Ten Years Later

He didn't exist. That's what Norah's boss had been telling her for the past year. All of her stuffy, bookish friends agreed that the mysterious messiah had to be fictional. This rendered Margarete's story a lie, a useless lie. Norah knew they were right, but she would always believe Margarete. The man had existed, she knew so. This was always her focal point when speaking. Show the audience that you trust the story and believe in it's truth.

"Eventually, we'll convince them all," Margarete had said. Norah pleaded with fate, hoping she was right.

And then she was out of her head, and back inside the spacious hotel lounge. Nick leaned his head against her shoulder while he relaxed into the red and gold satin sofa. He had trust in Margarete's story, and this worried Norah. Only the great unwashed masses would believe, that wasn't enough.

They had been fighting constantly, it started one month after they married. Norah knew it was her fault, but she couldn't help talking down to Nick. His indifference was everywhere, in every sentence he uttered an example. As Norah thought this, Fedor and Margarete walked into the room. This couple was graceful, as if they were one person. Margarete had never told her anything about Fedor, not even how they had met. Norah thought the secrecy was romantic, a concept Nick had never understood.

The old woman sat down across from Nick, while Fedor sat beside her. Now the two couples faced each other, looking into the eyes of a different generation. Norah was scared for the next step, they had taken it so smoothly.

Norah's thoughts were interrupted by Margarete's thick accent, "I have something to tell you both," Fedor placed his hand over hers, "I am so deeply sorry."

"Margarete, we have to get ready soon can it wait?" Norah cut in.

There was a long pause. Margarete was frustrated.

"The man isn't real. He was a dark character, a figment of my own imagination, made real by the passing of time."

"You promised me, I've been looking for him for years," Norah was in tears.

"I'm truly sorry, at the time, I believed as well."

They got up to leave, emotionless. Later, the couple would take a cruise to the Mediterranean, using Margarete's cut of the book's royalties. Their love was all that mattered, so they left a path of destruction wherever they went. Or at least that's how it appeared to Norah, as she sobbed on the thick hotel carpet. Nick pulled her close, taking Norah's breath away. She felt everything collapsing, even as he held her. Then suddenly the wave hit, and her life fell apart.