That's Not Him

‘‘The Great Illusionist: Mystical Aaron’ is hiring a new girl as assistant. Call the no. 1800-567-9823 to apply for the job.’

Tia sees the ad yet again in the Daily Oracle, a local newspaper. As she’s a big fan of the numinous yet mysterious illusionist, she has always wondered why he keeps hiring new girls every 6 months. The last one didn’t even last for more than 3 months.

Being an orphan, it wasn’t easy for Tia to live alone on the roads. After getting released from the orphanage 2 years ago, she has been hunting for a job with no luck. She notices a payphone at the corner of the pavement. Paying for the newspaper to the paper delivery boy, she rushes to the payphone. Calling the number scribed in the paper, keeping her fingers crossed.

“Hello, my name is Tia Daughtry. I’m calling in regards to your advertisement in the paper for the assistant.” She says nervously.

“Hello. My name is Michael Holley. I’m Mr. Wayne’s manager. Could you write down the address of the interview?” His thick British voice spoke sweetly.

She hurriedly picks out a notepad and a pen from her grey bag. She write downs quickly and thanks the man on the phone before she ends the call. She hails a cab and rushes to the specified address.

A huge brown tent is put up with colorful and illuminating lightings around it. She enters by tripping over a trailing light cable and falls face first. Embarrassed with her clumsiness, she gets up only to see the one man she longed to see, the illusionist himself, Aaron Wayne.

*Few Weeks Later.*

The man she thought she knew, she loved and cared had turned into someone sinister. It was hard for her to cope with his ever changing mood swings. Once he would behave like her boss, a true gentleman, whom she came to love and another the crazy, ill-mannered, a total opposite of how he is normally. He would hit her or tie her up. He would treat her like a doll whenever she would listen to him.

She would do everything in her power to do get things right so that he wouldn’t get angry. Before every show or practice, she would rehearse till all the moves are engraved in her memory. But once the curtain falls and the show is declared over, the emotion of fear casts on her face.

Every time she tried to run away, he would catch her and cuff her to the bed where he would dress her up with pretty clothes, shoes, and makeup. She was his own personal, life size doll with whom he can do anything with. But unfortunately, her love for him is overpowering. She believes that one day she can get him out of the shell of his past wounds. Whatever he does to her, she would forgive him.

Once he would return back to normal, he would not remember the event slightly. A few remains of the activity would be in his mind as though the remnants of a horrible dream.

She can’t leave him, even if she wants to, for one she’s in love with him and the other she wants to cure him of his disease. Of his illness. His Dissociative Identity Disorder.