Devil Mail

All rights reserved. With the exception o
f any critical review or article, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, including photocopying, xerography, recording, or in any storage or retrieval system is forbidden without written permission of the author.

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, living or deceased persons, or real locales is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 2013 by P. V. Edwards

ISBN-13: 978-1493601790

ISBN-10:
1493601792

Printed in the United States of America

First Edition

Dedication

This book is d
edicated to Patrice and Letisha who gave up so much of their ‘Mommy and Daughter’ time over summer to allow me to finish this work. Thank you. I love you.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Author’s Notes

C
HAPTER ONE

A
ngela stared at the black and white centerpieces, each draped in sparkling diamonds. As her eyes sauntered around the ballroom, she did not allow a single detail to escape her. From the jewel-encrusted drapes to the silk-covered, bow-embellished chairs to the monogrammed place settings – everything was exquisite. The brilliance of the champagne glasses had her mesmerized for a while. An ambiance of wealth and royalty emanated from the dimmed amethyst lights that pervaded the room.  Rachel really did look like a princess, in her ruffled, strapless, mermaid wedding dress and Robert couldn’t look more like a prince in his tuxedo. She wondered what gifts awaited the guests in the party favor boxes that were piled high on the ornate side table. It appeared that no expense had been spared for this fairytale wedding. Angela was happy for her friend. Rachel had always been there for her.  If anyone deserved a break in life, it was Rachel. Today, Angela decided, there could be no room in her heart to entertain even an ounce of envy.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the piercing voice of the gentleman sitting beside her. Initially, she saw his mouth moving, but it took her a moment to realize that he was actually speaking to her. Angela wondered if Rachel was playing a cruel joke on her, by seating her at a table with three married couples and an older single lady, probably in her seventies. Of course, Rachel wouldn’t really do that.

“Excuse me?” Angela responded when she came around.

“Have you known the couple long?” the man repeated.

“Well, I’ve known
Rachel for many years. I’m Angela.”

“
I’m Cecil. My wife and I are cousins of the groom,” he said gesturing towards the tiny-framed lady beside him. She glanced at Angela and smiled. The couple beside them introduced themselves as cousins of the bride and the third couple as close family friends of the groom. The older lady shunned the introductions, overtly steering her face out towards the ballroom. Maybe she felt as out of place at the table as Angela did, and was not in the mood for chitchat.   Angela surmised that Cecil must be one of those ‘S’ type personalities that are only happy when everyone else is happy in an all-inclusive atmosphere. Turning to the older lady, he smiled, “And you are….?” She moved her head in Cecil’s direction, but not sufficiently to make eye contact.

“An
d I am hungry!” she snapped.

“Nice to meet you Hungry,” Cecil replied before letting out a high-pitched chuckle of a weird sort that Angela had never encountered before. His wife glared at him and finally cut his amusement short with a sharp nudge of the elbow
, which also brought the shaking of his hefty body to a halt. A less than comfortable silence fell around the table again. 

             
The evening wore on with everyone, except the older lady, making polite conversation, talking about vacations, the weather and what a wonderful couple the bride and groom made. Having devoured a couple of rather large helpings of food from the island-inspired menu, the older lady seemed to loosen up a little, and when the three couples graced the dance floor, she looked at Angela and smiled ever so slightly.   “You not a dancer?” she inquired.

“Give me the right music and the right partner
and I could show you a thing or two,” Angela grinned, as did the lady.

“
I’m in no mood to dance tonight. I’m Robert’s great aunt’s second cousin on his father’s side, and you’d think they’d put me at a family table nearer the front! I guess when you get old, you’re not worth much; you’re just ready for the trash heap.”

Angela was torn between feeling sorry for her and laughing out loud, as she tried to get her head around just how distantly related this woman was to the groom.

“
My name’s Meredith by the way,” she continued.

“Nice to meet you
Meredith Bytheway.” The two burst into hysterical laughter, attracting the attention of the guests seated at a nearby table.

“You’re funny, I like you, Angela.” 

“You didn’t think Cecil was funny?”

“Oh yes, he was funny alright.” Meredith knitted her eyebrows and puckered her lips.

“You and I should go out there and show them how to really dance, Aunt Meredith.”

“Oh, don’t waste your time with me. A pretty girl like you should find yourself a nice young man to spin you around that dance floor.”

“I haven’t had much luck in that department, I’m afraid.”
The despondency in Angela’s voice was in perfect coordination with her doleful facial expression.

“Really? Maybe you’re looking for love in all the wrong places, as they say. You know, Robert met Rachel on some online dating site. And now look at them! Rachel couldn’t hope for a better deal. Robert has his own marketing company, he’s bought her a nice big house in that upscale gated community in Westhampton, she doesn’t have to work, what more could she hope for?” 

Angela glimpsed the warmth that came over Meredith’s face
as she spoke. It was true that Rachel had met Robert online, but Angela thought the chance of her meeting a real, dateable person online was one in a million. She surveyed the room and her focus fell upon the newlyweds. “Robert and Rachel are a one in a million couple though,” she sighed, turning her attention back to Meredith.

“These days you’ve got to get out there. You can’t
just sit and wait and hope love finds you. I don’t know if you’re a believer or not, but even in the Bible, Ruth went and laid herself down in Boaz’s bedroom at his feet, and ended up marrying one of the wealthiest men around; she didn’t wait for him to come find her in her mother-in-law’s house. Like the Bible says, God helps those who help themselves.” Angela was familiar with the Ruth and Boaz Bible story, but was pretty sure that a comprehensive search would reveal that Meredith’s add-on statement was not at all biblical.

