His Temporary Assistant

The heavy bass of a Daughtry song filled the room. I spent the next twenty minutes hacking away at spam and parceling out requests for readings for the following week.

When my life got back to normal.

One more day of working for PMS and I was free.

I rubbed the knot sitting in my chest. Free, dammit. It was only supposed to be a week. No, it was only a week. Period.

When I opened a third email for a love reading, I snapped the laptop shut. I didn’t want to think about love readings or relationships. I pushed my chair back and grabbed my favorite kickass tarot deck.

This wasn’t the one I asked about intimate stuff. This was the deck that told me the ugly unvarnished truth.

I went back to my bed and folded myself back into a Lotus pose. I hissed out a breath as my body reminded me what I’d done just a few hours ago.

As if I could forget.

A notification popped on my iPad, blinking the screen to life. My background was my favorite drawing of Roz and Sylvia. That was what I should be focused on.

I closed my eyes and shuffled my deck. “Should I post a photo of my comic?”

The cards heated and tingled under my touch. It didn’t always happen that way. I was mostly an intuitive reader. Luna was the one who got more of a jolt from her gifts. I just usually instinctively knew it was time to stop shuffling and throw cards.

Not this time. They practically popped from the deck.

I threw three cards.

Desire, obstacle, solution.

The Fool, Three of Swords reversed, Six of Cups.

“Dammit.”

I swiped up the cards.

I knew I shouldn’t have asked. As if I didn’t know the true answer.

It was time to begin. Stop blocking the freaking pain of putting myself out there. I’d never be able to move forward if I didn’t grab that courage I used to have. Back when I flung myself into any creative venture without looking back.

When the hell had I lost my fucking wings?

I set my deck aside and pulled my iPad into my lap. I’d just post a little something to my stories on Instagram. They only lasted for twenty-four hours.

No one would even see it probably.

It was totally safe.

Before I could overthink it, I picked one with the little white fox curled up on Roz’s shoulder, her tiny face buried in her human’s wild red curls. Rain splashed the windowpane behind the cozy scene of Roz reading with a patchwork blanket in her lap and oversized glasses balanced on the tip of her upturned nose.

Serenity.

Safe enough.

Before I could second guess myself and delete my post, a horn bleated out my window, and a text buzzed from my phone in the kitchen as well as my flashing on my iPad.

PMS: Come outside.

Before I replied to him, I went to my jewelry tree and selected a pair of smoky quartz earrings. I definitely needed some energy purification. All the stress and chaos in my mind needed an outlet, so I would release them. The crystal would help me to find my sense of calm. Time to let go of anything that was holding me back.

I would stay in the present moment and look for the good.