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“How was the appointment with Ms. Nardo?”
Mary Jo had to bite the inside of her cheeks to suppress a laugh upon watching her friends entering Sugarbaker’s once again. Between the proud grin that danced on Charlene’s lips and the way Julia stomped her way to the desk, she could tell their plan was successful after all.
“A colossal waste of time,” the brunette replied dryly before flashing the woman across the room one of her trademark death glares. “But you already knew that.”
“It was Charlene’s idea,” Mary Jo put her hands up in a defensive gesture, although the little smirk stamped on her face betrayed the sentiment she tried to convey.
“You were in cahoots with her in this childish prank,” Julia spoke slowly, emphasizing her words in that menacing tone that signalled the Terminator was close enough to make an appearance.
Much to her dismay, Charlene was not intimidated by her attitude at all.
“Oh lighten up, Julia,” she piped in the conversation while hanging her coat. “We were just trying to help you.”
Not only was Mary Jo just as unfazed, but she also went as far as recklessly poking fun at the situation. “Wish I could have seen your face when you realized,” then, she proceeded to eye the blonde at the front desk, who now happened to be concealing a giggle or two herself.
“I’m glad y’all are having fun at my expense,” Julia retorted bitterly. In order to shift their collective focus back to actual work, she put her glasses on and buried her nose in the account book before her. “Were the curtains delivered yet?”
“No,” the redhead’s eyes carried a glint of curiosity that indicated the previous topic was not over just yet. “What did she say?”
Due to the lack of a better alternative, Julia simply ignored her. Charlene, on the other hand, did not let go of it that easily. Instead, she fueled the argument even more. “Some very interesting stuff.”
“Like what?”
“Julia, can I tell it or you will?” Charlene wiggled her brows at the older woman, obtaining nothing more than a blank expression in return. Okay, silence was compliance. “So we got there and–”
“She just spewed a bunch of generic stuff like they all do,” Julia interrupted in a full on combative mode. “That’s exactly how they manage to trick all sorts of naive, hopeless and desperate people. By talking things that anyone can relate to on some level and brainwashing them to believe they’re oh so unique to endure things natural to the human experience.”
The blonde did not skip a beat to fire back, annoyed. “Leave it to you to scorn at Daphne’s psychic abilities after everything she has said to you.”
“There is no such thing as a psychic, Charlene!” Julia raised her voice and leapt from her chair out of sheer irritation that dominated her.
“Yeah? then how come she got all that stuff right about you, huh?” Charlene boldly inquired with her arms folded in front of her chest.
“What stuff?”
‘Well, let me refresh your memory, then…”
--
“I’m sorry Ms. Moon, I don’t think I’m the right person for this,” Julia’s gentleness compelled her to speak in an apologetic tone. It was not in her best interest to offend anyone if she could avoid it, even a con artist.
“You can call me Daphne,” the young lady revealed her thick English accent in only a few words.
Daphne wore a bright smile on her lips and a kindness in her eyes that had long been lost on people living on this side of the ocean. Of all the things she had heard and seen about psychics over the years, just by looking at her, Julia could never tell this girl was involved in the art of scamming. Part of her was still reluctant to believe it even as they talked.
“Well, Daphne, quite frankly, I don’t believe in crystal balls and tarot decks.”
“You silly, Daphne’s a natural, she doesn’t need any of that,” Charlene intervened to preserve the reputation of her newest and dearest acquaintance. “You know, the first time I came here, she took one good look at me and –” she snapped her fingers for added emphasis. “Bam! She could tell my brother Odell’s dog, Waylon, had been constipated over a deadly tick infestation.”
“Lovely,” Julia deadpanned.
“She saved his life, he could have died!”
Daphne stretched her arm across the circular table and reached over to kindly squeeze Charlene’s hand. Focusing her attention back to her current client, she continued in a soft-spoken manner. “The way I like to work doesn’t involve any of those props. We just have a conversation. You tell me a little bit about your life and if I pick up on something I jump right in,” she waited patiently as Julia was disarmed of her judgemental expression. “Now, Charlene has told me you run the business she works for, is that right?”
“Y-yes, we’re an interior decorating firm.”
“Oh that’s quite nice. And you operate from your home, correct?” Daphne’s smile widened as her client nodded. “Tell me a little bit about your house.”
“It’s a traditional southern-style home from way before the war, it has quite the historical and sentimental value,” Julia’s pride reflected in her warm brown eyes as she offered further explanations. “My great-grandfather built it with his bare hands and it has stayed in the family for generations.”
“How did you end up living there?”
