I got showered and dressed, then skipped breakfast. In record time I was out on the street, walking with purpose. It was opening today, no matter what. Windows or no windows, I was getting back on the proverbial horse. Almost a year after a terrible fall…
Forget about all that.
Turning the corner, I ducked into my usual coffee house and ordered the biggest latte they had. It was much later than I wanted it to be. I’d slept in a little because I wanted to be well-rested, but I was just now realizing I might’ve overdone it.
Ten minutes later, I was standing before my shop, smiling proudly. The signage above the door was done, and it looked pretty fucking fantastic. In black and red, with gold-leaf accents:
The All-Seeing Eye
My broken window had thankfully been replaced. It was a favor that cost me extra, because the sign guys would only do it if I agreed to some sandblasting on their part. Etched into the glass was my new logo; an all-seeing eye, centered within a triangle, surrounded by rays. The original Freemasons symbol, adapted by “seers” everywhere.
Not that I was a seer or anything.
If anyone had a gift it was my grandmother, although she claimed to have imparted some of her abilities onto me. Personally, I didn’t see it. I couldn’t tap into any of the visions she seemed to have, or memories of past lives she claimed to draw upon. There were times when I even doubted those things. Questioned her abilities.
But other times…
Other times I’d seen her do stuff that just didn’t make sense. For example, she would know things she couldn’t possibly know. See things in her mind’s eye that happened, almost as though she were there. These instances couldn’t be accurate — not unless she was right. Not unless you believed.
She was taken from me early, when I was almost ten. By then I’d spent four whole years with her. Almost as long as I’d spent with my parents…
I unlocked my shop again, only this time I left it unlocked. I was officially open. Ready to earn a living again, doing one of the only things I really knew how.
KNOCK KNOCK.
I turned as the door opened, still clutching my coffee. I smiled my friendliest customer smile, but only for another half second.
Ah, fuck.
“I thought I saw you duck in here.”
Gus looked a little better than the last time I’d seen him, if such a thing were possible. He’d tidied up some. And for once he was wearing clean clothes.
“Can we talk now?”
He stood up straighter than normal, as if presenting himself. But his eyes were the same. They crawled over me the way they always did, half desire, half brutal judgment.
“Make it fast,” I said. “I’m technically open.”
Gus grunted and folded his arms. “Crowds won’t form for a little while. You’ll get customers soon, though. And they’ll be steady, too. All through the day.” He squinted down at me shrewdly. “Which is why I always raise the rent this time of year.”
I scoffed at him. “Raise the rent?”
“Yeah. More people, more money.” He shrugged. “More rent.”
“But we already established the rent.”
“That’s the base rent.”
“I signed the lease less than a month ago,” I countered. “You didn’t mention anything about this.”
“All the landlords around here do it,” explained Gus. “Sort of like the mall stores, that raise their rent around Christmastime. Right now is the busiest time of the year for Salem. You know that.”
“Yes, but—”
“Thirty percent increase. Only for October and November.”
I laughed in his face. “You’re kidding, Right?”