Zarios woke up the next day tied up on a bed. Startled, he tried pulling the ropes with force but it was no use. After accepting that he can't remove the ropes, Zarios looked around him. The room was unfamiliar, was he abducted or something? Zarios wondered.
He looked at the timer on his left arm, and he was brought back to his senses. He was still cursed, and the timer was at 18:00. This means he did return the timer back to 24:00. But how? Zarios could not seem to remember. In any case, the more urgent issue now is that he had to leave this room and somehow get his voice back when he talks to ladies. He hoped the one who tied him shows up soon.
After an hour, Zarios heard two knocks on the door, and then the door was opened by his neighbor Odessa.
"Oh Zarios, you are awake?" She stared at him. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her palm was bandaged. "What happened to you yesterday? I felt you were about to die."
A sharp intuition, Zarios thought. His memories before he went unconscious yesterday flooded back to him. He obviously could not tell her he got cursed by a god, so he lied.
"About that, I went to the gym and was so exhausted that I collapsed. I apologize for showing you--"
Zarios shouted suddenly, "HOW COME I AM SPEAKING TO A LADY?"
So Zarios did talk to Odessa, just 30 minutes before the timer was about to kill him. But why was he able to speak to her out of all the ladies he tried to talk with yesterday?
Odessa burst out laughing, "What is wrong with talking to a lady Zarios? I know you have not talked to a lady before… oh wait, I am your first?" She placed her hand on her mouth.
"Yes," Zorian went shy mode and reclined his head downwards.
"What? Why? After all these years and out of all the ladies around you, it was only me you had decided to talk with? Could it be you actually like me?" She gave a sly smile. "Just because I broke my engagement yesterday does not mean you should jump at the first moment to attract me."
Life had taught Zarios many techniques when it comes with talking to ladies that loved to tease him. In this situation, a sensitive person like Zarios was boiling internally from shyness, but he did not show it. He simply looked at Odessa's with bored eyes as if he was looking at a brick for a few minutes until Odessa gave in.
"Alright, sorry, I was joking."
"If you feel sorry then remove the ropes. Why the hell did you tie me?"
"And why the hell I should not tie you? A half-dead boy who never spoken to a lady rang my doorbell at midnight to speak to me. Any lady would be frightened by this, you should be thankful that I did not call the police."
She had a point. If Zarios were in her shoes, he would have done the same if not throw him outside her house.
"You could have just brought me to my house, which is just next to yours. Oh, or could it be that you like me so much that you wanted to abduct me?"
"Hey do not try to use my words against me now. Anyway, I rang the bell nonstop but no one opened the door to your house."
"Yeah, I forgot that father does not open the door to anyone after midnight unless his house is on fire."
"About that," Odessa sat on a chair close to him, and Zarios cheeks swelled red. "What is wrong with your father? He… Why are your cheeks turning red? Are shy of me?"
"…"
"So now I have two choices, to sit a meter away from you or tease you and get even closer to you. Which one should I pick?"
"If you pick the second choice I will kill you."
"Haha, too bad you are tied up." Odessa moved her chair even closer to Zarios then placed her head on the bed just next to Zarios' head. "Now about your--"
"Stop, I am gonna die!" Zarios turned his head left and right.
"Alright, alright sorry but it is quite fun to tease you." She moved her chair a meter away from Zarios. "Okay so tell me, what is wrong with your father? When I talk to him it feels as if I am talking to a robot."
Once he calmed down Zarios replied, "That is quite accurate because my father has no emotions. Now before you start asking me more questions how about you untie me already? I presume you can tell by now that I am quite a safe male."
"Fine, I wanted to tease you more, but you might end up with a heart attack."
Untying Zarios was a very delicate process. He made sure Odessa did not touch him when she untied his right arm. After that, he told her to stay away as he untied the rest of his body, which did take some time but he preferred this route.
After he untied the ropes Zarios looked at the alarm, which read 24:00. This seemed weird at first, the timer should have decreased. Zarios then realized that since he was talking to Odessa he fulfilled the curse condition so the timer became stuck at 24:00. This meant he was safe for today, which was a big relief to Zarios.
