Read Soul Mate (The Mating Series) for Free Online Page B

you went to Atlanta?”
    “Yes.” Several years ago, I visited a college friend in Atlanta during hurricane season. I got stranded in Charlotte, for two days, until the weather broke.
    “Remember how the passengers acted?” Mom asked.
    “I’ll never forget ,” I said. After being bumped from three flights, everyone grew tired and irritable. One man actually got arrested for getting disorderly with the staff.
    “Imagine if you’ re dead and your destination is unknown. You can’t imagine the turmoil in the green room.  Then there are the people who refuse to believe they’re dead. They sit around crying and moaning,” Mom said. “Personally, I think it’s a test. The better you handle the waiting, the better it is on the other side of the curtain.” I imagined a sea of moaning people stuck together waiting to be let into heaven. It seemed horrible. “I shouldn’t make it sound so bad,” Mom said, obviously reading my expression. “It’s just like when you get a flight delay. A handful of people make a fuss, but everyone else tries to make the best of the situation.”
    “How do you make the best out of being dead and in limbo?” I asked.
    Mom waved her hand in front of herself like she was a “Price Is Right” model. “I guess hanging around with your daughter is one way of making the best of the situation”
    “I meant the others. How do they make the best of things?”
    “There’s lots of clubs, chess club, physics club, drama club. Spirits with a lot of energy can fabricate whole scenes. I’ve been to the theater a few times. I’ve even seen celebrities perform.”
    “Like who?” I asked intrigued. I imagined Jim Morrison, Janice Joplin and Jimi Hendricks jamming in an ethereal café.
    “Oh , I don’t know. Spirits don’t look like we do in life. I just know they’re celebrities.”
    “So you don’t look like this on the spirit plane?” I had no other name for the green room.
    “Oh no!” She laughed. “I do this for you because it is the form you’ll recognize.”
    “So what do you look like?”
    “I’m pure energy there.”
    “Energy?” I asked.
    “Energy and light. ” Mom straightened proudly. “I’m very bright. Some aren’t as bright as me.” I gave Mom a doubtful look. “It’s not something you can understand in your form,” Mom said.
    “What is my form?”
    “Cassie, our body isn’t our being. It’s just a shell or a cocoon and when the cocoon opens our true self, our soul, escapes out.”
    “So we’re like butterflies?” I asked.
    “Sort of,” she replied. “Cassie, what’s your sudden interested with death and the green room?” I never asked questions about the afterlife. I inundated Jimmy with questions when we first met, but then decided I didn’t want to know about life after death.
    “ One of the girls from work was killed.” A combination of Penny’s death and that stupid movie on Saturday piqued my interest. I worried about Penny roaming the earth with her head all bashed in like in the movie. Mom’s explanations helped ease my mind.
    “The one Jimmy saw?” Mom asked.
    “No, it was another one, but in a similar way .”
    “Oh, how terrible!”
    “It’s the same guy,” I said. “I just know it.”
    “I hope they catch him.”
    “Some police officers came to work,” I said. “They needed me to answer some questions.”
    “Who was she?”
    “Her name was Penny,” I said. “She had a little girl too.”
    “What happened to the little girl?” Mom asked , concerned.
    “I don’t know. I had to identify her. They didn’t know about the baby. The officers said they’d find the baby.”
    “You’re not in danger are you?” Mom asked.
    “Certainly not,” I replied. “This guy isn’t a random killer. He’s looking for prostitutes.”
    “What if he gets you confused with the women you help?” Mom is such a worrier . Whenever I told her something, she pointed out the worst scenario and said, “What if...”  When I