Three of Cups (Reversed)

I finished applying my makeup, grabbed my purse, keys, and coat, and headed out the door. I had exactly 3 hours this morning before meeting up with the hubby for our day together. Now was a good as time as any to go visit Delia, and get some much needed advice as well as rune reading.

Walking down the street, past the flower shops and the farmer's market, and one of the many magickal supply shops spread throughout the city, I finally arrived at my destination. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the antique brass door handle and walked in.

Behind the counter, is a woman in her early 30's, waist length flame red hair pulled back into a braid. Tall, full figured, and the face of a seductress, and mother, and sage all rolled into one. She hands a bag to a customer, says "thank you and come again", then turns to see me standing by the set of shelves closest to the door.

"Hey girl! What's u....? Uh oh. Come here," she said while coming towards me, reaching over, locking the front door, and flipping the sign to be back in an hour.

Damn it, she was always too perceptive for my liking. I guess my aura was screaming heart ache and despair from all the way across the room. I have got to remember to work on checking my aura before meeting with her next time.

I walked over to Delia feeling as fragile as a broken egg shell that had been glued back together. I gingerly walked over to her trying to hold back the flood of tears that I knew were pushing against my lowered eyelids. But as soon as I got into her warm all encompassing embrace, I couldn't hold back any longer. I just let the tears come and fall where they may. She held me for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, the flow of pain stopped, and I was able to pull myself together enough to accept a tissue, blow my nose, and then run down everything that had happened.

"Hmmm...Well it seems to me that the union that was about to take place was being blessed by the God and the Goddess. You two were being protected from outside meddling. But, at the same time, you got a very poignant reminder that you two are bound to others. And resolving those issues needs to happen first before you can move forward with each other."

Once again, Delia's knack for hitting the nail on the head has helped me to recover a bit. But the question remained, why can't I have both?

"Because you can't have your cake and eat it too," she said while handing me my favorite, some cranberry Newtons.

"Will you stop doing that please?!!! I am feeling raw and broken, and invaded enough as it is. Your reading me isn't helping."

"Sorry girl, but you need some sense smacked into your noggin'. Anyway, what are you gonna do now?"

"I don't know. That is one of the reasons why I came to visit. I was hoping you would do a rune reading for me. Give me some clarity on the situation."

"And why can't you do a card reading for yourself, missy? You won't improve upon your skills if you don't put in the work," giving me that all too familiar mother knows best look.

"Well, if you haven't noticed," I said while standing up and brushing off my clothing. "...I am an emotional wreck right now and I need an objective reading. not one full of messy thoughts, and even messier emotions. So, you gonna do this or not?"

Delia got up looked me over, and tucked my tag back down into my shirt, looked at how much skin I was showing with my low cut jeans and my slightly cropped fitted T, and shook her head. "You already have enough men issues right now as it is, you trying to add more?"

Rolling my eyes, I ignored her jab at my appearance, and followed her to the back of the store. past old musty books, giant jars of herbs, and rafters of freshly dyed yarns and candles hanging to dry and cure. We arrived at the back room. This is where Delia kept her most important items, her altar, and most importantly a portable portal to the O.W. It sorta made me think of the children's story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...Stepping through that big looking glass.

Sitting down on a big fluffy but firm floor pillows in front of her altar, she lit a few candles, said a silent prayer, and turned to pick up and place a small wooden coffee table in between us.

"I'm sorry but I can't do a rune reading for you. I was doing one for some little fairy freak the other day, and half of my runes exploded."

"Wait! Exploded?! What the hell? You sure you weren't dealing with a dragon witch, they tend to short circuit magickal items because of their extreme affinity to the fire element."

Her look said she was sure, but she also looked very worried as well. "I personally took my runes to the Old Man to fix yesterday. He was shocked to say the least, but he said he could reconstitute the damaged runes, and clear and repair any damage to the ones that were still together in some semblance of one piece."

"Buuut?"

She stopped pulling out crystals and her cards, and sat down and looked at me. The worry that was on her face, had my inner warning bells screaming their alarm at full volume. She finally sat down, sighed, and lifted her head towards me, then spoke.

"This woman who came to see me. She was a half blood. But, she was not half fairy half human. I would be able to easily read the human part of her aura. The thing that was so disturbing is...is that her aura was part fairy, and part dragon."

