Jennie had never felt so seen in her life. She was stunned into silence, her mouth slightly open.
"Oh my god! That's SO Jennie!" her friend Erin said behind her.
Jennie looked from the fortune teller to the spread of tarot cards in front of her. Of course she understood how this worked. These kinds of people said vague things that could apply to anyone. They used cold reading techniques to focus in on the things you reacted to. It wasn't magic, it was just a trick. Still, when the fortune teller told Jennie about herself it sent chills down her spine. This woman knew how to put on a show.
"I usually don't offer this," the fortune teller told her, "but you're a special case. What the cards say isn't set in stone. If you wanted to change something, I could influence the spirits on your behalf... for an extra fifty."
"Oh Em Gee, Jennie! You have to!" her friend Rachel interjected.
"Seriously! If you don't want to pay we will," Erin added.
Jennie hesitated. "You mean, like, you could change something about who I am?"
"I couldn't do that, but the spirits could. I could ask on your behalf."
Jennie smiled at the fortune teller. She was good, and it was an entertaining show. If her friends were willing to chip in, it seemed like it wasn't too much to pay for a tip. The girls were having a great night, and this seemed like a fine way to cement the memory.
The fortune teller smiled back. Her smile showed slightly crooked teeth that were not quite white.
"If you can control the spirits, how come you're not rich and famous?" Jennie asked. She had made up her mind to give the dark-haired woman the extra money, but she thought she should have a little fun first.
"It don't work that way. The spirits do what they will, I only deliver the request. They always have their own idea. I don't ask for fame and fortune because I don't trust how they would give it to me." The fortune teller's voice had a musical, lilting cadence.
"If you don't trust the spirits, why should I?" Jennie was enjoying the playful back-and-forth.
"You shouldn't. I'm only letting you know what can be done. You say yes or no for yourself."
Jennie bit her lip. She knew she was going to say yes, and the choice of what to change about herself was easy. She had been hearing the same criticism since grade school. Her friends knew her well enough to know what she was going to say before she said it. The fortune teller probably did too, if her reading was any indication.
"Well," Jennie said, "I've always been the kind of girl who needs to have everything my way all the time. Some people say I'm pushy, some people say I'm a bitch..." Her friends giggled. "If I could change something... I'd like to be the kind of person who just goes with the flow. I'd like to be someone who accepts things and lets them happen."
"You sure that's what you want?" The fortune teller had one eyebrow raised.
"Well, I've got fifteen here," Jennie rummaged in her purse, "You girls have the rest?"
*****
It was nearly midnight when Jennie walked in the door to her apartment. She kicked off her shoes and dropped her bag by the door. She shook her blonde hair as she regarded herself in the mirror. She had always wished she was average height and skinny, but in the mirror she was as tall and voluptuous as ever. Apparently her wish with the fortune teller hadn't brought her any greater sense of acceptance, because she felt the same as she ever had looking at her reflection.
"Babe, are you home?" her boyfriend, Paul, called from the living room. "How was the girls' night?"
Jennie walked into the doorway to see him watching an old science fiction TV show, tucked under a blanket on the couch. "It was fun. We had some drinks at that new place, then we stopped in to see a fortune teller, just for fun. She did a reading to tell my personality."
"Uh huh," Paul patted the couch next to himself.
Jennie was tired and she had work in the morning. Plus she didn't like this show. She turned her head towards their bedroom, ready to excuse herself and go to bed. She wanted to turn down Paul's silent offer to sit next to him, but it somehow didn't seem right. She had been out all night, and now he just wanted to spend some time with her. That didn't seem like too much to ask.
"Ok, sure." Jennie curled on the couch next to Paul. She put a pillow on his hip so she could lie down partly on top of him.
"What? Really?" Paul picked his head up in surprise. "I figured you would just head to bed."
"Yeah, but... I just didn't want to say no to you right now."
"Oh yeah?" Paul shot her with a sly smile. He pulled off his blanket and dropped it to the floor. Then he hiked up the leg of his boxer shorts until his cock fell out of the bottom. "You don't want to say no to me?"