As Lee unlocked the door and stepped into the shop, she couldn't help but feel that the familiar action was also rather strange. It had been so long since she had been at the shop, since she had been here, opening things up.

Still, despite the months of absence, Lee went about starting to open things up without hesitation, raising the blinds to let some light into the room, though she didn't turn the sign to say 'open' quite yet. Tarin wasn't there with her, he'd gone to grab some coffee, so there really was no point in advertising that they were open when the medium wasn't there to do readings.

Once the blinds were open and she could really see, Lee glanced around the shop before making her way over to the counter. And, while things didn't look that bad from the front of the counter, didn't look bad from the customer's point of view, Lee didn't even have to open the drawers to know she'd be facing a disaster. Though she had had hopes, Tarin hadn't been lying when he said the shop had fallen to shambles while she had been gone. It was going to take forever to get everything organized again, Lee was sure.

Setting her purse down on the shelf behind the counter, Lee set to work sorting through the various papers while she waited for Tarin and and his new hire to show up. Hopefully she'd be able to at least get things organized enough that she'd be able to get through the work day before they got there.

Garrett had gotten up early, the anticipation making him a little giddy. Maya was still on his mind, but she usually was. He would make sure to tell her all about the day once he got home. Home. What a great thing. He picked through his 'new' wardrobe, finding some jeans and a black button up shirt that he had picked out for anything important. A new job qualified.

He took a taxi down to the Park. On the way, he thought of his night with Maya and tried his best not to let his ambition start clouding his judgment again. He had just seen so much potential for the medium's shop. It was hard not to get excited. Not only was it a money maker with no paperwork, which was sweet in its own right, but it was in a place that he would shop in.

Having arrived at his destination, he stopped on the way to the shop at a vendor cart and bought some water. A cool drink to get his system flowing. He stopped short of the entrance to the shop, looking at the bench he and Maya had shared the night before. He noticed how she kept getting into the forefront of his thoughts. Smiling, he decided it was a good thing to have there.

The blinds had been pulled up but the sign wasn't on. He thought he had gotten up early but could he have been late? The idea of missing the opportunity straightened his immediate priorities out as he walked up to the door and opened it. As he entered, he noticed an attractive girl behind the counter. It took him a moment to say anything. Had Tarin picked this girl instead? Was he replacing her? That wouldn't be much of a way to start the day. He wasn't even sure he could do something like that. Though he needed the money and the interaction, he wouldn't be the cause of someone else's downfall.

Before he had a nervous fit, he tried breaking the ice a bit. Who knows? Maybe this was his wife or significant other. "Hey, how are you today?", he said, smiling and trying to keep cool. "Is Tarin around?" This seemed like the best way to remain neutral until he could survey the situation. IF she turned out to be the real employee, he would just act like he was a friend of his and then make his way back home.

Lee heard the bell above the door ring and her brow furrowed. She didn't think Tarin would have been quite that fast getting the coffee and making it back to the shop, there was normally a longer line than for that to have been possible. Glancing up briefly from the stack of papers she had gathered and was starting to go through, Lee saw that it wasn't Tarin.

"Sorry, we're not open yet," Lee said, dropping her eyes before even giving the guy a good look. She had a lot of work to get through before they did open, the least of which being to find the appointment book and ledger that she had gotten months ago because apparently Tarin hadn't seen the point in them.

And then Lee heard the guy speak, sounding nervous as he asked if Tarin was around. At this, Lee looked up again and really took a look at the man who had entered the shop. He was younger, definitely a couple years younger than she was, and he looked nervous to be there. But, Lee wondered, wouldn't Tarin have told his new hire what time to show up for work? But, then again, it was normally her going for coffee in the morning and Tarin heading to open the shop up, not the other way around like it had been this morning. So maybe he was right on time. Tarin hadn't actually told her what time the kid was supposed to get to the shop, after all.

"He's just grabbing some coffee," Lee said, her eyes still appraising the young man standing not far into the shop. "He shouldn't be too much longer."

Pausing for a moment, Lee racked her brain for whether Tarin had actually mentioned a name to her. And then she remembered. "Garrett, I assume?" She asked, a small smile on her face.

The girl behind the counter assured him of Tarin's whereabouts and knew his name as well. A look of relief passed his face and his look of worry softened. "Yes, Garrett. Garrett Wills." He closed the door behind him and approached her. If this was indeed Tarin's significant other, he certainly had good taste. He had been around Maya so much that he hadn't really looked at another woman recently. He tried not to let his look become an ogle.

He looked around the shop, his mind already filling it with showcases full of cards and bookshelves. But for now, he thought, he had better pay attention to the woman standing in front of him. His smile returned. " I was a bit nervous, I thought I might have been replaced before I started.", he said, a nervous chuckle stringing along. "I wasn't sure when to come, but I thought I would shoot for early rather than late."

