Suddenly Psychic

by Melanie Baxter

  In the morning, I had four missed calls on my psychic phone line and a bad case of the cringes as I remembered my drunken play for Harvey in full Technicolor. Surprisingly though, I didn't have too much of a headache.

  I shoved a hand under my pillow and bought out the small amethyst crystal that had been there since my first trip to The Rowan Tree. Trish had told me it was fabulous for hangovers and had given me a free sample, but I never expected it to actually work. I raised my eyebrows and put it back under my pillow. Perhaps there was something to this alternative stuff after all. Or perhaps it was the pint of water I'd had.

  I shook my head and stumbled to the bathroom, had a long hot shower, and gulped down some Aspirin in case my hangover was just delayed. I needed to stay fresh for what I was about to do. I was going to catch the tube, go and see Harvey, and get things straight once and for all. I had nothing to lose now.

  I pulled on some jeans and my bright red top and tried to pull on my boots but I couldn't. It was very strange. As I tried to jam my feet in them for the third time I realized that either my boots had shrunk or my feet had grown. I tried my Doc Martens instead. I could just about get into them but they pinched like crazy.

  I scratched my head. What the hell was going on? There was only one thing to do. I picked up my phone and jabbed in Tanya's number.

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  Chapter Eight

  My Harvey

  I sat on the rumpled bed wriggling my toes. They didn't feel any different, but they were definitely longer. Was it an overnight thing or had it crept up on me gradually?

  I remembered a silly fact from school and grabbed my foot with one hand, falling back on the bed as I struggled to swing it up and hold my heel against the inside of my elbow. I frowned as I saw the toes peeped over the edge of my wrist. They should have been the same length. I was definitely out of proportion. I rubbed the arch of my foot to see if it was tender, remembering Tanya's words from earlier.

  "Fallen arches at your age girl? Next you'll be going grey.” Tanya howled with laughter.

  "I'm not joking, Tanya. I think my hands have grown too, I can't fit into my gloves either."

  "Has your butt got any fatter? You could do with some flesh on that skinny arse of yours. Sorry, no, honestly, I am listening. It's just a late growth spurt, I expect, and you're always leaving your gloves to dry on radiators. They've probably shrunk."

  "But shoes don't shrink, and you don't have growth spurts in your twenties. Can you check it out on the web? See if there's any medical stuff about it?” I asked, knowing Tanya carried her electronic organizer everywhere.

  She snorted and I heard a few beeps as she browsed the web.

  "Nah, just comes up with warts and Veruccas when I type in ‘foot growth'. C'mon girl, let's hit the shops."

  I sighed, pulled on my socks and squeezed into my pinching Doc Martens before heading off to meet Tanya at Covent Gardens.

  The shoe shops soon confirmed what I'd suspected. I had grown two sizes but they had no explanation as to why. They echoed Tanya's theory about fallen arches, but it still seemed pretty weird to me. Tanya and I joked that my feet had responded to my subconscious desire for new shoes. Three pairs later, after using the last of Bobby's Cleaning bonus money, I was pretty glad they had. I wore my new leather ankle boots straight away.

  After a sugary doughnut and mug of steaming hot chocolate, Tanya persuaded me to phone Harvey to ask him if I could come round.

  "Let me know what he's like in bed,” called Tanya as the tube door hissed closed.

  I waved to her out of the window until her floppy hat and red scarf shrank into the distance. Harvey had sounded pleased to hear from me on the phone, but who knew what he thought of me after last night. As the stations blurred past, I sucked a mint to freshen my breath. Before I knew it, I was climbing the last flight of steps up to Harvey's apartment two at a time, my stomach jangling, and my hand gripping the steel rail.

  "Amber, why on earth did you run off last night? How are you feeling?” Harvey opened the glossy blue door and wrapped his arms around me before I could knock.

  I melted into his embrace with a surge of relief.

  "A wally, actually,” I breathed in the warm clove and cinnamon smell on his jumper that reminded me of Christmas. “Can I come in?"