The dancing couples returned to the table, which prompted Meredith to clam up again. A few family members passed by and humored her, making out that they were pleased to see her. Every time she was acknowledged as Great Aunt Meredith, her ego rose a little higher, and she glanced at Angela, flashing a superior ‘I am so worthy’ smile.

Exhausted, Angela sank into her beckoning bed and pulled the silken sheets up to her neck. She breathed a sigh of relief, having made it home without falling asleep behind the wheel. ‘
What a night
!’ she thought. Memories of Meredith, who hugged and squeezed her tightly as they bade each other goodnight, made her giggle. She felt like they had become friends or distant cousins or something like that. Meredith’s words swirled around her head. She’d never have imagined that she would meet a lady in her seventies who would befriend her and recommend online dating. Recounting all the magical aspects of Rachel’s wedding, Angela paused to consider if things could really work out that way for her too. Grabbing her pillow, she curled up into the same fetal position that she slept in on every other lonely night, and closed her eyes.

After an hour and a half of chasing the evasive sl
eep that she longed for, Angela sat up in the bed. Her slow glance around her bedroom would have suggested to an onlooker that she was seeing it for the first time. She liked her two-bedroom rented apartment up on the second floor of the building. She had fixed it up to a comfortable standard whereby she felt able to entertain with ease. However, she could not elude her imagination’s incessant sketches of what Rachel’s house in Westhampton must look like. Rivalry and comparison had never been a feature of Angela’s friendship with Rachel. She knew that whatever the Westhampton house was like, Rachel would make sure that it was Angela’s home away from home whenever she visited.

Biting her plump lower lip,
and stroking back her untamed, curly hair, she looked over at her laptop on her desk, then flopped back onto her pillow. “This is ridiculous,” she said aloud. All the thoughts that she had previously meditated on, stored in her mental filing cabinet or discarded in her mental recycle bin, came swimming back into her mind. “
I need to wait on God to bring the right guy into my life. Or is God waiting for me to make a move? If I resort to online dating, does it mean I’m not waiting on God? Could God use online dating to cause my path to cross with Mr. Right’s path?”

Thinking that there must be some divinely connected reason for her insomnia,
she sprang out of bed and grabbed her laptop. There were a number of dating sites to choose from, including the one Rachel found success with, but Angela purposed in her mind not to repeat the mistakes that she had made in the past. This time, she would find a godly man. She opted for a Christian dating site called Christian Blend.

If she was honest, she would admit to herself that she was in no frame of mind to do justice to the demands of this venture. She was tired, in overdrive, but unable to sleep – a terrible place to be, if
she was to effectively portray herself as someone worth dating.

The
request for the very basic information, like name, age and email address, presented Angela with her first obstacle. Should she use her real name or an alias? Suppose there was someone on the site who knew her? Even with Rachel’s fairytale wedding still fresh in her memory, she hadn’t quite shaken the underlying belief that dating websites were for desperate people with social issues. She could disguise her identity by using the name Julia Tirion – Julia being her sister’s name and Tirion her mother’s maiden name, which she had always preferred to her own surname. But wouldn’t changing her name, even slightly, be deceptive? Wasn’t that the very thing that caused her to have such a dubious impression of online dating sites in the first place? Angela decided to give way to the surge of virtue she experienced, and entered her real name, Angela Craddock. She labored through the questionnaire, answering what seemed like interminable questions.

Height:
              5’7”

Build:
                            athletic

Eye color:
              brown

Hair color:
              brown

Smoker:
              no

Drinker:
              no

Level of education: bachelor’s degree

Occupation:               court reporter

Salary:
              personal

Marital status: single, never married

Children:               none, but would like to have some

Church attended: REACH Christian Center

Church attendance: regular

Level of faith: plays a significant role in my life

             
With each keystroke, Angela questioned whether her actions were tantamount to prudence or folly. She continued, with her eye on the progress bar at the top of her computer screen which indicated that she was nearing the end.

             
She described her personality as fun-loving, hard-working, affectionate and sincere; her favorites as contemporary music, gospel, jazz, theatre, movies, Italian food and bread; and her ideal date as dinner at a quiet restaurant followed by a quiet walk on the beach.

When prompted to d
escribe her match preference, she typed:

“
I’m looking for a driven visionary, who is decisive, and knows what he wants out of life. He should be athletic, a balanced thinker, and a kind, honest, trustworthy, godly gentleman
.”

             
Another hour elapsed as Angela rummaged through her photographs trying to find some remotely suitable pictures to upload to her profile page. She eventually settled on three, in which her hair was under control, her eyes were open and her mouth closed. Well, save for a slight flash of her teeth in one of the pictures, to reassure even the most discriminating potential suitor that she did have teeth; white ones too.

             
In considering her subscription options, Angela determined that, although it was more expensive than a six month subscription, three months was enough time to meet someone. Once she completed her profile she was free to search for matches. However, it wasn’t long before all the faces began merging into one, and all the men looked the same. With a wide, satisfying yawn, she decided that her best option was to go to bed. Glancing at her bedside alarm clock, her brain found it difficult to register that it was 4:06a.m. At least it was Sunday and she didn’t have to get up for work. She knew she wouldn’t be getting up for church either. After church, she would usually have dinner at her mother’s house, but the chance of even that occurring later in the day was slender.