Arcana | 2 – The Magus

Arcanum 2 – The Magus

The Magician indicates a beginning. Reasoning is quick. There is no lack of astuteness and talent; all that remains is to take action. This card also indicates the necessity of choosing, deciding, to go into mourning for the “everything is possible” that is the mark of youth.
The Magician shows that something is possible, that a new beginning can be made and that nothing is opposed to initiating a new action. His wand could represent a request for help or an inspiration waiting to be charged by a more mature force, or perhaps by the progress of maturity itself.
Even though he is the first of the Major Arcana and an initiate in his own right, The Magician still has a road to travel ahead of him. This is the card of the unity that must choose a way to take action.

The cave had knick-knacks spread all over the place in what looked like controlled chaos. However, the place also felt… bizarre, in some unnatural way. As if there was some actuality among the obvious deceit. The whole den was illuminated in some dimmed down purplish light, and the smell of incense was noticeable. Classic. Every detail looked stereotypical and entirely in tune with everything else at the carnival. It was all about atmosphere and scenic design. Not necessarily the truth.

Lisa glanced over at Leigh, who had insisted they would do the “fortune-telling thing,” as she had called it, but now looked as tense as a scaredy-cat. Lisa almost had to laugh.

“You want us to leave?” She whispered to her friend.

Leigh almost jumped out of her skin, then cleared her throat. Pretending to be fearless, when in fact Lisa knew she was extremely impressionable. Once she had told Lisa that even ET had scared her to death.

“Hell, no! We’re here – let’s do this! You ready for some cartomancy, Lisa?”

Before Lisa could reply that it hadn’t been her idea, and therefore she wouldn’t undergo any of that shit, the fortune teller appeared from behind a heavy velvet curtain. Like a ghost. Or a witch. Or just someone who at this point knew how to master the art of surprising her guests.

“But I don’t do cartomancy… I am a hand reader. Good evening, and welcome. My name is Madame LeFleur. Have you ever heard about palmistry, young ladies? Do you know how it works?”

Leigh and Lisa didn’t reply and just stared at her.

The woman was in her late fifties and still beautiful, with long, black hair and milky-white skin. Her eyes were also black, and huge, enhanced by long and thick eyelashes. She wore a long, beautiful gypsy dress and big earrings. And when she smiled, she displayed perfect, white teeth.

“Not really. I thought you would do something with tarots… or a crystal ball.” Leigh straightened her stance, but the blush on her cheeks didn’t disappear.

Madame LeFleur kept smiling.

“It’s OK. Why don’t you girls have a seat? Make yourself at home, please.” The hand reader’s dark eyes turned to Lisa. “Are you ready, young lady? I seem to understand that you’re going to be the first one experiencing the magic…”

“She’s going to be the only one. I’m just here for support,” Leigh quipped, and repressed a smirk when Lisa glared at her. However, they both did as asked and sat in the plush armchairs. Unsurprisingly, they were purple and very soft.

Moving as if she was made of nothing but soft fabric, Madame LeFleur took her place across the old, wooden table. It was empty and its surface shone in the dim light of the “cave”.

She rested her hands on the table, palms flat, and Lisa noticed the sparkling red nail polish and the flashy rings. One on each finger. Her eyes flew up to the woman’s face. Madame LeFleur stared at her intensely, then smiled again.

“It won’t be painful, I promise. Not in a physical way, at least.” She rose an eyebrow and tried her best to give Lisa a reassuring look. “Come on, young girl… What’s your name?”

“Lisa…”

“Mh… It means ‘God’s promise’. Did you know that? Give me your hand, Lisa…”

Almost out of her own volition, Lisa removed her gloves and placed them in her lap.

“Which one?”

“It depends. Both hands can be read. Your left hand would tell me who you are, your story since you were born, while your right hand is the keeper of your future. So… It’s up to you. What do you want to know, young girl? Who you are now or who you will become?”

“I know who I am.”

Only after speaking the words Lisa realized how defiant she had sounded. However, Madame LeFleur didn’t seem to notice or mind.

