he may have tampered with physical law, though that power is beyond him.”

I looked at the angel in mention and saw him frowning again. “That doesn’t seem fair, dumping it all on him.”

“It’s not, but it was the only way. It has evoked a deep confusion among all us high angels in Heaven. And you must understand, Cecille; Heaven is a very vast place with many, many angels. It took a while for Graham’s news to come to us, so it is difficult to deal with problems firsthand. As much as we wanted to help Graham, we cannot go against our priorities.”

"What do you mean the problem lies with me?"

"Because of the fact that you can see me and Graham. As I said before; human involvement is never an option when things like this happens. But the moment you and Graham met, a bigger problem arose. That is so befuddling because the reason why you can is beyond any of us," Michael explained.

I sat there, carefully chewing the information in my mind, slowly digesting each word. “So,” I said after a while, “I’m technically not supposed to be able to see you?”

“No. Usually, humans are completely consciously unaware of anything that involves them. If they are to see angels, it is the angel’s intent for them to be visible. But in your case, somehow you are able to note Graham’s presence.”

“What if it was his intent?” I asked.

This time it was Graham who answered. “I can’t even make that my intention. It isn’t in my Choir power to allow humans to see me.”

I considered this. “So I’m accidentally able to see Graham?”

“Yes.”

“And that’s the problem.” Michael didn’t catch the slight angst in my tone, but Graham did and I ignored his cautious look.

“It’s not so much of a problem as it is a confusion. I came here to investigate to see if there was something off with you.”

I looked at him stunned and Graham scowled sharply, but Michael quickly amended his words.

“I’m sorry; I did not mean it to come off sounding that way. Please, don’t take offense. I meant to say that I came to see if you had any spiritual quirks about you that made you able to see us; something that you may have been born with.”

It wasn’t that I was offended by Michael—I don’t think that was actually possible. I was just shocked that he thought that something was off with me . . . spiritually. I didn’t know that that was possible either. I immediately thought of Olivia, but she was just too . . . weird.

“And do I?” I opted to ask instead of warding off any false accusations or salving hurt feelings which I didn’t particularly have.

Michael frowned. “Not that I can detect. And it isn’t anything special if you were to have any. It just seemed very strange for a human like yourself to possess this kind of power.”

I nodded and figured that Michael didn’t have much experience with humans. I took that as endearing and bit back my smile.

“You are quite normal despite what you think, Cecille.”

“How do you figure?” I asked, trying not to sound so put off with how strangely perceptive Michael sounded.

He smiled. “We know all what you think or say to God starting from the moment you were born. Think of it as having a personal file in heaven. That, and we've been watching over you for a while.”

That thought put me in an apprehensive state; if my once-thought private requests to God weren’t so private, then how was I supposed to be reassured in the confidentiality?

I stopped asking questions that would inevitably make me wary and confused.

“So what now?” Graham asked, saving us from an awkward silence. Well, awkward for me. Michael probably wouldn’t know how awkward felt.

We both looked at Michael and he calmly gazed at us both before answering, “The others are coming.”

It sounded hilariously eerie like some kind of alien invasion movie and I tried to think along the lines of heaven and angels and—oh. Angels. All humor was lost as I realized what that meant.

“You mean the other angels like you?” I tried to sound not intimidated, but it was evident in my voice and widened eyes. I wondered how it was going to be when I actually meet them. You only hear about these angels in books and stories and church . . . how strange will it be then to come to face one of them?

I took in Michael’s features and hoped that they at least looked as young as he did, since he completely shattered any image of an archangel, if I had any. If anything, I would’ve expected the angels to look like the ones on the walls that Graham painted. Or old men with long beards. They were all probably ageless.

Michael chuckled. “Yes, the others like me. Do not worry; they are quite amicable, Cecille.” I was skeptical about that characteristic, since I had just witnessed Michael’s formality and lack of social experience. It would be awkward to have more than one angel fumbling around with social skills, saying one thing when they mean another.