  Soon I was curled up in his leather recliner with a big mug of tea and we were dissecting the evening. His apartment was pretty plush compared to my tiny bedsit and neat for a bloke. This was the first time I'd seen it in daylight without a party crowd and I was impressed. A few choice antiques from his parents’ old house furnished the spacious living area with a walnut bureau, chaste lounge, and elegant Persian rug. There was a dash of contemporary in the swanky music system, plasma TV, and the abstract ‘splatter pictures', as I called them, above the marble fireplace. There was only one thing out of place, the bulky bathroom scales next to the bookcase.

  "Are you on a diet, Harvey?” I inclined my head to the scales.

  He laughed. “No, no, that's ‘Dusty'. Hang on a minute, let me show you.” He stood up and grabbed a remote control from the top of the bookcase. “She still needs work, of course, but you'll get the idea..."

  He pressed a button, and I blinked in astonishment as the square machine hummed to life and began to glide across the carpet towards me, swallowing a peanut in its path. I lifted my feet to avoid causing obstruction, but it trailed over the Persian rug and got caught up in the frayed edges. The hum turning to a screech. Harvey pressed the remote again but the screech intensified so he made a grab for it and yanked it off the rug.

  "Got to modify ... the suction plates...” he struggled to turn it over, its wheels spinning madly until he finally flipped a switch on its metal underbelly and the screech died, “but she should be ready for the expo up north next week, along with some voice recognition software we're working on.” He patted the top of the machine and put it back by the bookcase.

  "That's genius, Harvey, I could even put a bowl of biscuits on the top and use it to exercise Pudding. Clever thinking with the remote control too—might even encourage blokes to do the vacuuming with that."

  Harvey shook his head modestly and sat down at the end of the sofa again. “Talking about work, what did you think about Jules? Character analysis?” He leaned forward and pretended to take notes on his hand.

  "Big mouth, little dick sort of guy, I'd say. Gave me the creeps, actually. Why on earth did you bring him along?"

  "Bloody politics, you know. He's been brought in as head of market research—he gets to wave the red or green flag on my ideas. Anyway, he was very complimentary about you. Even after he'd snogged Monique at the end of the night, he kept asking me questions about that ‘totty with the boots'.” Harvey took another sip of his tea.

  "Monique let herself be mauled by that creep? I can't believe it."

  There was a little pause and we held each other's gaze. Tension simmered between us in the silence. Although we were sitting quite close on the couch, I felt as if we were like two magnets both repelling and attracting at the same time, hovering between friendship and more.

  "So what were you going to say before you, well, before you bought a different subject up?” Harvey had his head on one side and studied me with that lopsided grin.

  "I think you can guess. Look, just tell me if you don't feel the same, I'm happy to be friends and..."

  Harvey put his mug down on the glass table and caressed my cheek, drawing me into a kiss. His lips were soft and his hands were warm as we slid down on the leather couch and I ran my hands under his jumper. It was as if this moment had always been inevitable. I was dizzy with anticipation as he gently drew back, tugging my bottom lip a little with his teeth.

  "I've wanted to do that for so long,” he murmured, stroking back a couple of stray hairs from my forehead. I took off his glasses and his dimple appeared.

  I couldn't stop smiling as I lingered in the depth of those green eyes. My chest was t
ight with bittersweet elation shadowed by dread that his desire for me might be taken away.

  "I was never sure...” He kissed me again, teasing my senses with his tongue and awakening such shivers of delight that I found myself utterly helpless to resist fumbling with the buckle of his trousers.

  "Hang on a minute, you're not going to do the splitting of the bamboo on me are you?” Harvey murmured in my ear between kisses.

  I giggled as I finally unbuckled his trousers. “No, elephant posture will be fine for starters.” Judging by the feel of it, his trunk was going to be more than satisfactory.

  That afternoon something changed in me. I knew I had feelings for Harvey, but didn't expect the rush of emotion that followed. With his trousers half undone he lifted me off the couch and swept me to his room. He laid me gently on the bed and pulled off my ankle boots, tossing them behind his shoulder before peeling off my socks. I blushed as he bit my big toe playfully. Would he think I had enormous feet? I needn't have worried though. He quickly slid back up the bed and began to lift my top, kissing my stomach softly as I ran my fingers through his thick, black hair. I forgot to be embarrassed as he whispered the most delicious compliments whilst gently exploring my trembling body until we were both too breathless to talk. Desire took control and swallowed us completely.

