The Empath Cycle: 2010 Carpe Diem - Book 2

"I will never live this down." Ann groaned. "You have to swear you will never share those pictures with her. She'd show them to all her friends and, worse, to my brothers."

Anne-Marie laughed and kissed her. "I promise, but you're on your own with the pictures Jade snapped on her phone."

"That's all right. She talked to me about that. She wants us to teach Karlie so she can do it to her."

Once everyone had eaten to satiety, they retired to the living room where Ann brought out chilled magnums of Champagne Fleury Boléro 2004. When all the flutes were filled, Anne-Marie joined her as she stood before them all.

"We wish to thank you all for being here tonight. We wanted you to be our witnesses on this very special day."

Without further ado, she turned to Anne-Marie and went down on one knee after reaching into her pocket and bringing out a small box.

"Anne-Marie Desmoines, will you do me the honor to allow me to share the rest of my life with you as your wife?"

Even though she had known in advance that she would do it, Anne-Marie got all misty-eyed and it took her a couple of tries before she could answer.

"Of course, my love. I've been yours before you even knew I existed. I will be by your side until death do us part and beyond."

She broke down and cried when Ann slipped the artistically crafted silver ring over her finger. Breaking tradition, she took a second identical ring from the box and slipped it on Ann's finger.

They embraced and kissed to the loud cheers of their assembled families.

When asked for the wedding date, they said they wanted to take advantage of their Christmas week off since Ann's brothers would be flying to Quebec from all over the country for the occasion anyway. They thought they would fly Sylvie's family, their friends and guests to Sept-Iles since her brother couldn't leave the farm.

Her father told them to save their money. They had friends who could take care of the animals for a couple of days so Serge and Corine could fly down with them.

Sylvie offered the Community Hall at the Institute for the celebration. She also offered to make reservations in the local hotels for those who wished to stay overnight and transportation from Montreal and back for those who wanted to go back home even if they drank too much.

The discussion went on from there and soon Ann and Anne-Marie found that the whole organization of the event was taken away from them.

Ryanna and Julia joined them on the couch where they sat stunned by the sudden turn of events.

"What did you expect?" Ryanna asked them. "It's tradition for the parents of the bride to plan and pay for the wedding. Since there will be two brides at your wedding, it's only natural that both families want to share it."

"Yes, but..." Ann tried to say.

"You seem to be inordinately fond of those words." Julia teased her. "Sit back and enjoy. Your parents are so happy for you and Patricia would not be outdone when it comes to Anne-Marie. Don't worry. Be happy."

Over the summer, Ann had worked with Ryanna to help her understand her findings, but it was slow going. She just didn't have the math to follow the work. Once she had 'come out' to Sylvie and wasn't afraid to include her, things moved along more smoothly as she could follow her, though it quickly became obvious that there was still a lot of work to do before it could translate into practical use.

Sylvie pushed back her team's involvement since the laboratory wouldn't be ready for a while yet either.

Ryanna took the opportunity to think through all research projects which had come from Ann's work. She still had to study her new connection with Julia and the strange symbiosis they shared with Ann and Anne-Marie. There was also Ann's ability to split her mind to bring under control so it would be safer for her to use to its full potential.

She was frustrated from the onset as she discovered that the instruments they had used for years were inadequate for their needs. Having been created based on Sylvie's original breakthrough, they simply weren't meant for the specific readings required. She told Ann and Sylvie that they were like trying to use a telescope to do the work of of a microscope. A whole new generation of equipment would have to be researched and developed.

In early September, Ann asked for a meeting with Mr. White and Sylvie.

"I'm in a bit of a quandary." She told them once the door to the special meeting room were closed and they were seated. "I don't really put much stock into diplomas as a rule, but I fully intended to work on getting a Bachelor in Administration and then a MBA so I could get a raise eventually. I could have done the first by the end of this school year and the second next year, I'm sure. Now, I would like to work with Sylvie and Ryanna on their project."

"Can you do both?" Jack asked her. "Sylvie told me about your talent. After seeing you work when she was hurt, I had already deduced something along those lines, but we wouldn't want you to burn yourself out."

