“I’m confused. Do you or do you not want him to keep calling you?”
“I... don’t know.”
“Ohhh.” Understanding finally dawned. “So it’s like that. I get it.”
“Like what?”
“You can’t decide what you want, so you’re bringing the bastard along for the ride, making him hurt for what he did.”
Jacqui gasped. “What? That is not—I take offense to that!”
“Want some advice?”
“No!”
“Cut him loose. Or don’t. But just make up your mind about it. You can’t hang on to your anger indefinitely. Eventually, you have to decide—forgive him or don’t. But you can’t expect him to wait forever, so if you want to forgive him, don’t sleep on it too long.”
Jacqui had frozen with her coffee mug raised halfway to her lips.
A little voice inside Meph told him he might have overstepped, but the problem was, he really didn’t have a filter between his brain and mouth. He just said whatever stupid shit he thought up, and he often got punched for it by his brothers.
He doubted Jacqui would punch him, however, and that made him feel a tiny bit bad. At least with his brothers, when he crossed a line, they let him know. Jacqui was too nice to say anything, and he realized he didn’t like the idea of upsetting her.
So he added, “Or better yet, ignore everything I just said because I don’t know what I’m talking about half the time.”
He made to spin his stool around and get back to minding his own business, but then Jacqui said, “You’re right.”
He stilled.
“You’re completely right.” Her eyes were wide. “I’ve been dragging him along for close to a year now, letting him know how mad I am and how I don’t forgive him for what he did. But I can’t do that forever, and it’s not fair to Dan to expect him to wait. I need to cut him loose, as you said.”
Except, as she said the words, her eyes filled with tears.
Meph immediately got jumpy. He didn’t do emotions. He especially didn’t do tears. This kind of shit gave him the creeps.
“Or you could, you know... take him back.” He cringed.
“But I can’t.” Jacqui blinked hard to keep the tears from spilling over. “It can never work between us. It’s impossible.”
“Uh, why?”
“Because I’m mortal! You and my daughter and my husband are going to live forever, and I’m just going todie!”
And with that, she folded forward and sobbed into her hands.
If it had been anyone,anyoneelse, Meph would have fled right then and there. But it wasn’t anyone else. It was Jacqui.
“Don’t worry about that,” he said weakly, simultaneously wishing to punch himself in the face until he was unconscious. “There are workarounds.”
“What workarounds could there possibly be for the ultimate dilemma of human existence?”
“Vampires are created with demon blood. They’re not that cool, but you’re frozen at the age you’re turned, and you can live as long as you want if someone doesn’t decapitate you. The wooden stake thing is bullshit, so don’t worry about that. And you can still eat garlic and see yourself in mirrors. I’d stay away from churches, though. Priests are creepy.”
Jacqui sniffed and lifted her head. She didn’t seem assured at all. In fact, her eyes were bugging even more than they were before.
“V-vampires...” She could barely get the word out. “Are real?”
“Sure. They’re kinda lame, but they don’t die easily, so at least there’s that. You won’t burn up in the light like people think, but sunny days aren’t your friend either.”