  Afterwards, we lay side by side just looking at each other. My eyes glazed with tears as he traced a finger down my cheek. Words seemed inadequate to capture the experience. I felt closer to Harvey than I had ever felt to anyone and my vulnerability scared me. I needed some headspace to absorb it all. I wasn't used to the intensity, the heady rush of elation, the overwhelming sense of safety in Harvey's arms. My defenses had been dissolved and I was drowning in Harvey. The depth of emotion in his eyes held me for a few moments longer until I finally wrenched myself away.

  We lingered over our last kiss on the doorstep after I had finally convinced him that no, I couldn't stay and no, he needn't walk me home.

  "I'll call you tonight and see you tomorrow okay, gorgeous?"

  I nodded and smiled as he blew me a kiss from the bottom of the stairs.

  I wrapped my scarf tighter round my neck as the blast of cold air hit me in the fading daylight. On the way home, I relived each kiss, each word, each caress in my mind, and shivered with anticipation of our next meeting. How could I possibly wait until tomorrow? I sighed, as I switched my psychic phone back on.

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  Chapter Nine

  Mr. Body Language

  When Harvey rang the next day to tell me he was being flown to Edinburgh for the inventors’ conference and two week countrywide gift shop tour, I was devastated. He tried to persuade me to meet him up there for the weekend, but I couldn't really afford it. He kept insisting he'd pay, but I didn't want him seeing me as too dependent. He'd often joked about women taking advantage of men and I wondered if it was my independent streak that attracted him.

  "I'll make it up to you just as soon as I get back,” he said in a low voice.

  "You better.” I tried to keep my tone bright. “You'll have to invent a doll after me or something."

  Harvey laughed. “It'd have to be a voodoo doll with the black magic you get up to, you've certainly got me under your spell. No, I'm going to be much more ... inventive when it comes to making up with you I think."

  A shiver of delight rippled through me as I remembered the press of his body from yesterday.

  "So what are you up to today? Apart from pining for me of course?” Harvey asked.

  "Pining? Pah! I'm going to be busy finding a replacement for you at a Body Language lecture.” I had signed up for the lecture at the library recently, hoping to improve my skills at reading people. I hoped Harvey would be impressed by my quest for knowledge.

  "Body language eh? You don't need to attend a lecture on that, I can teach you if you like. I'm fluent in pillow talk, duvet lingo, and sheet chat as well as many other ... erm, nonverbal gestures."

  "You're certainly a man of many talents.” I thought longingly about the day before.

  "And when I get back, Miss Thomas, I'll be demonstrating them to you in full."

  "Can't wait,” I breathed. “Go away quick, so you can come back sooner."

  "You know, I,” he hesitated as his tone became more serious, “I can't stop thinking about you. Yesterday was ... well it was, you are ... fabulous. Bloody bad timing, House of Innovations sending me away like this, a real ball drag. I wish I didn't have to go."

  "Me, too.” The sharp stab of longing twisted again in the pit of my stomach as we said a lingering goodbye.

  Damn! Why did he have to go away so soon after we'd got together? Would he still feel the same about me when he got back or would he have a highland fling with some brilliant inventress in a skimpy kilt? A flutter of doubt clouded my thoughts. My psychic mobile rang.

  "Hello, Amber speaking, how may I guide you?"

  "Good morning. I was hoping for some advice on a spiritual matter."

  Hmm, a tight female voice, brisk and clipped. I picked up the top card of my tarot pack absently. I stared at a skeleton reaping corn with human heads. Death.

  "Has there been a death in the family?” I was careful not to classify it as ‘recently'. After all, every family has a death at some stage.

  "Yes, it's, it was my girl, Eve.” She sniffed and I felt a surge of unease as I realized this was the sort of call I'd been dreading—someone bereaved.