Graham rolled his eyes and scoffed, clearly disagreeing with Michael. “I wouldn’t have believed they were angels if I saw them standing on the street. Don’t even think about being intimidated by them, Cecille. You’ll be more amused than afraid.”

“We are a fair bunch. In any case, I will come back with them some other time so they can see you for themselves. They have been very curious.”

“They’ll be . . . scrutinizing me? How many are there anyway? Will they be angry with me for being such a nuisance and causing Graham to stay on earth? How will I know you guys are coming? Will they fit in my apartment? Angels don’t eat, do they? Because I barely have any food for me,” I babbled off in nervousness. How am I supposed to accommodate angels?

Michael laughed and turned to Graham. “She’s very inquisitive.”

Graham smirked at me. “Impatient too. I’m surprised she didn’t interrupt you every other second.”

I frowned at him. “I’m right here. And I have the right to be inquisitive. It’s your doing that’s making it possible for me to even talk to you.” I looked back at Michael. “Do you think there is any way that this can be righted?”

He smiled softly at me and I wondered where my luck went with guys. Either they’re trying to molest me, or they’re not human.

“That’s what we’re trying to find.” Then, he leaned close to me and placed a cold hand on my arm. “I’m sorry that you have to be in the middle of this, Cecille.”

I looked at Graham and sighed, thinking about the past couple weeks. Despite its utter absurdity, this had been the best week I have had in a long time. And Graham was the first guy I’ve met who’s received my trust and whom I have grown to like more than just an offhand friendship.

“I’m not so sorry. I would like to help as much as I can. I can’t imagine what it’s like in heaven when there’s a glitch. . . . I bet God’s not happy, huh?” The corner of my mouth quirked.

Michael smiled. “He understands. And he trusts that we all will make this right.” Then he rose—I noticed he had nary a wrinkle in his oh-my-goodness-delicious suit—looking much taller from my point of view. “Well, I must go back up there and tell the others that I’ve found you both.”

We stood up and I moved to walk Michael to the door, but I remembered that he didn’t enter through the door. I rubbed my palms on my thighs and smiled hospitably.

“It was very nice meeting you, Michael. I must say, you are definitely not what I expected.”

He chuckled. “Not many people get to personally see me,” he said and I grinned.

“So I should consider myself honored?”

He shrugged lightly and winked. “It’s your call.” His face edged a little when he turned to Graham. “We’ll figure this out, Graham.”

Graham, who had stuffed his hands in his pockets and was standing a little ways off, nodded. “Thanks for coming, Michael. Tell the guys I say hi.”

Michael’s smile returned. “You can tell them when they come. They’ve been looking forward to seeing you again. They certainly miss you up there.”

Graham’s eyebrow rose. “So do you think I’ll ever get back up there?” He raised his chin upwards.

Michael tilted his head and his smiled shifted a little satirically. “I’m praying.” At least he had a sense of humor.

Then, he vanished and we just stood in my living room, realizing everything that just happened in awe. Well, I was probably more so, because of my whole naivety concerning this entire thing. At the thought of the other angels coming, I turned apprehensively to Graham.

“So when are we expecting them to come?”

Graham waited a moment before shrugging with a grin. “I’m not totally sure. They can arrive as early as tonight. So . . .”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “So what?”

His grin turned impish. “I’d warn you to be cautious whenever you’re taking a shower or removing your clothes.”

I sighed exasperatedly. “I do that when you’re here.”

He laughed. “They’re not coming in a big group, Cecille. They like making their own entrances whenever they feel like coming.”

At that, I groaned and collapsed on the couch. “And here I am paranoid about men on the streets; now I have to freak out about an innumerable amount of them popping in unannounced in my bathroom?!”

“At least you don’t have to worry about your neighbors complaining about the noise.”

I was glad that I could see and touch Graham; it was satisfying when I kicked him in the shins.