“Welcome ladies. I am Angele Dahlman.” She smiled at the girls as she looked at each face and finally came back a second time to look at Bree.
“I believe you are our birthday girl, no?” she asked, with the slightest hint of a Southern French Creole accent, as she reached for Bree’s hand.
“Yes,” Bree smiled back. She took Angele’s offered hand. “How did you know?”
“You look happy in the face, like a birthday girl should.” She took Bree’s hand and held it closer to her while looking directly into her eyes. “It is most unfortunate that your happiness does not fill your eyes and therefore cannot fill your heart or soul.” She spoke the last words quietly so that only Bree would hear them. Pointing to the overstuffed chair next to an ornate high backed chair, she said, “You should sit here to my right.” She directed Bree to the chair next to hers and then indicated to the others to sit. “Please ladies take a seat and introduce yourselves.”
“Hi, I’m Diana, Bree’s best friend. I talked to you on the phone and made the arrangements for today’s reading.” Diana smiled as Angele nodded and acknowledged her.
“Yes Diana, I recognize your voice. Thank you for choosing to come to see me and for making the arrangements.” She looked to Gretchen sitting on the couch next to Diana.
“Hello. I’m Gretchen. Bree and I go to school together.” She smiled when she was done and looked at the only person yet to be introduced.
“Hello Angele, I’m Christine. I go to school with all of the girls. We’ve all been friends since we met at orientation almost two years ago.” Christine’s voice sounded a little nervous.
Angele looked at all of them. “Ladies, there is no reason to be nervous. You are among friends and nothing will be revealed here that you don’t want to be made aware of. What I will say to you is what the cards reveal to me. You can take or leave whatever pieces of information you wish. The power of the cards lies within each of you; not with me, at least not in the true sense.”
Diana spoke first. “The reading is for Bree since it’s her birthday.”
“Ok then. Aubree are you ready to get started?” Angele took Bree’s hand once again. “There is no need to be afraid or nervous. You are an intelligent young woman. You are independent and strong of mind, body, and spirit. I can tell that just by being in your presence.”
Angele smiled at Bree and rubbed her thumb across the inside of her wrist. She pressed her thumb down and stilled it just over the pulse point. It was as if she were going to check Bree’s heart rate. There was a moment of silence as everyone watched the interaction between the two women.
“Aubree you must know that things happen for a reason; most of the time, things happen for good reasons. People come into our lives when we need them and sometimes, they leave our lives when we no longer need what they have to offer.” She moved her gaze from Bree’s wrist and looked into her eyes. “Consider yourself fortunate for what you shared. It is over now and the time was right for things to end.” A tear fell from Bree’s eye and slowly slid down her cheek.
“A young man, no?” Angele asked.
Bree nodded.
“Do not shed any more tears for your young man. It was his time to leave you and you need to put that behind you and move forward. It simply was not meant to be. He was not the one you were meant to be with. You know that. You’re not crying for what you no longer have my dear. You are crying for what you never had and have always wanted.”
The girls looked confused. Then Diana, realizing what was being said, interrupted. “Bree are you ok? You didn’t say anything. You could have told me.”
Bree closed her eyes and nodded as the silent tears came to an end. Angele held her hand for a moment longer and then gently released it, nodding to Bree. She was ready to start as she reached for a small wooden box centered on the ornate table. She took the box and placed it in her lap, resting her right hand on it as she took a deep breath.
Angele started the reading quietly. "So, do you have questions you'd like answered, or shall we just see what the universe has to say to you?"
Bree answered a little apprehensively. "Yes, I'd like to know what my future holds or umm, I guess whatever you think I should know about my future."
"Let's see what we can see then, shall we?"
Angele removed the cards from the wooden box and then from a cloth bag. She held the deck between her palms, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Clearing her mind and asking for guidance that she may pull the appropriate cards, she took a few more deep centering breaths before continuing.
"I ask you, my Guides, that you please surround myself and Aubree with your holy light, and to please help me understand your message for her today so that I may answer her questions and help her find the path to peace.”
Once she completed her request to her Guides, Angele shuffled the cards several times. Cutting the deck three times, she took one final deep calming breath and began to lay them out. One at a time Angele placed each card, six in all, in two rows of three. She took a long moment to stare at them. Slowly, she drew her hand over the cards as she concentrated on their meanings.
"Your cards are Interesting," she looked up at Bree. "Let me explain what I am looking at. This top row here represents what is happening with you now. What has been happening? How you've come to this point. The bottom row gives me a sense of what you should do, things you should know, and where you might expect to end up. So let us look at the present first and get a sense of where you are."
Angele ruminated on the cards a few moments longer. Bree watched her face, wondering what she saw in them. Hesitantly, before Angele began her explanation, Bree asked, “What is it you see? What do they tell you?”
"First here we have the eight of swords. It seems there is some issue where you could be seeing the bigger picture, but unfortunately you may be too caught up in the details. I think the minutia of day-to-day life is getting in the way of the bigger questions, the Grand Adventure. You want to do two different things, but if you debate with yourself forever on which path to take, you will never pick either of them.”
