Chapter Eight
‘I’m next,’ Dee squealed with excitement. She’d been listening to the growing buzz in the air all evening. Everybody was talking about Madam Rosa’s accurate chit-chat and wait-and-see predictions. The fortune teller was going down a storm. Cougar Kate was giving triumphant smiles to everybody. Dee noted that their hostess had yet to take her turn. Dee suspected Cougar Kate was waiting right until everybody had left and then Madam Rosa would stump up the birthday girl’s “commission” with the full forty-five-minute reading.
‘Good luck, Dee,’ said Chrissie with a smile. ‘Ooh, look. Here comes Amber. She’s looking very out-of-sorts. She’s had far too much gin.’
Amber’s face was chalk-white, and her eyes conveyed distress.
‘I must dash,’ said Dee, ‘or I’ll miss my slot. Hey, Amber,’ she greeted her friend, ‘keep schtum until I’m back. In fact, let’s all keep schtum until the three of us have been seen. Then we’ll compare notes.’
Amber nodded like a zombie.
‘Are you okay?’ Chrissie asked with concern.
‘Drink,’ said Amber, her voice quavering. ‘I need a very big drink.’
‘Don’t you think you’ve had enough?’
‘Nowhere near,’ said Amber darkly.
While Chrissie was wrestling a gin bottle off Amber, Dee hurried over to Cougar Kate’s lounge. She knocked eagerly on the door.
‘Come in,’ said the voice within.
Dee entered the room like a whirling tornado, shifting the sofa back a couple of inches as she thumped her backside down on its upholstery. She gave Madam Rosa a smile that stretched from one ear to the other.
‘Now I know we only have ten minutes,’ said Dee, ‘so I’ll get straight to the point. All I want to know is–’
‘I’m afraid not.’
Dee’s smile slipped. ‘I hadn’t finished my sentence.’
‘You didn’t need to.’
‘But how do you know what I was going to ask?’
‘I know everything.’
‘What? How?’
‘Where do you want me to start? With the word of God? The gifts He gave? The distortion by mankind, and the burning of supposed witches at the stake?’
‘Er, no…just,’ Dee scratched her head, ‘back to the beginning of my sentence. What was I going to ask?’
‘You were going to ask if your boyfriend was ever likely to propose marriage.’
Dee gasped. Hearing Madam Rosa speak aloud the very words that had been going around in her head, was both exhilarating and shocking. And then Dee collected herself. Every young woman dreamt about finding her prince, falling in love, getting married and living happily ever after. Well, most of them anyway. Dee reasoned that probably eighty per-cent of the women here tonight had wanted to know the very same thing. Wasn’t that the exact question Cougar Kate would also be asking Madam Rosa too? Of course!
Ha, Madam Rosa! Nice try, but I’m three steps ahead of you!
‘Actually, my boyfriend has already proposed,’ Dee lied.
Madam Rosa raised an eyebrow in surprise. ‘Sorry, but there will be no wedding.’
‘Well maybe not this year,’ Dee bluffed, ‘after all, we’re saving very hard. Weddings aren’t cheap.’
‘No, they’re not. But if I were you I’d keep quiet about that bit of money you have squirrelled away. Save it for the next young man you’re going to meet. He’ll be coming along soon enough, and he’s a smasher.’
‘W-what?’ Dee stuttered. She felt as if Madam Rosa had thrown cold water in her face. ‘Okay, I’ll level with you. He hasn’t really asked me to marry him. Not yet, anyway. But please, tell me why you’re so sure there won’t be a wedding?’
‘He’s seeing someone else, love. He’s having an affair.’
Dee nearly hooted aloud at such a ridiculous prediction. This Madam Rosa was an absolute charlatan. She was playing guessing games, and trying to scramble Dee’s brain cells. Anger rippled through her. Not only was Madam Rosa a fraud, she was also a nasty piece of work. She stared at the mild looking woman sitting in the armchair opposite her. ‘How dare you!’
‘Sorry to cause you pain. But it’s better to know the truth. It will save you greater heartache later. Send in the next person, love.’
Dee sprang to her feet. Rage was pumping through her veins, turning her blood to molten lava. ‘Yes, I’ll send the next person in. But before I go, I’d like to question what sort of fortune teller you are to inflict such distress?’
‘I believe in honesty. Apart from anything else, you were in distress before you even came to me. And that’s all down to your boyfriend. Josh.’
Dee gasped. How did Madam Rosa know her partner’s name?
‘I told you,’ said Madam Rosa. ‘I know everything. Now please send in the next person.’
Dee stared at Madam Rosa with a mixture of fury and indignation. She realised she was on the verge of tears. Without another word, she stormed out of the room almost knocking into Chrissie who was waiting outside.
‘I’m warning you now,’ Dee growled under her breath, ‘don’t believe one word that woman says. She’s bang out of order. She’ll try and wreck your life.’
‘Oh?’ said Chrissie, looking alarmed. ‘Surely ten minutes can’t cause any harm? Whatever’s happ–’
‘Come in,’ said Madam Rosa, her voice filtering through the still open doorway.
‘I’ll see you in a few minutes,’ whispered Chrissie. ‘Please go and look after Amber. She seems intent on going from drunk to paralytic.’
‘Yeah, and I’ll bet I know why,’ said Dee, before stalking off to Amber.
Chrissie shut the door after her. ‘Sorry about that,’ she apologised to Madam Rosa. ‘My friend seems a bit, er, fired up about something.’
‘Ah, yes, I see now. You’re here with the two ladies who have just left. Like them, you would like to know if your boyfriend is going to propose marriage in the near future.’
‘Er, yes. That’s right.’ Chrissie assumed either Amber or Dee had mentioned this to Madam Rosa.
‘You didn’t need to see me to have that question answered, young lady. Your heart already knows the answer.’
‘Does it?’ asked Chrissie uncertainly.
‘Indeed.’ Madam Rosa put her head on one side, as if considering. ‘You haven’t been happy for a long time. Years. You’re wasting your life with the man you’re living with. He is more interested in his fake friends – men who bring negative energy into your home. It’s a darkness that, like glue, sticks to every cell of your body, and causes misery. If you’re not careful, you could end up with full-blown depression.’
Chrissie gulped. This was a bit too honest for her liking. Madam Rosa was staring at her as if she was nothing more than an open book from which she was reading. A sudden feeling ambushed Chrissie. It was one of realisation. She felt as if she was seeing herself in the weeks, months, then years ahead, looking harassed and worn down. Chrissie grasped all this in a nano-second. But she knew there was no way out.
‘Oh yes there is,’ said Madam Rosa.
‘Sorry?’ said Chrissie looking startled. Was this woman also reading her mind?
‘A way out will become apparent sooner than you think. Meanwhile don’t make yourself a financial slave to this man. He’s using you. And he’s having an affair. Time’s up, love. Send the next one in.’
‘An affair?’ said Chrissie stupidly. The only affair Chrissie knew about was Andrew’s love affair with his mates and their stupid computer games.
Ashen-faced, she stood up and made her way to the door. No wonder Amber and Dee had looked shell-shocked after their readings. As Chrissie left the room she spotted Amber, who was still knocking back the gin. Dee, who had to drive, appeared to be sniffing the contents of a whisky bottle in an effort to calm her angst. Chrissie decided she might have to do the same. It was quite obvious the three of them had been given disastrous news.