Running down the sidewalk while getting pelted by frigid rain is definitely not my idea of a good time. Yet, here I am avoiding puddles, growing annoyed that my umbrella broke months ago, and wishing that I had spare funds to get an Uber. If only I had woken up with my alarm this morning instead of unintentionally shutting it off.

I guess the only thing I can really blame that on is myself. If I hadn't taken that extra shift last night at the diner then I would have been able to get the rest I needed last night. Originally I wasn't scheduled to work either of my jobs yesterday, or for that matter today. My co-worker, Rebecca, had a medical emergency regarding her three year old son, and if she hadn't managed to arrange a replacement she would have lost her job. I couldn't let that happen. So, I took a late shift and didn't wake up appropriately due to the excess exhaustion.

I stop for a second underneath a restaurant awning to catch my breath. I have to be on time for this appointment. I can't miss it, but I am terrified that will be exactly what happens. I look down the sidewalk toward my destination and can barely make out the sign above the door a couple blocks away. I pull out my phone to check the time and notice that I still have twenty minutes. Phew!

I continue down the sidewalk at a more leisurely pace. It's still raining but I don't need to be in as much of a rush as I originally worried about. Plus, I'm already drenched so it's not like my clothes can become any more saturated than they already are.

I have had this appointment booked for six months now, but I have been awaiting it for five years. I can only hope that my soulmate has been able to wait for me this long. I hope and pray that I won't be one of those few people that don't have a soulmate. Because of the plague-like illness that attacked many females ten years ago, declining the population, the occurrence is rare that a woman won't have a soulmate, but it is still possible. I mentally shake away the negativity that has clouded my brain. Only one more block now.

Three minutes later and I am walking through the doors of the clinic. The nurse behind the reception counter gasps at me. "Oh goodness you got caught in the rain!"

I find myself mildly annoyed at her reaction. It's full of sympathy, but I almost want to respond with. 'Obviously." Instead I take a moment to regain my composure and say, "Yeah, I slept through my alarm and didn't have time to catch the bus like I originally had planned." I try to smile in a 'what can you do' kind of expression, but I am sure that the grimace I was fighting still managed to grow on my face.

"Let me get you a towel." She rushes off before I can tell her that it's no trouble. Although, truthfully, I am kind of dripping all over the laminate floor. Only a few moments later she is handing me a few towels. They are the size and thickness you would find at a budget hotel so I am definitely thankful that she handed me more than one. While I am wringing out my hair in a quick attempt to soak up as much moisture as possible she greets me. "You must be Daisy Keegan."

I nod in response. "I sent the appropriate paperwork via fax a few weeks ago."

She smiles. "Yes, thank you for that. It makes our job much easier. So, that leaves only one thing left to settle. The financials."

The reason I have had to wait so long was due to a lack of funds. I nod in response and pull my bank card out of my wallet to settle the balance. I only sat for five minutes in the waiting room before I was called in. A nurse took my vitals and assured me that the doctor would be right with me. I found myself getting consumed by memories while I waited.

Russell and Marjorie Keegan. Tears still well in my eyes when I even think of their names. My parents were two of the greatest people I have ever known. They were rarely selfish, always thinking about others before themselves. (I tried my best to emulate that in my own day to day life.)

Every Wednesday night they would go volunteer their time at the children's ward of the county hospital. I typically went with them most Wednesday nights, but the night of the accident I had to study for three separate finals. Unfortunately that night they got out later than expected and ended up in the direct path of a drunk driver who had careened right through a red light.

I remember when they pulled me aside a few months earlier to tell me how they were saving specifically to be able to pay for the serum come my 18th birthday. The serum isn't cheap, and my parents weren't wealthy. They were financially stable enough to keep us in a small rental home with every amenity for us to be able to live a comfortable life . They chose to save for the serum because I was their princess and had been dreaming of my prince, well soulmate, since I was about four or five.

After their deaths the money they had saved ended up going to their funeral expenses instead. Because I was still technically underaged I became a ward of the state. My foster mom was really nice, and the other foster kids were decent and mostly well behaved. However, that didn't stop me from looking for a part time job so I could start saving up so that I would be ready to move out on my own once I was out of school.

There weren't many job opportunities in Flora, Indiana so I moved to Chicago after high school. I have worked my ass off at two part time jobs ever since. I keep two jars on my kitchen counter. One to collect any spare change I had aside from quarters (those I reserved for laundry). I would take that jar to a nearby CoinStar once a month. The amount I got back would go into the other jar. That jar also held about 70% of the tips I made everyday. I make a weekly trip to the bank to deposit that amount in a bank account I had set up specifically to save for my serum injection. Two days ago I closed that account and deposited those funds into my main account; since I intentionally don't have a bank card for that account.

