by Ashlyn Chase
“Hi ,Wendy. I’m Bliss.”
Claudia let go of Bliss’s arm and said, “Wendy, I’d like you to show Bliss how we do things here. Just let her shadow you. She’ll pick it up quickly, I’m sure. So when she says she’s ready to go it alone, let her. She can always ask you if she has any questions, right?”
Bliss wondered why Claudia was giving the girl so many explicit directions. Maybe she’s got one of those brains with a dimmer switch, but her perkiness covers it.
“Not a problem, Claudia. I’ll just drop off this order and be right back.”
“No hurry. I still need to introduce her to Robin.”
“Oh. Okay. I’ll see you later, Bliss.”
As soon as Wendy skipped off, Bliss lowered her voice and asked, “Claudia? Is she always that perky?”
“Yup, if not perkier.”
Bliss groaned.
Claudia led the way to the remaining waitress, who was wiping down a table.
“Robin, I’d like to introduce you to our newest employee. This is Bliss.”
“Huh? Yeah, I guess. I mean it’s always nice to have more staff, but bliss? That’s a little strong, isn’t it?”
Claudia chuckled. “Her name is Bliss.”
“Oh!” Robin slapped her own forehead and giggled. “Oops. Sorry.”
“No need to be,” Bliss said. “You’re not the first to make that mistake, and you won’t be the last.”
Robin giggled again, and Bliss got the distinct impression that she was even flakier than the other one. Stop it. Don’t be judgmental. You just met them. Bliss hoped she was wrong, but her initial impressions usually proved to be fairly accurate.
She felt eyes on her and turned to see a gray-haired woman in a booth, shuffling tarot cards and staring directly at her.
Claudia led her over to the woman. “Bliss, this is Sadie. She’s Anthony’s aunt. Her tarot readings are a big draw here, and her customers have to meet a one-drink or two-soft-drink minimum. In other words, she’s very good for business.” Claudia spoke behind her hand: “Don’t charge her or cut her off. Anthony lets her drink for free, and she’s more psychic when she’s had a few.”
Bliss thought she saw one side of Sadie’s mouth curl up in a sly smile. “If she’s psychic, why are you whispering? Won’t she know what you’re talking about anyway?”
Claudia snorted. “Leave it to you to think of that.”
At that moment, Wendy reappeared with a drink for Sadie. She set the cocktail in front of her and said, “There you go,” in her sprightly voice. Then she whirled to face Claudia. “Is Bliss ready to be my shadow?”
“Ask her.”
Bliss thought she saw Claudia smirk. What’s that about?
“Okay,” Wendy said, unfazed. “Are you ready, Bliss?”
Bliss pulled the order pad from her apron pocket. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
* * *
A couple hours later, out of the corner of her eye, Bliss caught Claudia exiting her office with someone else. She led him right over to where Bliss was wiping down a table.
“Bliss, this is Anthony,” Claudia said.
The tall, dark, and impossibly handsome man scrutinized her with such an intense stare, Bliss trembled inside.
Reverting to her old, flippant coping mechanism, she said, “Yo, Tony. How you doin’?”
His eyebrows shot up. Claudia gaped at her friend, and the activity near them ceased while people listened to the uncomfortable exchange.
“Um… Bliss,” Claudia whispered, “no one calls him Tony.”
“Oh.” She wanted to slink off into a safe corner and give herself a time-out.
At last one side of Anthony’s mouth turned up. “I’m ‘doin’’ well, thank you. And how you doin’?”
She didn’t miss the mimicry and probably deserved it. Still, the fact that he went along with her Italian-American slang made her feel better somehow. If he was comfortable teasing his employees a little bit, maybe he wasn’t the stick-in-the-mud Claudia had made him out to be.
After a deep breath, she said, “I’m quite well, thank you. And I want you to know how much I appreciate the job and apartment.”
He nodded but made no comment. Focusing on Claudia, he said, “Can I see you in the office, please?”
