Body Swappers 6
Maya deals with a hangover around her least-favorite coworker, then sees someone she wasn't expecting.
After three ibuprofen, a glass of water, and a blended coffee, Maya’s head was still killing her. She pulled into the parking spot and unlocked her phone screen. She cleared the notifications saying her mom had texted, and sent a message to Camille.
Tried to go on a date last night. Another jerk claiming a good aura reading.
Auras didn’t typically show in photos, so a lot of people on the apps would get a sensitive to do a baseline reading, and they would describe it in their bios. Except, as with many things, players would figure out what people wanted to hear and say that.
Just a well-balanced rainbow, I guess? Maya felt her red go crazy around her, tainting her vision even, as she remembered the slimy yellow and red coiling over black shards the guy really had. She’d left the restaurant and gone to a bar. Alone.
The car clock was merciless in its assessment of the hour, so she tossed her sunglasses back in their holder and peeled herself out of her car. The reception area was perfectly square, each of the four corners holding a table with a crystal on it. There was also a fairly large quartz on the table in the middle. As always, Maya reveled in the feeling of walking into the crystal grid. Black tourmaline and ametrine in the corners nearest the door helped dispel the more negative aspects of her energy, and the rose quartz and sodalite on the back wall helped center her.
Her voice at least half an octave higher than was natural, Donna said, “Hi Maya.”
“Hi Donna,” Maya said, her lip quirking in a poor imitation of a smile. She strode through to the main room, where she had a similarly brief interaction with Elaina as the woman packed up to leave.
Ruth waited until Elaina had left before saying, “So today I’m doing a consult after Jeff gets here. Robert Sullivan and his client, who is a murder suspect.”
Maya raised her eyebrows. “Aren’t we supposed to be stopping murderers, not helping them?”
“I said murder suspect, not murderer.” Ruth blew out a breath. “Mr. Sullivan claims his client is innocent. Though I suppose any defense attorney would say that.”
Maya went to the kettle and switched it on.
“Are you okay? I know you got exorcized yesterday. You don’t have to get right back to it.”
“I’m fine,” Maya said, teeth cracking as they came back together. She sighed, then more calmly, said, “It’s not that. I had too much to drink last night.”
“Have you had–”
“Water and ibuprofen. Yes. And coffee.”
Ruth didn’t answer. Maya glanced over her shoulder and found Ruth doing a deep exhale, eyes closed. Maya looked back at the tea things before she could catch her looking.
“There’s a mindfulness exercise I do when I’m feeling unwell. It helps me. Would you allow me to walk you through it?”
“Yeah, sure,” Maya said, switching the kettle back off.
They sat together on the mat in the middle of the room, legs crossed, and closed their eyes.
“I want you to imagine the bad feelings you have as pollution that’s inside you, soaked into your body and gumming the place up,” Ruth said. “Meanwhile, the air outside of you is clean, crisp, and cool. Breathe it in deeply. Instantly, the grime inside you stains that air, mixing with it. Now when you breathe it out, nice and slow, that is expelled from you. You are left cleaner and lighter than before. Every time you breathe in a fresh breath of air, what’s left of that pollution inside you further diffuses. Every time you breathe out, you release a little more tension and pain. I want you to visualize this change as it happens.”
They sat there breathing for a time. Maya was shocked at how much the pain in her head lessened with every exhale. Even her shoulder, which always ached, dulled in degree. Eventually the headache was gone, and Maya continued to breathe for a time, feeling as though she were floating. When she opened her eyes, she felt rejuvenated as if she’d woken from a really good nap.
Ruth was watching her with a grin. “Did that help?” It was clear she already knew the answer to the question, but for once her know-it-all attitude didn’t rankle so much.
“Yes, thanks.”
The time passed quickly enough. Maya’s headache slowly seeped back in, but never grew to the level where it had been. Soon enough, Jeff showed up, and Ruth retreated into the corner office, shutting the door behind her.
Jeff tilted his head at Maya. “You look good for someone who was exorcized yesterday. New pendant?”
“No. Ruth walked me through a mindfulness exercise that was actually pretty nice.”
Jeff said nothing, but yellow and pink danced through his aura. Maya rolled her eyes.
The door chime announced their visitors had arrived, and Donna led them back to the corner office. When Maya saw them, she imagined her heart skipped a beat. One of them was completely unremarkable, but the other had black, gelled hair, striking blue eyes, and the last time she’s seen him, he’d been punching Frank in the solar plexus.
She watched as Donna closed the door behind them and returned to the reception area. What is he doing here? Only one way to find out.
“Jeff? I’m going to go sit in on that meeting.”
“What?” he asked.
Maya walked to the office, feeling as though she were swimming there, as if the substance reality was made of had changed.
Maya opened the door, and three heads turned her way. “Maya?” Ruth asked. “What are you doing?”
“You exorcized me,” Maya said to the man from the bridge.
“Ah.” Ruth’s eyes shot to him, but he didn’t seem to notice the scrutiny. He leaned back in his chair. “I realized my mistake while speaking with Frank. I was under the impression you had caused the jump. Now it’s my understanding that you tried to stop him?”
“Yes,” Maya said, feeling off-balance. She hadn’t expected him to have a good reason for exorcizing her.
“Well, I owe you an apology for misreading the situation. I’m glad to see you’ve found your way back to yourself. I hear getting exorcized is none too pleasant.”
“It’s not.”
“I’d be happy to chat about it more, later. As I value my client’s time, we’ll need to table it for now.”
Ruth piped up. “Yes, of course. If you’d shut the door, Maya?”
“Actually,” the man said, blue eyes sweeping over Maya in a calculating way, “perhaps your colleague can sit in on this consultation? Given the circumstance of our meeting, I think Maya may add value to the discussion.”
Maya closed the door, sat next to Ruth, and wondered. She wondered if it were really professional interest that had granted her stay in the meeting, or if that measuring look was his checking her out. His aura hadn’t snaked with red, which typically happened with lust, but then if he was cold and detached enough, maybe it wouldn’t. And he didn’t strike her as the warm and fuzzy type. She also wondered, if he’d realized his mistake while speaking with Frank, why had he told the police there was no jump?