“Well, the place is a little old and it turns out I was the only one interested in renovating it. My sister helped in part with–”
“Wait, I’m picking up on something there,” the self-proclaimed psychic demonstrated her skills after the abrupt interruption. “Yes. I see a living room, with three desks in it and… A tree? A Christmas tree? Yes, it’s Christmas,” she motioned with her hands regularly as her alleged visions rolled off her tongue one right after the other. “But there’s something else there. Something small and– pink, and it wears a little sparkly crown. It’s a– it’s a pig. I see a pig in your living room.”
“I beg your pardon?” Julia asked, positively stumped.
“Could this be related to Suzanne?” Charlene chimed in with a question of her own. “I mean, you were just talking about her and this happened.”
“Maybe,” Daphne reasoned. “Does this Suzanne person happen to be a farmer by any chance?”
--
“If anything, that just proves she knows nothing,” Julia smirked, convinced that the nonsensical anecdote supported her side of the story.
Despite not wanting to give her friend the satisfaction of being right, Mary Jo just had to admit. “Charlene, I hate to say it, but it’s not looking good.”
“Obviously that was some sort of metaphor about Suzanne, y’all just didn’t understand,” Charlene made up excuses as she went on. “Because she’s a beauty queen who has won crowns and she likes pink and… Bacon.”
“When you put it like that, so eloquently…” Julia’s tone was drenched in sarcasm.
“Do you mind? I haven’t gotten to the juice stuff yet."
--
“You have a son.”
“Yes, I do.”
“How old is he, about 20?”
“He turned 19 last December,” the brunette replied, a little suspicious of how she got that kind of information. Surely, it had to have come from Charlene.
“Was he named after a writer?”
Julia did a double take. Now that was starting to feel weird… “His father’s favorite, actually.”
“With that kind of sentiment behind his name, no wonder he wants to be a writer too,” Daphne remarked humorously, just to lighten up the mood in the room. “I can see he’s a very sweet boy. I’m sure you’re proud of him”
“I’m immensely proud of him,” Julia smirked, not only out of the affection towards her son, but because she was about to instigate Daphne a little bit. “But you don’t have to be a psychic to see that.”
“I agree,” the younger woman graciously took the insult hidden somewhere in that sentence. It made the decorator feel a tad guilty for going down that road. “Is he in college?”
“Vanderbilt University, majoring in Communications, as a matter of fact,” she explained. Payne wanted to be a journalist. She knew that. He had told her that a thousand times before. If this were a chess game, Julia would have uttered ‘check’ by now.
“What about his minor?”
After remaining pensive for a brief moment, Julia replied, defeated. “Creative writing.”
Checkmate.
--
“How do you explain that, huh?” Charlene cocked an eyebrow while displaying a confident grin plastered on her lips.
“You,” Julia simply put. “Surely you must have mentioned Payne to her before.”
“I did not!”
“Of course you did, how else would she know about th–” she stopped herself before finishing. The remaining women in the room stared at her as if they had discovered a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, or something to that effect. “No.”
“I didn’t even know about the story behind Payne’s name,” the blonde pointed out, only to be backed by Mary Jo reiterating that statement.
“Neither did I.”
"Y’all are just trying to drive me crazy,” Julia speculated. It just had to be it, nothing else would make sense in this situation. “I know there has to be a perfectly logical explanation for that.”
“I can’t believe you’re still not convinced of her gift yet,” Charlene prostested. Admittedly, she was losing her patience towards the decorator, who insisted on turning a blind eye to obvious clues right before her. “What about that man thing, then?”
Mary Jo’s eyes widened as she demanded the subject was further elaborated. “What man thing?”
--
“There’s a dark cloud hovering above you,” Daphne stated, only to watch her client’s face suddenly drop.“You don’t have to be a psychic to see that, though,” she amended in reference to an earlier comment, inciting a small, knowing chuckle from the older woman in return. “You carry a lot of pain and guilt on your shoulders over the death of your husband.”
Julia fell silent, for a nerve had been hit there. Years had gone by and Hayden’s passing still was a sore subject to her, to say the least.
“Charlene mentioned that you were a widow. That must be quite difficult,” the psychic was empathetic to the remorse imprinted on the face she carefully studied now. “I hope I’m not overstepping here, but I encourage you to look at it from a different perspective. Don’t think of what’s lost, but of what you had; a great love.”
Such reassuring words were oddly comforting, especially coming from someone she did not know until half an hour ago. Julia fought the tears that welled up on her eyes and nodded in a thankful gesture.
“Most people spend their lifetime trying to find something like that. And asking me about how or when they will find it,” Daphne remarked light-heartedly. “But you, Julia, you’re one of the lucky ones. ‘Cause you had one great love in your past and you’re destined to have another one in your future.”