“I am not sure any of us really knows who they really are. But alright, almost all you do is your decision. Almost. Give me your right hand, then.”

Quietly, Lisa rested her right hand on the smooth surface of the table. The table was clean and glossy, not an ounce of dust. Madame LeFleur cared about her cave, looked like.

When the woman’s hand touched hers, Lisa swallowed. Madame’s fingers were hot and silky. She ran them along the back of Lisa’s hand and fingers.

“You have such beautiful hands, young lady. Soft, smooth. And so little. They are often empty, aren’t they? Or at least… that’s the way you feel. However, these hands will soon stop feeling empty. They will be held by much bigger, stronger hands. Male hands. And you… you’ll hold onto those hands, too.”

She wasn’t really asking anything, and her eyes were now fixed on her own movements. They weren’t caresses – it was some sort of exploration. Lisa decided it would be best to stay put and wait. She allowed Madame LeFleur to hold her hand and turn it, her fingers now assessing the lines on her palm.

“Do you see this line? It’s called the Sun Line and is so important… It defines your success… It shows your talent, your ability to go beyond your limits.” The hand reader glanced up and found Lisa’s eyes. “And you have that talent. That ability. But you’re scared. Why are you so scared, little Lisa?”

It almost sounded like a rhetorical question and Lisa blinked, not really knowing what to say. Madame LeFleur gave her a sympathetic smile. Like a mother would do. Well… a mother slightly different from Priscilla, maybe.

“…He’s gone, baby. But he’ll always be with you.”

What? Lisa blinked.

“Who’s gone?”

Her voice came out raspier than she intended. Fear gripping her throat. Everything and everyone in the room was forgotten. Leigh, the knick-knacks, the corny details. Everything but Madame LeFleur’s motherly and yet haunting eyes. Was she hypnotizing her?

“Your daddy.”

Instinctively, Lisa tried to pull her hand back, but the woman’s hold on her wrist tightened, ever so slightly. Her touch wasn’t hard and wasn’t violent. Whatever her trick was, it worked, and Lisa stilled her movements. Trying to relax, her eyes focused on Madame’s once again.

“Your wisdom line reveals your strain capacity and thinking ability. You are responsive and very considerate. However, you’re also too prone to overthinking everything, and that gets into some very dark blind alley. Doesn’t it, Lisa? You can be a prisoner of yourself… of your own mind. And you can also be very impulsive.” Madame LeFleur’s eyes gazed up and found Lisa’s again. They seemed to laugh. “The man I was talking about earlier… The man that will make you feel different… He too can be reckless and impulsive. You must remember that, girl. You both should. Because being so volatile together could bring some storm… No matter how blue the sky seems to be.”

“Who’s this man? Someone I know?”

Lisa didn’t even know why she had asked. She didn’t believe any of this. She didn’t want to. This was make-believe, a fraud, nothing but a money-grab. A trick. A sleight of hand. Let people hear what they want to hear. It was smoke and mirrors, nothing else.

“No, you don’t know him yet. But you soon will. And you will feel a deep connection. As if your soul had already met his… a long time ago. Believe me, my words will make sense… in due time. You don’t know the man he is now, the person he has become… and the man he will become just by meeting you. Neither of you will come out of this unscathed.”

“I don’t know what to say…”

Lisa shook her head and frowned. Of course, Madame was telling her something that could fit in everyone’s life. Every girl met guys. It happened all the time. She wasn’t guessing anything, let alone reading it in the palm of her hand. She didn’t know. She couldn’t.

“He’s tall, dark, and handsome. His eyes will make you bleed, but not always in a bad way. Quite the opposite. Look at your heart line, baby girl. You’re so faithful to your love… once you love for real. How sad it is that you will have to face some major upheavals during your life. How sad it is that you will get hurt seriously, at times.” Madame LeFleur rested her palm over Lisa’s and looked up at her again. This time, her eyes seemed sad. “But he too will get hurt. I don’t need to read his hand to know that, I can see it through you. And you know why? Because of that connection you two have. It’s ancient. The things this man will make you feel… it’s not something you have ever experienced before. You’re so young, girl. But you will soon become a woman… thanks to him. With him. You will change each other forever.”