"That's not a problem, sir. My first loyalty will always be to you. I love my job and the people here. I certainly don't want to quit. What I propose to do is keep working here Monday to Friday and on the other project over the week-end. I can study in the evenings for whatever formation I need for either or both jobs."

"No you won't!" Sylvie said forcefully. "If you want to work with us Saturday, that's all right. You're in St-Jovite anyway with Anne-Marie to visit with her surrogate mother. But I insist you take Sunday off and at least two evenings during the week. You have taken over Project Management for our five teams and you are working hard to implement your purchasing solution all over the building. I also suspect you have already begun to map out the work to be done for the new laboratory. You remind me too much of myself at your age, but you don't have my special time management solution. I won't let you neglect your partner or your personal life nor jeopardize your health."

Ann wouldn't meet their eyes. "I've already been told, in no uncertain terms, that I had to rein in my enthusiasm by Anne-Marie and Patricia." She blushed when Sylvie and Jack guffawed.

"As for needing a piece of paper to warrant a raise, forget about it." Jack told her. "Didn't you notice the amount deposited in your account every week for the last month?"

"Sorry, sir. Anne-Marie takes care of that. She gives me an allowance every week, but I never spend it all, so it's accumulating in a cookie jar in our kitchen."

"Well, you're not paid the same amount as an engineer because it would create jealousies if your salary became known, but it's roughly the same when you add your benefits. Plus you have an expense account for all that food you buy at your various meetings."

"I have benefits? I have an expense account?"

"Didn't John tell you? You have full executive insurance coverage, all the expenses for your car, including the insurance and the licence and you have an account for the maintenance at any Honda dealership in America, plus a few other miscellanea. As for the expense account, all you need is to submit your receipts at the end of the month and they will be reimbursed in cash so they are not taxable."

"I'm sorry, sir. He did give me a file a while back, but I was in a meeting when he came to my office so he just made one of his usual wise cracks and put it on my desk. I glanced at it and it looked like regular HR junk, so I put it aside and forgot to read it."

"That's it!" Jack said. "I will send out a general memo as soon as we're finished here. Choose one morning in the week when you will not be available. You need to take some time to take care of such things. Either that or I will hire you an assistant."

"Oh, no, sir! There's no need for all that. I'll come in earlier. I'll take care of things. I promise."

"Ann, sweet girl, you don't understand just how we've come to depend on you in the short time you've been with us. Or the money you save us. Why do you think I can afford to give you a raise and that benefit package? I'm still making tons of money off you and you can expect a hefty bonus once you've finished implementing your purchasing solution in the other divisions. I shouldn't tell you, but I was called to the CEO's office to give him a report on 'that extraordinary young woman' who works for me. Don't be surprised if you are invited to lunch with him in the near future..."

"It's all right, Ann. There's no need to panic." Sylvie jumped to her side. "Jack, go get Anne-Marie. Quickly. Relax, sweetie, stay with us. If you don't want to, you don't have to meet the big man. I'll take care of it."

She continued to do her best to reassure Ann and tried to project positive emotions with her limited talent. She knew better than go into a healing trance unsupported again All the while, fuming at the time it took for Jack to find Anne-Marie.

When Jack didn't find Anne-Marie in her office and her neighbors didn't know where she was, he panicked. He sent everyone he met looking for her. He need not have bothered. When he returned to the meeting room to tell Sylvie that he couldn't find her, she was already straddling Ann's legs and was talking to her softly as she cradled her head on her bosom. He took a step back when she growled at him, demanding what he had done to Ann.

Sylvie intervened and shooed Jack out. She assured Anne-Marie that neither of them had done anything wrong, quite the opposite. Once Anne-Marie had calmed, she followed Jack and closed the door. She switched the sign on the door to the 'In use' side and they left. Everybody knew not to disturb any meeting in that room when the sign was on. Suspecting Anne-Marie's course of treatment for Ann, she blocked the door with a chair from the office across the corridor and asked it's occupant to make sure no one went in, just in case. Jack's dark expression went a long way to ensure the directive would be followed.