Oh, shit. Claudia’s probably in trouble with the owner for hiring me.
“Of course.” Claudia followed Anthony to the small office where Bliss had changed into her uniform. She glanced over her shoulder and sent Bliss a wink.
Whew. She doesn’t seem worried, so maybe she’s right and he just appears intimidating. Bliss let out a deep breath. She couldn’t afford to be shit-canned. At least not until she got her Hall-Snark cards back on line—but not online. There had to be a better way to protect her grand finale.
Wendy bounded over to her. “Did you just call him Tony?”
No sense denying it with half a dozen witnesses. “Yeah. And I’m afraid I said, ‘Yo’ too.”
Wendy giggled. “That’s funny.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It just is.”
With that, she skipped off to the bar to give Angie her orders.
Bliss noticed Sadie smiling at her. Maybe she’d tell her if the owner was really the pussycat Claudia indicated he was, or if she’d completely blown her chance to make a good first impression.
Bliss made her way around the tables to Sadie’s booth. The woman continued shuffling her tarot cards even as she smiled up at her.
“Um, Sadie. Did I do something terribly wrong by calling your nephew Tony? Does he hate that nickname or something?”
She chuckled. “No, dear. You’re fine. I think you just surprised him. He isn’t used to employees being comfortable around him. At least not right away. I think you made a good first impression.”
“Seriously? I was already looking for another job in my head.”
Sadie laughed melodiously. “Don’t you go anywhere. You’re a breath of fresh air around here.” Then she held up her empty glass.
“Ah, I see you need a refill.”
Sadie grinned. “I see I’m not the only psychic here.”
Bliss smirked. Psychic. Really? “What are you drinking?”
“White Russians, dear. Always White Russians.”
“Okay. In that case, I won’t ask you in the future. But if you change your mind and decide you want something else…”
“I won’t.” Sadie stated it so matter-of-factly, Bliss couldn’t help wonder what was so special about that drink. Maybe she just knows what she likes.
Bliss was about to go put in the order when Sadie said, “Oh, and dear…”
“Yes?”
“Be careful of Drake.”
“Huh?” Drake hadn’t even visited the bar while she’d been working. “How do you know about Drake and me?”
“I know a lot of things.” Sadie spread the cards across the table. “Turn one over.”
Bliss took a step back. “I—uh, I don’t believe in letting tarot cards tell me what to do.”
Sadie snorted. “The cards don’t tell you what to do. They give you insight so you can use your free will accordingly.”
Claudia said to keep her happy. “Okaaay.” Bliss reached for the card closest to her and flipped it over.
It was a picture of two chalices and two people, or more accurately, a mermaid and a guy with a trident and a fishtail. Maybe Poseidon. It was kind of hard to see it at first, because Bliss was looking at it upside down.
Sadie smiled. “Well, it’s better news than I thought.”
Bliss waited quietly, not wanting to tell the old woman what she really thought of this hooey.
“It appears you’ve met your mate, but there may be some obstacle in the way. Don’t worry. It’s temporary.”
“What do you mean? What’s temporary?”
“Pull another card, dear.”
Bliss did as she was asked. This time she reached for one in the middle of the deck
that was sticking out a bit farther than the rest, almost begging her to take it.
The card read Strength in large letters, and it depicted a woman with a lion.
Sadie nodded. “As I thought… you will be facing some kind of formidable foe, and you may have to fight for what you want, but if you choose to do so, you will prevail.”
Forgetting about playing nice with the overconfident so-called psychic, Bliss said, “You’re not telling me anything specific. I can make that true about a few different things in my life right now. What does this have to do with Drake?”
“Earlier, when I looked at you, I had a vision of Drake standing beside you. I knew you two were connected in some way, but I’m guessing the relationship is very new.”
A vision? The woman has visions?
Without waiting for confirmation, Sadie continued. “I’d say the cards are giving you the go-ahead, but I wouldn’t expect it to be all smooth sailing.”
