Heartlines

53: Rich Love

It is my last night in Manhattan, Megan begged to take me out for one las night on the town. After we told everyone about me and the twins moving back to Vancouver, the planning happened fast. We put the condo on the market, and it sold in ten days. Alex helped coordinate a moving service to help me move everything to Vancouver, Ben was renting a furnished apartment until he could join us. 

Alex and his girlfriend, Renee offered to watch Christian and Isabella for the night. Ben was working, and Lily and Edward went to Hull for one more dinner with friends before the move. All of us were flying out in two days, Ben took a week off work to help us get settled into the house, then he would fly back and wrap up the assignment. 

I walk out of the bedroom, giving a little twirl for Alex and Renee. Tonight, I want to feel pretty so I picked my strapless lace trim taffeta dress with tulle underlay for volume. My hair was down and stick straight, I put my eye makeup on very dark and paired that with a bright pink lip. 

"You look good, kid. Should I take a picture and send it to Ben, I guarantee he would call it an early night." Alex teases. 

"NO." I smile. "He needs to focus so he can get home to us quicker." I stick out my tongue. 

My cellphone buzzes to let me know that Megan is downstairs. I move to my babies and kiss each of them goodbye before kissing Alex's cheek. I thank both of them again as I hurry out of the condo before I burst into tears. 

I always have mom guilt leaving them. 

Megan is bouncing in the seat when I slide into the taxi. "I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU." She giggles.

"I don't like your surprises." I smile at her.

"I promise you'll like this one."

When the taxi stops, I look at her and shake my head. A huge neon sign indicates that we are about to get our palms read.

Megan laughs when the woman welcomes us by names, she made appointment in advance. I glare at her, this wasn't a surprise at all. The redheaded woman calls my name, and I follow her to the dark room in the back. 

The two of us sit at the small table, she grabs my left hand and places it palm up on the table. Her face moves closer to my palm, and she starts tracing lines, my palm itches with the gentle tickle. After a couple seconds of studying my hand, she looks up and points to the line running from my thumb to my wrist. 

"Allyson, this is your life line. A lot of people believe that if this line is short, it means you'll have a shorter life, but that's not the case. The line actually tells me about your relationship with your family. Major life events that you may go through, reading your palm indicates that you've already had a couple of them." 

"I've had some big ones." I agree.

"The next is your head line." She points to the line that stretches from my thumb and index finger and it sloped downwards. "You're eager for knowledge and very smart. Analytical? Are you a doctor or lawyer?"

"Lawyer." I look at her. "How can you tell that?"

"Lucky guess."

"Sure. Are you sure Megan didn't tell you?" I laugh not believing that someone can know this from my hand.

The last line that affects my life line is the heart line. The insight to how my emotional side will act out and be acted out during my lifetime.

"You have one very strong intimate relationship that will last your entire life."

"Someone should tell him." I shake my head. 

"Allyson, you have a chained heart line, an adrenaline junkie." 

"Well that's a lie."

"I'm just reading your palm." She grins up at me.

She goes on to tell me that based on the shape of my hand, I'm a fire personality. I'm passionate, adventurous, and trust my gut. That is the only thing I agree on.

I wait in the lobby while Megan gets her palm read. The silence is too much for me to handle, so I grab my phone and text my boyfriend. 

So my big night out...started with a bogus palm reading. Why did you tell me to do this again? Love you. 

In the cab ride to the bar, I look at her. "I'm not sure if I should thank you for this night out yet, that woman was insane. "

"Oh come on – she didn't tell you anything interesting?"

"No. She told me that I'm going to have a couple more life events and that your brother is the only person I'll ever love. I knew the last part – it's always going to be Ben."

"We all know that." She rolls her eyes at me.

Megan and I enter the bar, my thoughts flood with memories of Ben This bar reminds me of his bar back in Boston. The bar that started this crazy journey of ours. My brain dances with the first night, I was wearing a blue maxi dress with my blonde hair down, like tonight. Ben was flirting, telling me how I was the prettiest girl to ever sit in his bar. His long hair was in a man bun, my roommates made fun of it behind his back, but I loved it. 

"Ally?" Megan pulls me back to the present. 

"Sorry. This place reminds me of Boston." 

We sit at the bar and order shots of tequila. We talk about my move without stating where, Ben has trained us well. I tell Megan that her and Peter need to visit often, she promises that she will. The more shots we take, the more at ease I feel. 

I'm glad that I came out with her. 

I'm walking back from the bathroom, and I see Ben across the room. The moment he sees me, his eyes grow wide with worry. Slowly, I follow his eyes around the bar and see everything he tried so hard to keep me from. 

Allen appears from a backroom, and I can see the gun tucked under his shirt, apparently the door didn't check him for weapons. 

I wander back at Ben's glance. His jaw is clenched with tension, and the color has completely drained from his face. He shuts his eyes, his forehead furrows, and the vein in his neck pulses with his anger. 

Reality hits.

I know we won't be getting out of this club untouched.