In the meeting room, it took a long while for Anne-Marie to reach Ann where she had retreated in her anxiety attack. When she came back and collapsed in her arms, crying in shame, she wanted only to slink away and go home so nobody would see her.

Anne-Marie held her and spoke to her, trying to shore her crumbling assurance. She barely held her ground, managing only to contain her panic so she wouldn't run away. There was no way she would allow her to go by herself. In desperation, she was about to take her home, damn the consequences, when the door crashed open.

Startled, she turned to see Julia racing to them while Ryanna stood at the door, looking aggressively outside the room.

Julia knelt beside Ann and wrapped her arms around the both of them, projecting reassurance and love with all the power she had. Ann stopped crying, but she began to retreat inside herself again. Recognizing what was happening, Julia called to Ryanna to get Sylvie ASAP. As it happened, she was already just outside the meeting room, soothing the people who had been shoved aside by the two women as soon as they stepped foot on the floor and felt Ann's pain.

"Ryanna, quickly, do what you girls do and raise your shields, the three of them are projecting like crazy. There are people crying all over the place and that only the ones I can see."

"I will, but you need to join us. I don't know what happened here, but she's retreating within. We need you to reach her. Don't worry, we will support you and monitor your energy expenditure. She's not so far gone yet. All you need is to be a carrier for Anne-Marie to reach her and for all of us to communicate with her."

With that, Ryanna made contact and Sylvie felt all projections cut off instantly. She raced to the door to ask for someone to get Jack and John, but they were already there, reassuring everyone.

"I'm going shut the door. Don't let anyone in, no matter what happens. Call Patricia. She's in town, so is Karlie, as far as I know. Ask them to come over right away. Tell them we're going to need more energy to contain all this."

Without waiting for a reply she shut the door and turned to the women huddled around Ann. She hesitated a second before touching them, remembering the last time she had tried to reach Ann within herself. Ryanna's assurances and her trust in her wives bolstered her as she brought a chair over and reached to take Ann's hand in hers.

The tingling she remembered from her encounter with the group meld -- there was no other word for it -- ran up her arm and she lost all sense of self as she joined It. Where, in their shower, she had intruded while It was enjoying Its lusty side, this time, she felt welcomed and enveloped in a sense of security and love. After what could have been an eternity during which she basked in it, she felt herself guided in a... direction? She was gently pushed while being infused with powerful energy. At her side, she felt a presence. When she 'looked', she only perceived a glowing form which reminded her of the time Catherine had visited her to teach her to open her inner sight and manipulate the auras she then perceived. She felt a similar sense of trust in her abilities and love.

A sense of purpose came over her and she lead the way in the direction she now perceived clearly as a thread made of light. At first, it was bright, but she could clearly see that it was dimming. Without a second 'thought', she grabbed it with both hands and poured her energy in it. She would have drained herself as she had before in her desire to heal whoever was at the end of it as she felt its distress through her 'hands', but, despite her instinct, she was restrained in her efforts. She trashed against the limitation, caught by the need to ease the pain she could clearly feel. To no avail. So she went forward until she came to another energy form. It was dimming as she watched, its levels fluctuating wildly as it trashed against the thread Sylvie was holding.

She felt the presence accompanying her 'take her hand' and pull her to the entity despite the despair emanating from it. They surrounded it and stabilized it by melding with it until they formed a single new energy being. The part that was Sylvie knew they were fighting a holding fight, but that they would eventually lose the battle. Somehow, she didn't panic. Her resolve renewed whenever it faltered. She fought on, determined to succeed despite all odds.

The energy level of the tri-entity was waning slowly, but definitely. Still, she held on. Even when the only energy left was that of the presence which had accompanied her. It was shining just as brightly, if not more. The love it projected never wavered an iota in intensity.