Madame turned Lisa’s hand and kept holding it, sandwiched in between her own warm, soft hands.

“Everything is up to you. What you will do with your future. I can only see so far… and sometimes the vision is blurred. There are corners of a person’s soul that are inscrutable to everyone. But that man, little Lisa… he’s waiting for you at the end of the road. Or at the beginning.”

“It’s just bullshit.”

“Maybe. But for five bucks, it sure was some interesting bullshit!” Leigh grabbed Lisa’s arm and started dragging her over to the Tin Can Alley stall. “Look at that! The cactus is so… fake! I love it! I would so put it in my living room!”

“Classy!” Lisa laughed, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling that had been accompanying her since Madame LeFleur had first laid eyes on her. Trying even harder to distract her friend, who didn’t seem to want to let the matter go – despite being utterly enthralled by the many carnival classics at the funfair.

“Hey, it’s not that I’m saying that I believe her. But how did she know about your dad?”

Lisa flinched.

“Did you ever take a good look at my face? I’m his carbon copy. I bet she recognized me.”

“Really? I don’t know. I’m not sure. Lisa, shit, even putting aside that detail, she was very specific. She didn’t just say you would meet a guy, she described him in a quite detailed way. What do you think about that?”

“I told you. I think she was full of shit. And good at selling it.” They had reached the stall, and they kept talking even when the woman behind the counter gave them their toy guns. “I think she knows what to tell her customers.”

“Lisa, Lisa… so young and already so disillusioned. Why don’t you just allow yourself to dream, for a change? You know, like girls your age are supposed to do.” Leigh smiled and shook her head, only half-joking. She was a bit older than Lisa and always picked on her sullen attitude. In the most endearing way, yes, but still… Lisa really wasn’t in the mood for her gentle jabs at the moment. Despite doing her best to dismiss what had happened, Madame LeFleur’s words had hit home in so many different ways. Whether they were true or not.

“It’s not even about that. About me being always sullen and pessimistic, that is. That woman just does this for a job and sure she’s good at reading people. Every girl wants to hear that she’ll meet a tall and dark and handsome guy, right?”

“Well, not really. You know me. I like a very different kind of man… Hairy and squishy and funny-looking.” Leigh nudged at Lisa. “Like that one, over there. See?”

Lisa turned and frowned.

“Who? That ginger dude?”

“Yep… the one walking with… I don’t even know how to describe his friend. Someone who should probably be in a hospital bed, maybe? But look at that dude. Look how cute he is. What a plushy teddy bear!”

Yeah. Leigh had a thing for redheads.

Lisa heard her giggle by her side, but her eyes stayed on the two guys slowly walking in their direction. They seemed engrossed in some heartfelt conversation and she wondered if they, too, had undergone Madame LeFleur’s treatment.

The guy that had caught Leigh’s attention was quite tall and quite chubby. He sported a full beard that was as red as his thick, wavy hair and was smiling at his friend. And his friend – well, Lisa considered him way more interesting and mysterious, at least at first glance. And despite his face not showing much. He too was quite tall and looked slender, but solid. Strong. Hands in his pockets, he wore a long black coat that enhanced his broad shoulders, a scarf and a black beanie covering pretty much all his forehead. More than half of his face was bandaged, and Lisa wondered what had happened to him. An accident, maybe? As his friend kept talking to him, gesturing broadly, the guy kept his eyes downcast. Lisa saw him bite his bottom lip and nod a couple of times, as if lost in thought. He seemed to be listening and she never saw him talk back. Then, for the shortest instant, he glanced up and his eyes met Lisa’s. The man’s eyes were big and dark, almost black. She felt taken aback for a second, but then Leigh’s tugged at the sleeve of her leather jacket, snapping her out of her temporary state of suspension.

“Stop staring at them! Looks like they’re coming over, but they won’t if you carry on like that! Let’s start playing and see what they do…”

Hesitantly, Lisa turned and focused on the silver tin cans on the shooting ground.

“She was just looking at me.”

“Who?”

