“Well, I was wandering around these little streets, you know, just sort of aimlessly, and then I saw this little tarot shop and they did readings. You know I’ve always wanted to see a proper clairvoyant,” I say, as Charlie nods in agreement. “She told me a lot of stuff, but the guts of it was that I was going to meet a manimminently. She said he wastall.Warm.” I start to count on my fingers as I relay all his identifying features. “Worked with his hands. Had a lot of people around him. Was passionate. I think those were the key points.”
“Oh, that’s quite a bit more specific than I imagined it would be,” Charlie says, frowning.
“Wait,” I say, almost breathless with excitement now. “And then, she goes into labor. Like right in the middle of the reading. She’s like, ‘Get out now,’ and ‘Lock up for me.’ And so, because, you know me, and I didn’t want to wait outside on my own, I agreed to lock up for her. Then, while I waited for the taxi, I was, like, looking at her crystals and her old tarot decks, and then just for fun, I tried on her veil and all the jewelry, and then he walked in.”
“Who?”
“Josef.”
“Josef,” she repeats, and I watch as she starts to weigh up exactly what I’m telling her.
“My God he was so fucking handsome. Tall, just like she said. And he was a cellist, so clearly he’s passionate, working with his hands, and surrounded by people. Anaudience. Don’t you see? He plays concerts.” My eyes fly to the ceiling as I start to feel the dream enveloping me. “He looked a bit like Alexander Skarsgård. But he was also sort of old-fashioned and a bit kind of reserved. Very old-school romantic. Like he’d hold open the door but not expect me to stay at home with the baby.”
As it tumbles out of my mouth I cringe. “Not that you are!”Fuck, fuckity, fuck.
“It’s okay,” she says, waving the comment away, “but what happened? Did you go for a drink, or...?”
“Not exactly,” I say, feeling giddy with nerves at how she’ll take the rest of the story.
“I took fate by the shirt collar and read him his fortune. I told him that the love of his life was a woman called Mara and that he would find her at the Star and Anchor, in Broadgate, at seven p.m. on the last Friday of August. He’s going to be in London anyway, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch.” I lift my fingers up to my face and cover my eyes before peeking out to see Charlie gasp.
“Oh God, Mara!”
“I know. Everything came together so perfectly. I have got three months to get myself ready to meet him,” I say, grinning. I can feel my cheeks burning with the excitement of it. But then there is a long pause while Charlie looks at me, her mouth slightly ajar. Then I watch as she reaches her hands up to her face and rubs up and down, sighing.
“What?” I say.
“Mara,” she says, laying her hands in her lap, twisting her engagement and wedding rings round in circles. “Slow down a minute.”
“I know, I’m getting ahead of myself,” I say, blowing out once in a show of calming my thoughts, which were, in fact, racing.Please don’t throw cold water on this. Please, Charlie.
“It’s a lot to take in, that’s all,” she says sharply. “So, the fortune-teller told you about this man.The one.”
“That’s right,” I say, nodding.
“And then she left, and you were standing there in her clothes and a man walked in.”
“Not just a man,” I say, biting my lip. But I can feel I haven’t got Charlie on board. I’m hanging on to her by my fingertips.
“He came in, and you fake-read his fortune? And told him thatyouwerehis the one.”
“Yes,” I say. “So, he’s coming here in late August and I have to get myself ready because she also said I needed to fix a few things in my life. Which was frankly spot-on too.”
“Oh, Mara, I don’t know about this,” she says now, and as she says it I feel all the sparkle seep out of the room. My shoulders slump forward and I shrug.
“I wish you were there; you would have seen...” My voice trails off.
“Mara, I have to say, as your friend—and I know that you don’t like criticism... ,” she begins.
“That’s not true!” I raise my palms and shake my head.
“This all sounds pretty out-there. Can you hear yourself?”
Ouch.
She continues, grimacing momentarily before she does. “I justdon’t want to see... How are you going to feel if he doesn’t come? Working yourself up like this.”
“But he’s going to. I just know it. Don’t you think it’s fate that all of that happened? You not coming. Then me being alone. Then the baby deciding to come at that exact moment. Then him walking in after she said I was going to meet himimminently.”
