Tarin listened as Garrett spoke and Lee spoke back. The shop had ran amazingly well over the last 15 years when he'd been doing it all by himself, but Tarin was ready to make it even more now and he couldn't do it alone. Lee seemed to be of the same frame of mind because before he could even bring up questions he had about the items Garrett was mentioning, she was questioning them.

All that mumbo jumbo about meditation and other things of a spiritual nature were completely lost on Tarin, but if they were going to open the front of the shop up for things of that nature it would obviously be necessary. As Lee and Garrett spoke back and forth about the merits of the different items, Tarin mused over the fact that he really did have what was considered a spiritual type of power in that it sort of proved the existence of something after death. The truth was though...religion had nothing to do with it...never had.

They were talking about CD's vs. Tapes now and Tarin couldn't help but chuckle a little bit, "Why don't we shock the world and sell everything on 8-track?" he said, then shrugged his shoulders, "If it's up to me, we'll start out slowly. We're going to have to work to get the right kind of people to come in here and shop."

Tarin moved to lean against the counter where the register sat, "The people who come in now come in for one thing except for on rare occasion. In fact, I can count the times on one hand that someone has come in here not expecting a reading. It might be more often, since Lee started working I haven't spent nearly as much time in the front of the shop. I think we're going to have to start gradually stocking these things. Probably starting with the right kinds of incense, crystals, and candles rather than what we've got out there now."

As they stood, Tarin realized something and crossed his arms over his chest, regarding Garrett a short distance away, "Well..." he said, "If you're going to work in here, you should probably know exactly what it is I do. I know it's been explained, but you should probably actually see it. What do you think?" There were plenty of spirits in the shop, but Tarin had been having considerable success blocking them out. At the mention of their presence, however, their attention returned to him and doubled, "There's plenty of them dragging themselves around in here."

Garrett had been explaining to Lee about the reason he had mentioned Cd's when Tarin interjected about 8 tracks. He seemed to be worried over this major expansion that Garrett had imagined. Was he a telepath too? Garrett hoped not. He listened and nodded a bit more. He did feel he needed to say something. " Again, Tarin, you are the boss. You had wanted suggestions. I am merely giving them. Whether you go with any of them or not is up to you two."

When Tarin mentioned Garrett experiencing his ability, Garrett became visibly nervous. He swallowed hard and said, " I am aware of what mediums do. You had mentioned before that you can actually make the person see them as well. I am sure after fifteen years of success that you are legitimate. I really don't want to see any spirits, if that's alright. I, like most people, have my skeletons and I don't want one of their bony hands reaching for me. It's likely to give me a heart attack." He tried to laugh it off, but it just became a sick little sound.

He had a nearly paralyzing fear that the mutants from the camps that had died in Medical would be there, pointing their fingers at him. The thought of it made his hands visibly shake as he drank some of his water to try to calm down. " I am sorry, Tarin. I believe in your power. I believe in it so strongly that I am scared to see what you do. If there is any way I can work here without having to sit in on a session, I would be very grateful." He hoped he hadn't written his own separation notice, but he would quit twenty jobs before seeing the eyes of those mutants.

As Garrett explained, Lee realized she was more oblivious than she had thought about the things they were selling, and the things that they should be selling. No wonder they really hadn't had a whole lot of people coming in to buy things very often.

Tapes, CDs, nature sounds, drumming, Tarot cards, candles, crystals, incense. They hadn't even started looking into specific items, or trying to actually order them for the shop, and Lee was already feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of it. Sure, she figured it'd be a bit easier with Garrett here since he actually knew something about this stuff, but Lee would prefer to know more faster.

Rolling her eyes at Tarin's joke about 8-tracks, Lee agreed. "Yeah, slow would be good. We can't fully stock this place with everything when it could take 6 months to a year before people realize what we've done. Plus, that'll give us more time to actually learn about all of it.

But then Tarin was standing up straight once more, asking Garrett if he wanted to actually see what it was he did. What a question, though at least he was getting the choice in this matter.

Lee knew that it was really really difficult to really understand or believe what it was Tarin could do. Even after seeing it the first time, she hadn't really believed it. But Garrett seemed really uncomfortable with the idea. Especially with how his laugh sounded.