Michael blinked and, somehow, was able to peel his eyes off the girl standing by the Tin Can Alley stall. She was just… gorgeous.

She had caught his attention right away, even before Alan noticed her friend – who, on a side note, was just as beautiful. At first, Michael had been able to stare at her petite, dark-haired beauty for a bit, trying very hard to figure out why she was so attractive to him and going pretty much unnoticed. She hadn’t spotted him. Well, yes, she indeed was delicious to look at, with that perfect profile and that ass, but there was also something else. That familiar sensation that Michael couldn’t really pinpoint. Then, for a second, their eyes had met and the impression had gotten stronger than ever. Still unplaceable, but undoubtedly intense.

“The girl I’ll probably have a dozen of kids with. I mean, did you see her? Imagine what beautiful babies she and I would have. I hope they’ll inherit that smooth caramel skin. Those eyes. Those long legs. Are you gonna be their godfather?”

Michael had to laugh.

“Slow down, champ. You don’t even know her yet.”

“Yet being the keyword here. It’s called magical thinking. If I truly, truly want something, I can make it happen. And right now I really want to take her-”

“Whoa there. Time to zip it, Al.”

Alan chuckled.

“You have a dirty mind. A saintly veneer and a filthy mind. I was gonna say that I really wanna take her to dinner. Perv!”

Michael shoved him playfully.

“Don’t drag me into your shit, Alan. I got stuff to do, things to take care of, and another year touring all over the world starting in a few weeks…”

“Oh, I know. But what does it have to do with me? Besides, that also doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy the company of a lady. What do you think about my girl’s friend?”

He just shrugged and took a deep breath.

“What can I say? She’s gorgeous.”

“Right? We’re good, then. Let’s keep strolling. We don’t wanna look like we’re stalking them, but I’ve been keeping tabs on them since they went into the witch’s cave. Damn! I thought they would never gonna come out!”

Yeah. When they first had spotted the girls, those two were walking straight into that weird place. Michael had frowned, then had realized that the carnival was an out-of-time place, where people would do stuff that usually would avoid. It was just a game. However, he had been struck by the melancholic expression on his girl’s face when she had walked out of the cave. She had looked lost in thought, and perhaps even a bit sad. Once again, he had wondered what had upset her.

“Don’t you want kids, by the way, Mike? Like… you know, a real girlfriend. Some serious relationships. Someone to build your future with.”

Alan’s reiterated words attracted his attention and Michael blinked. This time he didn’t even bother correcting him, reminding him that he was supposed to call him John – at least for the night. Why wasn’t he letting go?

“Yeah, I do. I mean, of course. I’d love to… Someday. But this is not the right time. I’m way too busy… way too focused on my art. Who’s gonna put up with that? With the circus that my life is?”

“Buddy, you’re always gonna be focused on your art. And your life is always gonna be a circus. You know that.”

Michael sighed. Alan was right. He had been smitten in the past, a couple of times. Even putting aside that crazy infatuation he had started to experience when he was a teenager, and that had ended only when the bubble had burst and he was a young adult, he had of course enjoyed the company of the ladies. Only, it had never been anything that serious.

In a way, he wanted to feel that feeling everyone talked about, in that all-consuming way everyone talked about it, but he was also scared. What if it distracted him from what he needed to do? He had worked so hard to be where he was. On top. What if the dependable, steady presence of a woman by his side meant that he would lose sight of his ultimate goal? What if he ended up backing off a bit? Losing focus? Becoming mediocre? Michael was not sure he was ready to do that. His art was everything to him. The only thing that had never betrayed him, disappointed him or abandoned him. After all, it wasn’t a bad thing that he and Brooke were now nothing but friends.

However, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t relax a bit and get to know new people. So in that way, Alan’s words made sense.

“I know that. But for now, I just wanna keep doing what I’m doing. Besides, it’s not that I’ve met anyone worth the effort of considering anything else.”

“…Yet.” Alan squinted his eyes at him and smirked.

“What?”

“You haven’t met anyone… yet.”

“Right, right…” Michael kicked a rock on the ground. “Hey, you know what? Let’s go grab some popcorn and candies. What girl can say no to sweets? At a carnival?”