Sylvie was consigning her soul to the Mother in a last prayer when 'light' surrounded them. She would have cried at the intensity of the love which bather her, renewing her flagging spirit as it energized her from the core of her being out, fiber by fiber. She/they turned to the immense presence which had joined then and opened their 'arms' to it. She/they felt themselves enfolded in its Presence. If she/they had had flesh and blood hearts, they would have burst at the immensity of the emotion. As it was, her/their souls were laid bare and healed. She/they rejoiced and joined the chorus of Love of which they were now part.

Gently, the various parts of the over-meld were separated in their respective identities. The shock of separation was soothed by the five/one they only perceived as diffused energy shapes.

"You are loved. You may not perceive us, but we have always been and will always be in your heart. You have been through a crucible together and separately and, thanks to your love for each other, have come through stronger than you were. Sylvie, as Patricia, Jade, Karlie and the little ones are your wives, your heart-mates, so are these your sisters. You have been waiting for them. They are one. Cherish them as they cherish you."

A second voice took over.

"You now need to leave the meld and repair the damage that was unwittingly done to the minds around you. We will guide you."

In a smooth manner, the women separated their minds from the meld, but held the physical contact they had. Without thinking about the process, they joined again, without losing their individualities this time. They roamed the physical environment surrounding them, projecting peace and reassurance wherever they encountered a mind which had been affected by the psychic storm which had raged before the meld cut off the projections, gently healing it. Once they were soothed, the memory of the Event was smoothly erased and life resumed its normal flow in the engineering firm and the neighboring buildings.

With a last mental caress, the entities gradually left.

"We're going to have to work on those anxiety attack of yours." Sylvie laughed as she hugged Ann.

"Somehow, I think this was the last one." Ann answered before kissing her boss in a manner that had nothing to do with gratitude and all with the desire to express her love in no uncertain terms.

"Hey! No fair!" Jade exclaimed. "I want some cherry too."

"Cherish, baby, they said cherish." Karlie teased her. "And I won't be denied either."

"What are you all doing here?" Sylvie exclaimed. "I thought it would take forever for Patricia and Karlie to get here from their offices, but weren't you in St-Jovite for the day, Jade?"

"Hours ago, I was told that you needed us. She said -- barked would be a more accurate word -- that I had to pick mom and Karlie up and get my ass over here on the double." Jade explained.

"That was mammy Martine!" Ryanna and Julia laughed.

"She didn't introduce herself, but I kinda got the impression that it was her. She even slapped my ass when I didn't move fast enough. So, we were already in the elevator when Jack called mom. When we saw you in a meld with the girls, we figured that something was afoot and we jumped right in."

"We certainly didn't expect the mammies to join in, though." Patricia continued. "They had some Presence, didn't they?"

"Do you mean we met your ghosts?" Anne-Marie asked.

"You sure did." Karlie told her. "We have all been visited by one over the years when we were at a crossroads. It's the first time they all came together since their original visit and they came in full form in your honor."

"Ever since you came into our lives, we had a feeling you were meant to be special to us." Patricia said. "Now we know that you were meant to be a part of our family as more than just friends."

"That's right." Sylvie concluded. "Now I suggest we end the day early and make our way to our house. We have a lot to talk about and we will be more comfortable there."

"You're right about that. My knees are killing me on this hard floor, but we're going to St-Jovite. Cousin Stéphane is waiting for us downstairs in the limo. He can drive you all back tomorrow morning."

"Hear! Hear!" Sylvie chimed in. "Our bed at the house can accommodate all of us much more comfortably and there's an experiment I want to try when we get there."

"I'm all for it, but would you mind if we stopped somewhere to pick up some take-out? What?" Jade asked innocently. "Stéphane must be hungry."

Sylvie stopped on the way out to tell Jack they were taking off.

There were quite a few goofy grins in the elevator for the security people to wonder about.

Chapter 12

Sylvie, Patricia, Karlie and Jade were cuddling with Anne-Marie on a large beach towel as they watched Annabelle in deep discussion with Ryanna and Julia while standing with the water up to their knees.

"You're not making sense, Ryanna." Ann said, throwing her arms in the air in frustration. "I need to understand what you're describing if I'm ever to learn it."

"I'm sorry, Ann. It's so natural for us that we don't even think about it."