Miriana's Curse

3. You Will Be Found

"Megara, table 5 still hasn't gotten his coffee!" Her boss yells from the back, his speech slurred making it obvious he's drunk. "Alright I'm on it, go sober up or something!" She yells, quickly grabbing the coffee and heading over.

She stops in her tracks, being entranced by the man sitting at the table. He’s what looks like an arctic fox, his eyes a deep green color and his hair a deep black, contrasting his white fur. “Megara!” She looks over, her boss glaring at her from across the room.

“I’m on it!” She yells, walking over to the man. “So sorry for the wait sir!” She stammers, quickly setting his coffee down only to have it spill all over the table. “Fuck.” She mutters, quickly taking the small pack of cleaning wipes out of her apron, getting to work on cleaning the mess she had made.

“I am so, so sorry sir! Is there any way I could make this up to you?” She asks, being more focused on cleaning up her mess. “It’s perfectly fine dear, accidents happen.” The man laughs. “As to making it up to me, you could possibly go out with me sometime?”

She stops in her tracks, slowly looking up at him. His eyes gleaming down at her with hope. “You,,what?” She mutters. “If no, then it is quite alright. I simply wanted to ask.” He laughs, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

He had been a regular there for quite some time now, Miriana, now Megara, could always catch his glancing her way but never spoke to her. “I suppose I could tonight, I get off my shift in a few hours if you want to come back later.” She laughs nervously, her face turning a bright red.

“Megara! Get back to work and quit being chatty with the customers!” Her boss yells, a beer bottle rolling off the counter and smashing on the ground. “I better get back to work. Would you like another coffee?” She asks. “Yes, thank you.”

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“May I say you look rather beautiful tonight, Megara.” The dashing man compliments, who she learned is named Victor. He takes her hand in his as they walk along the streets of hell. “Thank you.” She laughs nervously, she never thought she’d actually be interested in anyone, let alone a sinner.

“If I may ask, what was your sin that landed you here?” She asks, glancing up at him. “My sin was pride, what about yours?” He asks, glancing down at her as she laughs nervously, trying her fastest to come up with a sin.

“Mine,,mine was envy.” She laughs nervously. “Ah, that makes sense given your name.” He laughs. While yes she felt bad lying to him, it was well known news even now 200 years later that the princess Miriana of the Lovian family had run away after the grand ball celebrating the extermination.

She couldn’t risk being found.

“Your name, Megara means grudge, envy being jealousy over the blessings and achievements of others.” He sighs. “Do you hold any grudges against anyone?” He asks as she promptly stops, making it clear the question bothered her.

“I apologize if I upset you, you do not have to answer the question if you don’t want to.” He sighs, taking her hands in his. Staring into her gray eyes. “I understand this is our first time out together, but I’ve been admiring you for some time now and should you want to discuss anything with me. I’m more than willing to listen.”

She looks up at him, tears welling in her eyes. All this time she had to keep her past buried deep inside her, all in an effort to escape the Hell she once found herself in. Now though, she had someone willing to listen, maybe she couldn’t tell the full truth but at the very least she could let some of her problems out.

“I guess, I hold a grudge against my mother. I had a sister, my mother always preferred her over me and made no effort to hide it. My sister was everything a model women should be, where I was not.  I hold no resentment against my sister, she was always so nurturing, she was more like a mother to me than my actual mother. I simply wish my mother could’ve loved me as much as she loved her.” Megara laughs, blinking the tears out of her eyes.

Victor doesn’t say anything, simply pulls her into a tight embrace as she begins releasing quiet, muffled sobs. “You may not have been a model woman in your mothers eyes, but it’s all your imperfections that I admire most about you.” He sighs, running his fingers through her hair.

She doesn’t breathe a word, simply holding him, breathing in his musky scent, She feared being down here, being alone. No friends or family to guide her but now she had been found and he wasn’t about to let her go.

“Thank you for listening.” She laughs, slowly pulling away, looking up into his deep green eyes she's come to love so much. “I promise you this, no matter where I am, or how busy I may be. I will always be here to listen.” He sighs, cupping her cheek in his hand and wiping her tears with his thumb.

She had been found.