This time, Alan laughed.

“There you go! See? That, my friend, is a great idea. Let’s go get some candy canes for the ladies.”

It all happened quite fast. At first, Lisa was so focused on the game – strangely enough, but paying attention to those tin cans was way less stressful than thinking about a gypsy telling her about her father and a mysterious man she was supposed to meet – that she didn’t even notice those two guys getting closer and closer. Then she heard Leigh’s unmistakable laughter and turned to look at her. The disappointment of having been unable to hit any tin can momentarily forgotten, Lisa realized how she envied her friend’s ability to enjoy male company. Or any company, really. Unlike Lisa, Leigh didn’t have any social anxiety.

Leigh was free – inside and out. Or even better yet, she was liberated. She enjoyed social life, was a lover of life, and there was nothing dirty about her lack of inhibitions. Lisa was far from a bigot, and that was why she appreciated the way her friend faced life. No holds barred. If she wanted to experience something, she would go for it with joy and enthusiasm. She enjoyed men – and never punished herself with them like Lisa sometimes did. It did not matter how good Lisa had become at bullshitting others and herself, she was well aware that she went through the motions more often than not. Her deep-seated sadness, the obscurity she felt wrapped around her most intimate core infected everything and everyone in her life.

She had chosen Danny because being alone was a way worse option. She had chosen Danny because he would make her feel secure, and she didn’t even have to try hard. He would just stick around, no matter what. Before him she had been quite wild, and also the press had caught up. Her mother hadn’t been impressed by the venomous articles that a bunch of tabloids had published about Elvis’ little girl. Lisa surely didn’t want to ruin her dad’s legacy, did she? No, of course not. And that was why she was trying to understand if she could get ready to settle down with a man she loved but was not in love with.

The only positive thing about the whole mess was that Danny was unaware of anything.

“Hey… No luck yet?”

The voice enveloped her from behind, like a breeze. It was warm and velvety, deep and yet gentle. A male voice she had never heard before but that, at the same time, held some sense of familiarity she couldn’t really pinpoint. Lisa just stood there for a moment, barely registering, out of the corner of her eye, that Leigh was shaking hands with the red-haired, bearded guy. They were both smiling. Slowly, she turned and found herself face to face with…

Well, she couldn’t really say who the man was or what he looked like. He definitely was the one who had been walking with Leigh’s new friend, and up-close Lisa realized that she has been right: only part of his face was visible. The rest of it was just the way it had looked from afar: bandaged. The only thing she could tell about this guy was that he was young, black, and had spectacular eyes.

“Hey yourself. Ah… No. Not really.” She shrugged and felt her cheeks go up in flames as she noticed how the guy’s eyes scanned her. Inquisitively, but not in a creepy way. For a moment, she was able to stare into them and once again thought that they were magnificent. Those big, dark eyes. Gentle eyes for a soft voice. “But that was my last shot, so…”

She saw him smile. His mouth was visible and he had perfect teeth. She could tell he was slightly stubbly and that he had beautiful lips. Not much else.

“Well, that’s not a problem.” The man extracted a couple of dollars from the small pocket of his coat and handed them to the girl behind the counter. “Miss? Another round. Thank you so much.”

Once again, he sounded polite. Genuinely nice. Also, he was pretty tall and dark. His curly black hair was barely visible, because he wore that beanie, but his long sideburns were a dead giveaway.

“My name is John, by the way.” The guy removed his gloves and held out his hand to her. “Care if I join you?”

Still feeling shy, Lisa did her best to put up her usual front. Bold, defiant. However, this time it wasn’t that easy. There was something about John that felt genuinely disarming.

“Sure. Why not?” With her free hand, she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m Lisa.”

“Lisa…” John narrowed his eyes and stared at her, once again managing to melt something inside of her. It looked as if he was studying her, and the resulting feeling was an odd conglomerate of uneasiness and familiarity. “Your name suits you… Lisa.”

And she liked the way it rolled off his tongue. Lisa. Like a caress on velvet.

“Thanks.”

