Page 46 of Unspoken Lies

“You know what, I would,” I say with a small smile. “I haven’t ever read in a store setting like this before though.”

Brea simply shrugs, not worried about it at all. “We can set up a table where you won’t be bothered during your reading, out of the way,” she says. “I’ll make a little sign now. Go check out everything on the shelves to get familiar with it all, and then I’ll teach you how to work the register.”

Getting up as she begins to design a sign, I walk through the different aisles, finding that the store is larger than I originally thought. My phone is in my back pocket, so when I run into something unfamiliar, I pull it out to research what it is or can be used for. In this way, I learn the entire store over the next hour.

I run into customers as I walk, and I ask them if I can help with anything. It helps my anxiety to not be waiting for someone to come in. Instead, it’s as if we just happen upon each other. Don’t ask why, my brain isn’t normal after all the shit I’ve been through.

All I can do is roll with my peculiarities.

“Rachel?” Brea asks as I walk out of the wonderland of odds and ends. They somehow all work together, and I decide that I love this shop.

“I’m here,” I murmur with a relaxed smile. I really thought that I’d be a bundle of anxiety, but I feel good. Maybe this job is exactly what I need.

“Excellent,” she says with a nod. “I wasn’t expecting to have the sign get any attention so quickly, but we have a couple of people interested in a tarot reading. I’m just going to collect the money and it’ll all be yours. I’ll talk to the owners about adding you as an independent contractor for the store.”

“Oh! Are you sure?” I ask, genuinely surprised. “Can you do that?”

“Oh yes,” she says. “This is my domain, and the owners are perfectly happy to let me run it as I see fit. They are surprised that the shop isn’t a loss leader.”

“Why would they open something they weren’t sure would perform well?” I ask, following her to a secluded corner of the shop where she set up a table with a pretty tablecloth. There’s a new deck of cards on top, and I decide that if I’m going to be doing this more, then I want my deck from home.

“Sometimes, you just need to throw the die and see how things pan out,” Brea says with a shrug. “I’ll tell your first client that you’re ready. Her name is Marie.”

She bustles off, and I sag against my chair. Brea McConnell is a fucking force of nature. Damn, I want to be that self assured when I grow up. It doesn’t matter that she’s maybe ten years older than I am.

There’s this acknowledgement that she can handle anything life throws at her, and it just hasn’t been that kind to me.

“Hi,” Marie says as she sits across from me.

“Hey, ready to get started? I’m Rachel,” I say.

It’s getting easier and easier to believe the lie, the more I tell it. Am I now a pathological liar? God, isn’t that a mind a fuck?

The reading goes really well, as she’s interested in finding out about a trip she’s about to take. Everything is positive,and I relax into the conversation. None of the tarot cards are inherently bad, many times depending on the placement, the lesson will be different.

My next client is an older woman who recently lost her husband, and I smile sadly at her. I don’t understand that level of grief, but I am still living through a kind of loss that I can’t seem to recover from. Everything in my life was ripped away from me, and now I’m figuring out how to rise from the ashes.

Except, the ashes are still smoldering, continuing to burn me alive. Is it possible to be punished forever for being young and dumb?

Before I know it, it’s two in the morning, and I’m done for the night. I can honestly say I loved every moment, and the shop stayed busy, despite the odd hours it keeps. Whoever thought this concept would flop was wrong.

Together, Brea and I make sure the shop is in good condition for tomorrow, and I say goodbye to her.

“It’s so much easier to do all of this with help,” she says with a light laugh. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you,” I say with a nod, stepping outside. The breeze moves across my skin as I begin walking, and I think about my schedule.

While the shop is open six nights a week from four in the afternoon to two in the morning, I’m only working four of them. It’ll allow me time to relax and do some online schooling. I’m supposed to start next year, and I finished high school online as well with my new name.

I know a lot of effort has gone into hiding me. I appreciate all the worry from my benefactor, as well as the time put in to give me an entirely new identity. I’m able to walk the streets without any more fear than that created in my own mind.

I know there are dangers lurking in the world outside of the Kings Society, which is why I have a mini stun gun in my backpocket. I fully plan to walk back and forth to work, even at this late hour. I don’t need a car, and the street lights appear to be working just fine.

Arriving at the corner of the intersection to cross, I hear footsteps approaching quickly. Glancing over my shoulder, I see a man in a suit with blonde hair in a slicked back mohawk, his eyes glaring at me.

“Not again, you can’t be doing this shit to me again!” he yells like a mad man, rushing me.

Screaming, I scramble back, grabbing my stun gun and pushing the button on the side up to arm it.