Equilibrium

"Equilibrium (noun) - a state of intellectual or emotional balance"

Six months of therapy, and almost half a million on hospital and medicine bills I could say my life was finally back to normal. Of course I had to have an answer how I ended up stabbed and my client dead in the project which I was supposed to be doing but somehow before Ciel left he fixed everything. According to the report the house was destroyed by a man who had a grudge with Albert Saldivar and I was just another victim who got caught in the argument. The man was then found dead with my client inside the broken down house. I was just happy that I wasn't to be blamed for the death of one of the country's most influential people.

I also had to look for a new secretary as the last one had demonic alter-ego, but it's been half a year and I haven't found one yet. What can I say life was normal, and I couldn't be happier, well except I was heartbroken, but everything else considered I was great. My brother got married, my sister finally deciding to stay home for good, and my parents slowly moving on. We all were... finally.

Uncle Ian told me that everything will be okay now, that my family is away from all this traveller business and we are free from the responsibilities of that. I felt happy and accomplished. He explained that when the vessel died the gift or the curse had moved on and I was relieved to hear it, and I know it was over, finally over.

Knock, knock!

I jumped out of my chair when I heard the knock, I was still a bit jumpy after everything, it was the receptionist.

"Ms. Beth?" she said

"Yes?" fixing my table

"An officer Alcalde is here to see you."

I breathed a sigh of relief, it wasn't a demon, but rather an old friend. She showed him in my office and I asked for coffee to be brought in for him.

"Officer, how are you," I said, holding out my hand to him.

"Quite fine," he responded, shaking my hand.

I gestured to the we sit by the sofa in my office and he followed suit.

"Dr. Sobreviga has told me you are already free from it," he said as we sat down.

"Yes, thankfully I already am."

"It will take some time to get used to the idea of not having to look behind you for a demon but it will happen."

"I know..." I smiled, it's funny but I look behind me for a reaper, not a demon.

"I just wanted to see if you're coping, if you need someone who you can talk to, I would suggest you talk to the therapist as Dr. Ian can help you more than I can."

"It's been difficult, I just have to power through it I guess."

"It takes time Ms. Beth... I'm still coping myself."

After the coffee and a few more talks Officer Alcalde left, it was nice of him to check up on me, after all we had done of the craziest things and we saw people die by our hands, it's just not normal, or easy to accept.

My workday ended in peace, for once I was ahead of my deadlines, and I wanted to give myself a little treat. I went down to my car checking everything before even getting in the vehicle, you never know if there's something lurking in the shadows. Robin was right, it takes time before you stop being paranoid about everything. I got in my car and started driving. I wasn't sure what to eat or where to go but out of the blue I found myself driving towards a familiar place, I ended up being at Comida Cielo.

I didn't have any idea how or why I made my way here, maybe because I was thinking of him, again. This is the first time I have been here after over six or eight months, and somehow I'm just glad it didn't disappear all together with Ciel. I sat in my car thinking if I'll go inside the restaurant or not. The fear of either seeing him or not seeing him inside was giving me anxiety. What would I do if I see him? What would I feel? But what if he wasn't even there... What would I feel then?

But my head didn't decide, my stomach did it for me, I was hungry, and I was already at the restaurant parking lot, so I decided to go in.

I walked into the restaurant and a feeling of elation came to me, the whole place was magical and I felt comfortable and at home. One of the servers seated me at a table in a corner surrounded by flowers, I couldn't help but to take some pictures for my Instagram. Looking at the menu I decided to eat a feast for myself, steak, potatoes and a few appetizers. One of the servers placed bread on my table with olive oil and vinaigrette.

As I sat there I couldn't help but feel the sadness of my broken heart,"why in the world did I fall in love with a reaper?" I asked myself out loud as I looked down on my phone.

"Yeah, why did you?" a deep voice responded in front of me, it was a man who heard me! My God! I felt embarrassed when someone heard me, I didn't dare look up, I felt too ashamed to even see who it was.

"It's funny how humans talk out loud and regret it immediately," said the voice again and placed my order on my table. Somehow it felt familiar, but i was still too shy to check

"Thank you," I said bashfully

"Okay if you need anything just call me okay..."

My eyes widened, for the first time I connected a face to the voice as I looked up. The person standing before looked almost identical to Ciel, tattoos and and all, except he didn't have the same colored eyes.

"Ciel?" I found myself saying

"Chasster Ciel", he responded with a smile, "do I know you miss?" I couldn't answer, but how is it possible?

"You know miss you also look so familiar too," I was just dumbfounded to see him or someone like him.

"Okay, well miss if you need anything just call me okay?" I nodded.

After eating I paid the bill and walked out of the restaurant still out of my senses, and when I got to my car the server was waiting for me by it. I felt a bit scared, was he going to mug me? But instead he walked up to me and introduced himself

"Miss, I'm Chasster Ciel Lorenzo, I'm new in town, my family owns this restaurant, I was just filling in for one of the servers here, and you just suddenly... knew my second name only my family calls me that...and.... do i know you?"

"I'm Bethany Villafuerte," I responded, "I just..." i didn't know how to explain.

"it's okay, maybe you just saw my nametag or something. You see, before i came to this place I dreamt about a person who looks a lot like you, and it didn't make sense at least until I saw you earlier." He placed hand on his neck as if he was embarrassed talking about it, then he held out his hand for a shake,"nice to meet you Bethany, would it be too imposing if I asked you out to coffee?"

Somehow a sense of relief washed over me as he smiled at me, "Tomorrow?" I asked.

"Sure", he responded.

I shook his hand, and smiled to myself, maybe... Just maybe Happy Endings really are true.

The End.