“OK…” The man squinted his eyes and took her hand, just like Madame LeFleur had done just an hour earlier. Only, he turned it and placed the toy gun in her palm. “You first.”

“What? I told you. I can’t aim for shit.” Lisa smiled and started to relax. Glancing once again at Leigh to make sure everything was fine, she noticed that her friend was laughing and joking with the ginger guy – Alan, she had heard Leigh call him. Oh, Leigh was more than OK. And Lisa was stuck with the Invisible Man.

“Well, let’s see. Try. We got five rounds. There you go…” Demonstratively, he took a step back and pushed his hands in the pockets of his coat. Waiting.

Rolling her eyes and sighing, Lisa turned and did her best to hit the can. Of course, she missed it. She smiled to herself and shook her head.

“I told you. I’m not good at this…”

“You didn’t even aim properly!” John laughed and stepped closer. “Don’t you know that patience is a virtue?”

“Yeah, too bad it’s a virtue I never possessed…” She couldn’t do anything but laugh with him.

Lisa realized that this was weird. She didn’t know this guy at all, and yet there was something about him, an aura that made her feel at ease and safe. She hoped her sixth sense worked, and that John was as nice as he seemed. She usually was a good judge of characters only when it concerned others and not her.

“Well, I got plenty for both of us… Here, let me help you.” Another step closer, right behind her shoulders. “Can I?”

Once again, she was struck by his politeness. He wanted to play and was not flirting, nor he seemed dangerous in any way.

“Sure… OK.”

John positioned himself behind Lisa’s back and his arms came around her torso. His hands took hers.

“First of all, hold the gun with two hands…” Still holding her hands, he raised the toy gun. “Now take a deep breath and hold it… Hold it…”

She felt him smile. Yeah, holding her breath wasn’t a problem, as the feeling of his chest slightly brushing her back felt way better than she would have ever expected. Also, he smelled amazing.

“Focus on that can right there… You got it?”

His head was closer to hers, now, and she heard his voice in her ear.

“Yeah…”

“’Kay… Shoot.”

It wasn’t an exclamation. John said the word very calmly, with that soft, deep voice that did something to her. And Lisa obliged.

The little can went down the shelf with a “ding.”

“There you go!”

Utterly surprised, she shrieked and turned to look at him. He was smiling.

“See? It’s easy. Let’s try again.”

The Ferris wheel stopped moving, and Lisa and her new friend found themselves right on top of the world. Or, at the very least, on top of the vintage carnival. It felt odd, as if the guy making the thing move from his small cabinet on the ground had decided to grant them a moment of privacy.

Lisa and John had spent the last couple of hours together, just tagging along Leigh and Alan, who seemed pretty much oblivious of everything and everyone else and quite interested in one another. As they all bought cotton candy, Leigh had pulled Lisa closer, smiling at her.

“I’m already smitten,” she had whispered into her ear.

Lisa had laughed.

“How so?”

“I don’t know. Don’t you believe in love at first sight?”

Lisa had just blinked and snorted. She didn’t have an answer to that. Up until that point, she would likely have said no. She never had believed in that kind of childish shit. However, she now realized that she had no knowledge of what love at first sight truly meant. How was she supposed to feel? Attracted to the person? Happy to have him around? Willing to get to know him better? Because if those were the signs, well… Maybe Leigh wasn’t wrong. It could happen.

Anyway, the Ferris wheel was their last park ride before going back home. Each gondola could only contain two people, and of course, Leigh and Alan had decided to ride together. Which meant that Lisa was stuck with John. Not that she minded… After all, together they had managed to win a funny-looking stuffed bunny at the tin can alley, and he had looked pretty proud of himself when he had placed it into Lisa’s arms.

The guy was… interesting, to say the least. A bit shy, maybe, but there was also something else about him. A virility, a gentlemanliness that shone through his playful attitude. He didn’t boast, nor yelled. He was soft-spoken and a gentleman. He seemed thoughtful and attentive to her every need, he was polite and knew how to engage in a conversation without sounding overbearing. He was respectful and kind. And so, after all, being at the top of the Ferris wheel with him wasn’t even half bad. Lisa was just cold and a bit tired. She wanted to go home and stay with him at the same time. Such a weird feeling…

“I love the trickery of carnival games… but I love the physics of Ferris wheel even more.”

