Read Online Story Girl by Katherine Carlson - Free Book Online Page B

Your heart.”
    “Am I that transparent?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well, could I at least get a massage now?”
    “You also spoiled.”
    “I’ll have you know I was just in a car accident.”
    “Not surprised,” she said.
    “What does that mean?”
    “It means you daydream.”
    “I am a writer.”
    “Then write something.”
    “How can you know all this?”
    “Easy,” she said.
    “I’m easy to read?”
    “Your generation is restless – too much stuff, too many choices of stuff. You become bored and selfish – listless, even. Listless – that my new word. Even I lazy sometimes now.”
    “It all sounds terrible, Tan.”
    “Am I wrong?” she asked.
    “No.”
    She started to rub oil into her hands and I was hopeful I’d finally get my massage. I wondered if I should tell her about the hives – maybe she could cure them somehow.
    “You should be massaging
me
,” she said. “That could be your life lesson.”
    “What?”
    “To be of service. Make you happy.”
    “I broke out in hives the other day – I thought I was going to die.”
    She busted out a big grin, “Of course you do.”
    “How do I fix it?” I asked.
    “In your chest.”
    “What?”
    “All answers there,” she said, poking a sharp finger between my breasts.
    “But?”
    “All answers in your chest.”
    I wanted to press for more information until I felt her oily hands begin their work – her skin was soft but the pressure she exerted made me cringe. We never spoke another word but I left her a triple digit tip and by the time I walked out of Spa-tastic, I was sure the car accident had been rubbed right out of my neck.

chapter 12

    A NOTHER CAB DROPPED me off at my room.
    My muscles felt brand new, but I’d been thoroughly laid bare. I’d always thought I carried myself with a touch more subtlety – even a dash of mystery. But Tan was right – I was as obvious as garlic breath in a phone booth.
    James was waiting for me at the front entrance. He was messy in wrinkled clothes and I reluctantly invited him up with a cranky sigh, even though I was secretly elated that he had come. It felt good beyond measure to know that I mattered to him.
    We sat on the floor in front of the window and ate through a bulk package of mini raisin boxes.
    “You’re glowing,” he said. “And you smell like mint.”
    “I’ve just been debunked.”
    “Pardon?”
    “At the spa.”
    “Of course, the mint.”
    “Forget the mint. Tan told me I was selfish. And stuck. She said I knew things but didn’t act on them.”
    I didn’t dare mention the fact that she also accused me of being in love.
    “Tan?”
    “The old lady at the spa.”
    “Oh.”
    We sat quite comfortably in silence, watching a gorgeous couple move furniture into a nearby building.
    “I still think I’m confused, no matter what she says.”
    “She doesn’t think you’re confused?” he asked.
    “She thinks I’m stuck.”
    “What’s the difference?”
    I ignored him.
    “How would she know? She doesn’t even know me. The audacity – telling me I know more than I think I do.”
    “I would say that’s a compliment,” he said.
    “It’s not.”
    “Okay.”
    “If I do know more than I think I do – I don’t know that I know it.”
    “Was it expensive?”
    “What?”
    “The spa?”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “I’m just making conversation – maybe I’d like a debunking or whatever the hell it was you had.”
    “The money gives me some squirm room, James.”
    “I didn’t say anything.”
    “I’m just telling you. It helps me breathe.”
    “Just make sure you don’t choke on it.”
    “I’m not you,” I said.
    “You’re just like me.”
    “How’s that?”
    “You don’t know what you want
only
when what you know to be true involves any smidgeon of struggle.”
    “You’re giving me a migraine.”
    “So let’s change the subject.”
    “Good idea.”
    “What’s your space script about?”
    I shrugged, “It’s a