The man’s face has turned red.
“Really-” he begins.
“I have it.” I cut him off firmly. “I have read your mind, and you did not draw a shape. No one can fool The Great Lara. On your napkin is written…” I pause, wishing I had a drum roll. “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness . Show the table your napkin, please.”
Ha! The pompous man looks like he swallowed a fish. Slowly, he holds up the napkin, and there’s a massive gasp, followed by applause.
“Fucking hell,” says his neighbor bluntly. “How did you do that?” He appeals to the table. “There’s no way she could have known that.”
“It’s a trick,” the pompous man is saying, but he’s sounding less convinced.
“Do it again! Do it to someone else!” A man opposite is beckoning to the next table. “Hey, Neil, you have to see this. What’s your name again?”
“Lara,” I say proudly. “Lara Lington.”
“Where did you train?” The Great Firenzo is by my side, breathing heavily as he murmurs in my ear. “Who taught you that?”
“No one,” I say. “I told you, I have special powers. Female powers,” I can’t help adding. “Which means they’re especially strong.”
“Fine,” he snaps. “Forget it. I’m speaking to the union about you.”
“Lara, let’s go.” Sadie has appeared on my other side and is stroking Ed’s chest with her hand. “I want to dance. Come on!”
“Just do a few more tricks,” I mutter under my breath as guests start gathering around the table to watch. “Look at all these people! I can talk to them, give out my cards, make a few contacts-”
“I don’t care about your contacts!” She pouts. “I want to shake my booty!”
“A couple more.” I speak sidelong under camouflage of my wineglass. “Then we’ll go. Promise.”
***
But I’m in such demand that before I know it, nearly an hour has whizzed by. Everyone wants to have their mind read. Everyone in the room knows my name! The Great Firenzo has packed up and gone. I feel a bit bad about him, but then, he shouldn’t have been so obnoxious, should he?
Several tables have been pushed aside, chairs have been dragged forward, and an audience has assembled. By now I’ve refined my act so that I go off into a little side room, and the person writes down whatever it is and shows the whole audience. Then I come back in and guess. So far I’ve had names, dates, Bible verses, and a drawing of Homer Simpson. (Sadie described it to me. Luckily I got it.)
“And now.” I look impressively around the little crowd. “The Great Lara will perform a yet more astounding feat. I will read… five minds at once!”
There’s a satisfying gasp and spatter of applause.
“Me!” A girl rushes forward. “Me!”
“And me!” Another girl is scrambling over the chairs.
“Sit on that chair.” I gesture with a flourish. “The Great Lara will now retire and then return to read your mind!”
There’s a round of applause and a few cheers, and I beam modestly. I head off into the side room and take a swig of water. My face is glowing and I’m totally wired. This is fantastic! We should do it full-time!
“All right,” I say as soon as the door closes. “We’ll do them in order; it should be quite easy-” I break off in surprise. Sadie has planted herself right in front of me.
“When are we going to leave?” she demands. “I want to dance. This is my date.”
“I know.” I’m redoing my lip gloss quickly. “And we will.”
“When?”
“Sadie, come on. This is so much fun. Everyone’s having a brilliant time. You can dance anytime!”
“I can’t dance anytime!” Her voice rises in fury. “Who’s being selfish now? I want to go! Now!”
“We will! I promise. One more trick-”
“No! I’ve had enough of helping you! You’re on your own.”
“Sa-” I stop dead as she disappears before my eyes. “Sadie, don’t joke.” I wheel around, but there’s no answer or sight of her. “OK, very funny. Come back.”
Great. She’s in a huff.
“Sadie.” I adopt a humbler tone. “I’m sorry. I can understand you’re annoyed. Please come back and let’s talk about it.”
There’s no response. The little room is dead. I look around, feeling a bit more alarmed.
She can’t have gone.
I mean, she can’t have just left me.
I jump as there’s a knock at the door and Ed comes in. Ed’s turned into my unofficial assistant. He’s been marshaling the requests and handing out pens and paper.
“Five minds at once, huh?” he says as he enters.
“Oh.” I hastily plaster on a smile. “Er… yes! Why not?”
“There’s quite a crowd out there. All the people who were in the bar have come in to watch. Standing room only.” He gestures at the door. “Ready?”
“No!” Instinctively I back away. “I mean, I might take a moment first. I need to get my head straight. Have a breather.”
“I’m not surprised. Must take a lot of concentration.” Ed leans against the door frame and surveys me for a moment. “I’ve been watching you as hard as I can, but I still can’t figure it out. However you do it… it’s awesome.”
“Oh. Er… thanks.”