The Tarot Knew First
For the past two weeks, my best friend, Matthew Douglas, had been dodging me.
While scrolling, I came across a tarot livestream and decided to use it to check whether something had gone wrong between us.
I had barely sent two gifts into the stream when an anonymous male account unmuted himself. His voice was deliberately disguised, but he spoke with barely concealed glee. "Tarot master, I'm about to run off to Sanyara with my best friend's fiancée. Read my cards. Will he catch us?"
I recognized the cadence, the pauses.
I was still frowning at my screen when the tarot reader flipped a card and said, "The cards show some risk. My advice? Lay a smokescreen first. Tell him your company is sending you on a business trip. Stagger the timing, and you'll be in the clear."
A second later, my phone lit up. A message from Matthew appeared.
Matthew: [Sorry, man. I can't make it to your suit fitting this week. An investor just sprung a last-minute site visit on me in Sanyara. My bad!]