Mind games - Final part

A few days later Annie and Edward arrived at the location for the second psychic meeting.

Edward spoke up, “Barack Obama Way. The current US president must have been named after this road then?”

“It was the other way round you idiot,” said Annie.

“I wasn’t to know that was I?” 

Once they’d made their way inside, the psychic greeted them. “Welcome in Annie and company. How’s your day been?”

“I’ve had a bad day, but I’ve just had a good 45 minutes,” said Annie.

The psychic replied, “That’s nice to hear. Well, I am Isabelle.  I bet you get attention from all admirers-of-females, Annie.  I’m sure lots of people out there would want to be in a relationship with you. Many people would love to be your friend as well.”

“Thanks, the spirits are very kind,” replied Annie.

“I was making an observation. I don’t rely on the supernatural sense all the time,” snapped Isabelle before adding, “Having said that, I can already feel a shift in the spirits.”

“Great,” said Annie nervously.

Isabelle closed her eyes. “I am sensing the number 7.”

“That was my grandmother’s third favourite number,” exclaimed Annie excitedly.

“It seems like we’re getting somewhere then,” smiled Isabelle. “Does a wardrobe mean anything to you.”

“That was the last thing my grandmother bought me before she died,” said Annie.

“Oh wait a minute, I think your grandmother is trying to pass on a direct message to me. I can hear her voice.” After a few seconds pause Isabelle continued, “She says hello.”

Annie shrieked in delight, “She always loved greeting people.”

“I sense that your grandmother didn’t like all of your friends. One in particular, made her skin crawl, and she says you should avoid them in the future. It seems this particular friend likes playing pranks, and they once stuffed some mice in your grandmother’s shoes.”

Edward gave an awkward look.

“That was you wasn’t it?” said Annie.

“Maybe it was, but I didn’t realise your granny didn’t like me,” replied Edward.

“You shouldn’t have flooded her house then should you,” snapped Annie.

Isabelle butted in, “You did that Edward because you thought most of her stuff was waterproof.”

“Exactly. See the psychic is on my side,” said Edward.

“I personally do not foresee any obstacles for your friendship in the future.”

“That’s’ some good news then,” said Edward.

“Oh no. I better not say this part,” said Isabelle.

“What part?” said Annie.

“About your granny saying that Edward represented the worst part of humanity,” said Isabelle wincing. “That’s the spirit talking, not me.”

Annie replied, “She told me that Edward only sometimes represented the worst part of humanity.”

“Thanks. That makes me feel a lot better. It’s not like I feel bad enough for being beaten up badly in that backstreet last night,” said Edward.

“What were you thinking of walking by yourself so late at night down Muhammad Alley?”

“I think we better end things here. I don’t want a repeat of the last session where threats were made to reveal passwords and bank account details,” said Isabelle.

“We’re not that bad,” said Annie.

“I didn’t think you were. In fact that last incident was the spirits doing. Some of them can be so troublesome. Do you hear that spirits? Behave yourselves. Anyway, thanks for coming along guys. Even though I am a psychic I would like to finish things off by saying that if you look forward to things too much, you might miss out on some fun in the present time. And I also wish that you do not keep dwelling about the things I have just told you. I do not wish to change the outcome of your life, I’m just here to quote spirits. Keep living your life as normal,” said Isabelle.

“Thanks for the tip,” said Annie.

“That’s alright. Out of interest, I would like to ask if this is the first psychic you’ve ever visited?” asked Isabelle.

“It’s the first reading I’ve had, but I’ve accompanied Edward to one before. His psychic was weird,” said Annie.

“What was wrong with them?”

“She was very vague, and picked up on things that we didn’t think were important.”

“Yeah, she kept going on about tomato soup for some reason,” added Edward.

“She seemed to have an obsession on that,” said Annie.

Isabelle replied, “Do you have the address of her practice? I would like to investigate this further.”

A few days later, Isabelle arrived at Vera’s practice.

“Hello my name is Isabelle,” she said.

