Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
I take four pictures of the group and then take one of just Mark while he smiles and talks to the mayor. I stand here as everyone mingles and then start to walk to the sidewalk, and he calls my name. “Vivienne.” I walk to him, and he smiles, taking my hand.
“This is the mayor,” he says, introducing us. “He speaks French,” he says, smiling, and now he puts his hand on the small of my back. I speak French to him, and he actually answers me. I joke with him for thirty minutes until he excuses himself to leave. “Are you having fun?” he asks me, pushing the hair over my shoulder and tucking it behind my ear.
“It’s been nice,” I tell him, and then Tracy comes back, and I swear she is worse than a fruit fly. Her fake niceness when she smiles at me irritates me.
“If I could just steal him,” she says with a smile, and I wonder how it would be to throat punch someone. I’m assuming it would hurt.
“Have at it,” I tell her, smiling, and then turn to Mark. “I’ll be here,” I tell him, and he kisses my cheek and walks away with her. I take out my phone and text Karrie.
Me: Does it hurt when you throat punch a person?
Karrie: Um, I’ve never been throat punched before, but I’m assuming it would, why?
Me: Nothing. Just asking for a friend.
Karrie: I’m heading into the arena for Cooper’s game, and the service is spotty.
Me: I’ll be back home on Sunday night.
I put my phone away and look at the pink and green shop with knickknacks in the store window next to Mark’s. I walk over to the next store that has candles in the window, and I open the door, walking in. The woman stands up from behind the cash register counter. I smile at her and look at the two round tables when you walk in. Different baskets with different colored crystals. My hands reach for a pretty rose-colored one.
“You picked the one that holds the strongest love energy.” The woman smiles, and I see her close up. Her eyes are crystal blue almost like mine. She walks over to another table and comes back with a bracelet that is the same as the crystal I picked up. She grabs my hand and puts it on me. “Don’t take it off,” she tells me, and I look down at it.
I look back at the baskets and pick up another one that is pink and black, and she laughs. “You have to pull down the walls if you want love to come in.”
“Is this table just about love?” I ask her, and she laughs and then turns to walk away.
“Come, ma cher,” she says, and I follow her through the beads hanging in the doorway into a small room with a table and two chairs in the middle. She sits in one and points at the other chair, so I walk in and sit in front of her. She puts her hands on the table palms up, and I don’t know if I should do what she does or not. I don’t have a chance to think about it because she then puts her hands down on the table. “Ca fait mal.” It hurts to say, she says, pointing at her chest. My heart starts to speed up as she closes her eyes. “You suffered a broken heart,” she says. I need to swallow, but my mouth is suddenly dry. “Closed your heart off,” she continues. “Now it’s open.”
“What?” I ask, shocked.
“You will break his heart,” she says, and I want to get up and walk away. “But not as much as your own.” She looks at me. “He’s the one you’ve been waiting for.”
“I don’t.” My voice comes out in a whisper.
“The one who broke your heart; he’s not finished with you.” I gasp. “But you are the one who will finish with him, and then you’ll see what love is.” My mouth goes dry, so dry like a desert. “He’s the one that was for you all along. The one you’ve been looking for was right in front of you, but you ran.” I look at her confused. “You are still running.” She looks down and then looks up. “He’s going to run with you; as long as you run, he’ll be there waiting for you. You can run from love, and you can run from him, but he runs faster.” I’m about to laugh when the bells ring. “He’s here for you,” she says, getting up.
“Who is?” I ask her, suddenly not sure.
“Love,” she says she walks out, and I follow her. I walk through the beads, and I’m shocked to see Mark there.
“I was looking everywhere for you,” he says when he sees me.