Wife

Professor De León’s face softened unexpectedly. The scowl that had been etched into her features eased, and the icy hostility in her glare melted away. For a moment, Alvin thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but no—her sharp, judgmental expression was gone, replaced by a warm, hungry smile that didn’t belong on the woman who had spent months making his life miserable.

Alvin’s gaze dropped to the sticker he’d tricked her into wearing. There it was, stuck neatly on her blazer: Wife.

He shifted uncomfortably. It felt ridiculous, even embarrassing, but he hadn’t known what else to write. Wife was just the shortest word that came to his mind. At least the shortest word that wouldn't doom her to a wanton nature that would go totally against her personality.

Her old personality.

Who was she now?

If it worked, great. If not, well, it wouldn’t change much—Professor De León already thought of him as an idiot.

But as the professor stood there, smiling serenely, Alvin realized the sticker had worked. And it had worked too well.

“So,” Alvin began awkwardly, the absurdity of the situation catching up to him, “uh… who are you now?”

Professor De León—or rather, the woman who had been Professor De León—replied in a tone so flat it was almost robotic. Her words didn’t match the warmth of her expression, sending a shiver down Alvin’s spine.

“I am Alvin Hawkes’ wife,” she said, her smile unwavering. "a female partner in a committed relationship with another person or persons, which is often marked by a legal and sometimes spiritual ritual such as throwing rice or signing official documentation. A person who has strong romantic and/or sexual relationship with someone."

Alvin blinked.

"What about your name?" he said.

"I do not currently have a name, but as your wife I would customarily be referred to as either Mrs. Hawke or Professor Hawke depending on the nature of the social interaction in question." Professor Hawke said.

Alvin blinked. “What happened to your name being Professor De León?”

“Camila De León, as you knew her, is no more,” she replied, her smile unnerving in its calmness. “I am Alvin Hawkes’ wife. I believe the nature of the magical object you placed on me has rearranged reality to be changed as little as possible, hence why one may call me Professor Hawke. However teaching and academia no longer hold any importance to me. My primary objective is to be your wife."

“But you were Professor De León,” Alvin insisted, his voice rising slightly. “You had a whole career, a reputation, a personality!”

“I was,” she said simply, her tone matter-of-fact. “You placed this sticker on me, making me your spouse.”

Alvin felt his throat tighten. “So… is she dead?”

The woman shook her head gently, the motion eerily calm. “No. Camila De León still exists. You can recreate her by placing a sticker with her name upon me. I am simply your wife now—a state defined by enduring affection, attraction, intimacy, and trust between two people.”

Alvin’s pulse raced. This was too much, too strange. “But I didn’t want to get rid of her,” he said quickly. “I just wanted you—her—to stop being so… cruel.”

The woman tilted her head, her serene smile unwavering. “I can fulfill her roles, perform her duties, and mimic her personality and skills to a degree, if you desire it,” she explained. “But being your wife will significantly alter her behavior toward you. It may also alter the trajectory of Professor De León's. If I continue to do her job as a professor I will likely be scrutinized for having my husband in my class.”

Alvin’s mind raced. He hadn’t considered this—hadn’t thought about the implications of rewriting someone’s identity so completely. “Do you still have… her memories?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yes,” the woman replied, her voice still flat but strangely gentle. “Her memories are accessible to me, though they feel distant. I am shaped by the identity you assigned: your wife. My relationship with you now takes precedence over everything else.”

Alvin’s fingers trembled. “And if I put a different sticker on you?”

“Then I will become what the new sticker dictates,” she said. “Camila De León can be restored, or she can become someone else entirely. The choice is yours.”

Her unwavering smile, so foreign on the professor’s face, sent a chill down Alvin’s spine. He glanced at the stack of stickers in his hand. The power he held felt heavier now, far more dangerous than he’d realized.

"What do you want?" Alvin said, his heart in his throat.

He felt so guilty he had **** her into this situation. Alvin knew what he had to do. For a moment though he stopped and wondered. Did he have this all wrong? Was the possibility of finally finding someone actually presenting itself to him.

Alvin brushed off the thought and braced for the sting of rejection as the professor asked for her old identity back.

Instead she walked closer to him and rested a hand on his chest. She placed it over his heart and for the first time her face showed a trace of emotion as the new Mrs. Hawke smiled at her cute younger husband.

"No matter who I was, I am now your wife. Our mutual happiness and the continuation of our marriage is what is most important to me. And if I have to tear those stickers out of your hand and burn them to protect what we have now, I'd do it without thinking twice. But if you tell me you really don't want to be together I will respect your decision."