Sparks Fly

people deal with their messes that she rarely had time to deal with hers anymore.
    “I really need to clean my house up soon,” she muttered as she took in the stacks of magazines, books, and papers.
    Walking into her office, she picked up a fax that had come in while she was out and quickly noted the time and place of the photo shoot for her cover story in Professional Woman magazine.
    The irony of her situation was not lost on Angelina. Her job was helping others find balance in all areas of their lives, but since her business had taken off, her personal life had been knocked completely out of balance by her professional success. Case in point: She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been out on a date and actually enjoyed herself.
    It figured, somehow, that the first man she’d been attracted to in years was not only an off-limits client, but arrogant and disrespectful as well.
    No. She wouldn’t dwell on her lackluster personal life. Not when she had important business to take care of.
    Flipping through her client book, she found Will’s ex-wife’s number, picked up the phone with firm purpose, and dialed.
    “Susan. It’s Angelina Morgan.”
    Susan sounded thrilled to hear from her. “How was your consultation with Will?”
    Best just to be honest, Angelina thought. “I’m going to have to refund your money. I’m afraid he is not at all interested in having a Feng Shui consultation.”
    “How can you say that?” Susan’s tone was accusing.
    “He left me standing in his front yard to take a phone call. And he didn’t come back.” Not to mention the fact that he was insufferably rude.
    “Oh, I see,” was Susan’s quiet response.
    “I have a policy of not working with clients who need to be sold on Feng Shui, because it tends to do neither the client nor myself a whole lot of good. So really, I’m partially to blame. I never should have accepted your money in the first place.”
    “But you’ve got to help him. Somebody has got to help him.”
    Angelina sighed. Why couldn’t these things be easier? “Susan, I don’t think—”
    “Let me explain about Will. He’s my ex-husband, and now you probably understand some of the reasons why I divorced him. But he didn’t used to be that way. I mean, he always enjoyed working, but when I first met him he was fun, too. Unfortunately, as his company grew bigger, he hardly ever came home and when he was around he was glued to the phone or computer.”
    Suddenly, Angelina felt like a marriage counselor. But Susan was on a roll, and Angelina didn’t have the heart to cut her off.
    “The last year of our marriage was awful. I hardly saw him and I felt like I didn’t even know who he was anymore.” Susan paused and added in dark tones, “And he sure as hell had no idea who I was. So I filed for divorce and moved out. Then I read an article in the Chronicle about how you have a knack for fixing people’s love lives.”
    A warning bell went off in Angelina’s head. “Susan, that article was a bunch of hyperbole. I don’t actually fix my clients’ love lives.”

    “Angelina, don’t be so modest! The woman they interviewed said how after she met with you and followed your advice, she met a wonderful man and now they’re engaged.”
    Angelina would have interrupted Susan to inject some reason into the conversation, but Susan was too excited for her to get a word in edgewise.
    “She said how one of her friends was going to get a divorce, but after you worked with her, she and her husband worked through their problems and stayed together. Don’t you remember the story?
    They called you the Feng Shui Cupid.”
    Angelina tried not to groan out loud. That article had been dogging her for weeks now.
    Evidently the entire lovelorn population of the Bay Area read the San Francisco Chronicle , because she’d received dozens of calls from people asking if they could meet with the Feng Shui Cupid.
    She hated that moniker. Her clients also got better jobs and felt healthier after working with her, but no one was calling her a Feng Shui Recruiter or a Feng Shui Doctor.
    “Susan, I agree with you, Will does need a lot of help, but I ...”
    Susan heard her weakness and jumped in for the kill. “Please help him, Angelina. You’re my last hope for reconciliation.”
    Angelina was caught between self-preservation and guilt. She had to hand it to Susan—there was nothing quite like making a stranger completely responsible for the fate of your love