It was an Ordinary Day

It was around 7:00 a.m. . The air was cool, but you could feel the humidity would be moving in soon. The afternoon would be a typical hot and sticky summer day. Dina placed her earbuds in her ears and turned on the music. She loved listening to pop songs from the 90's on her morning runs. These songs were fun and nostalgic, reminding Dina of her carefree teen years.

This morning's run was pretty ordinary. She headed west down the street as usual. Passing Kevin Burke getting into his car for work, Angela Marx walking her dog Molly and her favorite the constantly happy Mr. Hollander. He was always sitting on his porch enjoying his morning coffee. Mr. Hollander had the warmest smile and it always made Dina feel good. He reminded her of her grandfather, who she doesn't get to see as often since he moved back to Boston. She had a trip planned at the end of the month to see him. Dina was excited. She needed to see someone like him; warm, comforting, but always tells you how it is.

These past six months have been full of turmoil. People either pacifying her or just being rather cold. Dina knew she hadn't been the easiest to handle since Drew's death, but she wished people would just go back to treating her normal. Her morning runs were the only stable, calming thing she had in her routine at the moment. Finally after half a year Dina was waking up again. Even though it was just a daily morning jog, it was still something she did again. She felt there was once more a purpose for her to get up in the morning other than work. Something Dina desperately needed.

She stopped, she was back at her house already. Dina couldn't believe how quickly her run went by. She headed inside where she carefully placed her phone and earbuds on the kitchen table. The aroma of fresh brewed coffee was drawing Dina towards it. The timer feature on the pot was her favorite, a fresh pot ready right when you got up. Drew always teased Dina about how amused she was by this.

Dina poured a cup and headed over the the table. She had some work emails that needed responses so she need to get busy. Her phone buzzed. Dina checked it. There was one message from Sydney. Dina sighed and rolled her eyes. She loved Sydney, she really did, but this woman could be a bit little bit much sometimes. Before opening the message Dina knew exactly what is was going to say.

"Hey Love! Miss You! Let's do lunch or something.'

It wasn't obnoxious or anything, but she wasn't sure if she was in the mood for such an intense lunch date. Dina felt bad though, she had brushed her off the last two times Sydney asked. Her guilt kicked in and Dina decided to meet Sydney for lunch. She quickly suggested they meet up at Seasons. This way they would be on some sort of time limit. If they had lunch at either one of their houses the date would never end. Sydney had energy and loved the sound of her own voice. Dina could feel Sydney's excitement through her text replies. She laughed to herself, that meant Sydney had something new going on. Sydney was always trying some new life program, hobby etc. Well at least Dina knew her her day wouldn't be completely boring.

Before Dina knew it it was time to leave for lunch. She didn't realize how much work she actually had and completely lost track of time. Dina quickly ran upstairs pulled out a yellow sundress and white sandals, tied her hair up in a ponytail and thought, "Well this will have to do."

Seasons was only fifteen minutes from her house. They all had been going there for years. It was a reliable place to get a good meal. The same family had owned it for as long as she could remember. Dina pulled into a space and got out of the car. She headed towards the restaurant door but before she got there she heard "Hey!' Very loudly and full of energy. Dina didn't have to turn around to know this was Sydney.

"Hi Sydney. How are you?" Dina said as she was pulled into an extremely big hug.

"I'm good. I have loads to tell you. Oh my God, so much has been happening!" Sydney dramatically exclaimed as she took Dina's arm and walked into Seasons.

They hadn't even been seated for five minutes and Sydney had already told Dina she's pretty sure she met the love of her life. It was her Reiki teacher Kevin. Being a Reiki master was Sydney's new life goal. She wanted to open her own studio when she was fully certified. This wasn't a shock to Dina, Sydney always loved all that new age healing stuff. Dina didn't hate it, but it wasn't really her thing either.

"Dina I am telling you, let me do a Reiki healing session for you. I can tell your root and sacral chakras are totally out of balance."

"If you say so Sydney." Dina then quickly thought why not. Ever since she lost Drew she has been all out of sorts, maybe some spiritual healing is exactly what she needed.

