In addition to running the café, Ananda still taught a few yoga classes at a neighborhood studio each week, led guided meditations, conducted workshops on crystal healing and chakra balancing, gave tarot card readings, and designed jewelry. She was in her early fifties now but easily looked ten years younger. She was tiny, even more petite than Scarlett, and small-boned. Today she wore a pair of light gray yoga leggings, a floaty tunic patterned in blues, purples, and grays, and flat soled sandals. Her long pale blonde hair sported numerous strands of silvery gray, though her vibrant facial features were almost completely unlined. She wore all manner of jewelry, most of which she had made herself - bracelets around her ankles and wrists, rings on her fingers and toes, a dozen different necklaces and pendants, earrings dangling from the half dozen holes pierced in her ears.
She and Isaiah - her life partner of more than a dozen years - couldn’t have been any different. Isaiah was more than a foot taller than she was, with the broad shoulders, powerful biceps, and strong legs typical of a professional bodybuilder - which he had been for many years before retiring from competition. He shaved his head, the ebony pate smooth and shiny, and wore almost as much jewelry as his mate - gold hoops in his ears, gold chains around his thick neck, rings on his fingers, a rather flashy gold watch. But for all of his fierceness, he was also one of the kindest people Scarlett had ever known, and he absolutely adored Ananda, fairly worshipping the ground she walked on. And he also credited her completely with helping to keep him on the straight and narrow after successfully battling his own addiction problems. In fact, they had met at a support group meeting - love at first sight, they had both declared. He was almost a decade younger than she was, but the age difference had never seemed to matter a whit to either of them. They were very obviously soulmates, despite how different they were, and Scarlett envied their mutual devotion to the other.
The couple had also been very good to Scarlett, and not just by giving her a job and sending her home every day with leftover bagels, sandwiches, and pastries. Since her freshman year of college, she had spent most holidays at their cozy cottage in the Berkeley hills. She would, of course, have been more than welcome to spend the holidays with Margie and Roz back in Vegas, but since she’d always had to work during that time of year - not to mention the problem of affording the round trip airfare - she had stayed put. Ananda had also tried on several occasions to convince Scarlett to move in with her and Isaiah, insisting that they had plenty of room. Not only hadn’t that really been true - what passed for a guest room at their cottage wasn’t much more than a large closet - their place was also a little on the isolated side, nowhere near a bus line and definitely not within walking distance of the campus. At least the house she lived in now was half a block from the bus stop, and less than three blocks from some shops and cafes.
“Oh, and before I forget, let me give you this. Now, I know you aren’t supposed to take any herbs or supplements before this procedure - though I really don’t understand why since they’re all perfectly natural - so I made you a little charm bracelet instead. All of these crystals have various healing and grounding properties that will be very beneficial over the next week or so. The tourmaline is very grounding, it should help allay any fears you might have about flying in an airplane for the first time. The turquoise is for protection, so that you get through the procedure with no issues. The jade filters toxins and cleanses the body so it can speed up the healing process. And the rose quartz is the love stone, so that you remember how much Isaiah and I love you, and so you’ll feel our presence with you the whole time.”
Scarlett felt a little tug on her heartstrings as she let Ananda fasten the dainty silver bracelet around her wrist. Even if she herself didn’t believe in the so-called healing powers of the crystals, it touched her deeply that Ananda had gone to so much trouble to make the special bracelet for her.
“Thanks,” she whispered, giving the older woman a quick hug. “It’s beautiful. I’ll wear it on the plane, though I’m pretty sure they’ll make me take it off before the actual procedure. And you’re right, I am a little nervous about flying for the first time, so I’m willing to try anything that might help.”
“Drink some kava tea before taking off,” advised Ananda. She plucked several packets from the wooden box behind the counter where a wide variety of tea bags were displayed and handed them to Scarlett. “And meditation, of course. Hold the tourmaline in your palm anytime you might feel a little anxious. At least it’s a fairly short flight to Phoenix.”
Scarlett had been consoling herself with that fact for the last few days, and had been relieved to discover that the flight time between Oakland and Phoenix was less than two hours. This was, in fact, going to be her first time ever on an airplane. It went without saying that her mother and grandmother had never taken her anywhere. Same with the parade of foster parents she’d had over the years. Margie and Roz had taken her and Andy to the Grand Canyon once, but they had driven there. And when it had come time for Scarlett to attend college, Margie had insisted on driving her out to California and helping her get settled into the dorm.
She had never been back to Las Vegas, though not because she didn’t want to spend time with her former foster mothers. She simply hadn’t been able to afford either an airplane ticket out there, or to take time off from any of her part-time jobs. Roz had been out in the Bay Area about a year ago for a nursing conference, and she’d made it a point to have dinner with Scarlett one evening. But aside from regular phone calls and emails, that had been the extent of their contact these past few years.
She also hated the very thought of ever going back to Vegas, a city that held precious few happy memories for her and a whole lot of real bad ones. Margie and Roz seemed to be all too well aware of that fact, and it was for that reason in particular they had never really pushed her to come for a visit.
“What times does your flight leave in the morning?” inquired Ananda. “Isaiah wanted me to ask, said he’d be happy to drive you to the airport.”
“My flight leaves at noon,” replied Scarlett. “And tell Isaiah thanks, that’s really nice of him, but not to worry. They’re - uh, actually I guess it was probably Jackson, since he made all the arrangements - sending a car to take me to the airport. The least they can do, huh?”
“The very least,” agreed Ananda readily. “And is someone meeting you at the other end?”
Scarlett nodded. “That’s what I’ve been told. Someone will meet me and drive me to my hotel. I assume it will be Jackson, since I highly doubt my father ever wants to see me again. Guess once was enough for him. And trust me, the feeling is very, very mutual.”
Ananda’s violet blue eyes flashed angrily, a rare emotion for someone as calm and serene as she was. “That man must have a very negative aura,” she declared emphatically. “I would probably have to spend an entire month one on one with him to unblock his chakras, and get him into even a tiny bit of balance. I’d have to burn an entire forest of sage to clear out all that negative energy I’m convinced he carries around with him.”
“It would probably be easier to just set fire to the bastard,” grumbled Scarlett. “After pouring gasoline on him first.”