Page 27 of Let Me Win You

The image of his sprawling treehouse with its open to the air construction, billowing gossamer curtains, and the surrounding whispering tree canopies rose in my mind. Had I not been so confused and frightened the morning I woke up there, I might’ve found his home peaceful and beautiful.

“He’s a monster, Nic,” I reminded myself, but opened the note anyway.

It was short. Just one sentence.

“I’m living in hope of you considering my invitation.”

“What invitation?” I turned the note around, but it was blank on the other side.

Then I remembered the letter that the duck delivered to me that morning, the letter that I really should’ve thrown out, but I kept it on the night table under the glass with the lily.

Apprehensive, I opened the letter now.

“My dearest Nicole,

No words can describe the regret I feel about having offended you. Scaring you was never my intention.

Ever since you left me, I’ve been thinking about where I went wrong. My mistake was in part due to my inexperience. Before I met you, I hadn’t seen a live human for decades and hadn’t interacted with them much at any point of my existence.

I understand the right thing would’ve been to discuss your visit with you when you were awake. And at first, I planned to do just that. But I panicked when another man appeared on the threshold of your hotel room. At that point, I had already glimpsed my future with you, and even the slightest prospect of giving you up to him felt unbearable.”

What another man?

I didn’t recall anyone knocking on my door that night.

And why would anyone knock, other than if the building was on fire and I slept through the evacuation alarm?

“My biggest hope now is that in your kindness, you will give me a chance to apologize in person.

I would like to invite you for dinner tonight or on any other night at your convenience. I’d be honored to welcome you properly to my home and apologize to you for my actions, if not in hope for your full forgiveness, then at least in hope of lessening any ill feelings you may harbor toward me.

Sincerely, Invi.”

I stared at the ornate scroll that he drew at the end of the last letter “i” of his name. The entire message was written in a confident hand, with neat, pretty scrolls and ornamental twistsof the cursive. It was by far the prettiest handwriting I’d ever seen. I wondered if he’d practiced beforehand to get it so perfect.

The style of the message was definitely of someone who didn’t speak or write to modern humans very often.

I glanced at the word “sincerely” next, wondering how muchsinceritythere really was in this letter. Invi was a mortal sin, after all, susceptible to every vice and skilled in pretending, by the admission of his own sister.

The entire letter could easily be a lie. But a note of plea and even desperation seemed to be woven into its every word, though I had nothing to go by here but my gut feeling that had led me astray before.

The letter had more writing on the reverse.

“Either way, I’ll make sure that you receive proper meals for dinner for as long as you will stay in Purgatory.”

The basket was from Invi then, and he promised a regular delivery of them in the future.

“How the hell does he train the ducks so well?” I wondered, folding the letter and putting it away. “Is he going to send one to pick up the empty dishes too?”

I caught myself smiling.

A part of me wished to see Invi again, if just to make sure he truly was a monster I had to stay away from. But maybe it’d be good to have a conversation with him before leaving Purgatory in a few days.

If he wished to apologize in person, I believed I needed to hear it from him too.

9

Invi

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