45 cents can still get you a lot (Dominique)

[Zodiac]

“My life has been lacking some excitement recently. But as you brought up I felt that I shouldn’t be seeing that as a negative given my history.”

She knew that look too well. It matched the almost monotone quality of the words she spoke. It could mean a lot of things but it was all linked to a central theme of sorts. What they were seeing in just the opening moments was hitting a nerve of sorts, but such as they were, they were determined not to let it show. Anyone else the mystic may have smirked at or prodded in some way to extract more of a reaction from them. But this was Dominique. Part of Zodiac emphasized with her deeply. Of the majority she knew, Mini had a clear idea and experience of life that mirrored her own. Dimly she could see, if their paths had crossed when they were both alive, the pair of them hip deep in some major trouble caused by a scheme the pair of them decided would be a good idea to try. It was why she actually cared about the woman. Not in any romantic sense, but in the spirit of a fellow gypsy of sorts falling into bad things.

"Since you appear to agree with this, I shall continue." her mental voice softly whispered as she laid her notepad face down and moved her hand to select another card from the pile. She placed this card above the Five of Wands.

"Your goal. What you hope to reach without turning your life inside out in the process. The Two of Cups. Some say it's a card of love, but in your case dear, I would call it a card of balance. The card suggests harmony. Be it in a relationship, work, play, whatever. Perhaps you on a emotional teeter-totter now or you feel your life keeps shifting from highs to lows then back again. Balance is vital for one's total state of being. Just because we are now more than what we were physically now does not mean our minds and hearts have caught up with that fact. We still have the same issues and problems we did when we was alive and perhaps now they are even more complicated. You seek a balance between it all. A way to be complete. A whole Dominique if that is possible. There is nothing deep or scary about this, dear. It is one of the most basic goals anyone can hope to achieve."

Another card was drawn and placed below the Five. "The foundation of the situation. The Queen of Swords. Independence. A strong woman who does not need anyone to be happy or have her happiness depend on. She knows what she wants and gets it. Sounds good, yes?" Zodiac smiled for a moment. "But, like most empowered people, they have a stubborn streak a mile wide. Your way or no way. When adapting to new situations, this can be a major issue with you. What used to work when you was alive does not always work now. You need to bend a bit and discover new ways of doing things. Again, a balance must be found between the qualities that make you - you and the challenges before you now. Again, this is quite normal considering what has happened to people like you and me."

Zodiac took a drink and laughed in Mini's thoughts. "So far you are not as fucked up as you imagine you are, dear."

She took another card and placed it to the left of the Five of Wands. "The recent past, or something to be let go of. The Nine of Wands. A card of strength. As the images shows, a warrior ready to take on all comers. Spare weapons should the first fail. Since your 'accident' and before you have walked about as if you have drawn a line in the sand between you and the world around you. Double dog daring anyone to try and cross it. Always being ready is, in itself, not a bad thing, but back to the Queen- you can't continue to be this way forever. Openness is something you are not used to. I know this for a fact. I say things to you, you toss me a glib answer then run out the door. I am not suggesting you throw the door open wide and say 'Everyone come in', but you can peek out a bit at times. You never know what is on the other side."

Another card was placed to the right of the Five. Now the pattern of a cross sat in the center of the table. "The soon to be future, or something to be embraced. The Ten of Cups. A card of satiety or gratification. All good things come now. A time to take a count in what you have achieved and worked towards and reap the results of it. Surely there has to be some good in your life now. Some success? Friends? The time is coming when you should see how blessed you are and rather than drawing a line between you and this, you should take comfort and embrace it. No matter what you may think, you are not alone and not everything is trying to kill you. Besides, you are already dead so why sweat something like that?"

[Dominique]

To be whole. Balance.

Interesting. The shadow in the chair gave those two points of interest some thought. There was one thing that Dominique was and that in fact was whole. It had been a while. For the longest time she did not feel that way. It was worth every moment despite how odd it sounded. Especially when that time had her more in love than she thought a human had the capability of ever being. What she felt was so bittersweet that she would be inclined to the think it was out of a movie. The raw kind of passion that lyricists wrote the tear inspiring songs to. The type of tunes that conveyed to the broken hearts of the world that they were not alone. As the drums were pounded and the guitars were strummed the down hearted saps all had company. Each sad as **** word strung together to form another down on your luck ‘the-dog-is-gone-the-toilet-seat-is-up’ lyric confirmed it. Make no mistake at forgetting to include the wall of empty liquor bottles that need counting as you walk out to weep at the base of the infested box elder tree that the neighbors poodle continually pisses on. That was all too much for her to handle anymore. It was a hell of a time for her mind to **** with her.

