I turn to face him. “No there. No sitting.”
Tie-Dye Guy freezes in place, now half squatting over the chair.
“But she told me to,” he says.
My mouth drops open in silent protest until I can find the words. “But what if you get good fortunes and they were actually supposed to be mine?” I ask.
The man seems to consider this. “Or they could’ve been bad and I’m sparing you from an unlucky life.”
“Too late for that,” I mumble.
“What’s your name?” Wendy asks him.
“Logan,” he responds. “Logan Wells.”
Wendy nods curtly. “Good. Let’s finish this reading. Just ten dollars more for the extra three cards.”
Logan glances at the sign and pats himself down as he remains in his bent position. “I don’t carry cash.”
“What about the cat?” I ask dryly.
“I’m sure he’d be more than happy to share his catnip,” he says, opening his wallet. “Would you accept a MetroCard? Now that they’ve been phased out, one day they might be valuable.”
Wendy shakes her head. “Cash only.”
Logan looks at me for permission to sit. “I like to think that I could do this all night, but I helped a friend move earlier this week. Five-story walk-up. I don’t think I have much longer.”
“My birds did draw these cards for a reason,” Wendy says, putting the pressure on.
I steal a glance down at The Reason sitting contentedly next to Logan’s leg, which is where I look next. Even soaked, his jeans look soft and well worn, like they might be his favorite pair. They’re plastered against his thighs, accentuating his well-defined—and probably now burning—quad muscles.
I ignore the explosion of heat in my chest and nod to the chair. “Please. Stay a while. And you know what? My treat,” I say with forced pep. Paying it forward is supposed to help, right? Maybe this good deed will stop anything else bad that’s coming my way.
Or maybe I’m desperate to see what each of those cards says. But really, maybe it’s because today I want to be right about something: that my fortune isn’t so good. Not before, not now, and not in the future.
“But are you really prepared to know what your future holds?” I ask Logan.
He lets out a sigh of relief as he sits and smiles at me. A double parentheses brackets his mouth on both sides. It’s like his smile has caused a ripple effect across his cheeks. Every physical part of him screamsman, but this? This feature of his is boyishly charming.
“It’s not how I saw this walk going, but why not?” Logan says.He even sounds… excited? “I’m open to seeing what happens.” Our eyes linger on each other’s for a beat too long. God, he really does have pretty eyes. “Only if it’s alright with you, though. Would you be okay doing this together?”
Together. This all started because of my bad decision. Now I’m in it with a perfect stranger.
I slide my last ten-dollar bill out of my wallet and reluctantly hand it over to Wendy. First candy and dim sum. Now fortune-telling. My budget is going to hate me.
“That’s really nice of you,” Logan says. “Thank you. I owe you.”
Wendy slips the bill into a soft pouch and points to the three cards. “Just like in life, we’ll have to work with what we’ve got. Those fell closest to you, Hazel. Let’s call them yours.” She gestures to me. “Please state your name and birthday, and ask your question again to Doc and Marty.”
“LikeBack to the FutureDoc and Marty?” Logan asks. “That’s clever.”
Wendy smiles, waving toward her setup. “How could I not?”
Is Logan… befriending the fortune teller? He’s definitely getting the good fortunes now.
I turn away from him. “I’m Hazel Yen,” I whisper to the birds.
Behind me, Logan laughs.
