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“Our second question comes from someone using the name definitely_not_a_werewolf,” the warlock announced, making the audience erupt in quick laughter. “He asked: I’m a paranormal entity who has been in love with a human coworker for years. The problem is, she doesn’t know what I am. I shifted later in life and just never felt comfortable telling everyone. Especially her. I have tried a few times, but something has always interrupted. Once, it was a fire drill. Another time, it was a light fixture falling from the ceiling. This last week, it was her cat, who definitely knows what I am and has some strong feelings about it. My question is: is this just the Universe telling me to give it up? Or should I still try?”
“I think,” Silas started, speaking slowly, “that the Universe is not in the habit of sending signals via fire drills.”
There was another short burst of laughter at that.
“I have to agree with that one. Bigger fish to fry and all that.”
Silas’s lips inched up slightly.
“I think bad timing is what we call it when we’re afraid and looking for excuses to wait just a little longer.”
You could have heard a pin drop.
“There will always be interruptions available to someone who is looking for them.”
“So what does he do?” I asked.
“He tells her.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“And what happens if she doesn’t take it well?” I asked, my heart slipping into my words. “That her coworker, someone she knows and trusts, has been lying to her about something so important for so long?”
“It’s possible she will not take it well,” Silas said. “Processing something that could be considered a betrayal might bring up some strong emotions. She might not forgive him. Neither are reasons not to tell her.”
“What if she runs?”
“Then she runs,” he said simply. “But she deserves to know. You can’t make decisions for someone else—deciding that they couldn’t handle it, or that you’re protecting them in some way. That’s not love. That’s fear.”
My heart hammered.
He wasn’t wrong.
I was so incredibly, overwhelmingly afraid.
“And if she stays?” I asked, voice tinny.
“Then he wasted years of both their lives for nothing. But they can have a future.”
“A future,” I repeated.
“Yes.”
“You, Silas, love-hater, you think they could have a future?”
“I suppose.”
“They could have a, dare I say it, happily ever after?”
“Let’s not get carried away.”
The audience chuckled.
Hell, I even did.
“Okay, I have another intriguing one,” the warlock said. “The question is: Is it possible to fall in love with someone you’ve never even met?”
