Between Now and Heartbreak - Dylan Allen Page 0,64
I groan. “I can’t go shopping right now. It doesn’t matter. Carter likes me the way I am.” I say with as much enthusiasm as I can muster.
Dina grins excitedly and rubs her hands together.
“Oh, honey, I came prepared.” She nods back at the door and that’s when I notice her suitcases.
“I’ve got clothes, shoes and make up. Not that you need much.” She brushes a lock of hair behind my ear.
“You’re so damn beautiful, we have plenty of time to kill now that I brought the store and salon to you. So, I want to take you somewhere.”
I follow Dina through the unbelievably cliché beaded curtain that separates the rooms in the bungalow style house that, against my better judgement, I followed her into.
“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever done,” I whisper as we sit down at the small card table in the center of the room.
“That’s really sad.” Dina deadpans.
“I don’t believe—”
“Welcome ladies,” a voice behind us booms. I turn to see a woman with short curly brown hair that’s sticking out of a blue baseball cap. She’s dressed in red tights, topped with a bright green bra that just barely fits. That’s it. Oh, besides the pair of shimmery blue butterfly wings tied around her torso and onto her back. She’s sipping a green smoothie out of a huge glass jug that I’m sure we gave out at the Wolfe sponsored booth at the county fair last spring.
“Ummm, what the hell is this?” I ask in a furious whisper.
She smiles innocently and says, “Madame Mindy has been telling our fortunes for years.”
“Who is ours?” I ask in surprise and try to avoid looking at the mad fairy who just sat across the table from me.
“Me and my mom.”
“It’s okay, baby, you don’t need to explain .” Madame Mindy says to Dina.
Then she turns her surprisingly sharp, dark eyes on me.
“They’re all doubters at first.”
“I’m sorry— I just haven’t done this before.” I give her a wan smile
She smiles serenely and pulls her baseball cap off. Her hair has an indent from where it’s been sitting and she looks more like a trucker babe than a psychic. I almost laugh, until I see a stoic expression in her eyes.
“You mustn’t apologize. The thank you card you’ll send me will make up for the sting of your doubt.”
“Uh- okay,” I smile and shoot a wide-eyed glance at Dina.
“So, how does this work?” I ask, trying to sound game.
“Let me see your palms.” Mindy grabs my hands and pulls them across to the table, before I can even process her request
I look at Dina, hoping to get some reassurance from her that this normal. But she’s staring at my hands in rapt wonder.
“Close your eyes, Elisabeth.” She orders in a voice that brooks no argument. I do what she says before she can reach across the table and shove my eyes shut.
“There it is,” Mindy says casually. Then, she presses her thumbs into the center of my palms and even though it’s light pressure, my whole hand is gripped by a wash of pins and needles that stop as quickly as they started before I’m overcome by a sense of complete peace.
The room is full of all sorts of background noise. A fish tank gurgles in the corner, a fan whirs, and the thin paned windows do nothing to dampen the mad chirping of what sounds like thousands of cicadas in the tress outside. But, there’s a stillness that has the same effect as silence would. I feel a sense of tranquility in the dark refuse of my closed eyes and relax.. She deepens the pressure and it grows intense just as she starts to speak. Her voice is deeper now and as it washes over me, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
“Your entire life is about to change. If you can find the courage, you will find yourself in the arms of a person you didn’t dare hope existed, but have longed for down to the bottom of your soul. Their love will feel like flying, you revel in it. Even when it burns. You will look at him, you will see him forever.”
Carter. Oh my God.
“You will have a choice to make. The wrong one will ruin everything. And you won’t know it right away. But it will happen in a moment, as quick as the flick of your wrist. It will float like a feather. But this, my dear, is your apocalypse.