Love’s Ambassador

©Erin Dutton 2007

“How about those two?” She pointed toward a man and a woman waiting in line for coffee at the shop across the street.

“You can’t just randomly pick two people,” he accused, shifting impatiently on the bus bench beside her.

Stung, she jerked her arm back. “It wasn’t random.”

“Then, why them?”

“Well,” she nearly faltered under his scrutiny. “They look good standing next to each other.” The statuesque blonde was the perfect foil for the dark good looks of the man. They made a striking couple, one fair and elegant, the other with jet black hair and a slightly arrogant stance.

“You haven’t listened to a thing I’ve been telling you.” He threw up his hands in exasperation and unfolded his long, lithe form from the bench. He paced the sidewalk in front of her, the tails of his top coat flapping behind him. Gesturing dramatically with slender hands, he continued to rant. He raked a hand through the silver hair cut close to his head. Smooth skin the color of well diluted coffee held not a single line to give evidence to his advanced years. “I think I may have made a mistake in choosing you as my successor.”

“No! I can do this,” she protested, rushing to his side. When he’d suddenly and mysteriously announced his retirement there had been a clamor of applications to replace him. She was ecstatic to have been chosen. She didn’t realize she was tugging at his sleeve until he slanted his eyes purposefully at her hand. She released the handful of wool and smoothed it apologetically. “Just tell me how. I can do it.”

He considered her for several long moments. Just when she feared he would send her back and chose another apprentice, he spoke. “Okay. But you must pay close attention. There isn’t much time and I still have a lot to teach you.”

She nodded vigorously.

“It’s hard enough to contend with the caricature they’ve created of a cherub in a diaper haphazardly flinging arrows around. Do I look like a cherub?” He gestured down at his impeccably garbed form. The white tunic, she knew, was spun of the finest silk. Perfectly tailored gray wool pants clung to his slim waist. He didn’t look a bit cherub-like. Instead of soft round features, his were sharp and angular, his ears having the very slightest point at their tips. Silver eyelashes the exact shade of his hair framed pale blue eyes. “I don’t know how Eros was so patient with the humans’ ridiculous ideas. They’re quite gullible when it comes to their holiday icons. I mean, really, a rabbit that delivers eggs?”

With a deep sigh she settled back on the bench prepared to wait out the familiar tirade. She had seen him get on his soapbox before and knew it could last a while. They were both students of Eros, who was better known as Cupid. A select number of them were named as Ambassadors and the rest, who aspired to the vocation, could only step in when one retired. She had been handed just that chance and was now proud to be called Ambassador.

Careful to keep an ear out for the end of the speech, she allowed her mind to wander a bit. Crowds of humans passed them, but the two remained unnoticed. She knew they couldn’t see her and she enjoyed studying them unobserved. There was such variety among the humans. She was fascinated by their many shapes and pigmentations. It was mystifying how they even communicated when so many of them, it seemed, didn’t even speak the same language.

“Now, back to your lesson.” She focused her attention on him. “Remember when I taught you how to see through obstacles?”

“Yes.” She remembered being excited at how quickly she seemed to pick up this skill. It was important because it allowed them to remain stationary and see large groups of humans at the same time. She’d practiced it over and over until she could do it effortless. Even now, with little more than a shift in her focus she could make out every person in the multi-storied building that housed the coffee shop as well as every other building on the block.

“It’s not enough to see the humans. They are so much more than what you see on the outside. If you make your matches based on that they will not last. You need to see inside of them.”

“How do I do that?”

“It’s much the same as seeing through walls. Only unlike inanimate objects, when you enter them, you will feel what they feel,” he explained patiently. “Let’s start with the woman you saw before.”

She flung her mind through the glass front of the coffee shop. “Go gently,” he warned just before she touched the woman. “Humans can be fragile.”

She reached forth tentatively until her mind melded against the woman’s. Probing deeper she felt an acute sense of despair wash over her. It closed around her heart like a fist and squeezed until it was difficult to breath. Swirls of dark fog clouded the edges of her vision. As hot tears began to prick behind her eyes she felt him jerk her back. The absence of the woman’s pain was jolting and left her sweating and panting for breath.

“You must be careful. When you feel what they do, it will affect you physically as well. Both the good and the bad.” His tone was chastising, but also tinged with pride in his student’s skill. “That woman is not ready for love. It is too soon. So you see she would not make a good match for the man. Try again.”