“The nine of wands. Hmm. Again, interesting. Never doubt, Aubree, that you are in fact a very strong person. More than you give yourself credit for. You do want adventure. You do want to try new things, and to go places you've never been, meet strangers, take chances, all of that. But it may be that you are somehow waiting for someone else to give you permission, or some event to push you into doing it. You're amenable to going with the flow, but, and I'll get to what you can do to make this happen in a moment, you need to be the flow yourself, not simply float downstream and look for a branch to grab onto.”
Bree looked from the cards to Angele and then back to the cards as Angele focused and pointed to one card in specific before she continued to speak.
“Which brings me to one of the larger points about what is going on now. This,” Angele pointed to the card, “here. This is the prince of disks. This card is telling me that another huge part of the reason you're here right now is because you're in a rut. It is very secure and comforting to you to do the same thing every day. You drink the same coffee from the same shop on the corner. Drive the same way home from school or work. Order the same thing at the same restaurant every time. There is nothing inherently wrong with this. We are all creatures of habit, and these things give us some security in an unpredictable world. It is one way we try to control our environment so we don't have to be afraid of the unknown, because everything is familiar.”
Bree interjected, “Is it bad to have a comfort zone? A routine that is known to you and safe?” The other girls watched quietly, engrossed in how intensely the reading appeared to have affected Bree.
“It’s not an instance of ‘bad’ or ‘good’ Aubree, but there is a point where this can go too far. It can take over our lives, and I think that is what may be happening here. You can do something about this, however. Or rather, something is going to happen that will force you to address this
. It would be easiest for you if you took the initiative and made it happen on your own. Because if you stubbornly try to do things as you've always done, the Universe will make the choice for you. You'll still learn the lesson; it will just be more difficult.”
“Please, the last thing I want or need right now is ‘more difficult.’ I think I’ve had enough of that to last me a while.” Bree leaned in closer to the cards that were laid out for her.
Angele looked at Bree with an understanding that was shared between the two women, as if she understood exactly what Bree was referencing in her comment.
“Now remember, I brought up the notion of ‘imbalance.’ Here we're looking at this bottom row which tells me what you can do, what's to come, and the very first card is Justice. You can see the scales here and the blind Lady Justice. Exactly the picture of balance. This is what you need to achieve. This is the core issue here. It's OK to have routines, but not to the point of stagnation.”
“Now before I get to this card in the middle here, I'd like to point out that this last card, the one which shows me the result, if you can take the path the universe is advising you to take, is the Fortune card. You really couldn't ask for a better outcome. You can have what you want, even if right now you don't know what that is, exactly, and it will be better than you ever imagined.”
“But the reason I skipped this middle card for a moment, is that this is the path to get to this Fortune, and I don't like to be dire or negative, Aubree, but it will not be an easy one. This is the ten of swords. You are going to have to make some tough decisions, and more than one. And will probably feel, in the thick of it, that you are being assaulted from all sides and there is no way you can win or come out unscathed. You may even begin to feel like there is no end to your troubles, but that is not true, and you need to remember that. As trying as things might get, they will end at some point. The key thing you must remember is balance. There will be forks in the road and the choice will be yours as to which path to take, but it will be a good idea to ask yourself: Which path will give me balance, and which will send me down another one way street? I don't think you want more of the same, or you wouldn't be sitting here with me right now.”
“Oh Angele, I don’t want more of the same, but how will I know when a fork in my path is being presented? I understand wanting balance; I’m not sure I will know how to get it. What if I make the wrong choices?” Bree looked to Angele as if she thought she would get an answer.
“Again, though, I go back to this Fortune card. You can have what you want; it just may take some struggle to get there. And don't worry, you will have help. The people around you are there for a reason. Possibly some people you haven't even met yet, but will be there to help you figure out which path to take.”
“Now before you leave, I want you to understand, so there is no mistake: nothing is carved in stone. It's your choices and your free will that sets the course of your life. There's no "fate" you can't escape, only challenges to encounter that you may either accept or run from. You can choose whatever you want.”
“I hope that was helpful, Aubree. I hope it was information you will think about and use.”
“It was informative to say the least,” Bree whispered as if telling Angele a secret. “I will think about everything you’ve shown me here. I just hope I will recognize when I’m presented with a choice and will know what decision should be made. So far, I haven’t done too well with some of my choices.”
“Aubree, my hope for every reading is to bring forth options and alternative paths that are often overlooked or not considered by others. Before you leave, I have something for you. Take it with you as a talisman of luck and fortune.” Angele went to an older deck of Tarot Cards and pulled the number ten trump card and gave it to Bree. “Here, this is to remind you of what your future holds if you make the right choices.” She handed Bree the Card of Fortune.
“It is always wise to keep your mind and your options open. Understand you have choices to make. Maintain balance, don’t get caught up in your history, your routine, your own mind and thought processes. Don’t hold yourself back. Only you know what you’re looking for and what will make you happy. Your future is yours for the making. I wish you success on your journey.”