He uncapped his water and had a nice, long drink. It cooled him and relaxed him a bit. No reason to dally with obscurity. "I guess since you aren't my replacement, you are with Tarin?" He didn't want to slap a label on. Girlfriend? Wife? The shop certainly wasn't big enough for two people in its current state. But that could change.

Tarin was totally letting Lee get the coffee from now on. He didn't have a clue how she managed to make it through those lines every day and back to the shop. First he'd been bumped into thirteen or fourteen times in the retardedly crowded line, then he'd almost spilled the coffee as the person behind him burst forth to take their turn. Now he was juggling two huge cups of coffee all the way back to the shop.

As he approached, Tarin felt a burst of happiness at the fact that the blinds were up, the lights were on and there were two people in there. Tarin couldn't hide his pleasure at the fact that Garrett had shown up early for the day. This was the first time he'd ever hired anyone, but Tarin had a feeling that was a good thing.

In the door Tarin went, pushing it with his shoulder just in time to hear Garrett ask if Lee was with Tarin, "Hiya Garrett," he said, smiling as he sat down the drinks on the counter, "If I'm lucky...yes she'll claim me."

Tarin shook the loose coffee off his hands and looked at Lee out of the corner of his eye, "You're so getting the coffee from now on. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Lee Smith," she introduced herself with a smile, though she didn't move forward to extend her hand. That was one thing that was not going to happen. But Garrett was moving into the shop now, looking at least slightly more relaxed, so Lee turned her eyes downward again as she continued to search for the two books she was looking for.

When she heard Garrett's next question, Lee couldn't help but look up at him in shock, just in time to see Tarin shouldering his way in the door with her coffee. And telling Garrett that she'd claim him if he was lucky. Taking a look at the cups and seeing the marks on them, Lee grabbed her black coffee almost before Tarin had even set it on the counter and took a long sip.

"I guess, since you brought me coffee, you can be lucky today," Lee told Tarin with a slight smile. But then Tarin continued, complaining about the line he had had to deal with, and Lee couldn't stop herself from laughing. "You were thinking you wanted to do something nice for me, Tarin," she said, then shook her head in disbelief. "But if you think that was bad, try going for coffee at 6 in the morning."

It really wasn't a big deal, though. Tarin really only went for coffee, really only used his coffee maker in the first place, because of her. Plus, going for the coffee herself in the morning did give her a safe, more worry-free way of getting some energy in the morning, so other than being tired, Lee really wouldn't have much of an issue with it.

"So," Lee said, turning back toward Garrett, her coffee cup still held in her hands. "Did Tarin give you a tour of the shop yet, or was he waiting for me to do that?"

So they weren't an item. Garrett thought about it while removing his foot from his mouth. It was odd because they seemed to act like a couple, they certainly made a good one. Tarin had come in in good spirits and Lee seemed to still be, despite Garrett's faux pas. He now wondered if she was also a mutant like they were. As they spoke to each other, he decided that he would break this ice himself, rather than wait for some kind of uneasy questions later.

When Lee asked him about a tour, he thought this made for the best time to reveal his abilities. " A tour? No, not really. I believe he had a client come in before we could do much talking. Which also reminds me, I don't know if he told you, but I am a mutant. I am not ashamed of this fact, but thought it was best to just put that out on the table right away." And so he had. Now to illuminate both of them.

He turned to Tarin and added, " I also thought I should tell you what my gift was, in case it ever came up. I can manipulate the neural activity in a person's body. So far, this results in making someone have a seizure or mind numbing pain. But I am trying to find some positive aspects at the Mansion." Well, there it was. Now he would see how cool they really were.

"Yeah Lee. One of the regulars came in right after we'd finished deciding that he was going to come by. That's why I didn't get more info right off the bat." Tarin wasn't sure he liked the way Garrett was looking at Lee, but he kept the smile plastered on his face and told himself that things needed to change in order for him to keep the peace with Lee. Going apeshit on his new shop assistant for looking at a beautiful woman for too long was not a good way to do that.

Now the kid was explaining to Lee that he was a mutant and Tarin wondered vaguely how this was going to go. Lee knew he didn't know much about the kid, but Lee didn't know exactly how little he knew. It was interesting to Tarin that even after the registration had ended mutants still felt the need to explain themselves to people they perceived not to be.

Then the explanation continued and Tarin blinked once, then blinked again trying to digest what he'd just heard. The guy could cause mind numbing pain? Affect neural impulses? Holy crap. Well, the kid seemed about the most stable person Tarin had ever met, enthusiastic and kind in the brief time he'd known him. Tarin figured he'd have already attacked if that was his intention and wouldn't have been at the mansion if he didn't want help with his powers.