The doctor walks in and introduces himself. He smiles at me saying I must be excited then goes through a brief explanation about the serum. Stuff I'm sure that he is quite aware that I already know of, but probably has to mention since it's part of his job. "Do you have any questions, Daisy?"

"I think I read that it isn't recommended to go into somnium venereum until the serum has been in your system for at least two hours. Is that accurate?" I honestly already know the answer. I researched it enough times over the past five years. I just don't like answering a question with 'no' often unless I truly don't have an answer. Plus, it makes good practice for when a customer asks me a question at either the cafe or the diner.

The doctor confirms that yes it is accurate and goes on a long tangent filled with medical terms that I try my best to nod appropriately at. In truth, I am sure I only hear every third word. Perhaps, I should have said no in this case after all.

Of course when I leave the clinic it has stopped raining. I would take the bus to get home, but I have nowhere that I have to rush off to today. Plus, I have two hours to kill. So, despite the chill in the air I quickly decide to walk the ten blocks back to my dingy apartment.

Pleasant aromas from a nearby bakery infiltrate my senses when I have already walked about halfway home. Typically I stay away from most carbs, but between my good mood and the smell I simply can't bring myself to care much about cheating on my pseudo diet.

Two buttery croissants, a caramel cappuccino, and five blocks later I arrive at my apartment. I try my best not to grimace when I open the door. I've never cared much for this apartment. It's small, and the walls are paper thin. Luckily the neighborhood isn't terrible, and the rent is relatively cheap. That was the purpose of finding a studio apartment after all. To keep the cost as cheap as possible.

I have to do my damndest to not think about the serum running through my veins and my soulmate. I could too easily go into somnium venereum without intending to. So, instead I sit down on my second hand couch and I click on the icon for Netflix. My library list is extensive so I scroll to one of the many original movies I had been meaning to watch that I just never got around to. Luckily, I get quickly absorbed into the storyline and only think about the serum running in my veins again when the credits begin to roll.

Somnium venereum is easy enough to accomplish. Despite the fancy latin name, which means romantic dream, I simply have to focus on who my soulmate might be. Just focus on the idea of my soulmate and wanting to be a part of his life as much as he will be a part of mine. I read that the mark can feel like a bee sting so I prepare myself to feel that tiny pinch of pain. When suddenly I am instead feeling several stings of pain nearly all over my body.

The first is dancing along my left arm. The second skids across my chest, on the right side, just underneath my collarbone. The third skitters down my spine. The fourth radiates against my left shoulder blade. The fifth tingles down the outside of my right leg. The sixth slithers from my left hand side to the outer edge of my ribcage. The seventh stings across the top of my foot. Then the pain abruptly stops. Seven? I have seven soulmates?

I glance at the first I registered. The one on my arm. It's a word written in a curving font. Serendipity. I go to my bathroom, pull down the collar of my shirt to view the second. Once again another word. Euphoria. I continue investigating my body to find they are all words or short phrases. (It took some creative mirror maneuvering to read the two located on my back.) Besides Serendipity and Euphoria I also find 4 O'clock, Just Dance, First Love, Epiphany, and Reflection.

I drop to my mattress. I never thought I would be one of those women that had more than one soulmate. I don't remember much about the illness that spread rapidly ten years ago. I only really knew that it took the lives of a quarter of the female population, but I did catch a couple of news reports talking about the fact that evolution seemed to be doing it's best to repair that loss by a handful of women ending up with more than one soulmate. I'll never be at peace completely with my parents passing, but since I have seven soulmates I am kind of thankful that I couldn't get the serum injection the minute I turned 18 after all. I am sure I wouldn't have been remotely mentally prepared for seven soulmates at the time. Hell, I was kind of reeling at the idea right now.

I mentally contemplated on who the seven parts of my heart and soul could be. I knew that it would never pair me with people that were incapable of getting along. In fact I think I heard somewhere in the midst of those same news reports I happened to catch that many times where a woman ended up with multiple soulmates most times those soulmates were either already best friends, practically family really, or if not they became such. So, that at least wasn't something I had to worry about.

I almost wish in addition to the serum creating soulmate marks on my body that they could triangulate where and when I would find them. I might accept that I wouldn't have been ready for seven soulmates when I turned 18, but I wasn't the only one in this relationship, well future relationship. They also had to wait for me. Which I couldn't help but let that thought strike a slight trickle of fear to settle over me. What if it had been so long that they would never consider calling on somnium venereum again?