Soul Mate (The Mating Series) (35 page)

“I think he’s right, but I think there’s more at play here,” Mom said. “Jimmy’s been on a demon’s radar for a while. I think he’s working through this church to get to Jimmy, or get to you to hurt Jimmy.”

“It’s a Church, Mom, how could a demon infiltrate a house of God?”
It seemed almost ludicrous.

“Cassie, most of the infamous people in the world claim to be working for God while they d
id evil deeds. Look at Hitler, do you really think God planted the thought of genocide in his mind or would it be more believable to think that a demon planted those ideas?”

“Do you think we should
break up?” I asked.
Cho said we shouldn’t be together.

“Stay
together, but it’s never going to be easy,” Mom said. “Jimmy has always known about this connection between you. I think that’s where the soul mate story came from. He tried to keep from being with you. He never wanted you to share the burden of this world.”

I thought about Jimmy telling me about true evil. I thought he was being alliterative about the acts of humans. We
did the worst things to each other. I never considered that there were other beings out there who worked to instigate the chaos. I didn’t consider that a church could be working on the agenda of something dark.

“I thought we were dealing with people who took the bible too literal or were ignorant and went off some idiot’s interpretation of the bible for his own personal gain. The thought of angels and demons working in the background to manipulate humans into doing their bidding is frightening
,” I said. “This is the stuff horror movies are made of.”

“It is. Where do you think the directors get the material for horror movies?” My cell phone rang. “It’s Jimmy
,” Mom said.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hey Babe,” Jimmy said. He sounded cheerful. I thought of all the things Mom just told me. How Jimmy could ever be happy in with all that he dealt with?

“Hi
,” I said.

“I can tell you’
re in the bath,” Jimmy said. “Do you feel better?”

“Yes.”

“You sound funny. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah,
I’m fine. I was just sitting here talking to Mom.”

“Tell Carmen I said hi.”

“I will.”

“Listen,
I’m sorry about how I’ve acted. I needed some space, but I didn’t realize how it’s affecting you.”

“It’s alright,” I said. “I overreacted.”

“I don’t want to interrupt time with your mom, but I have this overwhelming feeling that you want to see a movie,” Jimmy said.
Nothing better than having a psychic boyfriend
. “Cho needs a break too and suggested the two of you go out for dinner and a movie.”

“Oh that’s sweet, but I don’t feel right going out and leaving you at home.” I looked at Mom who mouthed
go.

“I have World War Expedition to keep me occupied. Cho would really like to go out. He promised to be nice.” World War Expedition was the
Jimmy’s stupid game. I thought about another night of hearing the sounds of machine guns from the television. I considered having a nice evening out. That sounded more interesting. “Maybe you can get my bro to talk about his new girlfriend. He’s being pretty tight lipped about her.”

“I’
d like that,” I said. “Of course, I’d rather be with you on a date.”

“Soon Babe
,” Jimmy said.

“Jimmy can we talk later
?” I asked. “I mean really talk.”

Jimmy’s tone went serious. “Sure. It sounds bad.”

“I want to know about the afterlife and the Akasha.”

“Phew!” Jimmy said with relief.
“For a minute I thought you wanted to talk about us…you know our relationship. The afterlife is much easier to talk about.”

“I want to talk about it
, and what you know about it. No sugar coating.”

“I’
ll tell you what I know, but you’ve never seemed interested before.”

“I want to share everything with you, even the unpleasant parts
,” I said.

“Sounds like you and Carmen have had quite the conversation.”

“Yes,” I said.

“I don’t want you to be afraid of me.” Jimmy sighed.

“I’d never be afraid of you.” I almost said, “I’m not your mother”, but I stopped myself. 

“A fun night with Cho first
,” Jimmy said. “Then we’ll talk.”

“Okay
,” I said.

“Wear something nice….but not too sexy. I don’t want Cho hitting on you.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that.” I laughed.

“Cho may like another
woman, but it won’t stop him from hitting on you,” Jimmy said. “Cho is a dog.”

“Not sweet Cho.” I mocked. “He’d never do that.” Cho seemed like a player
, but I didn’t think he’d hit on me.

“Trust me. The only reason he hasn’t tried to bed you is because you
’re mine. If you were with anyone else, Cho would have tried and probably succeeded.”
Fat chance!
Cho wasn’t my type. He was too aggressive. Cho probably got even more aggressive with his lady friends.

“Your brother doesn’t have a chance with me.” I laughed.

“He likes a challenge. It’s the lawyer in him. He likes to divide and conquer…literally. Now get ready.”

“I’m going
,” I said. I jumped out of the tub and began to dress.

“Watch out for Jimm
y’s brother,” Mom said. “He’s interested in you, and he’s not the kind of guy who takes no for answer.”

“You know an awful l
ot about Jimmy’s family. I can handle Cho.” I eyed Mom; she was spending too much time with
Uncle Yung
. “Cho has a girlfriend, and he’s way too old for me anyway.”

I wore my black jeans, with a red silky blouse and knee high boots. I tried not to look too good, but I wanted to look mature. I didn’t want to look li
ke Cho’s little sister or worse his daughter. I straightened my long hair and let it hang loose. My hair looked a lot longer when it was straight. I pulled the top up in a silver barrette. I put on a little make up, but sparingly.

