Celtic Cross | #ONC2019

V.

There's an old adage that says, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."

But what happens when you're fooled beyond that?

Like, four times beyond it...

I was beyond being scared.

As I stared down at the inverted Three of Swords in the spread's Outcome position, I was no longer fearful of the card's presence.

I was outright pissed.

But at whom was I so mad?

Mac, for daring to come into my store and disrupting my otherwise peaceful existence?

Nick, for taking me out last night, in turn causing Mac to all but fall into my lap?

Fate, for showing me the damned card in the first place?

It didn't matter. Not anymore.

"Get out," I said, my words barely above a whisper.

Mac blinked in confusion. "You said we could talk-"

"That was before. This is now," I countered, raising my voice. "Now get out."

"Siobhan-"

I stood so fast the table shook between us. "GET OUT!"

I heard swearing, a scramble, and not a moment later, Nick was at the screen, pulling it aside and looking in with panicked eyes.

"Siobhan, what's wrong?"

"Nothing now," I snapped. "He was just leaving."

"I don't even know what I did wrong," Mac protested, but Nick stepped next to the table.

"If she says the reading is over, it's over," Nick said levelly, but I could tell by the way he held himself that he was working his way into his manager mode.

"Is it over?" Mac asked me with a glance over Nick's shoulder.

I glared at him, crossing my arms over my chest. "It's over."

"See?" Nick chimed in. "Now, if you don't leave my store, I'll be more than happy to call the police and have them remove you on my behalf."

Mention of the cops made Mac pause, and his gaze fell heavily on Nick. Something dark crossed his gaze as if he was silently challenging Nick to call his bluff. Nick, to his credit, held his ground, even though I knew Mac could have knocked him out with a single, well-placed punch if he wanted to.

Nick's resilience held out, and Mac grabbed his coat off the back of his chair. "Fine."

"Fine," Nick echoed, squaring his shoulders with newfound confidence.

Mac only shook his head, but gave me one final glance before he trudged away from my space. My stare burned a hole through the screen until I heard the bells of the front door jingle. Only then did I collapse into my chair, letting loose an uneasy breath.

Nick took the seat across from me, but his attention was on the spread between us. "It doesn't look that bad," he mused as he assessed the cards.

"He has this tattoo, Nick," I informed him as I pointed to the Three of Swords.

"I'm going to assume you can't chalk it up as a coincidence."

"You know as well as I do that we don't believe in coincidences."

"I know." He sighed and ran a hand through his short, spiked blond hair. "If I had known, I wouldn't have allowed him to stay."

"If I didn't need my jacket, I wouldn't have let him stay."