His first offering to Goddess Valentine had been paltry and small. Of
course, he hadn't thought that at the time. When he first met Her, and was
immediately captivated by Her astounding beauty, She had mentioned in
passing that She loved flowers, and that most men who sought to be with Her
brought Her gifts and other tokens of their affection.
His first gift, on that fateful day when he visited Her for the first time,
had been an expensive hand-made vase holding two dozen long-stemmed roses.
She had accepted his offering with a smile and a small kiss and words of
appreciation, but had also shown him some of the kinds of gifts that Her
other suitors had given Her. So many – and so much more extravagant and
generous than his embarrassingly small tribute.
When he expressed his feelings of not having been sufficiently generous, She
had assured him that it was not a problem. But She had also explained to him
that in the future, if he wished to be in Her presence again, he would
himself feel unworthy unless his offering were something significantly more
generous. She also explained that the proper decorum for any future meeting
would require him to disrobe completely before entering Her salon, and that
he should kneel at Her feet, kissing each one lightly, and then should
present Her with his tribute. She made sure that he understood that his
gifts were in no way a payment for Her favors or even for Her attention.
Rather, the "reward" that he would receive would be the simple pleasure of
knowing that he had paid proper homage to Her beauty and power, and the
satisfaction he would receive from knowing that his tributes had, in some
small way, pleased Her and made Her life easier and more pleasant.
Before dismissing him, She had told him that She liked him, and hoped he
would return, but warned him that if he did return even one more time, he
would become helpless to stop, and that the visits, and the offerings, would
end only when he had given Her all that he had.
Of course, he had returned. He could not resist. And each time, his offering
was more generous not that She had ever said it had to be, but he knew
that anything less would have been a disappointment -- and disappointing
Her was something that would pain him more than any pain he could imagine.
Perfume, jewelry, clothing, art, vehicles, and increasingly large sums of
money – he had given all of these, and more.
And as She had predicted, he had given and given until, after today, there
would be nothing else to give. Although he had been a man of substantial
means, all that he had financially and all that he had owned, were Hers now.
Except this his final tribute the deed to his home. And he knew that
after giving this he would be dismissed and would not be able to return,
because he had nothing more to offer. He only wished that somehow he had
more -- so that he could give that something more to Her.