Bliss smirked. “I’ve never heard of a relationship that was easy-breezy all of the time.”
“Good. Then you won’t presume it to be.”
Bliss didn’t know if she was any better informed now than she had been five minutes ago. What had she really learned? That the owner’s aunt thinks she has visions. She somehow put Drake and Bliss together as a couple, and… and what? Their relationship would have the usual ups and downs of any other relationship? A big, fat “So what?” formed in her mind, but she kept her mouth shut.
“Well, um… thanks for the advice.”
“You’re welcome, but I didn’t give you any advice.”
She didn’t? Bliss thought back to what she’d been told. The woman had simply shared what she saw, but she never did tell Bliss what to do about any of it.
“Hmmm… Well, it was interesting, nonetheless. I’d better get back to work. Even I can predict a thirsty customer or two will need my help soon.”
Chapter 6
“Mother Nature, why didn’t you stop the dragons when you realized they were meeting?” Apollo asked.
“For the same reason we try not interfere in all human matters. It’s important to give them a chance to figure things out for themselves. If Drake didn’t realize Zina was bad news, I may have had to drum a few subtle hints into his thick skull. Fortunately he was smart enough to walk away on his own. Now, he’s interested in someone else.”
“But the female dragon knows he’s here.”
“Yes. And your point is?”
Apollo threw his hands in the air. “Aren’t you afraid she’ll hunt him down and convince him to have sex with her?”
Gaia chuckled. “Oh, she might try, but again we need to give the other dragon an opportunity to handle it.”
“You must have a lot of faith in his ability to make good decisions.”
“Not really. If it comes down to it, I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow their love nest right out of its tree, or something like that.”
“But why sit around and allow them to possibly make mistakes?”
“Because that’s how they learn. Why does Zeus let you make mistakes?”
“What mistakes? Gods don’t make mistakes.”
Gaia laughed. “Oh, you’re precious.”
* * *
Bliss looked up from the table she was wiping. Drake stood in front of her with a bouquet of flowers in his hand and a smile on his face.
“Hello, beautiful.”
“Well, hello yourself. What brings you here with flowers?” Are they for me?
“It’s a housewarming present. What time do you get off work?”
Yay, they are for me! She glanced at the clock. It was almost ten. “Not for another hour. Can you hang around that long?”
“Sure. I’ll sit at the bar so I won’t distract you from your work.”
She set a hand on her hip. “Pretty sure of your shiny self, aren’t you?”
His brows knit. “Uh, no. Did I sound like that?”
She felt like an idiot. Apparently he didn’t get her poke at his male pride. “I was just teasing you. Sit anywhere you like. Maybe I should put the flowers in some water.”
“Sure.”
He handed them to her and she took a hearty whiff. They were really lovely and smelled like spring.
“Now to find a vase…”
Angie pulled a glass vase from somewhere beneath the bar and held it up for her to see. “Will this work?”
“Perfect.”
Her new roomie half-filled the vase with tap water and set it on the bar. Bliss arranged the flowers in the vase and took another big whiff.
“Mmm… they smell heavenly.”
Drake strolled up beside her and sniffed her hair. “You smell better.”
She chuckled. “You like my herbal shampoo more than flowers?”
“What can I say? I’m a guy.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Uh… miss!”
“Oops. I heard my name.” Bliss located the female customer sitting near the door, holding up one finger. “Excuse me, Drake.”
“Sure. Duty calls.” He glanced at the customer and went stiff. His eyes rounded and he muttered, “Shit,” under his breath.
What’s that about? Sure, the woman looked a bit strange… kind of lethal, but so what? She was just sitting there. Hadn’t he ever seen anyone wearing leather and dreadlocks before? And who was he to judge someone based on weird hair?
Bliss ignored his reaction and hurried over to the waiting customer with her order pad in hand. When she got closer, the woman sported a nasty smile.
