Forget Me Not

Chapter 1: εισάγοντας τη Ιωσηφίνα

Explaining the concept of soul mates and love and relationships would be a daunting task for any parent but my parents weren't just any parents. Mine were eager to tell me all about the fairytales of finding and falling in love with your one true soul mate. I can't count how many times my mother told me the story of how she met my father and how in love she was with him. Since the moment they met, my mother knew he was the one; well she had a little help. When I was eleven, I had my first crush on a boy named Dan and then my parents decided I was old enough to understand what they had to tell me. We sat at the dining room table, so close to each other I'm sure they could hear my heart racing. They know I flooded the bath last month after leaving it on for a bath and getting submersed in a book.

"So, honey, we wear these necklaces for a very special reason. We use them to find our soul mates," She pulled her silver-plated necklace out from under her soft blue sweater and showed me the intricate design it possessed.

She then reached over, took my father's necklace from under his cardigan and aligned their pieces to show how they fit so perfectly together, "Everyone's got a shape that matches perfectly with their soul mates' piece. I spent a lot of time traveling the world looking for your mother. When I got to Tahiti, I knew she was there."

"How did you know daddy?"

My mother's eyes lit up and she gave my father a big toothy grin, "That's the best part dear, your necklace guides you. The closer you get to your soul mate, the warmer it gets."

My eyes blinked in slight confusion and I scrunched up my nose, "W-Well what if I don't have a soul mate?"

My mother held my hand and kissed my forehead. Her soft voice was reassuring yet terrifying.

"Everyone has a soul mate daring. It's nature."

From that point on I wore my necklace all day, every day. Unfortunately, Dan was not my soul mate and I gave up on pursuing him. Instead of wasting my time on trivial matters, I threw myself into my schooling. My mother did her best to be supportive of my passion for learning, but deep down she only truly cared about finding me love. I didn't view her hopes for me as selfish or stupid, I knew she only wanted me to be happy; as she became after meeting my father. My mother showed great restraint, for her, but every now and then her encouragement became pressuring and overbearing. During every spring or summer break it became honey let's go on a road trip! or does anywhere spark your necklace? We can make the trip! Whenever she made a suggestion related to searching for my soul mate, I would give her a soft smile, hug her and politely decline. I'm really only focused on school right now mom, maybe next year. I never meant it, but it was good enough for her. While staying true to my ambitions, I still tried to please my mother, hoping to make her proud. After a couple of years of her pressing me to try to find someone, I gave her an ultimatum.

"Mom?"

She smiled, "Oh, yes sweetie?"

"I don't want to hear about my soul mate anymore," I didn't pause long enough for her to speak, "Just for a while, ok? Let me focus on school. Let me get into NYU and once I do that, I'll go to Greece and I'll look."

She exhaled, "Greece sounds like a lovely idea! Oh, I'm so excited, I loved it there."

I exhaled a sigh of relief, "Thank you."

My father never pressured me about soul mates, he could tell that the topic made me uncomfortable. The influence from my mother was more than enough to back me into a corner of fear. I felt a need to make her proud but the only way to do so was to find my soul mate and fall in love. The predicament filled my head most nights, and I couldn't stop the thoughts from racing. All I could think: What if I don't love him?