Having an unexpected visitor

Lauren had just arrived home from work. It was still early afternoon, but she had already finished everything she wanted at the office - even did a little shopping on her way home. It bothered no one that she often left a few hours earlier. Or if it did, nobody dared objecting. Perks of having a nice job. And an even nicer figure, she thought with a smile as she spotted herself in the dressing mirror. While she was unpacking, she put some of yesterday's leftover in the microwave. It was chinese. 'When will you learn how to cook?' she heard her mother's ghastly voice in her head. 'When I will have a family of my own, dear mama.' she used to answer. She glanced towards the bedroom and the one lone pillow on her huge double bed. "Well... soon." she shrugged as she kicked the door shut. "Very soon."

As she was preparing for her meal, the doorbell rang. Who could it possibly be? God, I hope it's not mama again... As she opened the front door, she saw a tall, nervous-looking, young woman with long, jet black hair looking back at her. A ghost from the past, so to speak. A person, who immediately made her blood boil.

"Uhm, hi, Lauren..." said the woman in a strong eastern-european accent. "I... You might not recognise me, but I'm Katarina. From school..."

"Oh, I am fully aware of who. You. Are." cut in Lauren, her eyelids twitching from anger. Katarina the bully. Even her stupid 'vampire' accent was getting on her nerves. The official term was 'romani people', but derogatory or not, ever since meeting Katarina she had been calling them gypsies. And despite not knowing anyone else beside her, she collectively hated their guts.

"Oh... I - I thought... You..." Katarina stuttered as she cast her eyes to her dusty boots.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" snapped Lauren at the woman. She glanced around to see whether any of her neighbours was witnessing her 'guest'. She was not too keen on people like Katarina visiting her getting around in the neighbourhood. Not at all too keen.

"Heard that you were living here..." started Katarina, seemingly afraid to look Lauren in the eyes.

"Did you, now? Well, unhear it. Forget it. Get back on whatever caravan had brought you here, and disappear. This neighbourhood, nay, this country is not suited for your kind."

Katarina winced, but remained calm. "I understand where all this hatred is coming from..."

"Do you? I don't think so. Nor am I inclined to enlighten you. Just. Disappear."

"Listen, I came here to apologise!" burst out Katarina as she looked at Lauren with welled-up eyes. "I was horrible back then. To you. To others. I... I've changed..."

"'Horrible' does not even begin to describe how you treated me." hissed Lauren, unable to contain all the pent up rage from way back then. "You were a monster."

"I was." she sniffled. "I was a monster. But I've changed. I wouldn't be standing here if I hadn't, no?"

"Oh, so if the Devil stands on my doorstep, should I offer him a foot massage?"

"I don't want anything from y..."

"I don't want anything from you!" yelled Lauren before she could finish.

"I meant, I don't want to you to do anything you don't want to..."

"Good! Bye!" said Lauren, but as she tried to slam the door in her face, a dirty boot prevented her from doing so.

"Please, hear me out!"

Lauren still tried to close her front door with a boot-clad foot in the way, but now that she couldn't see Katarina, she started to see things more clearly. She was questioning the likelyhood of the situation. Katarina was, no doubt, the worst bully any school had ever had. And Lauren just happened to be the target of many of her 'jokes'. The bitch had tormented her relentlessly. Humiliated her in front of the entire school. Multiple times. Ruined her life. At least until she had managed to have the school expell her. Yet now, she was trembling before her, sobbing at her door, asking for forgiveness. For a moment, she did think Katarina was just trying to deceive her, but even she wouldn't whimper at someone's doorstep just for some perverted joke. Maybe it was worth hearing her out, if only just for the sake of closure. Nothing she could say would make those painful memories any less real, but maybe if she heard her out, she could close that book of her life forever.

"Fine. You have one minute." she relented as she opened the door and looked at Katarina. She still couldn't wipe the frown off her face, but that was not relevant. She agreed to hear her out not to be nice to her.

"I don't want you to forgive me." Katarina started.

"As apologies go, that is a pretty poor one thus far." she cut in, irritated.

"I just want you to know that I am truly sorry for what I did back then. If you can't forgive me, I understand."

"And you drove all this way just for this?" asked Lauren, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

"I... I took the bus. Then hitchhiked my way here from Riverside..."

