Judge Judy was letting this online con artist know what a scumbag he was - and I was loving every minute of it - when my doorbell rang. I nearly ignored it. Nearly. I mean, she was so very close to having this guy in tears.
Except I knew this was a client at the door. And clients paid the bills.
I reluctantly clicked off the show, set aside the Windex bottle and rag I had forgotten I was holding, and headed for the front door. As I did so, I instinctively reached up for the pair of Oakley wraparound sunglasses that were no longer there. My next conditioned movement was to check my arms and face and hands for sunscreen - which wasn't there, either.
Wasn't there, and wasn't needed.
That is, not since I'd donned the emerald medallion two weeks ago. A medallion that had literally changed my life. A medallion that, curiously, no longer existed.
Two weeks ago, shortly after watching my first sunrise in seven years, I had reached down for the medallion, only to discover it was missing. Left behind had been a disc-shaped burn in my skin and the empty leather strap that had been holding the medallion.
Fang had thought my body absorbed the medallion. I had thought that sounded crazy as hell. Fang had reminded me that a skin-absorbing medallion was actually one of the least-craziest things to happen to me in seven years.
Now, two weeks later, there still remained a faint outline of the medallion on my upper chest, seared into my skin.
I'm such a weirdo, I thought, and settled for reaching up and checking on my hair. Since mirrors were still out of the question, I had become a master at feeling my way through a good hair day. At least, I hoped they were good hair days.
As I stood before the front door, a lingering trepidation remained. After all, sunlight had been my enemy for so many years.
You can do this, I thought.
And I did. I opened the front door wide as sunlight splashed in. Brilliant sunlight. Splashing over me, but my skin felt...nothing. I felt nothing, and that was the greatest feeling of all.
No searing pain. No gasping sounds. No stumbling around and covering my eyes. No shrinking like a monster from the light of the day.
Such a weirdo.
Maybe. But now, not so weird.
Thank God.