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“How did you know?”
“Lucky guess.”
I let it go while we ate. Our conversation went to more neutral ground. Not talk of prenatal issues or distortions of clothing history. Both subjects that while they interested us respectively, tended to annoy the heck out of people who weren’t us. Unable to hold it in anymore I finally gave as we exited the restaurant.
“Okay,” I said with a sigh.
“Ready?” Lorelai asked.
“Yep, bring on da noise.”
It looked like something out of an old, black and white movie. Lorelai’s friend Tina was nothing if not a rationalist. Much like the barber shops that still had the multi-colored poles outside, the little storefront shop was unquestionably run by a fortune-teller. The only break from tradition was the omission of the honorific Madam before Tina’s name. The business was instead named Third-Eye Fortune Telling.
“I’ve been getting really into fortune telling,” Lorelai said, by way of explanation.
“Serious?” I asked, looking up at the garish neon sign from the sidewalk.
“As a firing squad,” Lorelai confided, hustling me on.
The happy bell jangled overhead and my fate was sealed. My doom was heralded by the distinctive smell of lavender incense. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe. There were lots of things that people didn’t understand. That was why both science and magic existed after all. Both were little more than approaches to try and identify, categorize, and understand phenomena for which there was no precedent. It was just that, at that particular moment, I was in serious danger of bursting out laughing and I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
Before I could make an excuse and make a getaway, Tina appeared through the beaded curtains. Thankfully, she was wearing a fairly normal dress, with her hair in a braid. Not the full on, stereotypical “mystical” outfit I’d expected.
“Hey, Lor.”
“Tina. This is my friend Krystal. She needs some advice.”
“Hello, Krystal. Right this way.”
Through the beaded curtain was fairly ordinary aside from the purple lighting and lava lamps.
“What’s the trouble?” Tina asked, as we sat at the tasteful round table.
“I’ve got an online shop I’m trying to turn into a full-time business but am unsure how to do it?” I said, feeling a bit silly.
“I hear ya,” Tina said with genuine empathy, “I could do a reading and give you guidance.”
“Sure,” I said, not seeing the harm.
“Give me your hand, please.”
Tina gently took my hand and started to read my palm. Tracing the lines with the tip of her finger.
“I see you in a car accident.”
I audibly gasped, immediately flashing back to the incident with the delivery truck outside the steakhouse.
“It looks like it’s already happened though. From what I can see your future is already in motion. The accident was the catalyst and there is no way to stop it now.”
“Is that good or bad?”
“Oh it’s good. For the most part, anyway. But I don’t see you really starting up your business until you are at the costume ball.”
That was a surprise. It wasn’t near Halloween anymore and I couldn’t really imagine waiting almost a year for my business to get going.
“Costume ball? It’s not Halloween,” Lorelai said, giving voice to my thoughts.
“I know, strange right? But that’s what it says,” Tina said.
“How much do I owe you?” I asked.
“Oh, nothing. Any friend of Lorelai’s is a friend of mine. I’m just sorry I couldn’t be more specific.”
“Still, thanks though.”
The bell jangled again as she led our return to the afternoon street. It felt a little odd seeing a fortune-teller shop during the day, but that was far from the oddest thing about it.
“I have to get back to work but call me, yeah?”
“Of course,” I said, giving Lorelai another awkward hug.
The walk back to my place wasn’t too far, but still gave me lots of time to think. From what Tina had said, everything would be okay with my business, but I probably had to wait another ten months for some costume ball. On closer consideration, I supposed it really was worth it. I had been sewing for years, so if I had to wait just under another year for things to get good, maybe it didn’t seem so bad.
The air got colder and I put my hand in my pocket, finding the card Jayden had given me. His party did sound interesting. I wondered if I could convince him to make it a costume ball. A Christmas costume ball would be different, if nothing else, and help him stand out in the minds of potential investors. I decided to call him and pitch the idea after I had thought it over a bit more.
Chapter Three - Jayden
I felt like an olde tyme alchemist, bent over the samples and mixing them with vigor. Clavis had been into fruit wine, other than grapes, since before it was cool. Wine hipsters, that was us. It was unclear exactly how it had come up, but somehow the idea came up to try and mix them into an undiscovered strain of super wine, using the collage theory of creation. More than the sum of the parts and all that.