Music always played a part in her nights and this moment was no different than the rest. The sounds of Led Zeppelin almost had a hold on her mind to drown out the crap of those country crooners that could otherwise be a distraction. Remembering Zodiac’s simple directions to keep her mind focused she banished all of it. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham and John Paul Jones would have to wait. She would catch up with them later. More than likely while she was kicked back in a cloud of sweet smoke sporting eyelids so relaxed and heavy that they would be needing toothpicks to keep them open.

Thankfully the point remained with her when the music in her head died as quickly as it started. Dominique was whole. The weakness that love could bring along with all its beauty, wonderment and unpredictability was for the most part gone. It was always going to remain but the place it resided in was stronger than ever. Only one would ever inhabit that part of her and it was a promise she was fully intending to keep. Love never dies. Not the kind she held for Verne. No matter how much the world around her finally succeeded at changing her. She would honor her words to him. Even if the rest of her crumbled that one spot within her would always be safe and solid. When hell broke loose it would be where she would go to ride out any storms she couldn’t see her way through alone.

While the cards flipped she was reminded to be flexible. Bend a little perhaps. Zodiac knew she would never do so to the point of breaking and her observations revealed as much. A smile surfaced across her lips. Enough so that her dimples peeked out briefly. Two of Cups, The Queen of Swords. Both belonged right where they were placed by the violet dipped nails. The interpretation of their value in the reading made perfect sense. She was always at war and there was a fresh line drawn every time she came upon anyone or a new situation. Dominique was not about to have any new arrival to the world of Dominique mistake just where the danger zone was when it came to her. If someone ignored it then it would be pointed out the hard way.

Mirroring Zodiac she found her sense of thirst needed something to soothe it. HOPE reached out as her body leaned over and soon was holding on to the drink provided so kindly for her. Slowly the flavorless liquid made its way over her tongue and down the back of her throat. She was a piece of work and she knew it as she pulled the fluid source from her parted and damp lips. She wondered if the cards set out in front of her were available for purchase after the reading. Perhaps they could be sealed in some sort of triple matted framed display that she could hang up on her wall in her office. 'Read ‘em and weep' could be engraved in the frame.

Open door policy? Her teeth tightened at the thought. In the past it pretty much had bit her in the ***. Hard in fact. She slammed it shut and for a few damn good reasons known only to her. The rest of the world didn’t need to know. Despite the fact she built a bridge and got the **** over all of it said door needless to say was still for the most part closed. She lived and she learned. Or based on what Zodiac was pointing out perhaps she had to let the last of whatever was chewing on her go completely. She nodded. She never was one to claim she didn’t have a few small issues. Of course they were small. Everyone else had far larger ones as far as she was concerned. If only someone asked her.

Ten of Cups. That card would be appropriate tucked in her hip pockets next to her rosaries. The shadow could use the reminder especially when she was out fighting the out of control fires she more often than not hand a hand in starting to begin with. She gave it a long staredown as the message of the gypsy arrives to her. The world wasn’t out to get her as much as she thought. That was a relief. The way things had been going lately she had several reasons to think the opposite. Zodiac had another good point to confirm what appeared in the cards. Dominique was dead. Perhaps she just needed to accept it and finally start acting like it.

[Zodiac]

In some, the silence would be a matter of concern. Dominique would either hold it all in or say something if she did not agree with her view of the situation at hand, but words were not the only clues to work from. Zodiac had studied the girl many times and learned more about her than the shadow might be comfortable in realizing she did. Mannerisms, body language, expressions. Things people did without even knowing they did them was a road map her grandmother had taught her how to read. Mini seemed accepting, if not comfortable, with what she had revealed so far, so the gypsy continued.

"This 'cross' that has been formed tells us the spot you find your self standing in now. The potential problems, recent past, soon to be future." she explained gently as her hand moved over the cards. "Your world, for lack of a better term. Now we will begin to build the 'stave' you have to lean upon in facing the issues at hand."

Another card was pulled and sat to the right of the cross on Zodiac's side of the table. "The first card is your attitude in all of this. The Eight of Swords. A card of indifference. The inability to focus on what the real problems are and work to a solution. You are a prisoner of your past experiences, dear one. You are waiting for the punch line. In your mind everything turns out the same, and in the face of change you cannot conceive that this time it may be different so you cling to your normal way of dealing with things but since this may be a different situation than normal-you are stuck." the girl frowned deeply as she studied the card. She too knew what it was like to be stuck in life. Nothing ever changes and everything will end the way it always does. "Until you learn to admit to yourself there is a possibility for something different, nothing will change. You will see to that yourself in the long run if you cannot accept that."