“What can I get you?” Bliss asked politely.
The woman narrowed her eyes. “You can get out of my way.”
“Excuse me?”
“You see that guy over there?”
Bliss glanced over at Drake. He quickly looked away.
“Yeah. What about him?”
“We went on a date recently and had a real good time, so I can’t help wondering why my boyfriend is buying you flowers. Are you his sister or something?”
“Uh… no. We’re not related.” And never will be, if he’s trying to hide another relationship from me.
“I see. So my question stands. Why did he bring you flowers?”
Bliss wasn’t going to let this pushy broad get the best of her. She simply shrugged and said, “Ask him.”
The woman rose. “I will.”
Part of Bliss wanted to follow her and listen to what he had to say. The other part wanted to run for the hills. She opted for a compromise and asked the customers at her other tables if they needed anything.
Over her shoulder she noticed Drake leaving with the horrible woman. The cynical part of her that had been slowly fading away suddenly came back with a vengeance. It figures. The minute I think I’ve found someone special, he disappoints me.
Sadie waved her over. Bliss had almost forgotten about the tarot reading.
Crap. She strolled over to Sadie’s booth. “Did you want another White Russian?” Or did you want to say, “I told you so”?
“Yes, dear. That would be nice, but I also wanted to give you a little more information.”
Bliss was almost afraid to ask. “Another prediction?”
“No. Just a little psychic insight. When I told you to be careful of Drake, I think it had something to do with that woman. And it’s not about protecting your heart. I think you need to protect yourself physically.”
“Shi—I mean, shoot,” Bliss stammered. “Wow. Do you really think she’d hurt me?”
“I was getting some very dark vibes from her. I’d say she’s capable of it. Do you know martial arts?”
Bliss laughed, then she sobered quickly. “Do you think I need to take some classes?”
Sadie nodded. “It wouldn’t hurt.”
“It might. I don’t have time for that right now.”
“Why? What’s so important that it comes before protecting yourself?”
“Only my whole future. Put it this way, if I sur
vive because I learned self-defense, swell, but my quality of life won’t be that great. If I don’t survive but win the brass ring…” Bliss heard her own bizarre rationale and couldn’t finish her thought. “I’m sorry, Sadie. Thank you for your concern. I guess I’ll have to weigh the pros and cons.”
Sadie smiled. “I understand. Exercising your free will is important.”
Bliss had to put this new information on the back burner if she was going to do her job with any kind of competence. “Well, let me go get you your drink.”
“Thank you, dear. Don’t worry about that contest so much. I have a good feeling about your part in it.”
“You know about the contest?”
Sadie shrugged. “Like I tell everyone, I know a lot of things.”
Bliss thought about what else Sadie said she knew or had a feeling about, and her skin started to prickle.
* * *
Drake followed Zina onto the sidewalk. Charles Street was fairly quiet for a change.
“So, Drake, why are you two-timing me?”
“I just met you! And I met Bliss a couple weeks ago. I’m not committed to anyone yet.”
“I thought we had a good thing going.”
“We had one drink together, and to be honest, I wasn’t planning to call you again.”
“You what?” she shrieked. “Why the hell did you take my number if you weren’t going to use it?”
Her eyes glowed and wings pushed at the fabric on her shoulders. He had thought she was wearing leather, but apparently it was something else. Something that stretched.
“I didn’t want to insult you. Besides, I didn’t take it. You practically forced it on me.”
“Well, how do you think I feel now?”
He stared at what must have been her wings, pushing at the fabric again. “Probably lousy, but it would be worse to mislead you anymore than I already have.”
“You bet I feel lousy. And you should know better than to piss off a dragon.”
He focused on her rapidly reddening cheeks. This is what he was afraid of. If he’d refused her number, chances are he’d have seen the same reaction. Who knew what she’d do in a crowded restaurant. She could begin hurling chairs or get so “steamed” she’d shift.