Page 36 of Fast Forward

“As much as I…” gulp, “…want you right now, I really think tonight is best, when everyone’s gone home and we can have our comfortable bed to ourselves.”

Damn, why couldn’t Selena have chosen this moment to call?

“I really have to call Selena back. She rang before, in the meeting.” I looked longingly at my e-pad and noticed the time. It was a few minutes past five. Liliana! I shoved William, er… Will, back quickly, much to his disappointment. “I just remembered, I’m supposed to meet someone, right now!”

I adjusted the left sleeve of my top which he’d slid part way down my shoulder. “Sorry, honey, but I really have to go. I’ll see you at home, yeah?”

“Who do you have to meet?”

“Just an old friend I bumped into at the shopping centre today, that’s all. I don’t have time to explain, I’ll see you back home in time for the party.” I would not be late for that. So I left Will and his pouting puppy dog face in the staff room, and dashed out. “Bye, Lucy, sorry you had to make up a story to cover for me,” I said without waiting for a response as I pulled open the door and escaped into the elevator.

I could make it back by 5:15 p.m. and with any luck, Liliana would still be there. She said she’d be there until five, but surely she wouldn’t leave on the dot, not having seen me again, would she?

Chapter 12

Two Hours to Go

“You can only go halfway into the darkest forest; then you are coming out the other side.” – Chinese proverb

I ran from the car park to the New Age (ha!) shop where I’d seen Liliana before and skidded to a halt at the entrance. Two people stood expectantly in the queue and only one psychic was left in the booths. Rosie. Damn! I doubled over to catch my breath and looked up as a woman in a white cheesecloth dress approached me.

“Are you okay, madam?”

I exhaled my disappointment and scrunched up my lips. “I was really hoping to see Liliana. She’s not out back, is she?”

The woman shook her head. “I’m sorry. Liliana has left for the day.”

“Do you have her number, can I call her?”

“I’m sorry, madam, we’re not at liberty to disclose our psychics’ personal phone numbers.” The woman went to walk away, but stopped. “Oh, you’re not Kelli by any chance, are you?”

“Yes, that’s me. Why?”

The woman scurried off to the sales counter and back again with a small card in hand. “Here, Liliana said to give this to you if you came back.”

My eyes fled to the card as I plucked it from her hand. We Know The Truth–www.FastForwardExperiences.com. I turned the card over and along with a barcode there was a handwritten message:

Good luck! ~ Liliana xo

A tiny smile found its way to my lips and I couldn’t wait to check out the website. Maybe I could find out more about what was happening to me. “Thank you!” I hugged the woman who stiffened in surprise. “Please thank Liliana for me.”

“Will do.” She smiled. “We still have another psychic here if you’re in need of a reading?” She pointed towards Rosie whose client was shaking her head as if to say: ‘No, I didn’t have a dog called Scruffy.’

“Thanks, but I’ll pass.” I walked away, my eyes still on the card, narrowly avoiding a collision with the side of the door. Why was there a barcode on the card? I held it next to my e-pad out of curiosity and it beeped, the screen flashing. I pinched and flicked so the holographic screen would appear.

Do you want to save document? Yes. No.

I pressed yes and a list of folders became visible. I then pressed business cards, resulting in a confirmation message.

Document saved to business cards folder.

How cool. No need to house an overgrown collection of business cards anymore. I scrolled through the other folders out of interest: credit cards, debit cards, reward cards, membership cards… this device was a virtual purse. My e-pad was fast becoming my BFF. Although, I sure would miss my Prada handbags, unless… could there be Prada e-pads?

A loud clang from the roller door of a nearby shop broke my fascination with technology for a moment. Everyone was closing their doors for the day, except the New Age shop where Rosie was probably doing unpaid overtime for incompetence. I walked in the direction of the car park (too buggered to run again), as lights dimmed and doors closed around me. Returning to my car, I pinched open my e-pad screen again, selecting the Foogle icon.

In the address bar I typed fastforwardexperiences.com, which opened an intro page with an image of a swirling tunnel, along with the words: If you want to know the truth, click here to enter. I pressed my finger to the screen and the next page appeared.

Welcome! This is a site for those interested in studying the Fast Forward phenomenon and those who have been chosen to experience one.

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