"Well, considering the fact that we're both mutants, and at the risk of speaking for Lee, I don't think anyone here is going to have a problem with it. As a rule though, we do what we can not to use our powers on anyone. If you don't have a problem with that, I don't see anything else needing said about it as far as I'm concerned. Lee?" Tarin said, turning slightly towards her, then back to Garrett, "Oh, by the way. The shop is half Lee's, she's the business manager. I just do the leg work."

Both Tarin and Garrett explained that they hadn't had time to do much the previous week when Garrett had been hired. And, with a customer coming in, it made sense; that's part of why she had started hanging out in the shop, to deal with things while Tarin had been in the back with customers.

"Alright," Lee started to say, thinking about how to go about giving a tour of the small shop and wondering what exactly was going to be important to tell him right off the bat and what could wait to go over later on as it came up, when Garrett started talking again.

And told them that he was a mutant. Tarin had told her that much already, it was sort of obvious with the fact that he was at the mansion. What was surprising was what the young man told them about what he was able to do. Lee blinked in surprise, she couldn't help it.

Then Tarin was speaking, saying that neither of them would have a problem with that, though he was bordering rather precariously on the line of giving her away as a mutant, too.

That thought was wiped from her mind, at least momentarily, when Tarin went ahead and told Garrett that the shop was half hers, that she was "the business manager?" Lee asked, her eyes shooting to Tarin. At least from his point of view, Lee could understand where Tarin was coming from saying that the shop was hers too, and like the other night saying that she had a say in things as well, but really, shouldn't he actually talk to her about things like this before announcing them to others?

They seemed to take it well, though they both had a noticeable reaction to his mention of his abilities. Maybe they were good abilities after all, but he had had no way to test them. He would have to rectify that when he returned to the Mansion. Tarin reassured him that it wasn't a problem and alluded to Lee possibly being like them. It made sense, really. He just nodded and smiled and listened to them.

Tarin then informed him that not only was Lee possibly his girlfriend and a mutant, but was definitely the other owner and the business manager. When he heard this, he seemed to have the same twinge of confusion that had passed across Lee's features. If he was the psychic and she the business manager, what was Garrett doing? He doubted that there was a lunch rush here, people clamoring over each other to get readings. As humorous as the idea was, it still didn't add up.

But Garrett knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he just continued to nod and listen. In response to Tarin, he replied," I wouldn't dream of using my abilities on someone. That's half of my problem in using them. I don't really have a way to test them without hurting someone. Hence, the Mansion." He looked at Lee and said, "Well, I guess we had better have this tour. Maybe after that we can all sit down and just chat. See what we come up with?"

Tarin could see and hear the surprise on both of Lee and Garrett's faces when he named Lee as half owner and business manager of the shop. Tarin shrugged and stuck his free hand in his pocket as he took a long drink of coffee, "It doesn't look like much, but you'd be extremely surprised just how much money this shop brings in." Tarin said, switching slightly into business mode, "On an average day I'll serve anywhere from 10 to 20 clients. That doesn't sound like many, but they pay relatively well, and we're open most days during the week. Cost of running the shop is extremely low beyond rent and utilities, so we draw a pretty stiff profit. You're not going to be a rich man working here by any means, but you'll at least have some money of your own while you live at the mansion."

Garrett assured the two of them that he'd never dream of using his powers on anyone and Tarin nodded his head, it was like he said. If that was the case then there was nothing more to be said about it. See what they came up with? Tarin had all his ideas in mind, but he wasn't sure what the new guy intended to interject. Hoping there wasn't any kind of power struggle coming, Tarin gestured,


"Well, this is the front of the shop. When I lived here, it was all of the shop. We moved into the apartment and this became the waiting area. Lee? You want to lead us on through...show him the amazing highlights like the bathroom...and the beverage fridge, then we can both talk about the back?" Tarin grinned as he mentioned the back and wondered if Lee had ever considered the fact that he spent every day conducting very serious business in the very place where they'd spent a majority of their first month anniversary.

Tarin didn't say anything about her questioning the business manager comment, just simply took a sip of his own, smaller coffee. It was one thing for him to want her to have a bigger part in his shop, but to name her half owner and business manager suddenly like this? Lee was definitely going to have to have a talk about that when they got home.

But then Garrett was going on and telling them that he wouldn't even think about using his powers on people. Really, that being the case, how could Lee really think poorly of Garrett because of his powers, or hold them against him? They might not sound like the best powers, but he didn't use them on people, didn't want to use them on people, and he could turn them off. That was saying much more than she could.

Tarin wanted her to do the tour, short though it was going to be. Lee really wasn't sure what she was going to say, but she supposed that it had been her idea for the tour, and she had been the one to paint, set up, and decorate the back room.

