Page 52 of April

A group of likely frat boys walked between them. Linden let them all pass before she took a few steps closer to the woman.

“Being there for your friend; you should keep doing that.”

“Were you listening to us or something?” Linden asked.

“No,” the woman replied, shaking her head.

“Okay… Why? How?”

The woman motioned to a small table with two folding chairs behind her.

“Oh,” Linden said, understanding now. “You’re a fortune teller. Got it. I’m not interested.”

“I’m not offering you anything,” the woman told her with an open smile.

“You say something about me and my friend to get my attention. It’s generic enough that it applies to everyone, but I think you’re really a psychic, so I sit down and pay twenty bucks for you to tell me that I’m about to meet the man of my dreams, we’ll get married in less than two years, I’ll have boy and girl twins within five, and we’ll buy that house I’ve always wanted, too. You’ll add something about my career in there, but just enough for me to want to come back to you next week and drop another twenty. Does that sound about right?”

The woman’s smile didn’t falter as she said, “Just embrace it.”

“Embrace your scam?”

“I’m not asking you for money. I wouldn’t take it even if you offered. Be there for your friend and embrace what you are feeling right now.”

“See? Generic,” Linden replied. “I’ve got to go. Have a good night, I guess.”

“Linden?”

Linden’s eyes widened, and she said, “How did you–” She shook her head. “Ash must have said my name, and you overheard. I actually almost fell for it for a minute.”

“I didn’t hear your name from your friend Asher. You are still skeptical, but that’s okay. You’re from New Orleans. You know that a lot of this is for the tourists, and people here are trying to make a quick buck. I’m not one of them, though. You won’t believe that just yet, and that’s okay, but what I’m saying is the truth. Things will work out if you support her and embrace it.”

“Hey,” Asher said from behind Linden. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Linden replied without looking at her.

“Did you want to get a tarot reading or something?” Asher asked when she arrived at Linden’s side. “We haven’t done that in years.”

“No, I’m okay,” Linden said, turning toward her now. “Let’s go.”

After the encounter with the psychic, she didn’t speak much, and they made their way in relative silence around the Square before they took their street toward Asher’s apartment. Just a few turns and several blocks later, they were at Asher’s door. Linden held the bag from the shop for Asher while she unlocked it, and then they were inside. She watched Asher place her keys, bag, shoes, and phone all in their usual spots and smiled at how type A her friend was.

“Coffee? Booze?” Asher offered.

“Whatever you’re having,” she replied as she kicked off her own shoes and tried to place them next to one another right by Asher’s.

Linden stared at them then, feeling odd. She had placed her shoes next to Asher’s hundreds of times. Normally, she’d just kick them off and let them fall wherever, but this time, she actually placed them so that their shoes were in a neat little row at the front door, as if that was where her shoes belonged somehow.

“I’m making coffee, but I’m having decaf. Same blend,” Asher shared.

“Of course, it’s the same expensive blend,” she teased as she sat on the sofa and picked up the remote control from the table. “Movie?”

“Yeah, just find whatever. Hey, are you staying?” Asher asked from the kitchen.

“Did you clean the guest room yet?”

“God, no. I might get to it this weekend.”

“Want to do it now?”

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