Page 77 of Savior
Gina must be running late. It’s ten past ten and I’m alone in this coffee shop, sitting at the furthest table back from the front window, waiting for her. Dean is in the parking lot, a few spaces back parked by my car, no doubt watching everyone who comes and goes, from atop Serene.
My cellphone chimes in my purse, and I set my cup of chai tea down on the little white table to retrieve it.
It’s a text from Dean, telling me that she might have stood me up. That it happens. Don’t feel bad. That this sort of thing was a common occurrence during rescue missions.
I text him back that I’ll give her ten more minutes before I head to work. Just as I hit send, a woman takes a seat at my table, removing her sunglasses. There’s a purple crescent bruise below her left eye. That must be fairly new. She wasn’t sporting a black eye a week or so ago at the grocery store.
“I’m sorry I’m late. I came in the back after he dropped me off at work.” Gina whispers.
“That’s okay.” I say. I text Dean a quick she’s here, and place my phone back in my purse. “So, what is it you think I can help you with?”
For the next few minutes, she tells me about how he never used to be this way. That she still loves the man he used to be, and simply wants that man back. As I listen to her go on, defending him, blaming herself, I can’t help but feel like I’m looking in a mirrored portal of my past self.
“So, can you do it?” she eagerly asks. “Can you do a spell to make him how he used to be?”
I try for a sympathetic, nonjudgmental smile. “I’m afraid not. I’m sorry.”
She looks puzzled. “Why not?”
“It’s not going to help. I’ve been where you are. I’ve done what you’re asking. And it ended badly.”
She seems to study me for a moment. “That guy on the news. Are you talking about him?”
I nod. “It’s not worth it. If you’re unhappy with him… If he’s the one hurting you, you need to leave him. He’s not going to change. And if you do something to try to influence his free will, it’s just going to make matters worse.”
“You don’t know that.” She stubbornly insists. “Everyone is different. Ask your cards.” She pushes.
I reach into my purse for my deck of tarot cards, simply to humor her, though I do so reluctantly. Shuffling the deck, I close my eyes and ask for a message for this woman regarding her relationship. Then I draw three cards, placing them face down, before turning them over one by one. The message couldn’t be clearer.
“What do they say?” she asks with impatience, which only tells me this isn’t going to go over well.
“How honest do you want me to be with you?”
She only stares back at me, and I decide to simply explain what each of the cards represent. Hopefully, she will listen and let the message sink in.
“The Tower. It represents destruction. In regards to a reading about a relationship, this card is saying that it’s over. The fact that it’s beside the Seven of Swords, indicates a cheating mate.”
She glares at the cards, muttering under her breath. “Bastard. He swore he ended it… What about that heart with the swords?”
I sigh. “The Three of Swords… It’s literally known as the heartbreak card. This card presents itself whenever sorrow is on the horizon.” I explain. “These three cards coming up together… Any tarot reader would take it as a clear sign that this relationship is over already, or will be, very soon. I’m sorry.”
Her eyes lift to look at me with resentment now.
“You asked me to do this.” I remind her. “All I did was read the cards you asked me to pull.”
She stands up from the table, glaring. “Witch!” she hisses at me. Then without another word, she storms off, out the back of the coffeeshop the way she came in.
I take a breath and let it out slowly as I gather up the tarot cards and put them back in my purse. I don’t bother texting Dean that I’m done here. He’ll know in a moment.
“You don’t look happy.” He says as I approach my car. “What happened?”
“She reminded me why I don’t read cards for people anymore.”
“People can’t be helped until they want help, baby.” He gently reminds me. “You tried. That’s all you can do.”
“Well, now I’m going to try to not be annoyed all day at work.” I remove my keys from my purse before I open the driver’s side door and chuck it onto the passenger seat. “You know she snapped at me on her way out? She asked me to meet her, because I’m a witch. Then she throws the fact that I’m a witch back at me like it’s a bad thing.”
Dean dismounts his bike to walk over and hug me. “Not much has changed since sixteen-ninety-two, huh?” He presses a kiss to the top of my head. “I imagine women were burned for this exact reason. Some well-meaning woman, Witch or no, didn’t say what some villager wanted to hear, next thing she knows, she’s dragged to an unfair trial and burned at the stake.”