"Alright," Lee said, moving around the counter, her coffee cup in hand. Pushing the curtain out of her way that separated the front and back rooms of the shop, Lee made her way through the little connecting hallway and stepped into the back for the first time in months. She had been to the shop a few times since coming back, but she hadn't actually made her way to the back before now.

Flicking the light switch as she entered the room, Lee looked around. It was almost exactly as she remembered; the small table with the crystal ball was still in place, with the chairs on either side. The candles on the shelves around the room were getting low. Lee was going to have to see about replacements very soon, buying more if there weren't some still in stock.

"Well, this is the back," Lee said, waving her empty hand out in a slow arc around the room. "Like Tarin said, he did live back here, but I did my best transforming it once I talked him into getting an actual apartment to live in.

"Uh, that's the bathroom," Lee continued, indicating the second closed door on the left. The first was just the closet. Then she moved over to the right side of the room and pulled the slightly askew curtain further open to reveal the kitchenette. "The fridge. There should be Coke and water in there. If not, I'll have to go shopping at some point today."

Taking another sip of coffee, Lee slowly walked over to the table and sat in what was normally Tarin's chair, looking over at the two men. "And this is where Tarin works," Lee finished, patting the table in front of her. "I guess that's probably it for the tour."

The tour was about what he had expected it to be. The building wasn't that large. It seemed to him that they were searching for the purpose as well. They had probably been the only ones working here since it opened. A new face and everything that comes with that might be just as nerve wracking to them as a new job might be to him. As Lee spoke, he paid attention and smiled and nodded politely.

When they came to the parlor, he was slightly amused. Had it not been for Tarin's ability, it would definitely appear to be a sham to anyone who was in the know. He wanted to look under the table to see if there were switches for the ball and effects, but he didn't. They were doing the best they could. They just needed a little help. Wasn't that what he was really there for? No time like the present to put their minds at ease.

He decided just to start talking out of turn once Lee finished speaking. They were waiting for his input anyway. "I can tell you guys might have some apprehension about me, but let me reassure you. I am not here to rock your world or make any drastic changes. Tarin hired me, I believe, because I know about the world of the occult and educating you two about it might better serve your clients. More than likely this wasn't their first outlet to find peace with their loved ones and they don't have the benefit of a mutation to find any guidance without him."

"As far as the shop goes, you make enough money it seems, but if you wanted to make more or wanted more clients, you could put some more items out front. I would suggest various Tarot decks. There are hundreds of them. Perhaps some tapes or CDs, some crystals, incense, and candles. This way you carry supplies rather than becoming a retail shop. I am not going to do anything without your approval. Both of you."

"I think I can help you both out. You two have worked hard to make this place what it is and you deserve some free time. I can schedule appointments, ring up sales, answer questions, and the like. Basically do all the little things so you two can focus on your work and your life. That's all."

He smiled throughout his little speech. He wanted them to feel at ease with him. He wasn't a threat. He was just a helping hand.

Lee had sat and finished speaking, but neither Garrett nor Tarin had sat down with her yet. They were both still standing. And Garrett remained standing as he started speaking.

As Garrett started talking about things they could bring into the shop to sell, Lee started nodding. Even as she sat there listening, Lee couldn't help but wish she had brought some paper and a pen into the back with her, or that they were in the front so she could grab some out of a drawer.

At least Garrett was going to be around for a while so it wasn't so important for her to get all of this information down at once, she could ask him for more details later, ask him to repeat things again on another day.

But a lot of the things he did say did make sense. "Candles, incense, crystals," Lee repeated, nodding as she spoke. "Tarot cards are understandable, but tapes and CDs?" Lee didn't exactly know a lot about all the occult stuff. In fact, since the only reason she had become even remotely interested in it was because of Tarin's shop, what she knew was impressive enough, she thought. But still, she didn't know what kind of CDs he was talking about. Books, she understood, but not CDs.

"Tarot cards are understandable, but tapes and CDs?"

Garrett took a seat across from Lee prior to explaining what he meant. "Yeah, more than likely just CDs. In a perfect world, practitioners of various traditions would be in a setting where they could hear live music that focused their energies and created the ambiance and setting of their particular ritual. However, in modern times, most people have set up an altar or a sacred space in a house or apartment.
A CD of natural sounds like the forests, deserts, stream side and the like, give people who would be cutoff from the natural world a link to those places. Shamans use double drumming for their trance work. That kind of thing."

He appreciated Lee's attention to detail. He was very interested in the prospect of working with her in the future. Though neither of them had much experience, they were both eager to learn, at least from the business aspect. Most practitioners could tell if you were real or just peddling items for cash. He would rather be of the former group. "I guess tapes are just my personal preference, as they are easy to transport and very durable. No scratches when they get dropped in the woods." He shrugged and chuckled.