Chapter 4

We sat in a shaded corner in the Corner Bakery Café five minutes till one. I glanced out into the harsh sunlight and saw Anya hurrying past the big picture window to the door.

"Here she comes," I said as Anya burst into the café.

I smiled at how devilish she looked. Her hat was crooked and the hem of her dress had flipped up slightly from the wind. She came over to our booth and sat next to Alice and grinned.

"Oh my gosh!" She smoothed her dress and hair. "Guess what I get to do tomorrow?"

"Where?" Bella's eyes sparkled slightly as she leaned forward like a little kid being told a secret.

"Our director has booked us a spot to perform on Fox tomorrow morning, after noon and night. It will be great publicity for the show."

Alice looked over at me, slightly confused.

"Oh sorry," Anya apologized when she noticed our confusion. "I work in a dinner theater. Everybody there is an aspiring into something in the theater. If you aren't in the performance then you are waiting tables for the month the show is being performed."

"Oh, that's really cool," I said, it seemed so natural for Anya to be on stage. She had been so dramatic when we grew up together.

"Yeah," She smiled again. "And the best part is that you guys can come to see us perform in the studio!"

Anya was beaming; her eyes lit up just like lanterns in the night. Bella congratulated Anya as Alice and I looked on.

I wanted to hug and congratulate Anya too, but as far as everyone else was concerned, this was the first time I had met Anya. I didn't want to blow her cover, not until she was ready.

Alice and I pretended to eat while Anya and Bella ordered. I paid, in celebration of the publication and we spent at least an hour laughing over the weirdest things.

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Alice and Bella went shopping; I was surprised that Anya didn't go with them. She said that she was tired and had to work that tonight and that she would spend her free time interrogating me. Bella and Alice just laughed as they headed down the street. Anya linked her arm through mine and smiled.

"Come on, let's take a walk in the park," I started to object, but she waved her hand to stop me. "The park has become a lot shadier since you were last here."

"Alright but on one condition," I said, unsure of how she would react.

"Okay," she smiled again. "What?"

"Tell me how this all happened."

Anya's smiled faltered slightly and she sighed. "You are lucky this is a very large park or else I would never get through it." She said in almost a whisper.

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Anya and I found the large oak tree we used to sit under as children. Of course it is a lot larger now, I feel small, slightly humbled in its presence. We sat, leaning against the tree just like when we were kids. But instead of speaking of treasure and pirates, Anya spoke of her story.

"Let me make this very clear," She started off. "I'm no different from you or Alice or Bella or anyone. In truth fallen angels are put sort of in the middle. We sit right in between the righteous and the damned. This is much harder for us than most because most of us had tasted the sweet honey of heaven, but also the hot spices of… well, down there." She pointed downward.

"I was born a fallen angel, unlike my parents, who where born angels. I do not remember heaven except for what I have been shown in dreams. My parents were not so lucky; they had lived there their whole lives."

"How is that bad?" I asked, "Surely heaven is a wonderful place."

"Yes, it is." She sighed, "Too wonderful. How could I explain it to you?" She questions herself, thinking hard.

"Okay how about this." She attempts to explain. "You love Bella with all your heart, correct?"

"Yes."

"If you were to ever loose her, you would most likely never love again."

"Yes." I answer even though it's not a question.

"From that day on you would compare every other girl you met to Bella, and you would never be happy because no one would live up to the Bella you knew."

"Right."

"That's what it is like for the fallen angels born in heaven. They know what they are missing and can't help but compare the earth to heaven, even though they know that nothing will ever live up to their expectations.

I nodded knowing that I would never be able to love anyone more than I loved Bella.

"How did you become a fallen angel?" I inquire, "I mean, were you always one?"

"Yeah," Anya spoke softly, "My parents where of the Second Sphere, they were Powers. They had been out of heaven for about two years when I was born."

"Powers?" I asked slightly confused. Yeah it had been a long time since I had been to church, but Powers? Second Sphere? I have no idea what they are!

Anya just smiled and laughed slightly. "The Second Sphere is like the second level. There is the First Sphere, Second Sphere and Third Sphere. In each Sphere there are three races. Powers are the second race in the Second Sphere. We deal with birth, death, consequence and history." She paused for a moment, "We're really the brains of everything."

I laughed, that did seem like Anya, she was always reading or fighting.

"Are you also warriors?" I asked, and Anya laughed with me.

"Yep, how'd you guess?" She teased.

Suddenly a fat rain drop fell and hit Anya right on the nose. It began to pour as people ran for their cars.

"Come on!" Anya pulled me up. "You want to bake some cookies like the old days?" She yelled as she pulled me across the park toward her home.

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An hour later the whole house smelled like chocolate cookies. I opened the oven and pulled out a tray of piping hot cookies. Anya was cleaning up the kitchen and soon she turned on the dishwasher and started scrapping cookies off of the tray. She put all but two on a plate and then handed me one and kept one for herself.

"But, I don't eat human food," I started to say.

"You don't have to, but are you really going to deny one of the A & E super chunky chocolate chip delights?" Anya waved hers under my nose. How I had missed this smell; of it all, being in the kitchen on rainy or winter days making cookies, even though some of the other boys thought it was odd. Then sitting by the fire with a cup of hot chocolate and the gooey chocolate cookies.

I took the one that Anya had given me and bit into it. She was right, just because I didn't need it to survive didn't mean I still couldn't enjoy them.

"I can't remember the last time I had a cookie, much less one of out A & E's."

"Well, you should have come home sooner." Anya said smiling, but I could see the tears just barely glistening in her eyes.