"WHAT THE FUCK?!!! Are you sure? Is there any possibility that you could have read her wrong? I mean you may be an adept, but even the most practiced adepts can muddle things up every once in a while..."

She slammed her hands down on the table and looked at me very sternly. Goddess, I hated it when she did that. I did NOT need a second mother. "Look," sounding very exhausted. "...I know what I saw, and while I am not perfect, there was no mistaking the golden and red and orange flames that slithered and flicked off of her aura. She pulsed with power, J-. More power than I have ever felt from Fae or dragon alike. There was an air of danger about her. As soon as she left, I did an immediate cleansing of my entire shop. Every area she passed coming in and going out was sticky with remnants of that power. It wasn't good J-, it wasn't good at all."

All I could do was rock back on my heels and contemplate everything she had said. If this woman was what Delia believed her to be, this would be a major problem for not only the O.W., but also for the human world as well. My mind worked over time, and then a silent but urging voice within me said you know her.

"What are you thinking?, " she asked.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Just thinking about what you said. I have no clues for you on this one. Do you think she will be coming back?"

Shuddering, Delia hugged herself and said, "Goddess, I hope not. My whole being was shook to the core over that lit bit of O.W. that walked in here. I cannot imagine how I would react if she came back."

Shaking off her obvious fear and worry, she got up and went over to her altar, picked up a smudge stick of white sage, lit it and cleansed herself from her feet to the top of her head. Then she walked over to me, pulled me up by one arm and repeated the same thing. "Can't be too careful," she said while placing the smudge stick on an abalone shell filled with black sand on the coffee table that she was about to do the card reading on.

Shuffling the cards several times over, eyes closed, she uttered a silent prayer that filled the room and spun around me like a Tibetan chant. When she finally stopped, eyes still closed, she cut the deck and randomly re-stacked it. Finally opening her eyes (and I never get used to this), they glowed a soft spring green, and her voice sounded hollow...here, there, everywhere all at once. She called out the cards that were laid upon the table.

"Ace of Wands...Queen of Cups reversed...Two of Cups reversed...Three of cups reversed...and...Three of wands."

She stopped closed her eyes, and re-opened them. No more glowing green light, just pretty leaf green eyes. Delia looked down at the cards, mulled over them a bit and then looked back up at me with a I'm so sorry face.

" Just tell me," I said in a small voice trying to hold back tears. "I'm a big girl and can handle it."

She took my hand in a reassuring manner. "It isn't as bad as you think, but...You will have to be strong, and know when to back off."

"Quit with the cryptic messages, and just lay it out for me."

"Ok," She said sitting back a bit and letting go of my hand. "S- loves you honey. He really does. But his emotions are quite messed up right now because he is trying to make it work with his wife, as well as deal with his feelings for you. He's afraid of breaking this marriage because he does not want anyone to get hurt."

"Kinda too late for that..."

"Let me finish. You need to back away. But knowing how you are, because when you love someone, you love them hard and it takes a lot for you to break those bonds. And, it is because of this that the choice is not being left up to you. His wife is going to break those bonds for him. The only thing you can do is step away and let things calm down. When he finally comes to terms with his feeling for you, he will let you know, but not before then. Hun, you just need to learn patience."

"But I love him, Delia." I sounded like a little kid who was just told they couldn't have their favorite toy. I know you do my sweetness, but he needs time. If you don't give him that time, you may lose him for good. As not only a love interest, but as a friend too. I'm not saying don't fight for him, I'm just saying step back let him fix things at home, and when the time is right for the two of you, you will know."

I unfolded my legs and plopped down harder than I had planned onto the floor cushion. The tears rolled down my cheeks, as everything Delia said played through my mind like some twisted M. Knight Shamelan movie. I inhaled, let the air out slowly and was about to get up to go, when my phone started buzzing. I dug through my over packed designer leather purse, and pulled out my BlackBerry...It was S-. I looked at the phone, looked at Delia, and said, "I can't do this."

She took my hand squeezed it and gave me the warmest smile I have ever seen and said, "Yes...yes you can. Just breathe and take it slowly."

I swallowed hard, wiped away my tears and answered. "Hello?..."