“I’m Vera. Nice to meet you. Let’s get down to business. I can see a tough future for you, however I also can sense a saviour. More specifically, I can sense the most wonderful flavour of tomatoes in liquid form. A soup.”

“Well I’m getting senses too. That you will lose your job.”

“What?”

“I’m a psychic too. Couldn’t see that one coming could you?” said Isabelle.

“Not good enough to make predictions about yourself are you? Well I can help you with that. I can see your future getting grimmer,” snarled Vera.

“Not as grim as yours. You’re going to upset many people over the next few years.”

“Are you saying I’m going to be socially incompetent?”

“Unfortunately I can’t predict things that have already happened. Anyhow, what is your obsession with tomato soup?”

“What are you on about?”

“I met up with some of your customers from last week. They were just as unimpressed with your tomato soup talk as I am. I’m going to report you either way, so you might as well own up.”

“OK. We have an advertising deal with a soup company. We keep telling our customers that tomato soup will play some part in their lives. It’s meant to act as a subliminal message. We also have an advertisement for tomato soup in the corridor on the way out. We hope that the customer will see this advertisement while tomato soup is still fresh in their mind from the psychic session. We then expect the customer to associate that particular brand of tomato soup with positive changes in their life.”

“So basically you’re conditioning your customers to like a particular brand of tomato soup? You should be ashamed of yourself,” said Annie who had strode into the room.

“You’re the one who tipped me off then?” snapped Vera.

“Your psychic ability is a complete con,” said Annie.

“Why didn’t your friend have the nerve to come along as well?” replied Vera.

“He would have done if it wasn’t for the fact he’s got an important football match to play in,” said Annie.

“He’s playing a match right now?” gasped Isabelle.

“Yeah, against the bottom of the league side,” replied Annie.

“Oh my god. I feel so awful. I wasn’t completely honest with you during your last session,” said Isabelle.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, your last session was all about you, but I got this strong feeling about your friend as well. I fear that something bad will happen to him when he next scores a goal.”

“How come?” asked Annie.

“I don’t know that much.”

“How bad are these feelings? Is it life threatening?”

“I really don’t know. They are just sensations I am feeling.  I need to go there now. I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” said Isabelle.

“Is it necessary? He’ll be furious if we disrupt his game. He’s really passionate about the sport,” replied Annie.

“Look, would you rather he was angry or that he was dead?” said Isabelle.

“Well, I wouldn’t want him to be angry.”

“Come on, we need to act now,” replied Isabelle

“Do you want me to help?” said Vera.

“As a chauffeur please, not as a psychic,” said Isabelle.

“Thanks, we need to get there quickly if we are to help him. The match starts in the next few minutes,” added Annie.

As the trio arrived at the football pitch, Vera stared at the pitch. “Which team is Edward on?”

“The team in green,” replied Annie.

“Right we need to head towards the goal that his team are shooting at. We need to make sure he doesn’t score. The other team’s defence don’t look strong enough to do that on their own,” said Isabelle.

After a few minutes spectating the match, Isabelle gasped. “I think this could be it.”

Isabelle ran onto the pitch, just as Edward had shaped up to make a shot on goal.

Isabelle slid to the ground as she tackled Edward. However it was too late. Cheers could be heard as Edward had managed to score just before he had been tackled.

“What are you playing at? I can’t get up now,” snapped Edward who was now lying in the grass.

“Thanks for injuring my best friend,” said Annie.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. By trying to help, it turns out that I was the actually the cause of the problem,” said Isabelle.

Vera walked onto the pitch, “Here, have some tomato soup. I’m not trying to advertise this time, it just happens to be the only thing I have.”

“You’d be even worse as a doctor than you are as a bloody psychic. I’ve played football for years without being injured. Now thanks to some stupid psychic, it looks like I’ll have an extended hospital visit,” said Edward.

Isabelle smiled, “Don’t worry. All the negative thoughts have vanished now. I can see you having a very successful football career. That is, once your 9 month stay in hospital is over.”