“
You’re such a beautiful girl.” Mom said watching me.

“I’m not. I’
m awkward. I have to wonder why Jimmy is with me.”

“Cassie, you’ve never been able to see how beautiful
you are. That’s part of your allure. You have no idea you’re attractive. Women who know they’re beautiful are a turn off to men.”

“I will take your word for it
,” I said placating. I never felt beautiful.  I always felt awkward around Jimmy. I didn’t feel like I deserved him. Jimmy was so magnificent and I felt so plain.

CHAPTER 17

Cho paced as I entered the condo. Obviously, Jimmy dressed him. Cho only wore dress shirts buttoned up to the collar. Even when he wore jeans, he insisted on a button up shirt. Now he wore a tight t-shirt of a black, shiny material. It was Jimmy’s. I liked the shirt on Jimmy, but it fit Cho tight. It gave a nice effect. Cho weighed more that Jimmy, but not fat. The tight short sleeves accented Cho’s developed biceps. He wore Jimmy’s jeans too, which were also tight. The jeans looked better on him. Cho had a really nice butt.
He should dress like this for his girlfriend
. He reminded me of one of those stocky bouncers from the movie
Roadhouse
. He looked like the Asian Patrick Swayze.

The only thing out of place was Cho’s shoes. Jimmy would have worn some
type of Italian leather loafer. Cho wore shoes that looked like a black penny loafer. It made me think of 1950’s greaser. All he needed was Jimmy’s leather jacket and white socks. Cho’s hair was strategically made to look messy. The style looked great on him.  Jimmy worked hard to make his brother look younger and trendy.

When Cho saw me he stopped pacing. “Wow! What a knock out
.” He whistled.

“You look nice too
,” I said.

“Ha! I look like a douche.” Cho laughed. “Can you believe what Jimmy did to me?”

“I think you look nice,” I said. “Except the shoes.”

“Yeah, Jimmy’s feet are smaller than mine. I tried to tell him that I was too big for his clothes too, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“What do you think?” Jimmy said, walking in from the kitchen. He stood shirtless. No matter how nice Cho looked, he couldn’t top Jimmy six pack abs. For a second, I considered staying home and ravaging his body. “You’re going out,” Jimmy said, reading my mind. “You can be with me later.”

I
made an innocent face. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You don’t have to.” Jimmy pointed
to his head. “I know what you’re thinking.” He narrowed his eyes at me.

“Fine.” I pouted. “I
’ll go out and have a nice time for you.”

“Man, you make it sound like a punishment
,” Cho said.

“It’s not
,” I said. I kissed Cho on the cheek, leaving red lipstick. I made a face at Jimmy.

Jimmy’s
nostrils flared. “Keep your hands off of her.”

“I have no intentions of seducing your girlfriend
,” Cho said. “I’m doing this as a favor to you.”

“You make it sound like I’m your friend’s ugly little sister.”

“Not ugly,” Cho said, eyeing me. “Not ugly at all.”

“Hey, keep your eyes off her too
,” Jimmy said.

Cho shielded his eyes from me
, and offered the other arm. “Shall we go?”

I linked my arm in his. “Let’s go
,” I said. “Jimmy, are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“
I’m fine.” Jimmy insisted. “Don’t have her out past midnight.”

Cho walked me to the elevator
, still covering his eyes. Jimmy watched us from the front door. Once the elevator doors closed, Cho examined me. I teetered nervously. Cho knew he made me uncomfortable and loved it. He smirked. “You do look nice,” he said. “I mean it. Jimmy’s a lucky guy.”

I smiled. “
I’m a lucky girl. Did you see his body?”

“I usually don’t check out my brother.”

“Let me tell you, from a female stand point, Jimmy’s hot.” I looked Cho up and down. “You’re not so bad yourself. Your parents did good with you boys.” Cho hadn’t been a boy in about twenty years, but stroking his ego wouldn’t hurt.

“You should see our sister. She’s gorgeous.”

“I would love to meet Jin someday.”

“You’
ll meet her…maybe at your wedding,” Cho said. We both knew it was a fantasy. 

“I doubt Jimmy and I will ever get married.”

“He’s crazy about you.” Cho flashed a cocky smile. “He could do worse.” I glared at Cho. “I hope all this shit blows over, and you guys can be happy together.” Cho held the elevator door open for me. “I can’t wait to have little antichrist nieces and nephews from you guys.”

“What about you?” I asked. “Do you ever want to get married and have kids?” Cho was still young enough to have a family.

“I’d love to have kids, but I don’t think I’ll ever get married again.” Jimmy insisted on us taking the BMW. House arrest made him generous with his car. Cho clicked the key fob to the BMW. When we got to the car, I expected Cho to open my car door. He didn’t.

“Your divorce was pretty bad, wasn’t it?”
I said, getting in the car.

“It wasn’t the divorce. It was the marriage and the fact that she already had my replacement lined up. I don’t know if I will get over that hurt.”

“Is that why you’re so quiet about your lady friend?” I asked.

“No, it’s complicated. My paren
ts know hers. We’re not at the point where we want people to know. Her dad is as bad as my mother.”

“Cho,
you’re a grown man. You shouldn’t be afraid of your mother.”