John’s meditative words intruded her thoughts and she turned to look at him. He was glancing around, taking in the view and his dark eyes shone. He was also smiling, ever so slightly.

“I’m glad it stopped here. It feels like floating in the air.”

Indeed. The gondolas moved slightly, in the light breeze of the night. Lisa shivered and crossed her arms over her chest, holding onto her fluffy bunny.

“Are you afraid of heights?” His eyes turned to her and, still smiling, narrowed.

She laughed.

“Not at all. It’s such a nice view from up here… the ocean is beautiful at night.”

Her eyes focused on the dark sweep of black water, partly illuminated by a three-quarter moon that looked as yellow as a lemon.

“It really is.” Despite his words, he wasn’t looking at the sea. He was still staring at her as if he was trying hard to assess something. Then he scrunched his eyebrows. “Hey… you’re shaking.”

“I’m freezing.” Lisa chuckled.

“Oh!” He seemed surprised, and she wondered what his face looked like behind the bandages. “Here, let me…”

The moment she realized that he was taking his scarf off to give it to her, Lisa blushed. Nobody had ever done anything so simple and yet endearing for her, and she was not sure how she was supposed to react to that.

“No, don’t… You don’t need to…”

“Here…” Without even listening, John slowly wrapped his scarf around her neck and shoulders, paying attention not to touch her, and yet at the same time making sure that she was well protected from the cold. As he did that, once again his eyes seemed to study her. There was something unreadable in his expression, as if he knew something that she didn’t. “Feel better?”

A sudden sensation of comfort came over her. The scarf, a man scarf, was big enough to envelop her and it was warm, after having been wrapped around his neck all night. Sinking into it against a gust of sudden chilly breeze coming from the sea, Lisa found herself immersed in John’s scent. Cologne, aftershave, and something that reminded her of baby powder. The result was magnificent, and she felt dizzy for a second. She had read somewhere that the sense of smell was powerful in evoking sensations… and it was undoubtedly a correct statement.

“Yeah… much better. Thank you.”

This time he smiled. A smile that reached his eyes, and whatever it was that must have crossed his mind disappeared behind those dark irises.

“Can I ask you something… John?”

“Sure.” He sank back in his seat and pulled up the lapels of his coat.

“What happened to your face? Did you… have an accident?” What the fuck? That was so inappropriate! Lisa bit her tongue. “You can tell me to fuck off if I crossed the line.”

John laughed.

“No, it’s fine. Did I have an accident?” He blinked, his eyes downcast as if wondering how he was supposed to answer to that question.

She shook her head.

“Hey, never mind. It was uncalled for.”

He turned and looked at her.

“No, it’s just…” He sighed. “Lisa, would you see me tomorrow night? Here, at the carnival?”

Well… That was unexpected. She was unprepared and just stared back at him, surprised.

“What about Leigh and Alan?”

“I think they won’t have any problem with that…” He stayed quiet, and Lisa heard her friend’s voice in the silence of the night and the “woosh” of the breeze. Leigh was laughing and talking to her new friend. “So… see me again tomorrow?”

“So you can get your scarf back?” She tried to make light of it, but the truth was that the idea of seeing him again was more than enticing.

John smiled.

“No, so we can talk some more. The scarf, you can keep it. As a reminder to put on something warmer when you decide to spend the night outdoors and it’s freezing.”

She bit his lip, still staring at him, wondering if he was really serious. Maybe this guy had just figured out who she was and she was some kind of a trophy to him.

Or maybe he genuinely wanted to see her again… and talk some more, just like he had said. As a matter of fact, they had talked plenty during the night. And so beautifully.

“Good one.”

“So? See me again tomorrow?”

His unrelenting request was, once again, not pushy but endearing. Lisa laughed.

“OK.”

“OK?” John seemed surprised. His eyes widened.

“Yeah… OK.”

On cue, the Ferris wheel started moving again, bringing them down, the gondola slowly rocking in the breeze.