Unrequited (Prequel to IMPOSSIBLE and INFAMOUS)

Part Seven: When She Married Reggie

Four knocks.

Time shuddered.

Should he answer this time? Or should he continue to ignore her requests for entrance? It had been so long since he'd last seen her. After realizing that she had fallen in love with someone else, he became more withdrawn. He still let her visit Nowhere, but the visits weren't like they were before. There was clearly a wall between them, one that only grew with every passing day. Her visits soon became less frequent, and eventually, he stopped answering the door altogether.

Four more knocks.

He squeezed his eyes shut. He knew why she was here. He knew, so what use was it putting it off? Did he think that if she didn't actually tell him then it wouldn't be true? It was childish, but somehow he knew this was what was in his mind as he ignored her.

Again, four knocks.

Swallowing hard, he turned to gaze at the distant, swirling clouds. Pathetically, he wanted to see her, even when he knew that the news she was about to deliver would shatter what was left of his heart. But seeing her, even under such circumstances, made him feel alive.

And yet killed him all the same.

Once more, four knocks sounded throughout his office, and Time finally sighed and allowed the portal to appear. The door opened, and Alice stepped through, looking almost surprised that he had let her in.

She gave a hesitant smile. "Hello."

He nodded and forced a smile of his own. "Hello. Fancy seeing you here."

"I've been knocking for a while."

Turning away to busy himself with some random scenes, he replied, "Have you, now?"

As he flipped through scenes that meant nothing to him, he could hear her take several steps towards him. "Yes. You didn't hear me?"

"Afraid not."

There was a pause. "Actually, I've been knocking for a few months now without a response."

"Hmm, strange. Must be a glitch in the door. I'll have to check into that."

He could feel her beside him now. Her presence was like fire, filling him with warmth and drawing him closer and closer. But just like with fire, he knew that if he reached out to her, he'd get burnt.

"Time, I have something to tell you. I wanted to tell you a while ago, but—"

"You're married."

"Um, yes. I—"

"To Reggie Chataway."

He glanced over at her and found her staring up at him, her brow furrowed. "How—"

"I'm Time, my dear, that's how." He turned back to a random scene in Hearts. "I happened to flip by the scene. You looked lovely, by the way."

That was a lie. He had decided to torture himself by watching the entire ceremony that had taken place in the forest, with all her thief-friends in attendance. And he continued to torture himself by replaying her walking down the aisle again and again and again, just so he could gaze upon her beauty. He had never seen her wear a dress before. A springy, lacy little number, white as snow. And flowers. She'd worn a woven flower crown atop her head, the blooms in bright, pastel colors.

She had looked like an angel.

And she had never seemed happier.

But it stabbed him through to the heart knowing that her smile was meant for the man waiting for her at the end of the aisle—