  I picked another card. This time it was the Devil with his rams horns and hairy legs. I grimaced. The devil usually meant weird experiences of some kind or unexpected events. This was not going to be comforting advice and I wasn't out to make people feel worse. I might be conning them, but I wasn't totally heartless.

  "You might be better talking to a friend about this, I think,” I said slowly.

  "No, you don't understand, I've been sensing her again. Evie, I mean. Like from the corner of my eye, and when I look round she's not there. Like she's ... well, like she's watching me with that expression she used to get. Her head tilted to one side, her brown eyes following me round the room."

  I frowned and remembered a book The Unexplained, Explained that I'd thumbed through whilst I'd been at the library earlier that week. Apparently apparitions after death weren't uncommon.

  "Ah, this happens sometimes. Nothing to be concerned about. How long ago did she cross over?” I asked.

  "Five years next month. I always light a candle on the day she, when she ... My husband doesn't do anything. Left after she'd gone.” Her words tripped out in staccato.

  "He said I'd become obsessed, that I should just get on with life and stop over reacting.” I frowned, thinking her husband must have been pretty callous. “He even accused me of trying to look more like her, after she'd died.” She drew a ragged breath, “I think it's my hair, you see, I had it permed and Evie's was curly too."

  She clearly hadn't come to terms with Eve's death at all, and it sounded as if her husband was in denial too. I bit my lip.

  "Evie was so good to me, and everyone who met her just adored her. She was beautiful looking and ... and had such a dear ... sweet nature, you know. You couldn't help but love her."

  "She sounds lovely. I'm really sorry.” I scrabbled for comforting words, wondering how old her poor daughter had been. “You shouldn't have had to journey through that on your own."

  "But why am I seeing her after all this time?"

  There was a pause as she waited for my wise advice. I had to think of something decent here. I glanced frantically round the room and my eyes caught on the Tantric sex leaflet stuck on the fridge with Rupert and Super Sprout frozen in a cheek hug.

  "We are all cosmic streams.” I began desperately, “We release into the same river, but the currents take some of us to our climax more quickly.” There was a silence. “Er, create a sacred space around you and...” I looked upwards and implored the ceiling for inspiration, my eyes alighting on the cracked plaster ce
iling rose with its frosted glass bulbs.

  "Perhaps you should float a rose on a river this year, instead of lighting a candle, let her wash away from you, knowing that we are all like streams that meet the rivers and then the sea eventually in ... in,” Super Sprout's fixed grin distracted me again ... “salty satisfaction.” I finished lamely with a grimace. My stomach churned uncomfortably as I cringed inwardly at my words.

  "If I do this, will I stop seeing her?” Her pitch rose slightly.

  "If you mark the event differently, it will change your perspective, yes."

  "But I don't want to stop seeing her. No, thank you for your advice, but I'm going to light five candles on the anniversary of her death next month.” She spoke quickly.

  "You can't go on living like that though, Evie would want you to—"

  "What do you know about what Evie would want?” The voice became bitter. “She was such a contented little dog."

  I blinked in disbelief. Had I heard right? “A dog, did you say?"

  "Pedigree cocker spaniel to be precise. She could have lived for years if she hadn't ... if I hadn't ... I should have known the ball would roll into the ... into the..."

  "I'm sure it wasn't your fault, Mrs. Morgan, it was just...” I began.

  "Sorry, I should never have rung. Goodbye."

  I was left open mouthed as the phone went dead. I hadn't seen that coming. The phrase ‘barking mad’ sprang to mind. I realized I was being quite unfair. Five years to get over the death of a dog was perhaps a little extreme, but the grief was obviously affecting the poor woman terribly. I couldn't dismiss her feelings. I sighed again, unable to shake the unmistakable swell of guilt tightening my chest.

  But why had I called her ‘Mrs. Morgan'? She hadn't told me her name. I was going to have to be more careful if I didn't want to blow my cover. Strange she hadn't said anything though. I was still lost in thought about the poor woman when my other phone started ringing. I stumbled round the couch to grab the cordless phone on the coffee table, thinking it might be Harvey.