Hitting Rewind

Even if the curse suddenly disappeared forever and you lost all of your power over Maisie, you know you could still never go back to how things were before. Hearing Maisie explain your relationship with her out loud made you realise just how fucked up it had become. Carrying on that way would be even more pathetic now that it is out in the open that you both know what is happening.

This puts you in an extremely difficult position. You can't even bring yourself to think about letting Maisie go, you can't bear to keep spending time with her as no more than a platonic friend and you aren't her type of guy. Of course, the curse could solve all of your problems on the face of it, but not in a way you would be satisfied or feel comfortable with. You could command her to fall in love with you and she would, but you would know it wasn't real, like having a living virtual girlfriend. You could make her fuck you, but that would turn you into someone you don't want to be - especially now you know for sure that Maisie is fond of you, trusts you entirely and doesn't believe you would ever do anything to hurt her. She is still waiting for a response from you to what she said, and looking more worried by the second.

"I've really upset you haven't I?" she frowns "I'm so sorry, I didn't want to say those things, I know how they sounded"

"No, you were right, I'm actually glad you said it" you reassure her "And now I know what the condition is for me to return you to how you are usually seen. I want you to get to know me"

"I've known you all my life" she answers with confusion.

"No, I mean actual me. Not some idiot version of me who follows you around like a lovesick puppy trying to please you. Kind of like a reset for us. One month of us spending every day together, and me being myself"

"Considering what most guys would be doing with me right now in your position, that is incredibly fair" Maisie nods in agreement with your plan "But we could do that with me looking normal to everyone. I won't give any attention to other guys for the next month, I don't even mind if you command me not to"

"It's not just you Maisie" you shake your head, not blaming her for not understanding the issue here having not lived your end of it "It's how everyone else always is around you, how you are immediately the centre of attention in any room just by being in it, the way I feel when other guys think they can just walk up and hit on you while I'm standing right there. To do this properly, unfortunately, you have to appear ordinary to everyone else, just for now"

"Okay" Maisie shrugs.

"And once the month is up, I will preserve your true beauty forever"

"Yikes" Maisie pulls a face and physically pulls away from you "What do you mean by that?"

"I just meant so you keep looking the same as you do now, even when you get old" you say, trying to justify the admittedly creepy sounding thing you came out with seconds after telling Maisie this was now the real you.

"So I would have to go through my whole life looking eighteen?" Maisie folds her arms, unimpressed with your crazy spur of the moment plan for her.

"I just thought you probably wouldn't handle losing your looks well when you get older" you blurt out without thinking properly.

"Is that what you think of me?" she has now gone from creeped out to annoyed "I feel like my looks are more important to you then they are to me"

This is a disastrous start to the month. How have you managed to fuck this so badly so quickly?

"I'm sorry Maisie, just forget I said it!"

"Forget what?" she looks confused.

Oh shit, you just did a command without realising it. You are going to have to be really careful with that. But that one was quite harmless, and actually very helpful. Maisie is back to a neutral expression, and it is as if the escalating argument from a moment ago never happened.

You then find yourself thinking back to the movie Groundhog Day. Every time Bill Murray fucked things up with Andie MacDowell, he learned from his mistake and corrected it the next day, when she had forgotten, until eventually he did everything right and she fell for him. There is no reason why you can't do that with Maisie. If you say something she doesn't like, make a suggestion she disapproves of, wear something she thinks makes you look dorky, you can make her forget then correct it. It wouldn't be a total mind wipe or anything that would stop Maisie being herself, you would just cause her to sometimes forget small things that happened a few minutes ago. That way you won't be using your new found magical powers over Maisie to make her think she you are the man she wants, you'll be using them to actually become that.

What could possibly go wrong?