I checked outside as it became for any new flowers, just in case. The night was calm. I looked around, there was nothing. The street was dark and empty, the flowers in the front garden asleep. I was relieved and surprised. I was not sure how it was possible everything seemed so ordinary, so normal. They must have felt the power when I channelled the flowers. After all, they were theirs. They felt when I screamed at Jonathan the first day, that was how they find me after the years of relative anonymity... Why would they let me go tonight? I couldn't imagine they would not send another flower, even if it meant two a night. Was it possible they finally decided it was time to move on? Because I certainly did.

I was still lost in thoughts when I went inside. I went to the kitchen. I was thinking about what could be my anchor. I was not worried about the spell itself. The flowers, the energy, all this gave me confidence. No threatening messages outside? Sweet. I could have taken the world on.

The kettle boiled. I searched in the tea cupboard. I found chamomile and lavender white tea. Lee-Ann bought it for me for the first Christmas when she discovered I liked loose leaf tea. Even then I couldn’t pretend the omnipresent black tea presented in sachets drank with milk was any good. I was not English Breakfast type of girl. Packaged in sachets, all life removed. Bonded, subdued without any will to rebel. So ordinary.

I needed to calm down, to focus. I held the cup in hands, warming them up. I was starting to realise I was feeling very cold or maybe the tea was simply too hot.

I sipped the tea. I caught myself staring out of the window. I couldn’t see anything of course. The garden was dark. The town was slowly falling asleep.

I walked to my room. Another sip of tea. I sighed, the adrenalin was wearing off and I was more and more thinking about the anchor.

I switched on the laptop again. Mr. Google, tell me, tell me… what should be my anchor?

I browsed the internet mindlessly. I was sure someone at some point posted something there. Maybe even they didn’t believe what they wrote but I could see through that.

I was thinking maybe I could do without the anchor, I had the essence, I would use Jonathan to link to the spirit… That could work. After all, I wasn’t sure it would really work. I had never done it before. I kept on sipping my tea. The tea…. I smiled. Could I use the tea? In theory, it was Lee-Ann’s present to make me feel at home, to make me feel welcome. It was linking me to this time and space. I felt relieved, of course, I could use it to anchor me in now. I would simply remind myself of all those feelings. The heat of the laptop in my in my lap was comforting. I looked out of the window. It was still the middle of the night. Then I checked my phone. 1 am. It was really time to go sleep, I had a busy day in front of me. I knew I needed to study a bit for my class.

I was still feeling a bit restless. I looked again at my phone re-reading Jake’s text he sent back to Saira when she arranged for our meeting. “See you tomorrow at our spot.” I was touching the screen as if I could reach the person who wrote the text. Then I suddenly stopped. We didn’t have a spot. That spot was absolutely mine. He was intruding in my space. I imagined meeting him under the tree. I could have almost invited him directly to my bedroom. At least then we would have more privacy. It struck me that no matter what, we did need privacy for the meeting. Not that I was expecting a romantic encounter. Saira was totally wrong on that subject. But having all the trees as witnesses was not a good idea, especially when I tried to keep it all secret. I took a deep breath. After a moment of thinking, I texted him.

“Change of plans. Let’s meet at the Eden Shopping Centre at 1.”

I was a bit surprised when I saw an immediate response: “Sounds good. Lunch date it is.” This was going totally the wrong way. I stared at the phone for a little bit longer and then decided to be a little more specific because Jake was clearly not getting the message. Or maybe he was just receiving the message he wanted to hear. That was sort of a nice thought, despite the fact it was not supposed to be at all.

“In front of Next. No lunch.”

There was no response to that. I persuaded myself that it was because I was in charge of the situation. If I were totally honest with myself, I would have admitted that I was not in charge for quite some time now. It was time to go sleep.

I heard Lee-Ann’s coming opening the doors as I was falling asleep. I smiled - at least someone was having fun. That was the last thought I allowed myself.