Heaven Sent

I had spent the rest of the day thinking about what Bowie had shared. The relationship news was not really surprising, however the idea of him being terminal scared me in a way I did not expect. I felt something heavy in my chest. I decided to call my girlfriend, Jo and share. She always gave me the blunt responses I needed.  

“Rory, if he’s doing good now, why worry about it? Do you know how long he has?” she asked. 

“No, he said he was unsure. Something to do with the heart. It’s not a problem, seriously, I don’t know. Maybe it was just so out of left field. Last thing I expected,” I was pacing back and forth on the sidewalk. 

“I don’t think it should matter Rory. What you just said, falling for a guy, you like him and I mean you really like him,” she pressed into me. 

“Noooooo…” I exaggerated. “I mean, maybe a little,”I sounded sheepish, feeling a smile forming. 

“Girl, stop it. I’ve seen it all over your face, you like him way more than you are admitting,” lighting her cigarette.

“So I say I’m good with it?” Hoping she would tell me what to do.

“You do what your heart tells you to do, but if it were me and I really liked him, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking about it, I’d be texting him telling him you’re all good,” She inhaled deeply into the phone.

“I could use one of those right now,” I said, pushing my foot into the concrete crack.

“I need to quit, it’s gonna be the death of me,” she exhaled. A ding came across the phone. It was a song called Heaven Sent, by INXS.

“He just sent a song, Jo. Heaven Sent” I quickly searched for the lyrics.

“Ohhhh that’s a good one. Old, but still a goodie,” Jo loved her eighties music.

“I don’t know if he meant the lyrics, but it’s about a girl being sent to a guy and the choices we make when we desire someone, devil versus an angel…”

“Are you reading the meaning of the lyrics to me?” Jo interrupted.

“Yeh, what of it?” I asked. “I want to know what it means.”

“You don’t need to read the lyrics Rory. C’mon, enough already, he is so into you and you are so into him. Go tell him and stop letting your mind race over this. It’s about time you accept that he makes you happy,” she lectured like a second Mama.

“Fine, fine. I will text you later.” I ended the call and listened to the song on repeat. I decided to drive to the beach. As I pulled up I saw two ravens sitting on a stone in front of my car. Is this a sign? Okay, that’s weird. I really do like Bowie. And I don’t want to lose him. I stared off into the horizon. I already knew my answer.. A strange calm came over me. I picked up the phone and saw his latest message.

“You ok?”

“I choose you,” and just like that the words fell from my fingertips. I waited for the three dots to appear. I was nervous. I can’t believe I just said that. Jesus, when did I become a romantic?

“I choose you,” he said back.

“Okay, well, here we are, now what?” I asked.

“I was thinking, since we’re separated by 1900 miles, should we call this a virtual relationship?”

“Virtual relationship, like a relationship just online kinda thing?”

“Yeh, let’s see how it grows,” he texted. 

“Sure, so we are now in a relationship of sorts. Btw, I liked the song,”

“It made me think of you. Yup officially in a virtual relationship,”. He sent a kissy emoji.