Vision

I can't believe they convinced me to go on this blind date and this isn’t any blind date. This is with Everald Howard III. His name sounds strong and royal. It is pronounced like ‘emerald’ , just replace the ‘m’ with a ‘v’ (this is how he always introduces himself, like royalty). He is the new lawyer at my best friend’s firm. Once on board at the firm, he was very open about being single and ready to settle with a Queen who has her own throne. All the women there, both my best friends, are happily married. I was the only one left, so naturally one thing led to another and here I am driving to downtown Brooklyn to have dinner at Horizons, a beautiful seafood restaurant with live music, right on the edge of the water that switches to DJ by night. I could see myself letting loose and dancing with the man if the mood stays right. Look at me already letting my guard down if he makes me laugh a few times and isn’t arrogant.

I was a lawyer once too, but my dream was to be a judge and I became the youngest Latina judge of Brooklyn’s District. I worked my ass off and I wasn’t going to let anything or anyone slow me or my dream down. My best friends, Jasmine and Jazmin, whom I refer to outside the legal world as Minnie and Jazz, have known each other since High School, went to the same college and law school and now they have their own practice, Jazzin’ Up Justice, LLC, and apparently matchmakers on the side. We were a dynamic trio who are all well accomplished, well loved, and well off, the only thing this gyal was missing was a King to protect her throne. Let’s hope Minnie and Jazz knew what they were doing.

As soon as I turn the corner, I see Horizons. It’s a big building at the dead end edging the river. As I drive closer I can hear the music and see the signs for Valet. I pull my all black Infiniti Q50 up to the front and put it in park with the engine running. Valet jogs around to my driver side, opens the door and escorts me out. I feel like fairy tale royalty. I give the handsome young man my key and walk towards the front door. I notice Everald Howard III immediately and I know it’s him by the suit, the waves, clean cut, and his height. Gosh he looks like he smells fine and he’s waiting outside? He notices me,

“Jaclyn?”

“Everald?”

“No one has ever said my name correctly on their first try, let alone without me saying it first”, he takes my hand and kisses the top of it while looking directly into my eyes. His eyes are very light brown with a hint of green that makes them look like a galaxy. I return the stare,

“I’ve been prepped, Emerald with a ‘v’.” I wink, “I don’t think I have ever met a date outside before. Just got here?”

“Ooooooo, I like that and no. I wasn’t going to allow you to walk into this luxurious establishment alone. I waited here to escort you inside myself.”

His smile is wide while he holds the front door open for me and once again looks me directly in the eyes to say, “By the way, nice car.” and winks. The hairs on my arms stand while I smile flirtatiously at him and make my way inside. If I was a cartoon character I probably would have melted right there.

Inside is beautiful. Crystal chandeliers, grand piano, marble floors, and a double grand staircase swirling to a second floor. There are a couple tables around and a bar across the left wall. We continue straight and I don’t even notice my arm is now hooked with his when we end at a hostess, Everald says,

“Howard, party of 2. I have the dock reserved.”

The dock?

“Right this way, Mr. Howard.” She smiles at me as she grabs the menus and an ice bucket. We follow her passing more tables and out a pair of glass doors where the live band is outside with more tables and a circular bar. The band’s stage looks like it’s on a beach, surrounded by sand, palm trees, swing chairs and there's a hammock. We make a right and follow the mini boardwalk a few feet then make a left, we are walking towards the water when I turn around to see the restaurant taking up the whole area of the dead end! What a sight! The route of the boardwalk we took ended about 30 feet into the river, with a table set up in a semi hut. This was very romantic for a first blind date. He pulls out my chair and the waitress sets up the ice bucket while another one pops up out of nowhere with a bottle of Moet. Today is my lucky day. I sit down and before I look up I can feel his stare making the hairs on my arm stand. What is going on? We lock eyes and he says,

“Food or drinks first?”

We both say at the same time, “Food.”, then chuckle. I was starving and I am not afraid to eat in front of people. I order the Surf n Turf, he gets a filet mignon with a lobster tail and we share an order of baked clams. Our dinner conversation was filled with the basics about each other, he went to Howard U because he had the last name and came back to NYU School of Law. After passing the bar, he began practicing for the city and has now made his way private at Jazzin' Up Justice, LLC. His endgame is to become District Attorney. He played football, nothing serious, but was really into video game development. This was a surprise because he did not seem like a gamer, and as he claims he hardly plays, but ideas emerged over the years watching and listening to his friends.

It was night by the time we had dessert and drinks becoming more flirtatious and I knew we would end up dancing. I love to dance and I love a man with rhythm, so I needed to test him out; a no rhythm having man could be a deal breaker for me. And just as synchronized as the rest of our date has been, some soca begins to play from the DJ as if he had read my wining thoughts. Everald saw the twinkle in my eye as well so he asked me to dance and boy could he dance! This had to be a dream, someone let me know before it strikes midnight and I turn into a pumpkin again.

We danced for over an hour then made our way to some rocks by the shore. I wanted to cool down sitting by the water with another drink. I ordered a Sex on the Beach just to give him a sly smile when I said it, yea you could get some. We get to the rocks and sit under the twilight sky listening to the waves crash, this feels like a fairy tale and I hope it ends like one. My daydreaming is interrupted by his voice,

“Wanna go in the water? We can keep walking on the rocks until the water reaches our waist-” I interrupt him this time,

"I don’t even want to know how you know that, but that sounds like a fun idea.” I imagine him coming here with other girls when I feel a burn of jealousy...does he take all his dates here? Does the staff know him here? I decide not to let the liquor get the best of me and continue to walk deeper with him. I’m wearing a dress so I don’t feel the need to take it off, but feeling his stare burning into me under the stars makes me wish I had taken it off. He pulls me in closer to him and we begin to passionately kiss. The sparks and electricity between us is surging. I wrap my legs around him and it feels like I’m floating. The water is up to my neck now and we are still kissing, we head under the water still kissing for another second when we break free and laugh causing bubbles to surround us. We both go to swim up, but suddenly I feel stuck. I can’t reach the surface. I begin to panic and attempt to fight my way up when I realize Everald is the anchor holding me under. WHAT THE-- I begin to fight harder trying to scratch at his legs and stomach, but he was able to move himself behind me so clawing at him was useless. I could feel myself getting lightheaded and my chest feeling like it was going to explode. My lungs wanted air and my body was about to force my mouth open to take breath in and right then I knew it was over. I begin to hear a faint honking in the background and see a faint white light, this is really it, I begin to blink wildly hoping to keep myself from passing out when everything around me fades…

I take a huge gasp of air and jolt up...I look around, breathing heavily, relieved I'm alive only to register I am still in the driver’s seat of my car. The car behind me is honking obnoxiously because the light is green and I haven’t moved. I am sweating and very confused. What the **** was that??? The car is still honking, why haven’t they gone around me? My head is pounding as I put on my hazards because I’m still in sort of a petrified state and can’t drive.

I think I just had a premonition.

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Jaclyn is the first of her group to discover her power of premonition; she is a visionary. Unbeknownst to her, four other strangers would experience a rare transformation, each developing a super power associated with a different sense until all five are activated. This is the beginning of The 5 Auras.

Click below to read # 2

Do You Hear What I Hear? The second of The 5 Auras

Want to meet the the third Aura? Click below

Bon Appetit