Chapter Text
The shatter of glass was the only thing that stopped the scream that was building inside of her. The tears managed to push their way through, like the remaining liquid from the shattered bottle working its way into the carpet.
She fell to her knees, sobbing. For ten years she had dealt with the same droll existence. The heavy pull of misery now mixed with too much alcohol brought all of her buried feelings to the forefront, the feelings she had kept pushed down for so long as she pretended nothing was wrong.
That was when she saw him again, out of the corner of her eye. “Is this real?” She asked
“As real as I am.” No, that couldn’t be. It must be the alcohol like it was the first time and the bitter cold the second time. This wasn’t real.
She dug her fingers into the floor below her in a poor attempt to ground herself. “I’m dreaming,” she muttered.
The man gave a sardonic smile. “This is how you get yourself through everything, isn’t it? Imagining yourself anywhere but here.”
He knelt down before her, gently taking her face in his hands, tilting her face up to stroke her cheek. She shook, wavering even on her knees, and gripped his arms, needing to ground herself.
“You’ve been through so much, you poor thing.”
Distracted by everything else, Margo missed how he trailed one hand down her neck until she was already leaning in, appreciating the feeling even as it slid down her arm and he took her hand in his. He flipped it over and pressed something small into her palm. Then he closed her thin fingers around it and covered her hand with his own.
“You know what will end all of this Margarita. How long have you had this, just waiting for the right time?”
She opened her hand and found a dark bottle resting there.
“It will take more than you think,” the man said. “Too little, and you’ll just wake back up, but in a world of pain.”
She shook her head.
“Just enough and it’ll be painless,” he assured her, his voice deceptively soft. “Finally do something for yourself. No more acting like you don’t notice the looks from the other women, who wonder what is wrong with you. Stop trying to convince yourself that it doesn’t bother you, that they have love and you do not. You can finally be free of the crushing emptiness, tortured by the knowledge that you’ll never have someone to love. You do not have to simply sit and smile until you die. End it now, Margarita, end your suffering now before it ruins you further.”
Fresh tears coursed down her pale cheeks. She shook her head harder. “No.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“How much longer are you going to deal with this life? It is so simple to end it.”
“No!” She threw the small bottle; it landed among the shattered glass. “I won’t!”
She let out a cry as he grabbed her jaw. “Soon enough, even the proudest woman falls.”
She shook her head sharply. “This can’t be all there is—“
“What? Are you expecting to fall in love?” he asked mockingly. “After all these years, you know as well as I do that there is nothing for you.”
She sobbed as he spoke. She could not believe it. All this suffering, for what?
“It is endless. You should learn this now.”
“No,” she shot back. “It has to get better.”
“Your refusal to give up hope is amusing.” He moved again, standing over her now, and she cried out when he grabbed her hair, pulling it to hold her still. The feeling of his lips against her ear was tantamount to someone pouring ice water down her back. “I suppose it just makes it even better once you finally do give up and give in.”
He released her, letting her fall to the ground. She curled into herself, sobbing, and then she was alone again.