Adjustment of Attitude

Part 18

In one smooth, graceful movement, Garrett drops to his knees in front of me. His eyes do not leave mine. I lean forward. Everything wants to drop in front of him and take his face in my hand but the slightest shake of his head holds me in place.

"Tess." My name is a caress, a slap, and a hug wrapped into one. "This journey is not a sprint. In it we will all find pain and love. Each of us will find something different in the others. For me, I know as a man, when I fell in love with you, you became my weakness. Just as I became your strength and a place of solace. This is the real power behind our exchange."

Everything in my world centers on Garrett. Nothing else matters here. On his knees in front of me, he confesses his weakness while exuding strength. My heartbreak mends as I see the light at the end of our long terrifying ordeal. Beside us, I see Evan shift uncomfortably.

"They say love hurts." I reply. "But it isn't true. Loneliness hurts. The fear of rejection hurts. Losing someone in a way you viewed them, hurts. Envy of a moment, a person or position hurts. All of these things get confused with love. The reality of life is that the only thing which covers all this pain and makes the world wonderful again, is love."

A smile softly breaks across my face. Once again, I am home. The trial changed me. It changed all of us, but growth requires such a path. Here, in this time, I understand the need for this reset. Confidence once again blooms in me and I look down at Garrett. Here on his knees, he is not less and I am not more. While I always intrinsically knew the truth, here I am shown it from a place of such love. I am overwhelmed.

"Evan." I speak his name, my eyes never leaving Garrett's face. "If your Master is on his knees before me, where do you think you ought to be?"

I look up at the other man. There I can see the confusion splashed across his face. The reality of our world shatters his fantasy, but offers him something deeper. With bated breath, I wait to see where he will next step.

"I don't understand." The edge in Evan's voice is mistakable.

"Let me provide the opportunity for you to correct your statement before you make yet another, in a long line, of mistakes, boy." Garrett says, pointing to the floor beside him.

Evan stands and stares down at the other man for a long second.

"I don't understand, Master." He finally replies.

Garrett leans forward and gently kisses my bare feet. "My queen, my heart, my love."

When he is done, his head lands on the mat between my feet. Proof that in our dynamics, we are all equals and in each other we find both our deepest strength and greatest weakness.

Light fills me and understanding fully blossoms. I shift back in my chair and look up at Evan.

"It is time for you to choose the direction of our collective journey, Evan."