Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98789 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98789 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
But I’d kept my hands to myself. Even that night when she’d snuck into my bedroom. Slipped into my bed. Offered me her V card.
Talk about a stellar performance—I had to pretend I didn’t want her that way, hide my erection beneath a pillow, and feed her a bunch of lines about being older and wiser than she was and wanting to protect her from making a big mistake. After all, she was only sixteen, still a junior in high school. I was nineteen and about to leave for L.A. And as much as I wanted to take her up on that offer, I did the right thing and turned her down.
Needless to say, she did not appreciate my chivalry.
“Take a seat,” Delphine said, gesturing to one of two folding chairs on either side of a rectangular table.
I sat down and looked around. The walls in the room were painted black, and the only source of light came from a stained-glass table lamp, its amber shade hanging with beaded fringe. Also on the table was a deck of cards, a collection of rocks, and a Purell hand sanitizer.
Delphine gave it a couple pumps and rubbed her hands together as she took the seat across from me. “So. What can I do for you?”
I shrugged. “Tell me the future?”
She smiled with Ari’s plush lips. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Dash. I’m clairsentient, not clairvoyant.”
“What’s the difference?”
“People who are clairvoyant have the ability to perceive events in the future. People who are clairsentient have the ability to perceive emotional or psychic energy that is imperceptible to the five standard senses.”
“So you can’t tell me if something is going to happen for me or not?”
She shook her head. “The future is all in your control.”
“If that were true, I’d be on the set of an action thriller right now.”
“Why do you think you’re not?”
“I was hoping you’d have that answer.”
“I don’t. Not yet, anyway.”
“Okay, fine. I’m not on the set of a blockbuster movie because the universe won’t give me a break. So I’d like it if you could put in a good word for me using whatever direct channels you have to . . .” I waved a hand in the air, imagining nebulous matter above our heads. “Higher powers.”
“If you want the universe to give you the opportunity, Dash, you have to give the opportunity to the universe.”
Was she saying I hadn’t tried? Hadn’t worked for it? Hadn’t put myself out there, risking rejection over and over again? Irritated, I stood up. “Look, this is a waste of time. I should just go.”
“Wait a minute,” she said, scooting to the edge of her chair and laying her hands on the table, palms up. “Just wait a minute. Sit down. Let’s try something.”
I glanced at the beaded curtain, my rational brain telling me to leave the room, because this was complete bullshit. But then I looked back at her, and in the golden glow of the lamp, her familiar eyes beckoned me to stay. She tilted her head toward the empty chair, and I felt compelled to sit down again.
“Now,” she said. “Give me your hands and close your eyes.”
A little reluctantly, I placed my palms on top of hers and lowered my eyelids. She was silent for so long that I opened my eyes to peek at her. “Aren’t you supposed to say something?”
“Shh,” she scolded. “I was creating a psychic space for our energies to meet. But I can see you now.”
“And?”
“Your energy is . . . heavy. Dense. Dark.”
“You mentioned that,” I said tersely.
“There’s a lot of doubt here. Fear of failure.” She paused. “You’ve experienced setbacks recently.”
I thought of all the auditions that had led nowhere. The roles I couldn’t even get seen for. The parts that went to bigger names. “Yes.”
“You’ve given them too much energetic power. Your ego is taking up too much space.”
I frowned. My ego probably was a little outsized, but so far, I wasn’t terribly impressed with her psychic abilities. This was Hollywood—it wasn’t that big a stretch for her to surmise that I was an actor. Izzie might have even told her. And all actors had big egos and experienced setbacks.
“You’ve been told you don’t feel things deeply enough,” she went on.
Okay, that was a little more personal, and definitely on the nose, but Izzie still could have mentioned that to her. “Maybe.”
Delphine gripped my hands tighter. “But it’s not true. You can feel things deeply—and from the heart—but you don’t want to. You avoid intense emotions because you’re scared of being vulnerable.”
“I’m not scared of anything,” I said quickly.
“You’ve been this way for a long time.” Delphine was silent a moment. “You experienced a loss early in your life that has stayed with you.”
I neither confirmed nor denied her statement. That loss wasn’t something I ever discussed, and no matter what Izzie said, I wasn’t going to mine it for emotional gold.