Nick lay awake after Lindsey had left thinking about her and her move.  She felt the same about him, he knew that now but the timing was horrible and she was leaving him.  She made it clear that she didn’t want to try a long distance relationship. 

When Nick finally was able to drift off to sleep he dreamt about the carnival: the lights, the rides and of course, the fortune teller.  It was his trip into the tent that was the most vivid part of his dream.  He could smell the scents of the different incenses that were burning all around the inside of the tent.  He could hear the tinkling of the bells the gypsy woman wore around her waist as she moved to sit in front of him. 

"What are you doing here?” The woman asked. “Do you have somewhere to be?” Her smiled played on her lips was intriguing.  She knew something that he wanted to know but she would not give up the information easily.

“Where am I supposed to be?” Nick asked it couldn’t hurt to ask right? Maybe she would tell him what he wanted to know.

“The time has come, your fork in the road.  You must choose.” She spoke, she was sure of herself.  Continue on the path you are on and reap the benefits of fame and fortune or take the fork that has presented itself…” With these words the woman’s face started to fade out of Nick’s dream.  His entire surroundings began to fade and the next sounds he heard were that of the beeping heart monitor next to his hospital bed.

Any attempts to get back to sleep after that dream would prove to be impossible so, instead, Nick lay awake with thinking of Lindsey.   Sure he would be able to call her if he needed to, but he wouldn’t be able to show up unannounced to take her out.  He would never randomly run into her again, whether it was with his car or just out and about.  He laughed thinking about the two accidents.

With thoughts of Lindsey he drifted off and was managed to get a couple of hours of sleep.

The next morning after the accident, Nick was released.  He only had a few bumps and bruises, nothing internally was damaged.  Lindsey had not hit his car as hard as he had hit hers.  Nick called a taxi and waited for the taxi to arrive when his phone rang. 

“Hello?” Nick answered.

“Did you forget?” The voice of his manager came across on the other line. 

“Forget what?” Nick asked, he obviously had forgotten.

His manager groaned.  “The meeting today? You and I were going to get together an hour ago to go over stuff to prepare.”

“Oh right,” Nick remembered.  He was supposed to meet with his manager and the producer. This would change his career forever.  He relayed what had happened to him the day before.  He reassured him he was fine several times and that he didn’t need a ride; he had a taxi on its way to pick him up.

“Nick, don’t mess this up.  He only has today to meet with you.  If you don’t show up, that’s it. We won’t get this chance again.”  His manager pushed in his ear.

“I got it,” Nick said rolling his eyes as he said good bye and hung up with his manager.

“The time has come, your fork in the road,” The voice of the gypsy wafted through the air around him.  Nick realized this was the moment of his fortune where he must choose his path.  Down one he would have fame and fortune, the other he would have the greatest love of his life.

If he let Lindsey go and went to his meeting his fame and fortune would probably increase, he’d likely become a solo artist and the group he started with would probably fall apart.  If he stopped Lindsey from leaving he would be ruining her career but he would have his best friend and hopefully lover, back.  He wanted both options but each had their pitfalls.

The honking of the taxi horn brought Nick around and he climbed into the backseat of the cab and sat there, still wondering what he should do next.

He sighed as his mind went automatically to one option.  His mind was made. 

“Where do you want to go?” the cab driver asked.

Nick looked up into a pair of green eyes looking back at him in the review mirror.  He laughed and shook his head. ‘Follow the money,’ a pair of similar green eyes had told him.  It wasn’t until that moment that he realized she was telling him what to do in regards to what woman to choose.   

“Well?” the man was growing impatient, he wanted to drive and drop off his fare so that he could get another. 

Nick nodded and smiling he told the man his decision.  “To the airport,” He told the driver. 

To Nick it felt like he spent forever in the cab waiting to arrive at the airport.  He tried Lindsey’s cell several times on the way but she was not answering.  Maybe she was already on the plane?  Nick had no idea where she was going for her training, he had no idea what time she was leaving.

He tried one last time to get her on the phone.

“Hello?” She answered sounding slightly irritated.

“Lindsey,” Nick smiled glad that he caught her.  “What time are you leaving?”

“I am just pulling up to the airport right now,” He could hear the sounds of her opening the door and settling cab fare with a driver.  “Why?” She returned to their conversation.

“I wanted to say good-bye.” He told her.   He grinned broadly as his cab finally turned into the airport lane and pulled up behind another cab.  He saw her standing with her back to the cars; neck cocked sideways holding the phone on her shoulder.

“Thank you, I will miss you.” Her voice sounded like almost a whisper.

He hung up the phone as he got out of the car and watched as she looked at her phone to notice he had hung up.  He could hear her grumbling about him hanging up as he walked up behind her. 

“What a jerk.” He spoke up from behind.  “For hanging up on you…” he added.

“Ya…” She started and stopped when she turned to see him standing behind her.  A smile broke out on her face.

Nick pulled Lindsey close. “Lindsey, I can’t live without you.  I love you.” As he uttered the words he knew just how true they were.  How lost he would be if she left.   “Please don’t go.”

He leaned down and kissed her, holding her tightly against his body he could feel her heartbeat faster.  He broke the kiss and continued to speak.  “All this time I thought the world was working against me.  I felt that my luck with love was cursed.  Now I realize I was the one fighting fate when it took me so long to realize that our car accident was no accident at all.  You were meant to be in my life, please say you will stay with me.”

Tears glistened in Lindsey’s eyes as she nodded and kissed him again. Nick ignored the sound of the phone ringing at his belt, he chose his path, there was no going back.