Sokeefe - Until She Was Ready For More

Chapter 33

It had felt like hours until Sophie could finally hear her own voice again, along with the crying and sobbing that came with it.

"What have I done?" she said again, although this time aloud, and then broke down into another sob.

Sophie sniffed, swiping her hands over her eyes to clear away the pools waiting there. Her hands shook as she brought her hands up to her face and began to push the hair away. 

As she swiped her hair to the side, she caught sight of a figure next to her. In pure shock, Sophie screamed and stood up quickly. She wiped once more under her now wide eyes. Suppressing another scream, Sophie found herself looking into a face almost identical to her own.

In a split second, the woman standing in front of Sophie changed her expression from one of shock to one of determination. She promptly marched up to Sophie, Sophie's eyes growing wider the closer the woman got. The woman lifted her hand as if to caress Sophie's cheek, until she felt a sharp burst of pain explode across the side of her face. Sophie immediately raised her hand up to her stinging cheek, staring at the woman in disbelief. What on earth had caused her to smack Sophie? 

"You are quite the idiot, I hope you realize that," the woman said, her voice eerily familiar. 

Sophie opened her mouth, ready to spout a protest at the so-far cruel treatment, before the woman cut her off again. "Look, Sophie, I don't have much time. Obviously, I'm you. My name is Sophie Elizabeth Sencen and I live with my husband, Keefe Sencen, and our five kids. Three of which are with you in this timeline. As I'm sure you know, you screwed up pretty bad. I'm here to help." 

Sophie stood there, her mind spinning in circles. Me from the future? Here?, she thought. It doesn't make any sense. I'm clearly distraught and in shock. I must be seeing things. 

"Nope. There's no way. I've completely lost it," she stated, the weight of her body and guilt starting to feel heavy. Too heavy. She sat down, the tears coming back in the blink of an eye. 

The woman sighed loudly. 

"You're not losing it, I swear," she assured, then pausing for a moment. "But even if you were, it wouldn't matter, because, no matter what, you need to fix this. And to do that, you need to hear what I have to say," the woman concluded. 

Sophie stared at her for a moment, the feeling of disbelief coming back in a wave. What could fix what she had done? It was unforgivable. 

"How?" Sophie asked, her face screwed up. "How could I possibly fix what I did? How could I take back-" she stopped, her voice starting to break as a sob made its way up her throat. She could feel the tears returning and making tracks down her cheeks. "How could I take back all the awful things I said to him?" Sophie asked, her voice muted to a mere whisper, a heartbroken sob punctuating the end of her sentence. 

"Well, first you could start by finding him. Keefe went to Candleshade after you both fought. You'll find him in a library on the 30th floor. As for how you can fix it, you'll have to figure that out yourself. But just remember who you are, and who Keefe is. And you should also know that, no matter what, there is nothing that would make Keefe stop loving you. And I think the same can be said for you, regardless of what you may have said to him earlier," the woman said, a knowing look on her face. 

Sophie's gaze fell to the floor as she thought. Who was Keefe? Who was she? Why was it important? 

"But what if I say the wrong thing?" Sophie asked, her breathing started to quicken. There was no guarantee of anything. Sophie was known for her clumsiness and messing things up: who was to say that wouldn't translate to this? 

The woman moved to her knees, crouching so that Sophie had no choice but to look into her eyes. The same brown eyes she had seen in the mirror for her entire life and had hated. The same ones she now hated even more for what she'd done. 

"You won't, I promise. I've been through this before, remember? It's going to be hard, but you can do it, and you won't mess it up. I believe in you, Sophie," the woman said gently, a soft smile on her face. Sophie nodded, squeezing her eyes shut in the process. 

"Okay," Sophie agreed shakily. Taking in a rattling breath, Sophie opened her eyes again, shocked to find the room once again empty. 

Still not entirely knowing if what had just happened was just in her head or not, Sophie stood up, walking around the room in a circle. Maybe it was just in her head, but why should that mean it wasn't real? 

If the woman was correct, then Keefe was at Candleshade. Sophie knew that's where she needed to go, but the thought of talking to Keefe made her want to throw up. Actually....

Running to the bathroom, Sophie threw herself over the toilet, heaving her stomach dry. She had cried so much that it was no wonder she'd thrown up. She was extremely dehydrated. Reaching up to the faucet, Sophie cupped her hands together and drank thirstily. 

When she had satisfied her thirst, she sat down on the hard floor, her back against the wall and her head tilted up to the ceiling. 

What am I going to do? 

Maybe the answer was in something the woman that claimed to be her future self had said. The answer to the question from earlier came to Sophie in a flash. Who was Keefe?

Keefe wasn't Fitz.