She nodded eager to test her new lesson. She tried to touch each person as they passed her, but she found that by the time she ruled out one human so many others had gone by unexamined. “There are so many, how will I find the right ones.”

“Your job is not to find them. They will reveal themselves to you. You are meant to bring them together once they do. In the same way that you can expand your vision to see many humans at once, you can also expand this skill to feel many. Be patient, young one, allow yourself to be open and you will feel them all. Wait, and you will sense the ones you seek.”

This time she proceeded cautiously. She did not pierce any one human instead splaying her mind wide and allowing them to brush against her consciousness. A range of emotions touched her fleetingly, though most were gone before she could grab them. She let them slip away.

Eventually one shone through, bursting across her psyche. There was loneliness. But more than that, stronger than that, she felt a desire that burned through her chest. This one had loved well and been hurt deeply when that love was lost. But unlike the other, this human was ready to love again. Despite itself, this spirit was longing.

Her senses zeroed in on the source. A lone woman turned the corner down the street. Both arms were wrapped around brown paper grocery bags as she made her way down the block. Her red-gold hair lay in a braid down the center of her back and wire-rimmed glasses were perched on the bridge of her nose. The woman possessed an openness that reached back to the Ambassador. She could see clearly what the woman valued. Honesty and trust were held in the highest regard. She wanted a strong partner—an equal. The woman sought a warm heart and her mate shouldn’t be afraid to be affectionate.

“Very well done.” He had observed the woman just as she had. When she began her training his shadowing of her actions had been distracting. But now she was so used to feeling his mind float along with hers that she barely noticed his presence. “Do you know what you need to do next?”

She thought she did. Her field broadened again and she sifted through the fleeting emotions. A spark flashed and she tightened her focus to a woman approaching from the other direction. This woman did not simply walk down the street; she strode purposefully, giving the impression that she wouldn’t be easily distracted. Dark curls escaped from beneath the bandana tied around her head and icy blue eyes belied the heat the Ambassador felt within her.

The Ambassador sensed a strong core. This human was reserved with most, but there was an underlying reserve of passion. It seemed to have been rarely unleashed. Her heart glowed like an ember just after the flame has been extinguished, still fiercely hot. She too valued honesty though she was often skeptical about the degree to which others granted it to her.

“Is she the one?” The Ambassador turned to him, feeling the rightness within her but still needed the confirmation.

“She is.”

She waited for the next instructions but none were forthcoming. She carefully hid her anxiety remembering one of his early lessons on patience. The two women were now only a half a block apart and rapidly closing in on one another.

“What do I do now?”

He smiled at her. “That is for you to decide.”

For her to decide? What was the lesson here? A glance back at the sidewalk and the two women were about to pass one another. This was the time. A move must be made. She watched them closely but neither of them seemed to notice the other. They needed her intervention.

Sending a silent apology to the first woman, the Ambassador flicked her fingers in her direction. Suddenly the grocery bags slipped from her hand, too quickly for her to react. The bags hit the ground and a collection of fruit and canned goods fell at the feet of the second woman.

With an exasperated look, the redhead knelt to retrieve her goods. The brunette drew close to the kneeling woman. Blue eyes flickered downward and the Ambassador worried for an instant that she may continue on. She felt the woman’s indecision and saw the hesitation in her stride. Finally the woman crouched down and began to gather up various items.

But neither talked. They didn’t even look at each other. Going to be stubborn, are you? With another quick gesture, the Ambassador sent a can of peas rolling away from them. Both women reached for it at the same time and the Ambassador saw a blue spark jump between them when their hands touched. The redhead jerked her head up, surprise widening her eyes behind the glasses. The brunette was slower to bring her eyes up, but when she did their gazes turned molten.

When they began to talk, the Ambassador did not exert the energy necessary to hear their words. She didn’t need to. All the evidence was there in their body language. Still kneeling, their fingers tangled together around the can, they each made an introduction.

Self-consciously, the redhead retrieved the can and tucked it into one of the bags. As they stood, the brunette gestured to the coffee shop in invitation. Moments later, both women were settled at a table inside, the grocery bags forgotten at their feet.

“Very inventive,” he commented dryly.

“Are they right?”

“Do you feel them?”

The heat from the second woman had spread between them. She could sense the genuineness in their shared smiles and the growing interest within each of them. It seemed she had done well for her first match.

“There’s hope for you yet.” At his sarcastic tone, she turned and found pride burning brightly in his eyes. She finally felt she’d earned the title Ambassador.