Uncorked, the swanky little wine bar her date had selected, was half full when Irene arrived shortly before 8 o’clock. She’d driven a good 30 minutes to Summitville, a moderately sized town that seemed to have a lot on Applewood in terms of sophistication.

She could see herself spending more time in this neck of the woods, you know, if this whole thing were to work out. And it could work out. There was actually a tiny chance of that, she reminded herself, trying desperately to remain optimistic.

The lighting was fairly dim, but she was able to scan the tables for any sign of Hyoyeon, who purported to have light asher brown with subtle pink highlights hair cut just shy above of her shoulders. She didn’t see anyone who fit that description, but she did pause momentarily on the man and woman feeding each other strawberries in the corner booth. Show offs. But she couldn’t help smiling at the cozy picture.

Easing into a table nestled in the heart of the room, Irene took a deep breath and waived the waiter off until her date arrived. Since she was only planning on one drink that night, she would wait so they could have it together over some getting to know you conversation. That’s how it worked, right? She was pretty sure at least.

But when 8.20 rolled around, she started to get a little restless. 8.30 had her beginning to feel sorry for herself, and by 8.40, she was reaching for her bag and car keys just in time for a hand to land on her shoulder from behind.

“You must be Irene. My apologies for keeping you waiting.”

She blinked a couple of times. Light asher brown with subtle pink highlights hair. “Um, yes. Hyoyeon?”

“A pleasure to meet you. So sorry I’m late. I was with a client and couldn’t get away. I’m normally quite punctual.”

“Not a problem.” She could get past the delay. Not a big deal in the scheme of life. A little rude, but not a total deal breaker. Plus, she liked the mention of the word client. Seemed corporate. Established. Sturdy.

“Tell you what, I’ll buy you a drink to make up for it. What would you like?”

“Um…maybe a dry sav blanc?”

“Done.” She signaled the waiter and ordered two glasses of wine, impressing Irene with plenty of pleases and thank yous in the process. Points for manners. Nice.

Drinks arrived, and after some initial small talk about the town and the weather, Irene decided to jump right in and get the real conversation rolling. So far, all seemed very promising and the drink was beginning to relax her. “So, Hyoyeon, you mentioned a client. What is it that you do?”

“I see the future.”

Irene nearly choked on her wine. “So sorry. I’m not sure I heard you correctly. What did you say?”

Hyoyeon made a slow twirly gesture in the air. “I witness the future. In my mind. Then I meet with individuals who need guidance and channel all of the energies around them to read what lies ahead, in essence, their future. Pretty cool, huh?”

“Oh. Yes. So you’re a psychic?”

“I prefer the term seer.”

“Seer? All right. That sounds so interesting and…unique.” Do not judge. Do not judge. Do not judge. The chant in her head was all that was holding her neutral facial expression firmly in place. That and the fact that she was brought up to be polite.

“It is. You see, energy is very important to me and I’m picking up lots of positive energy from you right now. In fact, I see this evening going very well.”

Irene couldn’t be sure, but she thought Hyoyeon’s left eyelid was twitching.

“You do? Well, that’s good news.” She sipped her wine for no other reason than it would buy her time before she had to figure out what to say.

Luckily, Hyoyeon grabbed the reins. “Have you ever met with a seer before? Invested the time in exploring what lies ahead for you?”

“Hmm. No, I can’t say I have.” Yep, definite twitching going on.

“I can do a demonstration for you right now.”

“Oh, you know what? We don’t have to. Why don’t we just enjoy the evening and —”

“Listen to my words carefully.”

Irene swallowed and listened obediently as Hyoyeon was now leaning into her space rather aggressively and speaking in a low pitched voice. Not at all creepy. Not at all creepy. Not at all creepy.

“In less than a minute, our waiter will stop by and check on us.”

“Okay.”

“Are you listening?”

“So listening.” And she was because she was scared to death not to.

“Marking my words?”

