‘What’s wrong, sweetie?’ she asked, before he said anything ‘Your face looks grim’

‘I’ve decided to quit my job’ Charlie answered ‘I handed in my notice today’ her mother looked stunned, she was almost completely motionless ‘I’m sorry, I just hate my job there’

‘Oh no, that’s all right, dear’ she went back to cooking ‘You only have one life, make the most out of it’

‘Yeah’ he sighed ‘I can’t say I’m looking forward to trying to get another job, though. All these companies are the same’

‘Oh no, don’t worry about it! We’ll come up with something!’

‘“We”?’

‘Me and your dad, we have a lot of good business contacts’

‘Oh, I see’

‘Charlie, I want to tell you this’ she was looking at him with a smile ‘You’ve made the best decision of your life! I have always hated that downtrodden corporation that is Solus!’ he didn’t say anything back ‘So, how long is your notice period?’

‘Two weeks’

‘OK, don’t you worry about a thing! Have a nice rest and I’ll tell you when dinner is ready’

‘OK. Thanks mom’

‘You’re most welcome!’ Charlie went upstairs to his bedroom. Acalea was there, sitting on his bed. His face went red the moment he saw her.

‘Oh, hello!’

‘Good to see you again, Charlie!’

‘Umm, how did you get here?’ she got off of his bed.

‘Magic’ she answered ‘I’m a goddess, after all’

‘Yeah, I figured you would say that’ she then created a portal to the right of her. She walked in front of it.

‘Come on in, sweetie!’

‘Oh, ummmm… where’s that going to go?’

‘To my realm! Time will freeze here, so you’ll have nothing to lose!’

‘OK, fine then!’ Charlie went inside of the portal, of where he was inside a temple. He was in the same place that Angelica was earlier. Wow… this place is beautiful’ he said, gazing at the interior of the temple.

‘That’s good to hear!’ said Acalea ‘I try to make this place look nice’ Charlie walked over to a nearby table. There were three dolls, one was a slender woman wearing a long blue dress, one was a woman with blonde hair wearing a yellow bikini, the other was a woman wearing a jacket and a skirt. His eyes were immediately drawn to the doll with the bikini. ‘So, you like the girl in the bikini?’ Charlie gasped and immediately stopped looking at it. ‘Oh don’t worry, there’s no shame!’

‘No shame in what?’ Acalea took a step back.

‘Charlie, long before your whole “modern” society, humans didn’t wear clothes at all. It is only natural for one to be drawn in by someone who’s not wearing anything’

‘But this girl is wearing a swimsuit, that’s kind of different’

‘That’s not the point. This is simply nature, Charlie’

‘OK’ he looked back at the dolls ‘Is this some kind of test?’

‘Not really. It’s something I’ve came up with to help you think. To help you recognise who you’ll really want to be with’

‘I take it it’s not the girl in the bikini?’ Acalea just shrugged.

‘That depends. It’s all different for everyone. Now about this girl’s occupation’ Acalea paused for a while ‘She’s a stripper’

‘She’s a what?!’ he looked dumfounded ‘Oh god!’ Acalea started laughing.

‘You know, some people are not bothered by that!’

‘Well I am!’

‘Well, I suppose for your sake that’s not a bad thing. She earns pretty good money from her stripping business, mind you. Enough for you to live quite comfortably’

‘And? Are you trying to say I should be with her now?’

‘No! It’s all done to you’

‘Well, in that case, no, I don’t want to be with her’

‘Oh, Charlie, you just broke her heart!’

‘Who cares?! I don’t want to be with her!’

‘And there’s nothing wrong with that’ Charlie gasped, it was mild, however. ‘One golden rule about relationships: your life is yours, and yours only. You should never feel like you have to be with someone’

‘Right. I kinda forgot about that’

‘That’s fine’ Charlie looked at the other two dolls, he was mostly looking at the one wearing the skirt and jacket.

‘Do the other two have jobs?’

‘Yes. The one in the fancy dress is unemployed, though her father is very rich and she has a share in his business. The other girl simply works at a retail store. She’s kind of in a similar position as you’

‘Oh really?’ he was now looking at the woman wearing the long dress ‘What business does her father own, just out of interest?’ Acalea was giggling.

‘Solus Corporation’ he immediately shrieked

‘OK, not her, then!’ later on he sighed and just gazed at the last remaining doll ‘Is it wrong of me to say that I don’t want to be with any of them?’

‘Not at all!’

‘Yeah. Mind you if I had to pick I would probably go with that girl wearing the skirt’

‘Oh really?’ Acalea cast a spell on the dolls, they had all disappeared. To the left of where they once were there three much larger dolls, they had appeared to have come to life.

‘What on earth do you have a against strippers?’ bemoaned the doll wearing the bikini ‘We have strict boundaries - we don’t fraternise with our customers or anything like that. Hell, I might even give it all up just for you’

‘You think I like my daddy’s corporation?’ yelled the doll wearing the long dress ‘I don’t, I want nothing to do with it. I want to start a nice business, maybe one where we help people!’

‘You’re pretty cute, if you don’t mind me saying!’ said the doll wearing the skirt and jacket ‘We can be together, it’ll be fun!’

‘Oh god’ Charlie muttered.

‘You know what?!’ the doll wearing the bikini continued ‘I’ll quit being a stripper. I hate being looked at by pervs anyway. It’s all just a means to an end’ Acalea cast another spell. The dolls returned to their original size and location.

‘Oh thank god’ said Charlie ‘I wasn’t joking when I said I didn’t want to be with any of them’

‘And there’s no shame in that. I just wanted to demonstrate that humans are far more complex than you might think’

‘I suppose you’re right. Anyway, can I go back home? I’m starving right now’

‘Of course! You’ve done really well today!’