“Greg . . .” I placed my hands on my hips and tapped my foot.
“Okay, yeah. There’s something I need to tell you about Travis. Ooh, look a fortuneteller.”
“Greg, you’re pulling my arm out of the socket!” I squealed as he dragged me to the front of a colorful tent. There was sign hanging in front of it.
Palms Read, Fortunes Told.
Madame Zahra.
“I’ve always wanted to do a reading,” he said.
“Since when?”
“Since two seconds ago. Come on.” He yanked me into the tent. Before I could say another word, a woman rushed to me.
“Come in, dearie. I’ve been expecting you. Have a seat. I’m Madame Zahra.”
She waved us to the table in the center of the spacious tent. It looked like the stereotypical fortuneteller’s tent. Candles flickered in a circle around a large crystal ball. Big fluffy pillows covered the ground.
“How exciting!” Greg plopped himself on one of the pillows.
Sitting down, Madame Zahra fluffed her long red dress and adjusted the red scarf covering her head. Big hoop earrings swayed as she moved, hitting against waves of salt and pepper hair that hung to her shoulders.
I raised an eyebrow. I’d read about some of the carnival palm readers. It was all a scam really. There was no way anyone knew the future. It was just smoke and mirrors.
“Aren’t you a pretty little thing? This is the first reading for you and your friend. I can tell.”
Greg tugged on my hand, his eyes pleading with me to join him.
Oh, well, I guess a person had to make a living somehow. The woman seemed nice.
“Yes.” I stopped myself from rolling my eyes and settled myself next to him. More than likely she’d heard us coming. Greg was really loud.
She reached out to my hand. Her bony fingers glided over my palm, giving me a chill. “Hmm, interesting.”
“What is it?” Greg peered at my hand.
“I see a break in your life line. It’s a sudden break.”
Greg leaned in closer, squinting. Then he licked a finger and rubbed it across my palm. “That’s a pen mark.”
“Eww! Knock it off, Greg.” I snatched my palm away from his wet finger.
“You’re ewwing me? You’re the one with the dirty hands.”
Scowling, I turned back to Madame Zahra. “Excuse my friend. He’s still trying to get over the teacups. He didn’t get enough oxygen to his brain with all the screaming he did.”
I placed my hand back into hers.
She smiled, putting a pair of glasses. “Yes, this is better. I see a very handsome man that has walked into your life unexpectedly.”
I bit my tongue. All fortunetellers said that.
“And this man is the love of your life.”
Sapphire eyes flashed through my mind. I gritted my teeth, pushing away thoughts of Cooper.
“Hmm, this is strange.” She sucked in a breath and her shoulders stiffened. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. A loud whooshing sound like white noise filled my ears.
I wanted to snatch my hand back and run. I had to keep reminding myself that this was all part of an act.
She let out a breath and calmly placed it down on the table. She leaned back and rubbed her temples.
“What is it?”
She held a finger up, keeping her eyes closed.
I looked over at Greg nervously. He shrugged. This wasn’t normal, was it? Why wasn’t she telling me about the tall, dark, and handsome man, the white picket fence, and the two point five kids we were going to have?
Finally, Madame Zahra opened her eyes. She reached over the table and took hold of both my hands, as if bracing me for what she was going to tell me.
“I don’t know how to tell you this. All I can say is beware of the vortex. It will pull you in, and if you surrender yourself to it, you’ll be lost forever.”
“Wait a minute!” I cried when she stood to leave. “Where are you going? What do you mean the vortex?”
“I’m sorry. That’s all I have for you.” She rushed out of the tent.
I turned to Greg, astonished. “What was that?”
He chuckled nervously. “Theatrics?”
Did she mean Club Vortex? Would something happen if I went out with Travis? How could she know I was going out with him?
The answer hit me, and I laughed. It was a small college town and a weekend night. There was only one dance club in town. She’d just made a lucky guess.
“Damn, she’s good. I can’t believe I almost fell for that.”
Then why couldn’t I shake off the feeling that what she’d said was true?
The moment we got off Zero Gravity, Greg dashed off to the nearest men’s room. For some reason, carnival rides did the opposite to me, and I was starving.
I followed my nose, weaving my way around the various game booths. I’d bought a funnel cake and was happily munching on it when I heard a familiar voice.
Cooper!
Plopping the last piece in my mouth, I quickly hid behind a big stuffed panda when he emerged around the corner with Flapper Girl hanging onto his arm.
I was shocked at how he looked. For someone who was supposed to be on a date, he looked awful. He wore the same clothes as he did last night. His stubble was thick, as if he hadn’t shaved at all.
Flapper Girl stroked his arm, a smile on her face. I wanted to march right up to her and tell her to back off. It was obvious he didn’t want to be there.
I moved a little closer to hear what she could possibly be telling him.
At that moment, one of the dozens of power cords that lined the ground decided to attack me, and I stumbled.
Face first to the ground.
Taking down the panda.
And a couple of his friends with me.
Okay, the entire shelf.
“Hey!” The guy manning the booth yelled as it rained pandas, lions, squirrels, and monkeys.
Yeah, being stealthy was not my thing. Scratch off the CIA as a career option.
“I’m so sorry.” I jumped up as the guy cursed me out in a thick accent. Cooper’s eyes widened for a moment then Flapper Girl touched his arm and said something to him. He nodded and walked away.
I clenched my white powdered hands into fists. If I wasn’t surrounded by a zoo right now, I’d give her a piece of my mind. Instead, I tried to clean the mess I’d made.
“Here, let me help you put them back up.” I tiptoed and placed the big panda back up on the hook.
“There.” I took a step back, ready to put up another one when a separate rack filled with turtles, sharks, and starfish fell.
People passed by, looking at me in that slow gawking way people did when they drove past an accident on the road.
“No! No more help from you. You go. You go, now!” The guy shooed me away.
I spun around quickly, thankful that he wasn’t going to make me pay for the mess I’d made. I took a step and crashed into Flapper Girl.
“You’re Nicole.”
“Y-y-yes,” I stuttered, too stunned to think of all the things I’d wanted to say to her just a few seconds ago.
“I know what you’re trying to do, and you’re not going to get away with it,” she snapped, her eyes blazing.
I blinked, confused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You think you can trick him into your bed? Well, you can just kiss your sorry ass goodbye.” She rolled up her sleeves.
My jaw dropped. “I have no interest in Professor Cooper.”
She scoffed. “You girls are all the same, thinking that just because he has a kind heart that you can take advantage of that. Thinking that you just need to shake your ass and you can lay your claws into him and his millions.”
“His mill—” I thought about what Gianna had said about his patents. “Look, here. I don’t know where you come off saying that I’m trying to con him. You don’t even know me.”
“I know your type. But you, you’re the lowest of the low. With that . . . that . . ..” her lashes fluttered and she swallowed thickly. It was almost like she wanted to cry. “How did you know about her?”