Chapter 1
I was looking at her, waiting for some reaction to wash over her face, but deep down I knew nothing could happen—after all, I was just a twelve-year-old child. She simply gave me a faint smile and ruffled my hair.
“You’re probably confused,” she said.
“I’m not confused. I really love you, and I want you to marry me,” I said. Then, I saw her boyfriend on the other side, glaring at me with an incredibly ugly look on his face.
What right did he have to look at me like that? He isn’t even married to her.
“Hey kid, what do you think you’re saying to my girlfriend?” he asked, taking a few steps toward me, but she was faster, stopping him with just one arm.
“I can’t believe you’re getting riled up over the things a little kid is saying,” she said in disbelief, and he rolled his eyes in annoyance.
“Little kid? This guy is twelve years old, he’s plenty older and knows exactly what he’s talking about. Evil must be nipped in the bud, and I don’t mind doing it.”
She simply ignored him and turned back to me.
“Look, I can’t quite understand what your feelings for me are, and I also can’t just say it’s just a phase or confusion you’re going through, right? Because you’re the one feeling it, not me. But right now is not the right time for you to make this kind of declaration or think of me that way,” she said.
“But they are my feelings!” I complained, already feeling tears welling up in my eyes.
“I’m not saying they aren’t your feelings, I’m just saying it’s still too early. And besides being too early, I’m not even your age... I’m 22 years old. You might not know this, but there are relationships where age matters a lot. If we aren’t roughly the same age, we’ll face a lot of judgment from society, not to mention I could go to jail for pedophilia, understand?” she explained. “I won’t say you’re still a child because you’re already more than strong and can even think for yourself, but you still have so much ahead of you. There are so many little girls in town who will like you, and you’ll probably like them too. Why don’t you give those girls a chance?”
“Because I don’t like them!”
“But you might. And you’re actually handsome.”
“If I’m handsome, why don’t you stay with me instead of him?” I asked, pointing at her boyfriend.
“Kid...” she murmured, rubbing her forehead as if she had a headache.
“But I love you!”
“This brat...” Her boyfriend threatened to take a few steps toward me again, but she stopped him once more.
“Why don’t we do this instead? Why don’t you grow up a little bit more, what do you think?” she said, wiping the tears from my face.
“Grow up?”
“Yes. Right now it definitely can’t happen because I could go to jail, and that wouldn’t be a romance at all. It might not look like it, but I have a certain image to maintain.”
“Hey, Slayel... don’t go putting things in this kid’s head, don’t give him hope,” her boyfriend said.
She leaned in a little closer to me, as if she were going to tell me a secret so her boyfriend wouldn’t hear.
“I am absolutely certain that by then I won’t be with this idiot anymore, and I’m also absolutely certain that you will treat me a thousand times better than he does, so why don’t we make this wager?”
I wiped my tears and swallowed my sob. “Will you wait for me?”
“You know perfectly well that I wouldn’t wait for any man on the face of the earth,” she said. “But I am absolutely certain that you will find me and make me yours, right? Yours... what is it that you keep repeating all the time again?”
“My absolute submissive,” I said, and she laughed.
“You really are a strange child. You’re the first one I’ve ever heard who wants to turn a woman into a submissive.” She looked at me with curiosity. “I wonder if your parents know you’re watching that kind of stuff.”
“Slay,” her boyfriend called out. “How much more time are you going to waste on this punk?”
She stood up and brushed off her pants, which had gotten dirty because she had to kneel on the ground to be at eye level with me, and winked at me.
“Take care, okay?” she said. For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel like crying. I watched her walk to the car and followed her.
“Wait for me, Slayel! I’m going to make you mine, my woman!” I shouted.
“See what you did? You gave this brat hope and now he’s saying these horrific things. Damn, if an older guy were saying these atrocities, he’d be charged with sexual harassment.”
“He’s a child, Wiz, shut up,” she said as she got into the car. Then, without another word, the car drove off. I stood there, watching the great love of my life leave, while I could absolutely do nothing to make her stay.
That wasn’t just a promise. I didn’t even know if she had believed my words—after all, it was just a twelve-year-old child speaking—but it became my purpose, my reason for living. I would do whatever it took to have that woman in my life.
And today, ten years later, I was no longer just a little kid. I was ready to go after my goals.