"Now that we've moved things back here, I hadn't sat in on a single session," Lee told Garrett. It was true, though she had snuck back every so often to grab a drink or sneak into the bathroom while he had a session going. "Even if you were to, 99% of the time, he doesn't make them visible."

"And I'm glad for the suggestions," Tarin said with a grin, "Don't worry so much kid, you've already got the job. I'm glad for your enthusiasm too, I'm just looking at it from the business side of things."

Lee stepped in and explained a little to help Tarin out, "Exactly," He added, "With the time it's going to take for people to take us seriously in something other than the readings, we're going to have to up the inventory slowly. She's also right in that we can buy a few of each of these things and you can work on teaching us what we need to know."

Lee seemed to be the only one who got the 8-track joke and Tarin smiled at her eye roll. Then they got to the powers demonstration and Tarin's eyebrows, both of them, rose almost to his hairline. Not only was the guy an expert in the spiritual...he was terrified of spirits. Well okay.

Lee was doing a good job making him feel better about that stuff too. Tarin knew that the spirits made people a little queesy sometimes but he still rolled his eyes at the other two, "For cryin' out loud, their just people...so what if they're dead..." he muttered, then pushed away from the kitchen counter. "At any rate, Garrett, I appreciate your confidence and I'm also grateful for the things you're going to teach us." Tarin grinned, "That being said, I think we should probably open up for business for the day and start making some money."

They seemed to blow it off. They didn't know, though. No one did. Perhaps that was part of Garrett's problem. Other than revealing his past to Maya, it was still locked down tight. Whatever she had seen was still just a picture. As if it were a cube inside him and he had shown her one side. As soon as it was apparent that Tarin wasn't going to reveal any spirits, Garrett's demeanor changed. His shoulders relaxed and his breathing returned to normal. He shifted in his seat and found that he was damp. His body was saturated with sweat, as if the temperature had risen exponentially.

He smiled and rose from the table. Tarin mentioned opening the shop. It was a fine idea and a welcome diversion. He tried to let it go, just return to his happy-go-lucky self. "Sounds great.", he replied with a smile. Was this smile genuine? It felt genuine on his face, but it wasn't anywhere else. He stepped out of the curtain and the room seemed frigid. Goosebumps rose and fell over him like waves. He polished off the water and waggled the bottle in his hand. "Do you recycle?"

Tarin didn't seem too impressed with their reactions to the spirits, even going so far as to exclaim about how they were 'just people'. Standing, Lee crossed her arms as she looked at Tarin. "Maybe to you," she pointed out. Her voice wasn't harsh, but there was a firmness to its low volume. "Think about the very few I've actually seen, and then tell me they're 'just people'."

Lee didn't really like pointing this out to Tarin, especially not when there was someone else in the shop with them, but she also knew that Tarin saw it very differently than she did. He also saw her mutation very differently, but that was a completely different situation. "I know it's different for you, but not everyone can see it that way, Tarin," Lee said, her voice much gentler.

But then Tarin was saying they should probably open shop for the day, which Garrett agreed with. Glancing at the little clock on the stove, Lee had to agree; it was a fair bit later than they normally opened at this point.

Following the two men out front, Lee frowned at Garrett's question. "Uh, no, we don't, actually," she said, then turned to look at Tarin. "What did you do with my appointment book, by the way?"

"I showed you the girl on the Empire State Building Lee..." Tarin said, a slight pout crossing his features when Lee brought up the fact that the only spirits she'd seen had been less than friendly. "And there might be more friendly ones if something other than angst or bitterness, or heartbreak let them stay behind."

Lee was explaining that even though the spirits were every day to him, it was different to other people. He wanted to snap at her that it hadn't always been easy for him, but he didn't, he just nodded his head and sighed slightly. "I know that Lee." he said after a moment, "and I wasn't trying to freak him out...just thought he might want to know what he's helping to sell."

At least they all agreed that it was time to open the shop. Tarin smiled a little sheepishly when she asked him where the appointment book was. "Um....under the counter in the front?" Tarin said, "I can't remember where I stuck it...I was never really one for the book....let's go find it and get stuff open."