Lauren looked Katarina up. She was still angry at her, but she no longer saw red. And it was the first time she actually saw the full picture. The big bad bully had no car, no designer clothes, no jewelry, no wedding ring. Well, that last bit was true to herself as well, but only for now. Katarina , the bully, was not a successful woman. And herself, the victim, had a house in a nice suburban neighbourhood, a BMW in the garage, and probably her heels alone were more expensive than Katarina's entire shaggy outfit. And for a moment, she felt content. It filled her with great satisfaction that the horrible person who used to torment her got nothing from life. Karma. And she just had to rub it in.

"So, are you telling me, you have no car?" asked Lauren, stifling a giggle.

"No... Listen, I knew from the address that you are pretty well off." she gestured around the neighbourhood.

"Do tell." grinned Lauren.

"You... you probably earn more in a week than I do in a month..."

"Does that upset you?"

"I... No."

"I would call it poetic justice."

"Whatever... Listen, I just came to apologise."

"I could forgive you," started Lauren, enjoying the hopeful glint in Katarina's eyes, "but I won't. You see, I don't want to." She saw disappointment fill her big, brown eyes and it made her feel powerful. It felt like their roles had been reversed for the moment. And it was a wonderful feeling.

"Oh... I... I totally understand..." said Katarina with a lifeless smile. "I just came all this way to... to let you know that I am sorry for all the things I had done and all the curses I had cast..." She was backing away from Lauren, unmistakeably feeling letdown. "Have... have a nice day..."

"Curses?" asked Lauren, not sure what to make of it.

"Just... just silliness. I was angry when they expelled me because of you... I said all sort of silly things..."

"What... what kind of curses?" asked Lauren, interested in hearing more. She knew she must have been angry back then, but hearing it now from her was making her all the more satisfied.

"Oh, you know," Katarina turned back with an awkward smile, "childish stuff. It's... it's embarrassing..."

"Like what?" insisted Lauren, as the subject had peaked her curiousity.

"Stuff like: 'never grow boobs', 'stay a virgin forever', 'never marry'. I don't even remember. I... I was young and stupid." she awkwardly tried to fake laughter.

Lauren looked like she had seen a ghost. She involuntarily moved a hand up to her chest upon hearing those words, but could only feel her squishy C-cups straining to escape their confines.

"It's... it's not like any of that superstitious mumbo-jumbo actually ever worked, yes?" she pointed at Lauren's curvy body. "You look... beautiful and healthy and all that... I... I gotta go. Bye!" then she turned and ran.

As Lauren closed the door, her face was white as the wall. What kind of morbid joke was that? She had heard of tales about gypsies casting curses, but not in her wildest dreams had she believed them to be true. She still didn't. This was the real world. Those tales just couldn't be true.

She went back to her meal, trying to recall the hopeful glint in Katarina's eyes before she had refused to forgive her and crushed her hopes, but all she could think of were those 'curses'. Their wordings, to be more exact. No, she shook her head. She couldn't be cursed. Yet... Yet if what Katarina had said was true... No. It couldn't be. She must have been just messing with her. She was not some Baba Yaga from the children's tales. She was just a horrible little snot back then. Plus she was only a half-breed. But what if she had no idea of her powers when she spoke those curses? Powers? Really? She is just a poor gypsy loser who had tried to trick you, she tried to convince herself. It is just a coincidence, she insisted upon looking down on her bust.

Then she glanced at her dressing mirror and saw herself sitting at her 6 seater dining table. Alone. She hadn't had a guest in ages. She'd had boyfriends - it was actually hard not to have someone trying to seduce her - but she couldn't remember when she last brought any of them home. Did she ever? There was that guy last month who always tried to feel her up. Nope, not him. Before that, was the perv who tried to glance down her blouse. Not him. Before that, the older sicko who treated her like a daughter. Not him either.

"Oh my god, I am cursed!" she screamed, dropping the fork to the floor as she jumped to her feet. "It all makes sense now! None of this has been my fault! That bitch had cursed me!"

For the last couple of hours, Lauren had been pacing back and forth in her home. She was no longer hungry. Nor tired. She couldn't think of anything else but being cursed. Her imagination even made her feel the curse, see the curse around herself. She looked up this 'Riverside' on her phone. It was one of the seediest motels downtown. Typical. Where else would a woman like Katarina stay? But for how long would she stay there?

She just had to get in touch with Katarina. Before she left the motel. She picked up her purse and keys and went for the garage. If she had cursed her, she will make her uncurse her. She had to. She just had to.