Thalia Flashback

The following is a brief flashback that I had to cut from Collywobbles. Approximately a week before Thalia died, she treated Aletheia to dinner before heading out on the last con they would do together. 


     Aletheia sipped her wine. It went so well with the gnocchi, but she wondered if she ought to be drinking before a job.
     “Dear,” Thalia said. “You are such an amazingly good person, but the world you live in is just so very black and white. Don’t be afraid to let a little sin into your life once in awhile.”
     “I have sin in my life.” Aletheia lifted up the wine glass and pointed to it. “See?”
     Thalia took a sip of her own wine. “That your sin is my virtue only proves my point. You have so much compassion for the weak and helpless but if you never let yourself get out of control, you’ll never know how much our sins can confuse us, how hard it is to know what’s really happening in the moment.”
     “I don’t know. I get plenty confused.”
     “It’s all the thinking. The ivory tower is good for that, but, no, I mean a very different kind of confusion. It would just be so much easier if you went on spring break every now and again. It would help.”