*Shalvi’s Point of View*

“What do you mean by these girls are me?” I asked in a shaking voice.

“I mean, these are all you. They look like you for a reason. Shalvi, you’re the love of my life.” He murmured.

“Oh my God,” I look at him in horror and take a few steps back.

“No, please,” He walks toward me, “don’t be scared of me,”

“Why did you hide this from me? You know you just broke my trust! I don’t know how to trust you anymore,” I said.

“Look, I did not tell you about this because I feared this.” He nodded.

“Right,” I roll my eyes, “but why am I not an immortal if I’m the love of your life?” I pondered.

“Because…” he sighed, “Look, I don’t know why you’re doing this? Is it not enough that I love you?”

“What the hell?” I taunted him, “I feel like I’ve been dating a stranger all this time! What else are you hiding from me? How does this not matter to you? You tell me that you love me but you don’t even care about what is bothering me,”

“It’s nothing like that,” he sighed, “Okay, do not freak out, okay?”

“Okay,” I said, waiting for him to continue.

“So, we met in 1956 when we were 25, and I fell in love with you in a library. You were wearing a simple dress, a high pony-tail and glasses. I thought you really were the one – which you are,” he took a deep breath, “So,” he exhaled, “I approached you and you were shy, and just so… perfect. Just how you are now,”

I looked at him in the eyes, I knew he was saying the truth because of the way he was speaking.

“I really liked you, okay? It really was love at first sight. But, then, I wanted to impress you, and I did not know how to. I thought doing something stupid will make you smile, and I know it was probably such a bad decision because that was the mistake that took you away from me, and will probably take you away from me again,” he had tears in his eyes.

“Just tell me,” I say, taking his hand in mine, for some reason I felt like he was being genuine and I knew, deep down, that he would never do anything that would hurt me.

“I climbed up a tree, completely ignoring that the Saint below me was meditating, I started doing some crazy tricks and disturbed him,” he sighed, “he asked me to come down politely but I ignored it and continued to annoy him. I did catch your attention, but in the process, I fell off the tree and ruined everything. You noticed that and laughed at me while shaking your head, and the Saint did too. He then cursed me that I will never, ever get with you till I face all the lessons I needed by ruining his meditation.”

I felt so bad for him. He made a mistake out of his ignorance and impulsiveness and he has been punished so severely for that.

“How many lifetimes have you had?” I asked him.

“Well, this is my only one lifetime. But, you’ve had around 3. Every time I get close to you, I lose you in some way. But, you, Shalvi, I don’t want to lose you. I want to be with you, forever,” he completed.

I walked toward him and hugged him, “So, you will never lose me and be with me, FOREVER,” I completed.

Luckily, that was the end of his curse as he did learn the lessons. He feared losing me and that is what the Saint apparently wanted him to learn. Ever since then, we’ve been living happily together with our two kids.