"So what did you want to talk to me about?" She asked him. "I suppose it is something important."
How could Zarios explain his curse to her? No, even if he did explain the curse will she believe it? She will toss him to the closest garbage. But Zarios needed to talk to a lady daily, and if he can speak with Odessa already why should he adventure to other ladies? Perhaps he could come up with a lie that would make her talk to him every day. But he could not think of anything without coming as a creep. Shit. He had to buy some time.
"Sure, but before that what happened to your bandaged hand? And your eyes were swollen when you entered the room."
"Oh," She covered her bandaged arm. "Do not worry about it, I cut myself while cooking. And my eyes were swollen because I broke my engagement yesterday. Do I need to explain any further?"
"No, it is fine."
So how about you tell me what you wanted to talk about? I can tell you have been delaying it."
"This may sound weird, but I need you to stab me."
"Huh?"
Zarios explained to her about Tartarus and the curse. And told her the only way she could believe him was to stab the alarm with the sharpest tool she has, and his arm would miraculously remain unscathed. She scrapped the alarm first with a knife, then she moved to rougher methods like stabbing the alarm with knife and needles. Odessa finally accepted that it was a curse when her chainsaw was also useless in harming the alarm, and she ignored that Zarios could have died in the process.
"Wow, I thought the alarm was a weird tattoo first. So because you spoke to me the alarm returned back to 24:00?"
"Yes, for today only."
"And because of this curse, you are saying that you want to talk to me every day?"
"As weird as it may sound, yes."
She rubbed her bandaged palm, "And what would the neighbors say if they saw you talking to me daily?"
"We can arrange it in any place. The curse accepts even a few seconds conversation to reset the timer."
"That is pretty convenient… So I have to talk to a boy who is 12 years younger than me every single day and for god knows how long."
Zarios nodded.
After staring at Zarios for a minute she replied, "Fine, I will help you but on one condition."
"Which is?"
"You have to be my boyfriend."
"Haaa?" he shouted.
She chuckled, "I like this response. I am also having fun talking to you even though I broke my engagement yesterday. I feel like you can heal my sadness."
"Please, this is not a joke."
"And I am not joking either. I want you to be my boyfriend. If you accept you can talk to me as much as you want, and if you don't, you can find another lady to talk to."
What the hell is wrong with this woman? He thought. Two hours ago she tied him up and now she wants him to be her boyfriend.
"I think there is another way where we can reach an agreement."
"No."
So there is no running away from her condition, Zarios thought. For a shy dude like Zarios to get a girlfriend older than him suddenly was too much. He knew nothing compared to her about relationships, and he did not want to embarrass himself.
"I am sorry I can't accept being your boyfriend." Zarios finally concluded.
"I see," she stood up looking sad. "You are not honest. You can leave whenever you want." And with that, she left the room.
Zarios felt terrible, she was kind to him considering his circumstances. But the offer was too outrageous, especially for him. In any case, his next plan for the curse was to talk to ladies around the city and in college and hopefully find a lady he can speak with. He also thought of going to priests after a few days because they may remove the curse.
But his plan did not work out. He went to college and tried to talk to the ladies, but his voice did not come out. He also tried it with the service ladies in shops and restaurants with no use. His legs were shaking could barely stand while trying to talk to them and resorted to remain seated in all his attempts lest he falls on the ground.
It was not clear on why he could only talk to Odessa out of all the ladies in the city. Zarios assumed that when spoke to her for the first time he had about 30 minutes left to die. So his shyness disappeared temporarily in favor of his inherent desire to live. This seemed possible because humans discard all their habits and manners when they get so close to death.
A day had passed, and when Zarios woke up the next day in his room he looked at his alarm, which read 17:30. So the alarm decreased once again. And upon realizing this, Zarios gave up all the futile attempts to talk to ladies around the city and headed straight to Odessa's house.
"I accept your condition, I will be your boyfriend," said Zarios after she opened the door. He noticed there was a new scar on her neck, but ignored it for now.
"Now you are honest," Odessa replied with a smile.