Agatha Harkness, daughter of the pastor of the Salem church.
She had been born with her future written, raised in a strict, religious environment.
Being born a woman in such a house never left her with many options for escape. At thirty years old, married for seven years, to a man that her mother forced her to marry, with a son that she loved but that she would have liked to have with someone else, with a woman. Agatha lived trapped in a life that she did not want and from which she could never escape, unfortunately she lived locked in her mind, in the beliefs that had been instilled in her, in the continuous abuses of her mother.
Sometimes when she was awake at night, with her husband asleep next to her, she allowed herself to think about her, about Rio.
The only woman she had not been able to avoid falling in love with, they had met in high school, when they were barely fourteen years old, Rio had just moved from New York with her family. She was a shy girl, but Agatha perfectly remembers how she had been captivated by her from the first moment, how her cheeks would blush when their eyes met. She had never felt something like that for anyone, unfortunately for her, her mind had always won over the heart. Her mother's constant words echoed in her head when she and Rio saw each other outside school "Being homosexual is an abomination" "A woman can only be happy by pleasing a man" "You are evil Agatha, you were born broken. I should have gotten rid of you when you were born."
As the years passed, in the eyes of other people they were best friends, but in the privacy of Rio's room, they let themselves go, their minds were free and Agatha would allow to be herself for a few hours, let herself go with a woman who, without knowing it, she fell in love with on the first day their eyes met for the first time.
Agatha turns her head to the side, looking at the sleeping figure of her husband, a man she felt a deep disgust for.
Her life had been hell for seven years, that day would be engraved in her memory for the rest of her life, her mother had found in her room the letters and notes that she and Rio sent each other when they were teenagers. She would never forget the physical and emotional pain that her mother caused her that day.
-Mother, no, you can't do this to me.- Agatha pleaded.
-You are an abomination, and this is something I cannot tolerate.- Evanora said in an angry tone-. But don't worry, you will marry whoever I tell you Agatha, do you hear me?
-No, Rio and I are going to New York, together.
-You are not going anywhere, I am the one paying for your college, the one keeping you in this house with a hot plate and a roof is me, not your little friend. If you go with her, who will ensure that she doesn't end up abandoning you? I won't do it because unfortunately you are my daughter, but she will leave you, because you are worthless Agatha. You will stay here in Salem, behave well and marry a man, as our church commands. I don't think you want to damn your soul, do you darling?
Agatha looked at her mother with pain, tears falling in a waterfall down her cheeks, bowing her head, dejected, she nodded to her mother without saying a word.
-Now go and tell that girl that you are not going to go with her, that your place is here. Tomorrow I will introduce you to your future husband, he is a good man and he will be able to take care of you.
The dejected woman dried her tears with the sleeves of her shirt, turning around on the way to the front door.
The eyes of an adult Agatha, wet, all the trauma endured for nothing, her life was an absolute nightmare and she could never escape from it while her mother was alive, a constant reminder of how wrong it was to feel love and desire for another woman.
She remembers how the conversation went for the one who was then her girlfriend, how her face contorted in pain at her words, how the color left her skin, and how her eyes stopped transmitting joy. She had done that to Rio, she had broken her heart and she could never forgive herself for that.
-Hi my love.- Rio said when she opened the door.- Have you told your mother about New York?
She moved aside to let her in, Agatha headed towards Rio's room without looking at her, without greeting her, without kissing her.
The other girl, surprised and worried, followed her, both sitting next to each other on the bed.
-What's wrong Agatha?
-I'm not going with you to New York.
Rio looked at her surprised and grabbed her hand trying to attract her attention, trying to get her to look at her face, but the other girl moved her hand away, moving to put more distance between herself and Rio.
-The church and my mother are right Rio, what we've been doing is wrong. I was just confused, I don't love you Rio, I don't want to be with you and I don't want to end up in hell, corrupted by you. Go to New York and forget me, I never want to see you again.
Agatha got out of bed, ready to leave before she started crying, her heart in her fist, broken into pieces, but before she could leave, Rio's trembling hand held her back.
-I know you, I know you're lying, I know you do love me, and I know that one day you're going to regret this decision, but I can't be the only one fighting for this relationship, fight Agatha, fight please.
Agatha took her hand out of Rio's reach, and with one last look, she added.
-Tomorrow my mother is going to introduce me to the man who will be my husband, this has never been real, goodbye Rio.
The other girl watched her leave, as she ran away from her life, from her reach, from her presence, Agatha Harkness was running away from the person she was and the person she truly loved.
Seven years had passed and she had never seen her again. She knew that Rio had come back to visit her family once, but they had never crossed paths again, avoiding each other, both knew where not to go so they wouldn't have to see each other.
Agatha missed her, she still had her phone number, from time to time she would enter her empty conversation, she never dared to say anything to her, she had no right. No photo adorned her phone number, Rio had erased her from her life years ago.
Christmas was approaching and with it, Rio's annual visit. Knowing that they shared the same air, that they were both at the same time in the city that saw them fall in love, was absolutely painful for Agatha.
She hated Christmas, she hated every day of her life that she couldn't be with Rio, she had been right, she had regretted the decision she had made, she had regretted not running away with her, not getting away from her mother's religious toxicity. She had brought all this misery on herself, for not believing in Rio, for not believing that love could truly save her from her mind, and now it was too late for her, for them.
Three weeks had passed since her night remembering the most painful moments of her life, Agatha walked down the main street of Salem, arm in arm with her husband and with her five-year-old son Nicholas a few steps ahead. Her gaze was lost, and then she heard it, a laugh she hadn't heard for years, a sound she longed to hear again, her desperate eyes searched for where it came from, she needed to see her, even if it was just for a few seconds, she needed to get lost in her gaze again. A few meters ahead, there she was, as beautiful as she remembered her. Rio’s smile had returned to her, her eyes were shining again and that was when Agatha's heart broke for the second time, she was no longer the cause of that happiness, Rio had turned the page when she was still stuck in the past in all the possibilities of a life with Rio if only she had been brave.
The woman she never stopped loving, walked hand in hand with a red-haired woman, both smiling while a little girl not much smaller than her son, chattered animatedly in Rio's arms.
As if she felt called by someone, the woman looked up and her eyes met Agatha's, both reliving in their heads their last moment together. They smiled at each other longingly, both walking with their respective families in opposite directions, holding each other's gaze until they were out of sight, and this time she was sure that it would be the last time she would see Rio Vidal, the woman who would always be the love of her life.