Angele took Bree’s hand as she spoke. Bree thanked her for the reading and her insight. As the girls left the shop, the chimes on the door sounded again. Bree thought how odd it was that when they entered, the chimes made a light welcoming sound and now, as they left, the sound seemed deeper as if signifying a goodbye.
“Well that was different.” Diana looked at Bree. “Was it what you expected?”
“I didn’t know what to expect. I can tell you that I didn’t expect to feel a connection with her.”
“What kind of a connection?” Gretchen was curious of the choice of words Bree used.
“I just felt like she knew what was really going on in my life. You guys have to admit, she did connect with me and my issues pretty well. I mean really, comfort in routine, safe choices, even down to taking the same way to school and work. God, have I become that predictable?”
“Yes,” Diana said and then laughed at the look of surprise on Bree’s face. “Now, like Angele said, your future is in your hands. You need to make choices and live life with balance. So, I’m hoping you’re not going to give me a hard time about our next excursion.”
“Oh God Di, why don’t I like the sound of that?”
“Well you should. I’ve put a lot of thought into today’s plans. You’re always talking about the things you would love to do, but you never take the time to do them. Or the things you want to happen, but you know never will. So, today, you have the time and I made plans to do some of them.”
“Like what?” Bree smiled at her friend and linked arms as they started to walk.
“In case you haven’t noticed, you have been grabbed and kissed by a good looking stranger. One of the things you said you always wanted to happen,” she laughed. “Ok, so you kind of know Brian, but he is a good looking guy and he did grab you and kiss you, so that counts. Right?”
“Yes Di that counts. Thanks.”
“Ok. Then one of your favorite sayings is ‘I wish I knew what tomorrow holds.’ So, now you do. Tomorrow holds a lot of choices for you to make. A future that will be better than you expect if you make the right choices, etc. That’s two down. And last, but not least number three.”
“Why do I feel number three is going to be a big one?”
“Because it is. You’ve been saying almost from the day we met that you wanted to leap from a plane. So, today we are taking a class to learn how to do it right and then we’ll do a tandem jump at sunset. Tomorrow, we’ll do a second jump; either with instructors at our side or a tandem one with an instructor strapped to our backs. Surprise!”
“Oh God Diana, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it.”
“I have only one thing to say to you Aubree Leigh Bradley and that is, ‘Be the flow and make it happen or grab a branch and flow passively down the stream’.” Diana had a challenging look in her eye as she looked at Bree and waited for her friend’s response. “What’s it going to be?”
“Shit! Di, that’s not fair!”
“It doesn’t have to be fair, remember, it just has to be balanced.” Diana waited. “What choice will you make Bree, safety and familiarity or new and adventurous? Your journey awaits you, as does your fortune.”
“Damn it, Di. I hate this.” She hesitated, looked at the expectant faces of the other girls and then answered, “Fine, I’ll do it. I’m in control of my choices. The ‘Ten of Swords’ card, tough decisions, I choose the adventure.”
“Good girl, now let’s go.” Diana grabbed her arm and started to walk faster. “We have to get there by four thirty if we want to take the class and make the sunset jump.”
The ride to the airport and the jump school was only about twenty miles north of Beaufort. Once they arrived, they signed in and went right to the hanga
r space where the class was being held. Three handsome men prepared to start the lesson.
“Ladies, please move forward. We want to get started and since you are late, we need a volunteer up front, so which of you will it be?” The tall dark haired man with a killer smile winked at the girls as he teased.
“Bree will do it,” Diana said as she and Gretchen pushed Bree forward. “It’s her birthday today and she wants to be adventurous.” They all laughed.
“Well then Bree, you have come to the right place.” He took her hand and brought her in front of his body. Then he did something completely unexpected. He whispered into her ear, “Happy Birthday Bree, let’s see if we can’t make this an adventure to remember. I’m Matt by the way and I’ve just become your personal instructor for the day. Incidentally, nice jeans and that little red bra isn’t half bad either.”
Bree felt chills run down her body as his breath caressed the side of her neck; she was born and raised just miles from here, but she never got tired of hearing the sexy North Carolina accent coming out of a handsome man’s mouth.
“That’s sexual harassment. I could tell your boss and have you fired you know.”
“That could happen, but it won’t,” he chided back.
“Really, how can you be so sure?” She looked over her shoulder and realized just how handsome he was and she instantly found herself becoming sexually aroused.
“Mostly because I’m one of the bosses and business owners. I would never fire myself, but I would also never sexually harass anyone. I’m just stating the obvious. I mean really, you must have worn torn jeans with your ass out and a red bra under a white t-shirt for a reason right? I don’t believe you can say you thought it would go unnoticed, can you?”
“To be honest, no I can’t.”
Matt pulled her up against his body. “Honesty’s good; ready Bree?” Then he addressed the other students. “Follow along with the pictures and instructions in the book while Bree and I show you how it’s done and what it will look like. Jack and Tommy here will be walking around and answering any questions you may have. The class instruction shouldn’t take more than forty-five minutes and then we’ll run through everything one on one with each of you before we make the jump.”
Twist (A BDSM & Romantic Erotica Boxed Set) Page 51
