I'm calling this a one-shot with the possibility for more – not sure yet.
A tremendously huge thanks to mel60 for the beta help.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"You're entering a new phase in your life, young man."
"Oh yeah?" Danny smirked at the eccentric Lady Esmeralda sitting across from him at a small round table, examining the supposed life lines on his palm. She was draped in layers of fabric and jewelry and every motion resulted in a clatter from her stacked bracelets. Lindsay was standing behind him, smiling.
Ever since he'd told her about the lizard man and bearded lady he'd encountered at Coney Island during the Russian mob case, she'd wanted to see them for herself. They rode the ferris wheel, played some games, had their fill of cotton candy and fried dough. When Lindsay saw the fortune teller's booth she excitedly yanked him in, despite his dragged feet and protests that it was silly, and plopped him onto the chair. If you don't believe in it then it won't hurt you, she had reasoned.
Danny Messer was the first person to dismiss fortune tellers and horoscopes and astrology mumbo-jumbo, and knew how this worked. Esmeralda would keep all her comments vague so they applied to almost anyone and wait for him to fill in the details. So, he kept his replies to a minimum.
"This phase is very personal," Lady Esmeralda said. "It has to do with Venus, the goddess of love and marriage."
Could Esmeralda be any more transparent, Danny thought. She saw two people – paying customers - who were obviously in a relationship and forecasted happily ever after for them. How prophetic and business savvy of her.
"So Montana, are you going to marry me?" he joked, laughing as he looked back to Lindsay, who didn't seem as amused as he was. A surprised look and crooked grin covered her face.
Esmeralda wagged a finger at him, "You're going to say that to someone, quite seriously, before you think. You have a strong hand," the woman continued with a smile, "and an old soul."
Danny rolled his eyes towards Lindsay. "Yeah, I'm ancient."
"You've experienced a significant amount of suffering."
"Who hasn't?" Danny muttered, but the woman only stroked his palm with a fingertip.
"A lot of this has been recent. Very real danger threatened your life and there's been trouble with a family member," she paused and her forehead creased as she traced his palm, "a brother."
Danny's heart skipped a beat and he wanted to jerk his hand free. Images of Louie and that day in the warehouse flashed before him. He was shocked that Esmeralda got that right. Life threatening situations were definitely not run of the mill occurrences and how could she have known he had a brother, let alone a sibling? Could this woman actually have some psychic ability? He remained silent as she went on.
"But these struggles have made you strong. Your instincts have done you right in your life."
The woman stopped and Danny was glad this was coming to an end. Lady Esmeralda had hit a little too close to home and, even though he didn't totally buy into her, he was a little freaked out. Instead, the woman pulled his hand closer and looked back and forth between his palm and Lindsay. "Do you trust your heart, young man?" the woman asked, looking him directly in the eye.
"What?" Danny scrunched his face in confusion. Trust his heart? He didn't know what that meant.
"Don't forget to trust your heart in addition to your instincts. It's a steady one. It will take you where you want to go, lead you in the right direction."
She might as well have been speaking in another language as far as Danny was concerned. All this talk about hearts and taking you where you want sounded like those crazy self help gurus he saw on late night infomercials when he couldn't sleep. A realization hit him as he thought about how strange this situation had become.
He leaned across the table and whispered, "She slip you a twenty to play a joke on me or something?" Danny asked with a nod to Lindsay.
"You can trust her too," the woman answered. "There are a lot of people in life that cause change. But one will, more than others, for you. There's only one who will fit you – body, mind and heart."
With that the woman let go of his hand and stood up. Danny sat speechless, trying to digest what he'd just heard. This fortune teller was implying that he and Lindsay would be falling in love and getting married some time soon. This had Danny squirming in his chair.
The truth was, he did love Lindsay, and that reality had him feeling off kilter. He'd never met a woman before that he could imagine being with for the rest of his life, but Lindsay had elicited these feelings from him that came so strongly and quickly that he wasn't sure how to react. He needed to get everything sorted out in his mind before doing or saying anything to Lindsay, but Lady Esmeralda was forcing a lot out there.
"Would you like your palm read, young lady?" Lady Esmeralda asked, gesturing for Lindsay to take a seat.
Lindsay hesitated, slightly disturbed over what she'd expected to be a silly amusement for the both of them. Lady Esmeralda actually seemed to know what she was talking about and by the way her eyes kept jumping to Lindsay, she believed Lindsay would be the one occupying Danny's mind, body and heart. As much as that thought made her giddy, it was also a bit unsettling.
Even though she'd only been with Danny for a short time she thought she might be falling in love with him, but how would she know, she wondered. She never felt this way before with any other man. She and Danny had taken such a bumpy road to get to where they were now, Lindsay had been perfectly content just enjoying what they had together, not wanting to rush anything or risk ruining things. But Lady Esmeralda was making her think about how strong her feelings were for Danny - and if he shared them. He was still sitting in the chair, staring at the floor, not giving away any sign of how he felt about his supposed fortune – making her anxiously wonder how he felt about her.
"Uhh, no thanks. We should get going," Lindsay finally answered. Popping out of his chair, Danny dropped twenty dollars on the table and practically ran out of the booth.
Danny pinched Lindsay's side as they made their way back out into the afternoon sunshine. "That was pretty lame, Montana. How much did it cost you to set her up with what to say?"
"I didn't."
"Get outta here."
"I didn't," she repeated and stuck her hands in her pockets instead of taking his. Was she really 'the one' who would occupy Danny's body, mind, and heart? "I just thought it'd be fun."
"Hold it." Danny put a hand on her arm, narrowed his eyes and studied her face. Either she was a great liar or she was as baffled as he. "Well, that was weird," he concluded.
"Yeah. Weird." Lindsay agreed.
They made their way down the boardwalk in silence.