Another card was drawn and placed above the Eight of Swords. "The world and the people you are dealing with at this time. Friends. acquaintances?" Zodiac was not sure the girl even had any of those. She tried very hard not to delve too deeply into the lives of people around her unless they chose to ask for her advice. "The Six of Pentacles. A card of success. Monetary success, a season of giving and getting. Not afraid to spread the blessings around. People close to you are willing to help you and not expect things for it. You probably have others who owe you for your help in the past. The physical and the spiritual finally coming into a state of balance, acceptance. You are finding your place in this world now, but..." She gestured back to the Eight of Swords. "You cannot accept that. I'm Dominique. Bad things always happen to me. It's the law. Everything always turns to ****. Am I saying to trust blindly? Of course not. Again, you need to be able to peek out from behind this mountain of distrust you have built around yourself and judge honestly what is happening and not assume business as usual."

Yet another car was pulled and sat above the Six of Pentacles. "Hopes and fears. The unexpected. The Page of Wands. A person capable of a slow, deep burn. Someone who blazes through life, acting as a catalyst that others may harness or try to use to their own advantages." Zodiac frowned again as she considered the possibilities. This did sound like the girl sitting across from her, but what would it appear in such a spot like this?

Slowly she blinked her blue eyes as she looked directly at her guest. "You fear yourself. It makes perfect sense. If everything did play out all story book and happy ever after, you would not accept it. Too much of you is locked into this state of funk you have lived in for so long. And as I suggested, there is a chance you'd find a way to mess things all up just to be able to slip back into your familiar shell and grumble about how you knew it would all turn out to be ********. I pity you." she regretted that last statement, but she would not lie to the girl. She had tried to be a friend and mentor to her in the past-even when Mini was alive- but the woman dismissed her words so easily. How do you help someone like that?

"One card left to go,"

[Dominique]

Zodiac was spot on with the cards. Each one was landing and delivering clues to a direction she likely was heading. The pity her employer voiced was likely genuine. Of course it was. Zodiac was direct and to the point just like Dominique counted on the mystic being. Pity, however, was a killer if taken the wrong way and she was in no way interested in entertaining it. She needed to snap out of the funk that had pretty much consumed her the last year or more. That was the very reason her *** was still planted where it was and not getting up and stomping out for hearing something she didn’t like and was more truthful than she planned on. Change was coming and she was not fighting it anymore.

One card was left. Would it tie everything together with the images that were laid out before her? The level of anticipation about what was on the card still face down on the deck soared. The possibilities were endless. Dominique did have one fear and Zo was accurate in pointing it out. Herself. She had been and continued to be her own worst enemy. Would the final card confirm it for the two of them to see? Maybe it would say that it all was a destructive set of patterns that would finally see a final end. In their wake would be a new beginning. Growth and discovery of what she had denied, ignored or fought against for far too long.

Dominique made use of the silence that settled in the room and reached for the drink she had access to. It was flavorless. In fact it was far more bland than it ever had been before. She swallowed slowly absorbing the new information while the fluid was accepted down her throat. Her mind seemed less inclined to compensate and fill in the gaps that the comatose taste buds left her with to use for reference.

Maybe Dominique was tired of doing it. All the little routes her brain took to try and sell her on the idea she had changed as little as possible drained her even if she would not admit it. The sharp points behind her gums were evidence that perhaps this was already happening. Their presence as her tongue drifted beneath them as her lips closed and her hand brought the drink back down reminded her proof was going to be there. She just needed to finally accept it and open her eyes. She could not be anything except for what she was.

“Thank you.”

Dominique knew it was not needing to be said but trusted that Zodiac would know the context of why she said it. A friend was hard to find. A true friend even more so in the world around them. That the gypsy had always been there for her no matter what pit of chaos she would dive into before thinking. More times than she could count Zodiac had done everything to deter her short of waving warning flags to stop her.

“I know it isn’t easy to watch someone set themselves on fire and not intervene and put it out. Some learn the hard way and we both know that is an understatement coming from me.” Her dimples surfaced and a smile found it’s place briefly on her lips. “I feel the changes coming. It is time.” A slight nod of her head signaled to the display between them on the table. “Seeing it in the cards is confirming it.”