All Your Fates (Currently editing/updating)

Chapter 7: Fateless

MUSIC TRACK LIST:

Takida - Never Alone Always Alone

Robert Gass - Ancient Mother

*****

EMMA'S POV

Once back in my room at the Standard, I kicked off my heels and, in my anger, stripped off my hose a little too quickly, causing it to snag on a tear in my fingernail and run. Damn, I just bought these, I sighed. No point of calling Sweden now, it would be a while yet until early morning, and although I was outraged, nothing could make me so mad at my dear sweet Gran as to wake her up in the dead of the night. And there was no use expressing frustration at her. The stress of any emotional outburst on my part would only make her...well, more chaotic to deal with over Skype.

I changed into my black bikini with the gold hoops at the hips and ring in the center of the top, wrapped myself in the fluffy white hotel bathrobe and headed down to the pool. Of course, I had already scrubbed myself clean at work in the showers provided there.

I passed by the concierge at the lobby who tipped his hat to me. I loved living in a hotel. It wasn't about the luxury or the personal service or the mint on my pillow every morning, and I was a neat enough person to easily forgo having daily maid service. It was just the absolute sense of anonymity. Besides the staff, no one really stuck long enough around to get to know who I was. No nosy neighbors borrowing eggs or prying out their windows to see who was leaving my house at what hour of the night. Those who stuck around long enough at the hotel to remember my existence beyond noting my pretty face in the hall would sometimes inquire if I was an actress and I would delight telling them, no, I wasn't. Why sit on a boring set all day pretending to have adventures rather than going out, experiencing the world, and actually having adventures? Why seek glamour, fame and adoration in the public eye when I detested anyone fawning over me? And why rely on my least interesting assets for a career choice? Anyone can be a pretty wannabe actress. An evening stroll on Sunset Boulevard will easily demonstrate that. Not anyone could be a snake charmer/naked sushi model/underwater arc welder and gold-digging tree planter – that takes more than prettiness (which any fool can be born with). That takes commitment and passion and burning curiosity. And my story was also a much better one to tell than I am just another actress waiting to be discovered while waiting tables. Waiting for life to happen.

At the pool, I slipped out of my robe and into the water. Since it was a Sunday night, a lot of the family weekenders and tourists had already checked out in the morning so the kidlets could get an early night before school. The pool wasn't empty but at least it wasn't rambunctious. I got a few leers from some of the men, with the exception of Old Gay Bob, one of the permanent residents, soaking out in the hot tub. He was of the few other "residents" of the hotel who knew me long enough to remember my name, but was also seeking the same solace of privacy as I was. We knew each other's names and that we both enjoyed the company of men. What else was there to know?

I let my arms cut into the water. I find doing laps meditative and soothing, and right now I needed my mind to settle down and clear.

I had to formulate how I was going to handle Gran in order to clearly communicate to her to stop using my photo for her chintzy website. All Your Fates...what a joke! Giving three fortunes instead of one just feels like cheating to me. I'll tell you three things that might happen in your future just to triple the odds of one of them coming true. And when none of your fortunes come true...well, they just weren't fulfilled in this reality. Is it our fault that we only tell fortunes that happened to you in other realities? Fortunes you have no way to verify came true so you will just have to trust us because obviously fortune cookies coded in javascript don't lie!