The door opens with a sigh. Two men stand facing each other. The one holding the door open has a nondescript face but he’s wearing an impeccable suit. It’s well cut, grey and hangs on his frame like he grew into it. The man with his hand extended to knock, looks at the suit and then at himself. He suddenly feels underdressed and slovenly, like perhaps he hasn’t bathed in days.
The man in the suit smiles and his features brighten. “You must be Mr. Kilney. You telephoned earlier. Please, come in.”
Kilney frowns but does not move. He has heard stories of Mr. Ramshackle, and going by the ridiculous name, had expected someone garish, even absurd. But the man that confronts him looks cultured and educated. Had they been different circumstances, exactly the type of man he would befriend.
“Mr. Kilney, is everything alright?”
“Quite,” says he dismissively yet remains rooted to the spot.
“Oh dear. We’re going to be here a while, aren’t we? Should I,” Ramshackle looks at his expensive watch and adds, “cancel my next appointment?”
It’s the mention of an appointment that breaks through his discomfiture. He says, with as much politeness as he can muster, “I need you to cancel my fiancé, Gimble Roark’s contract. Please. Mr. Ramshackle.”
To his credit, Ramshackle looks aggrieved. “You know I cannot.”
Even though he expected it, Kilney is angry and grief-stricken. “I don’t understand,” he whispers. “Why…why would she…”
He looks at Ramshackle, hoping for something but his face is devoid of sympathy.
“Maybe you can ask her?”
Kilney pulls his hair, no dignity left. “You think I haven’t tried asking why on the eve of our wedding she thought it was a good idea to sign her life away to you?” His hands fly around, a manifestation of his agitation. “I have asked, her parents have asked. Her friends, cousins and colleagues have asked as well. She won’t tell us.”
There is something in the way Kilney appears, dishevelled, confused and desperate, that softens Ramshackle. As an immortal being, not many have that affect on him. He is immune, mostly, to humans and their follies.
Kilney seems different. Maybe because he is the first person in the millennia Ramshackle has spent on Earth who has come to ask to void a loved one’s contract. This is a new experience and Ramshackle is curious to see where this goes.
So, he does something he hasn’t done before. He decides to entertain Kilney’s request. “Would you like to come in, Mr. Kilney?”
Ruidan Kilney hesitates for precisely ten seconds before he nods and enters the house.
1 of 26 of an ongoing series The Dream Maker. You can read all posts here. Written as part of #BlogchatterA2Z.
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tales of Suchita 
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