Page 50 of The Seducer
“That’s right, so you better tell menow,” I said and hid my smile. Hans was easier to crack than a six-year-old.
“You don’t have to tell him anything,” Athena said and placed a hand on top of Hans’ arm.
“I’m a fraud,” Hans admitted and looked up at me with wet eyes that made me lean back in my seat. Either this man was a soft cookie or his secret was of epic proportions for him to look like he was about to start crying.
“I’m not really one of the most experienced mediators, like Isobel told you.” He looked down again and whispered the next sentence. “I lied to her.”
“You lied to Isobel? Okay, so what are you then?” I asked.
Hans’ chest lifted in a deep sigh and his body fell into a slump of defeat. “I’m a rookie. And not a very good one either.”
“Do you want me to explain it?” Athena asked Hans who nodded as timidly as a small boy about to take his first severe beating.
Maybe it was because Athena spoke in her perfect velvety voice that I was still waiting for the big revelation when she stopped talking. She probably could have told me that zombies were about to attack and I would still think it sounded intriguing, just because she sounded like cream and honey.
“So you see, it was never Hans’ intention to hurt anyone,” she said.
“Wait, back up.” I shook my head to clear it of the yearning to lean in and taste what those sweet lips of hers tasted like. “Tell me again: what is the problem?”
A triangle formed between her eyebrows. “Hans made a mistake when he exaggerated his work experience and now he’s afraid the Council will be upset with him.”
“I didn’t exaggerate,” Hans cried. “I flat-out lied, Athena. When I transferred to the green area from the purple area, I didn’t tell them I had just received my certification. I told them I was one of the best and faked a recommendation.”
Laughter tickled in my chest. It was too comical to see a grown man so broken up because of so little.
“Did you kill anyone?” I asked him, keeping a straight face.
He jerked back. “Nooo, of course not, how could you ask me that?”
“So where’s the tragedy?” I asked. “It’s not like it’s a real job anyway. You don’t even get paid.”
“What do you mean?” Athena said. “Of course it’s a real job. Just like my job is real.”
“But you don’t have a monetary system, so how can a job be real if you’re not getting paid?”
“We might not have actual money, but just because you don’t understand the fairness system doesn’t mean you can say we don’t have jobs. We all contribute with our special talents.”
“Right, so what’s the harm in Hans volunteering to follow me around?” I shook my head at him. “You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”
Hans stared at me, and then he looked to Athena. “Why are you both being so nice about it, when I’m more or less a criminal?”
She said, “It’s not my place to judge you, and it seems that you’re judging yourself harshly already. People make mistakes, and the fact that you show remorse is a good sign. It tells me you are a different person now than you were then, and that this more mature version of you is in conflict with the actions of the earlier version of you.”
Hans nodded. “I can’t tell you how ashamed I am of what I did.”
“Look, Hansi,” I said and lowered my eyebrows. “I think you should give that earlier version of you a bit of credit here. At least he had ambitions and wanted to go places in life. I like him better than this remorseful version of you.”
Hans blinked in confusion, and Athena dropped her fork.
“And what if someone did the same in your profession?” she said. “How would you like that?”
I threw up my hands. “That’s not the same thing. Hans is a mediator in a place where people apologize for burping.” I rolled my eyes at how ridiculous that was. “It’s not like he’s putting anyone in danger or anything.”
“Still, you could be sympathetic to his regret over having lied. That’s a big burden to carry.”
I couldn’t hold back my laughter any longer. “Trust me, honey, if that’s the biggest burden Hans will carry in his life, he will be fine.”
“So you won’t tell the Council what I did?” Hans asked me.