“Good, cause we’ve been trying to get her to start dating again for ages,” Charlene commented, more for the comedic effect than anything else. She simply hated to see her friend succumbing to that same dark cloud.
“Charlene!” Julia’s uncharacteristic bashfulness reflected in the way she smacked the blonde’s arm. Turning to Daphne again, she argued. “I’m not looking for any of that.”
“I’m afraid that sort of thing isn’t based on your rational mind,” Daphne smiled kindly, the warmth that radiated from this woman deeply touched Julia in a way that was almost indescribable. There was a peacefulness to her that was downright contagious. “I see a man in your future, and he’s coming sooner than you think. Now, he’s not a new man by any means. You know him already. The two of you share the same kind of pain; maybe he has lost someone too. Maybe he’s a widower. I’m not quite sure.”
Julia was left to ponder with that new piece of information until something strange got ahold of her. The little hairs on the back of her neck stood up, the pit of her stomach turned in an unprecedented move and her chest suddenly felt tighter. Those were not necessarily concerning things, just the kind of sensation that took her by surprise, especially when she was left to wonder what exactly they meant and why it all came to surface right then.
“What I am sure, though, is that he has beautiful blue eyes and, when he comes around, he’s going to change everything for you.”
Charlene’s efforts to nudge her friend with her elbow were dismissed when Julia shook her head. She was far too intrigued to articulate words, which was an unnatural occurrence on its own. Much like a switch being flicked, however, the general stillness in the room was substituted for a more carefree attitude, courtesy of the young lady.
“I guess Atlanta must be located in some sort of vortex of energy or something. I haven’t had visions this clear since I was a little girl back in Manchester.”
--
“A man from my past is returning to my life? Get serious! That’s the oldest cliché in the book,” Julia uttered impetuously, hoping not to convince her friends, but her own self. Believing that kind of thing even for a split second was a waste of time. Despite how her gut feelings stated otherwise. “It could be the cashier at the supermarket or Rusty, the electrician, for all we know.”
“Hey, she was very specific about you two having something in common.”
“Yeah, the produce section,” the brunette’s snarky remark was not well received by her peers.
“Okay, Julia. Leave it to you to ruin something beautiful like this,” Charlene rolled her eyes annoyedly.
“You gotta admit, though, some of the things she said were kind of spooky,” Mary Jo offered her final take on the whole thing.
“That’s because she honestly believes she has some sort of superpower,” being uncomfortable in her position all of sudden, Julia began pacing around the living room while professing her own opinions. “Now, Daphne is a very nice, very smart young girl, I’ll give her that. Very brave too, coming to America all alone to make a new life for herself. I think it’s a shame she has to resort to making a living this way.”
“So you’re not curious in the slightest about this blue-eyed guy?” Charlene inquired one last time before giving up on her friend.
“Not at all, Charlene,” Julia attempted to speak solemnly, but for some reason she was a lot more transparent than she could ever conceive. “Because this man doesn’t exist.”
“We’ll see about that,” the blonde smirked confidently.
The topic of Julia’s adventures with the supernatural were tossed to the side when the door swung open. In came a disgruntled Suzanne, who could not raise her gaze from the wooden floor as she crossed the room and sunk into her traditional seat on the couch.
“Hi, y’all,” she mumbled in a weak voice.
“Suzanne, where have you been?” Mary Jo sensed some sort of disturbance in the beauty queen’s usual mood, and so she handed her a cup of freshly brewed coffee. “You missed all about Julia’s psychic session.”
“Oh, was that today? I forgot,” Suzanne did not seem too excited about the subject. Clearly, something was amiss. “I’m sorry, I’m not in my best moment today.”
“Something the matter?” Julia approached her sister, both puzzled and concerned with her unusual demeanor.
“Jack served me with the divorce papers this morning,” she confessed in a defeated tone.
“He did?” Charlene could hardly believe it had come down to this. Add another heartache to the already chaotic aura that surrounded Sugarbaker’s as of lately.
“Yeah, it’s the real thing this time. I’m even going to meet up with my attorney at the end of the day to talk things through. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later b– ”
Suzanne persisted on talking, though her words were lost in the brunette’s ears. Julia found herself distracted by the little hairs on the back of her neck rising once more, exactly the way they had earlier during her session. In an attempt to dismiss this strange feeling, she used her hand to rub the bumpy skin and soothe the goosebumps away. Despite her best efforts, the accompanying tightness on her chest lingered there for a while longer.
“Julia?” Her sister’s apprehensive voice snapped her out of the momentary trance. “I asked if you could come with me to the appointment with my lawyer today.”
Now aware of how she had frozen just a few seconds before, Julia adjusted her skirt and battled to regain her composure before replying.
“Of course.”