“And the things you would do.”
“Yes. I thought your reading was bullshit at the time, but now that everything you predicted has come to pass…I know it’s real.”
She nodded again.
“Help me change it.”
“Hades, I already said the past can’t be changed.”
“But you said I was being punished for the crimes I’ve committed. If I were to be forgiven for those crimes, would that break this curse?”
Her eyes narrowed as she stared at me.
“I love my wife more than anything in this world…and it kills me that she feels nothing for me. It’s the kind of torture I wouldn’t give my greatest enemy. I can’t live like this forever. There has to be something I can do.” I bared my soul to this complete stranger, desperate to get what I wanted. Normally, I would just throw cash at my problems and make them go away…but not this.
“Well…there are two options. But neither one is good.”
“Alright…”
“The first one is unpredictable. We could try it and hope for the best, but I can’t promise you it’ll work.”
“Let’s just try.”
“Hold on. You don’t even know what you’re agreeing to.”
“Then tell me.” I was impatient, wanting this eternal night to end for good.
“There are two ways to approach your problem. The first one is, we could make you stop loving her. Make you forget about her. With your newfound freedom, you could divorce her and get back to the life you had before.”
I didn’t anticipate that being a solution.
“I can’t promise it’ll work, but it does have a chance. This is the easier option for you. The second one is…near to impossible to achieve. I suggest we do the first one and not even bother with the second.”
I didn’t come in here with the intention of forgetting Sofia. If I could stop these feelings, it would solve all of my problems. My heart would cease to ache for her, and all the torture would be over. She could leave, and I wouldn’t give a damn about her anymore. It was exactly what I wanted…right? “Will the other option achieve the same thing?”
“The opposite. You could break the curse, and there’s a chance she’ll love you on her own. But like I said, it is much more complicated and I don’t recommend it. We could do the first one right now and you could be on your way.”
Now I was at a crossroads, and I had to decide what I wanted. To go back to my blissful life of whores, money, and drugs without a care in the world…or I could have the most intense relationship of my life with a woman who felt the same way. Loving her was a pain in the ass, but living a life without that seemed…bleak. Sofia brought so much happiness into my life. I didn’t want to lose that; I just didn’t want to be tortured anymore. “The second one.”
She gave me a disappointed look. “You want to continue this torture?”
I nodded. “I don’t want to stop loving her. That’s never been the problem.” That was the dumber choice. I knew it was an error in judgment, a decision made with my heart and not my brain.
She grabbed her cards and started to lay them out again. “That leaves option two…” She spread them out, lit a different essence, and then stared at the surface of the table.
“Which is?”
“We need to identify your gravest crime…and you have to make it right.” She flipped a few cards over and moved them around, as if she were trying to solve a puzzle.
“I can save you some time.”
She lifted her gaze.
“I killed my father.”
She didn’t blink, like she already knew what I’d done.
“There’s no way to rectify something like that.” I shot him in the head and watched the light leave his eyes before he fell to the ground. My actions were heroic to some, but they were sickening to me. My brother gave me a look I’d never forget, and I knew he would kill me if we ever crossed paths again. I destroyed our family…and even I couldn’t forgive myself.
“That’s why option number one is better.”
“No. That’ll never be an option.”
“So you’d rather love her when she’ll never love you?” she asked.
I nodded. “So we’d better make option two work.”
She sighed before she looked at the cards again. “You have one sibling, right?”
“Yes.” I didn’t bother asking how she knew that.
“He was close with your father.”
Right again. “Correct.”
She moved some more cards around. “Earning forgiveness from your late father won’t be the problem. He deserved his punishment, and I’m certain he knows that. Your brother, on the other hand, is a different story. He carries the grief, carries the resentment to this day.” She lifted her chin and looked me in the eye. “Your best bet is to earn his forgiveness.”