What the Heart Sees - New Revised Edition

One

What the Heart Sees

A Romantic Short Story

Jewel Adams

Copyright © 2012, 2022 Jewel Adams

All Rights Reserved.

If I could have glimpsed the indescribable events of this day before leaving home this morning . . .

~Vashti's Journal

Chapter 1

Today, I Plead Insanity . . .

Idaho Falls, Idaho

I can't believe this! How in the world could I have done something so stupid?

Going on a hike in unfamiliar territory hadn't been smart at all, but I have always been one to go against the norm. I've never been a conformist. If I'm told not to do something, everything in me cries out, "I'm going to do it!" Sometimes this way of thinking is good, and sometimes it isn't, especially during times like now.

Leaving my brother's place like I did this morning had been the beginning of a bad day that has only gotten worse. I should have known that Rob hadn't really wanted to make amends, and if it is possible to be born with a judgmental attitude, then my brother should have come out of the birth canal with a warning label attached to his rear end, because that's where I dream of kicking him sometimes–though I'm sure his behind is just as hard as his head and I would most likely break a toe.

Yeah, a broken toe wouldn't be so bad right now.

He'd accused me of being picky and a snob, simply because I've never gone on any of the blind dates he has tried setting up for me. I shake my head, mentally going over the conversation for the tenth time since this morning.

"Girl, I don't know what your problem is. There aren't many successful, eligible black men in this city. I'm trying to help you out."

"But I don't need or want that kind of help, Rob. I'm perfectly capable of choosing my own dates."

"Yeah, I'm sure you are, but my friends are all doing well. They're educated, smart and have good jobs. Hooking up with any one of them would help you move up in the world. And considering the way we were raised, dirt poor and never having enough of anything, I would think you'd want someone who can give you a good life."

"I have a good life. I will never forget where I came from, but with God's help, I managed to rise above it all. So, what if I'm not making bank? I have two good jobs, an apartment, and a car. I'm able to put food on my table and I'm not going without. I have what I need."

"Vashti, you work part-time as a receptionist at a car dealership and sell flowers at a corner florist shop. Your apartment is the size of my walk-in closet, and that twenty-two-year-old BMW is the same age you are and could die on you at any time. That's not what I call living."

"Humph. And you call me a snob?"

"You seem to think you are too good for my friends, so yeah, you're a snob."

"Look, I'm sorry you can't accept the way I choose to live my life. I thought this little meeting was about you accepting my choices and making amends. I guess you just don't have it in you."

"Mama is ashamed of you, you know?"

And that had been it for me. I was done listening to him. As close as Mama and I are, I know she is okay with me, and that he had actually said that still blows me away. When I get out to Raleigh to see Mama next week, she is definitely going to hear about her piece-of-work son!

Blinking tears onto my cheeks, I make another attempt to stand, but the immediate pain shooting up my leg causes me to lose my balance and I fall again, only this time, instead of dropping twenty feet and hearing the snap of my leg as I hit the rock surface, I fall another ten feet, hitting my head. Then everything is dark.