Chapter 63: The Girl Who Asked Me How
"She wanted a method. What she needed was a mirror." — Mistress Staci
She was bright. Curious. Maybe thirty. Maybe less.
At a dinner party, half a glass of wine in, she leaned across the table and said:
"I hope this isn't too forward, but... you have this energy. Like you know something the rest of us don't."
I smiled.
"Maybe I just stopped pretending I didn't."
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Later, in the kitchen, as people laughed in the next room, she cornered me gently.
"How do you... get it? The life. The control. The peace. Did someone give it to you?"
I shook my head.
"No one gives it. You take it. And then you decide to stop apologizing for having it."
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She wanted steps. Books. A class. A leather-bound guide to power.
But I told her the truth:
"It starts when you stop asking to be chosen. And start choosing yourself. Every single time."
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She looked stunned. Then something flickered in her.
Hope.
"So I don't need to wait to be wanted first?"
"God, no," I said, laughing. "You walk into the room already wanted. The only question is whether you're interested in letting anyone close."
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She left with a hug and a look I knew too well:
The beginning of becoming.
⸻
That night, curled in bed, she asked me:
"Are you ever going to mentor someone?"
I kissed her shoulder.
"Maybe. But only the ones who ask the right question."
"Which is?"
"Not 'How do I get power?' But— 'Am I ready to live without fear of having it?'"
She smiled.
"And when they are?"
"I'll teach them everything."
Chapter 64: The Anniversary I Didn't Forget