“Yes, and no. I liked it more than I liked visiting the human realm, but there’s also a part of me that never felt like I fit in. It was easier to hide away in the Head Cupid’s mansion, organizing his things, taking care of his laundry, than it was making friends or putting myself out there.”
“But you seemed so confident the night of the Love in the Veil mixer,” I say, feeling confused by her words and the way I perceive her.
She’s running her gloved hand down the horse’s head as she speaks, her eyes welling with tears.
“Gloom convinced me to go. I was dressed, trying to pump myself up to get my ass to that party, but I was going to hide at Cupio’s house the whole time. He gave me the confidence to go. Over the last few months, spending time with Gloom, Ladybird, and Cupio has helped me rebuild my confidence.”
I start to open my mouth and she shakes her head. “You don’t need to apologize to me. You already have, and we’re here now. I almost wonder if I needed this time to find out who I really was, what I really wanted before I committed. I think I’m a better cupid for it.”
“I don’t know. I liked you in the big pink ball gown just as much as I liked you in that tight sexy red dress. You charmed methat night, and you charm me still. I…I don’t think we are all just one thing, or that we always stay the same. At least I hope not.”
“Are you worried about retirement?” she asks.
“Is it that obvious?”
She shrugs as she moves on to the next horse, feeding him before she answers.
“I think change is hard. How long have you worked for Santa?”
“Nearly five-hundred years.” She whistles. “How long have you been in Cupidale?”
“Nearly two centuries.”
“It makes you wonder how people in the human realm are meant to figure out their lives in such a short amount of time,” I say.
“You would think some of those life lessons would transfer over to our afterlife. Forgetting everything in your human life is kind of bullshit.”
“Maybe we are more like our former selves than we realize.”
“How so?” she asks.
“I have no doubt that I’ve been extremely good looking in every walk of life,” I joke and she smiles.
“I don’t doubt it either.”
“Come, walk with me. There’s something else I want to show you.” I take her gloved fingers and drag her out of the stables. “It’s just over this hill.”
We walk slowly so that Candy can manage the mass amount of snow.
“Did you like your job?” Candy asks.
“I liked living here, being with the elves, and mainly working two months out of the year.”
“But the rest?”
“Scaring the piss out of kids? Only sometimes. When I got to watch them turn their lives around, that was fulfilling. What about you? You didn’t like making love matches?”
She blushes. “I made a man fall in love with an inflatable whale.”
“Did he do what I think he did?” I ask, which is the only logical question one can ask when you find out a man is in love with a pool toy.
“Oh yes, and when he popped it, he was distraught. Cupio was called in to reverse the love match and erase the man’s mind. He took pity on me. I think he was also lonely, living in that mansion all by himself. He offered me a job where I didn’t have to leave Cupidale and I took care of his house.”
“There was nothing romantic between you two?” I ask, maybe letting some jealousy hit me in the gut.
She snort laughs. “Cupio? No way. He’s almost like a father to me. He gave me somewhere safe, but I think I got too comfortable there. Plus, I think the three of them want more privacy. I’ve walked in on more threesomes than I can count,” she says as we round the hill.
Candy gasps, her eyes widening as she takes in the ice castles before us.
