The year is two thousand and twenty-two, Christmas trees are up and the entire town is in a jolly mood. Moty had just closed from her job at the mall and was heading towards the exit when she ran into Omar, an old friend who she always believed had charming looks. It's been a long time, but they could still recognize each other. Omar has always exuded a magnetic aura that drew Moty in. His choice of words and the way he spoke that night caught her attention quickly. They shared a hug, and she noticed he felt cozy and smelled like fresh lemons as if combining woody, spicy, and musky tones.

Two of them together seemed like a unique blend of love's sweet melody, a love story emerging and filled with desire. His smile brightened her world, and her's his, at least that's what he confessed later that Christmas at dinner. The world around them gradually faded into the background as they chatted about their childhood, laughing at their own mistakes and clinking their wine glasses in cheers for the growth that came with learning.

As weeks went by, they reconnected on an intimate and highly celestial level, and so it went on. Passionate romance was a language these two lovebirds now spoke with fluency, even so, bear in mind that this was all a facade waiting to be unraveled. The first few months were sweet as pie until it unsteadily became sour. After the love showers came the hurt, so deep that it began to pierce Moty's soul. It was a collision of everything: an unending string of lies and deceit that Omar never seemed to run out of, unmet expectations, shattered trust—the list goes on. These all ramped up the storm of emotions that usually left Moty feeling lost and broken.

In the depths of her heart, she once loved him, a pure and bright flame burning all day till forever or so she dreamed, now tainted and grey, it became a dance of misdemeanors. Their bond appeared unbreakable until it slowly but surely became a fragile thread, but for love's sake Moty held on a little longer—for far too long, even—hoping Cupid would kick in one more time, performing magic with his arrow just like the fairy godmother with the magic wand. But maybe the god of love had clocked the sham Omar so gracefully sold her and gave up quicker than Moty had just now done.

After several months of love and tussle, a new day had come with profound change in sight. Moty who was always swayed by her lover's pleas, now stood firm, her spirit weary and suffocated. It was at that moment she knew she had to let him go. With eyes that once held tenderness, she gazed upon him with disdain, even Omar was bewildered and questioned why her heart had closed its doors, but she wouldn't say a word. This was not the Moty he cherished as his angel, she had forged a shield, unyielding and resolute, and no persuasion could alter her course. Time slipped away, with their paths diverging in a mere heartbeat. Is this how it ends?

Last winter, she had wished for him, for the unconditional love of a partner. She blew the candles out, and he came true, creeping into her sanctuary under the guise of true love. Moty struggled to not think of the bittersweet memories and longing that lingered in the air since that eventful day when Omar had gathered all his belongings and left without saying goodbye. It's not her birthday today, but she is going to send him off in the same fashion anyway—thoughts of him and everything in between—just the same way she had wished him to fruition. Moty goes ahead to bake a pound cake, collecting the candles, she sticks all three of them into the cake's core and lit them up. She hurriedly mutters a few words and blows out the candles almost immediately.

At first she thought to rain curses on this vicious man for the betrayal unkind, "do not get me wrong; you deserve that," she said out loud in her nearly empty bedroom, leaving echoes. Then she got to thinking, "Will these swear words make up for all the torture and mind games he meted out to my soul"? In reality, what can curses really do to a man like him? Or maybe she should pay back in kind, so karma doesn't have to go through the trouble. Yes, yes, Karma's a formidable foe, but know this: she isn't a more worthy opponent than a shattered heart that was once whole.