The lunch date flew by. Sydney of course did most of the talking. There was only one awkward moment when Sydney took Dina's hands and emotionally asked her how she was doing. Dina was quickly able to get out of it as the waiter picked the most opportune moment to bring their food. Overall Dina wasn't really sure why she kept putting Sydney off. Her over the top all about me was kind of exactly what Dina needed. For once it was all about someone else and not how or why she acting and feeling the way she was. How many times did Dina have to explain losing her husband in a car accident was as devastating as one would expect it to be.

"Dina! Dina!" said Sydney while waiving her hand in Dina's face.

"I'm sorry" she replied, a bit flustered having been lost in her own thoughts for a moment.

"Did you hear what I said?" Sydney asked.

"No I didn't. I'm sorry." Dina replied sheepishly.

"Don't be sorry. It's good to get lost in our own thoughts. Means we have a higher connection. But anyway I said." Then suddenly Sydney abruptly paused. She just stopped talking and stared blankly into the distance. Dina was confused. Was Sydney having a stroke or something? It lasted only about thirty seconds, but it was long enough to freak Dina out.

"Woah! What? Are you okay?" asked Dina as Sydney came out of her odd trance and met her gaze once again.

"Yes, I'm fine. This happens sometimes now that I have completely awakened my third eye. " replied Sydney.

Dina looked at her and almost laughed. Of course that's the response Sydney would have. Totally normal, just my third eye opening.

Sydney looked very seriously at Dina, almost concerned and then said, "He wants me to tell you when you see something orange or amber it's him saying he loves you. He said you'll know it when you see it."

Dina was baffled. What was Sydney going on about?

"I'm sorry the message couldn't be clearer, but I only get quick things like pictures and words. Also the restaurant has a lot of energy so I couldn't hold on to Drew for long."

Dina nearly spit out her water and said. "Excuse me? What did you just say?" Sydney actually looked a bit timid as she replied.

"I can speak to spirits. I've always been able to, but now since my chakras are all aligned and my vibration is high I can actually decipher their messages."

Dina just stared at Sydney. She didn't know what to say. Sydney was out there, but this was out there. The jubilation she was feeling about hanging out with Sydney quickly sank. Dina quickly grabbed her purse and pulled out money, tossing it on the table.

"Lunch is on me. Nice to see you." Nina said as she hastily got up.

"I didn't mean."

"It's fine. I just. See you soon." said Nina as she rushed out of Seasons and ran to her car. She sat there for a minute and her mind filled. "What the hell just happened? What was Sydney playing at? Talk to spirits since when? If she thought this would be some weird kind of comfort, Sydney really thought wrong." Dina didn't know if she was mad, sad or both.

Dina silently drove home while she ran what Sydney said in her mind over and over and thought how ridiculous it was. "Really something orange or amber and I'll just know! There are tons of things that color geez."

When she got home Dina poured herself a rather tall glass of wine. She was done for the day. Dina had to decompress and just move on from that blunder of a lunch date. She turned her phone to silent. Her phone had already dinged about a dozen times. She knew they probably were all from Sydney. That had to wait until tomorrow. Dina needed to process what Sydney said before either saying something nasty or just completely pretending this didn't happen. Either one of those responses really wouldn't make anything better.

It was late afternoon. The humidity didn't get as bad as Dina anticipated. She decided to go outside and drink her wine on the patio. The fresh air and sounds of nature would do her some good. She sat down on a lounge chair and placed her wine on the table next to her. For a few minutes she just stared blankly at her yard. Just letting her mind wander and then Dina saw something. To her left was an object orange in color that caught her eye. Dina got up and walked over to the fence and there it was. An orangey amber colored Marigold. It was beautiful and just randomly there at the edge of her fence.

Dina was puzzled, but then she got this warm feeling and a memory quickly came over her. She remembered Drew telling her if they ever had a daughter, he wanted to name her Marigold. It was the flower for October and they met in October. Dina's eyes filled and tears streamed down her cheeks. This orangey amber Marigold was Drew saying "I love you."