“Marked.” But really, it was a small place and their waiter had just visibly emerged from the kitchen moments before the whole proclamation. The odds were pretty much in Hyoyeon’s favor.

The moment was upon them. The waiter approached. Hyoyeon shot her a knowing look just as he passed their table for one two down. In response to the misstep, Hyoyeon rubbed her left temple rhythmically, and was that humming? Oh, baby Jesus it was. She was humming. Fantastic.

Irene tried to ignore the inquisitive stare from the guy next to her, but what she really wanted to do was get the hell out of there because the humming was growing in volume and intensity.

“He’s going to pause here on his way back to the kitchen. I can see the vision more clearly now.”

But he didn’t.

In fact, their waiter didn’t shoot them so much as a glance for the next 15 minutes, because he was probably as freaked out as Irene was.

Luckily, to fill the gap, Hyoyeon proceeded to forecast all sorts of exciting things that were definitely going to happen to Irene in the coming months including taking a trip, spending quality time with a loved one, and falling in love most unexpectedly. All fairly generic, though probable mentions. Well, except the love one. Turns out that one wasn’t probable at all.

Irene stood, feigning reluctance. “Well, this has been fun, but I think I better get going.”

“So soon? I haven’t even shown you my crystals yet.”

“Oh no. That is a shame, but I’m not feeling so great.” Not a total lie. Her mood had taken a nose dive and she was desperately in need of a large bowl of chocolate ice cream and her cozy gray sweat pants so she could feel appropriately pathetic about her new job, mayor of Loserville.

Hyoyeon took a step in. “Well, can I get your number? This has been just great. One of the best dates I’ve had in a while.”

Irene sighed through her smile.

***

Henney made 3 lazy laps around the fishbowl.

Irene watched hopelessly, her face resting in her palm next to the glass. She was back from her date. It was just after 10 and she was now home alone on a Friday night, the way she’d be for the rest of her pitiful life.

A spinster.

“Well, at least we have each other,” she said solemnly to Henney, who chose that exact moment to swim away from her to the other side of the bowl. “Traitor,” she mumbled, pushing herself up and wandering aimlessly into the kitchen. There was ice cream in there and copious amounts of it too.

Her thoughts drifted to where they usually did when she needed to feel better about things. “What’d you think of my date, Tae? I imagine you got a few laughs out of that. You have to give her points for originality.” She stared at the carton in front of her.

Taeyeon used to scoop the ice cream for her when she was depressed. And now she was older than Taeyeon ever would be.

Sobering.

She missed her old life. When she had someone to come home to, discuss her day with, and to pick her up when she was low and laugh with when she wasn’t. Life had been good then. Yes, they’d had their share of problems and there had been some arguments about the future and kids, but eventually they’d have figured it all out…if it weren’t for the crash.

She believed that. Just as she believed they were robbed of what should have been their life together.

Irene took a bite of the double chocolate crunch, blinking back the tears in her eyes for only a minute before giving in and letting them fall in a ridiculous cascade down her face. Great. Now she was pathetic and emotional. Such a catch. With a lump in , she continued eating her ice cream. Hell, maybe she’d gain another 3 pounds.

But you know what? That wasn’t right. She set down her spoon with purpose. It wasn’t fair to sell herself short and call it quits on any kind of meaningful existence because of a couple of horrible dates. She decided to look at things another way.

She needed to get out there and have some fun. Take control of things. And damn it, she was going to start right now. She scanned the room for the remote control to her stereo system and stalked over to it on a mission now.

A flick of her wrist brought the living room to life with the vibrant sounds of some artist on the radio she’d never heard of. But the music was fast. It was loud. It was current, and she danced. She danced with a wild abandon she’d never felt before, moving across the room in a flurry, bopping her head, arms in the air, the music moving through her. And it was good.

She felt alive, vibrant…dizzy. Whoa, okay, so maybe one too many turns around the sofa. Perhaps if she stood here for a moment, the room would stop