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AJ didn't believe in tarot readings, or any other kind of fortune telling for that matter. It was all a scam to fleece people with more money than brains. Unfortunately, he'd lost a bet and Lucas had insisted he go and visit the 'genuine gypsy fortune teller' at the local fair. Lucas said she was the real thing, that she had 'a gift'. AJ snorted, yeah, right, a gift for parting idiots from their money, more like.
The 'gypsy' told him to shuffle and cut the cards while thinking about what it was he wanted to know. He did as she told him, not really thinking about anything in particular though; after all he didn't want to know anything. He was only here because of Lucas and even if he did have a problem, this charlatan with her headscarf and oversized hoop earrings wasn't going to be able to help him.
She started dealing the cards onto the table, making a pretty pattern with them. Then she began to explain what she thought they meant. AJ leaned back in his chair, totally indifferent to her words, but that quickly changed as her descriptions started to resonate with his life.
The first card was a person. Apparently it symbolised his past. Princess of Cups. He smirked, his Corey would insist on being a princess. Then the Eight of Cups. Apparently that was meant to signify difficulties. Well, that was for certain. Ever since he decided to stay in Fieldsboro, his relationship with Corey had been rocky. He went to visit her every weekend, took her out to dinner, spent as much of his hard earned cash on her as he could. She never came back to visit him or the gang though, not even Gina. Apparently, her studies took up too much of her time.
The fortune teller told him that as well as difficulties in general the card could mean a relationship in which he was giving more than he was getting. He sighed; ain't that the truth!
Then she started talking about future influences and external influences. He didn't quite get what she meant but he did pick up what, to him, were the salient points. Ace of cups was a new beginning, the start of a project or more likely a relationship. He shrugged; he already had one more relationship than he could handle. He didn't need a second one. The Queen of Wands was the second woman in his life - someone strong, occasionally bossy, independent, with trauma or conflict in her past. He shook his head - Deb? Deb was supposed to be the other woman? Sure he was close to her and everything, she was his best friend. But she didn't think of him like that and he wasn't romantically interested in her either. OK, he'd occasionally wondered what it would be like to kiss her, but he was a guy, guys thought about that kind of thing. Didn't mean he wanted to date her, did it?
The card meant to represent him, his attitude was a musician or artist. Well that fit; this woman was good. He still thought she was pulling this out of some kind of clues he was giving off, but she had been pretty close so far. She said the card meant he was feeling troubled about moving into a new relationship. He shook his head again. What was all this insistence on saying he wanted to date someone else? He was happy with Corey, well maybe not happy, but he just wasn't trying hard enough. That's what she kept telling him. He was being unfair, unable to understand that her studies were important.
Another card indicating change, damn gypsy was starting to sound like a broken record, then one indicating there would be strife and quarrels to overcome. Man, you could say that again. If he dumped his princess for Deb? She'd kill him.
The final card was The Sun, apparently that meant the final result would be hope and happiness. That sounded nice, he had to admit. Things with Corey weren't exactly a picnic these days; he couldn't remember the last time they'd just had fun together. She didn't think he knew it, but when he wasn't around her studies weren't taking as much of her life as she made out. He'd travelled up to surprise her one week and seen her with some preppy looking rich boy. He didn't think she was actually cheating on him, but she was definitely having more fun than she was letting on.
He smiled and thanked the gypsy, walking out of the tent, lost in thought. He bumped into someone and started apologising then smiled when he saw it was Deb.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" He grinned at her, automatically wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"Lucas ordered me to 'Get out and have some fun'," she said with a shrug. "It seemed like too much effort to argue with him. You know how he gets."
AJ shook his head, thinking that Lucas was a lot more devious than he let on. Then he smiled down at her.
"Well, since we're both here, let's have some fun together," he told her, looking down at her happily, the gypsy's words still running through his mind. "Let me buy you something to eat."