His muscles tensed.
She waited, and when he didn’t respond, she folded her arms and said, “Okay, I guess you just suck at everything and might as well give up.”
He smirked. “You’re being sarcastic again, aren’t you?”
Roz kissed his shoulder. “You betcha. I doubt this is an exact science. There are bound to be things that don’t make sense. Now read.”
She may not trust it, but still she wants to hear every word.Konrad took a deep breath. “‘Where do you get your strength from?’”
Roz raised her eyebrows. “Me? Why? Do you think I should be tired?”
“No. That’s the name of the next section.”
“Oh.” She slapped her forehead and chuckled. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt. Read on.”
Konrad continued. “‘The Ace of Cups shows that you’re a very emotional fellow. Your love for others carries and drives you. You gain power from that bond.’”
Roz nodded, but remained silent.Emotional? Power? Yeah, I’ve seen him shake with emotion. But is that from love? It seemed more like pent-up desire.
Unaware of her thoughts, or ignoring them, he read, “‘This is about you creating family wherever you go. You may not have your blood family close for the most part, but you adopt people into your world.’” He looked up and smiled.
“What’s that for? Are you adopting me?”
He laughed. “That might be kind of awkward at this stage and illegal in several southern states.”
“No kidding. Let’s hear the rest.”
“‘You tend to have a pretty good humor about life as well, not a lackadaisical attitude, but definitely a “bring it on, I can take it” style.’”
“That I believe.” Roz tickled him.
He flinched. “Don’t start. I’m almost at the end.”
“Okay, finish it up. I’ll wait.”
“We’re at the last section. It says, ‘Why do you want to be remembered?’ Maybe there’s finally a clue about what I should do for a living.”
“Even if there isn’t, this has beenverrryinteresting.”
“Yeah…for you.” He chuckled and then continued. “‘The card is the Universe. No little dreams for you. You want to be remembered as someone who carved out their own place. You see the four figures in this card? Each represents a part of you that you are working to bring together. You want to be remembered as the one who created safety for others as well as yourself.’”
“Well, how about that? You’re a security expert! It sounds like you should be doing exactly what you used to do.”
Konrad’s face fell. “Nifty.”
Roz’s mood deflated as well, understanding how much he really wanted a change.“What does that card look like?”
He turned the screen toward her. A bloated blue woman with big droopy boobs danced in the middle of the card. The four figures in the corners were hardly noticeable compared to that one, but she made out a dolphin, a goat, a lion, and a raven.
“What do you think it means? Who did you fail, and what’s all the talk about protection?”
“Nothing. It means nothing. I guess tarot was a bust for career counseling. Back to the drawing board.”
Roz didn’t believe the irritation in his voice meant nothing, and his earlier pensiveness meant something too. It wouldn’t do any good to demand he tell her what was bothering him before he was ready. He’d clammed up before, and he’d just do it again. He had some kind of a secret; that much she was sure of.
“Konrad, I know there’s something important you’re not telling me. And I can only assume you’re not ready to trust me with it yet.”
He opened his mouth, but before he had a chance to respond, she held up her hand and kept talking. “I can understand that. We haven’t known each other very long. But I won’t let you hide whatever it is from me forever. Eventually you’ll need to find a way to let me in.”
