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She is scared.
It’s been a day since she returned to Moordale after all the tiresome connecting flights and taxis she had to take to reach Anna’s house. She had warned both Anna and Aimee from sending any help to her, even if it meant to spend almost all of the remaining cash she had saved in all the two months.
But at last, she has come home – to the place she believed she would never get out of.
There was so much to catch up on – so many people to meet again – Aimee, Anna, Elsie, Ms Sands and Otis. She should excited to meet them, right?
But then, she got scared again.
Otis. Bloody Otis Milburn. Or more-so – her ‘Dickhead’. Meeting him was terrifying. A series of thoughts started to float inside her muddled brain, what if he has moved on from me? What if he’s still pissed off that I left him for America? Does he still want me?
She knew that rekindling with Aimee and even Elsie wasn’t a problem at all. In fact, she had been giving her all the attention she could have possibly given in her absence. But Otis was different. She was still afraid of all the whole ‘feelings’ shit – even after all their conversations through Skype. Moreover, she was also scared because they haven’t spoken/texted in a week. And Otis has no fucking clue that the love of his life had returned.
Luckily Aimee’s coming over helped a lot. After reuniting with her best friend and listening to hours of her time in New York, She finally jumped into the main question,
“So, Glad you’re finally back. Met with lover boy yet?” she smirked at her.
“No. That’s why I need your help.” Maeve replied.
“Why, is everything right between you two?” she questions her.
“I mean…. We didn’t have an argument or fight or anything. It’s just….. I’m....I'm scared – scared to meet him. I’m just worried what his reaction will be upon seeing me.”
“Wow! So, you’re scared that he would be very unpleased upon seeing you?” Aimee wonders.
“Displeased, Aimee.” She corrects her friend. “But what if he is?” Maeve continues.
“Um… did you go to America to sharpen your already stupid big brain or make it even dumber?” Aimee quips.
"Whot?" she manages, startled by her best friend's sudden rebuke.
"Maeve, he waited for 5 months - 5 fucking months for you to finally bring out the voicemail. He never got over you, mum, you think that just leaving him for 2 months for a 'Once in a lifetime' scheme will make him move away from you." Aimee states.
"But he was with Ruby.... the whole summer." She points out.
"Yes he was. But he didn't love her - didn't feel the same way he feels for you."
"How could you be so sure about that?" Maeve interrogates.
"Eric told me." she replies while taking a sip of water from the glass.
"You're friends with him?" She asks again.
"Yup. Also with Otis. we hang out very often." she replies nonchalantly.
Maeve takes a sip from her own glass now and starts to think.
“Hmm... alright then. I will try to meet him tomorrow.” She finally declares
“That’s more like it. Finally you two could be together after all the fuckery you two cooked up.” Maeve cringes at the F-word.
“Anyways, let’s continue, how did you manage to come up with the feministic uprisings in France for the equal right to vote?”
---
The talk went for another half an hour before Mrs Gibbs called and she was forced to bid goodbye. Maeve closed the doors behind her and joined Anna for dinner.
As she pricked the sausage with her fork, she asked her new house-mate, “So, still haven’t met Otis?”
“No…. but I will, very soon.” She couldn’t help but smile at her.
“Good” Anna replies, chewing the meat in her mouth, “He’s a nice lad.”
“Yeah whatever. I like him.” She confirms
“Yeah, I’m happy that you two are together” she declares.
A bit hesitantly, the younger woman answers, “Uh, for the record, we’re still not officially together, and -”
“So, you’re doubting your chances of getting along?” Anna interrupts.
There was the longest pause before Maeve could finally come up with an answer, “I mean, I’m not telling that he’ll outright forget me but what if he’s angry that I left him for America?”
“Otis is not a person who would like to play with people’s feelings. At least that is what I presume upon seeing him.”
“You’ve only seen him twice, and you saw how he behaved the first time he visited this house?”
“No, I’ve been meeting him quite often these days.” She smirked lightly at her, while Maeve’s eyebrows twitched into a mean frown. It is evident that a lot has happened in her absence from Moordale.
Anna continued, biting into her second piece of sausage, “I didn’t know Otis was Jean’s son. Jean and I are childhood friends but I wasn’t convinced that the famous Jean we have here was the same Jean because her maiden name was Franklin. So ever since I bumped into her last month, I’ve been visiting her house very frequently – usually when I took Elsie to the park. I saw how Otis took care of her while we were busy having a chin-wag. “
“Um……okay” she manages to reply. Her mind was now thinking about how Otis has remained the same even after the separation, he’s still caring, he still does the clinic like he said in those video calls, maybe he’s still a shit babysitter. It was her who was being stupid and constantly ignoring her. She now knew, without any hesitation, that he would be overjoyed at her arrival – so why not give him a big surprise?
She pushed the chair outwards and hurried her way back to her room.
“Where are you going without finishing your dinner?” Anna asks.
She emerges out of her room, now wearing a black woollen jacket, and she replies while adjusting the sleeves, “43 Ashford Street.” She says with the widest smile in her face.
Anna looks at the wall clock, checks the time, and then replies, “Okay then. Just don’t be very late. It’s December after all, the nights are very cruel.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t take much time.” She replies, before heading towards the doorway and shutting the door behind her.
---
“So remember, if you’re feeling scared or unable to reach out to your partner, just stay calm, and try to make yourself brave, alright? There’s nothing to be worried about Max – he’s a nice lad.” Otis said.
“Alright, I’ll try to.” Rose replied happily. Her right hand reached for her pocket to find her purse. She unclasped her purse and dig her fingers inside, and asked him, “How much?”
“Oh, I’ll rather leave it to my mum actually, you can call her tomorrow and pay her fees.”
“Umm…. Okay.” Rose replied, a little confused.
He made his way out of the doorway and put the blue helmet on his head. Pulling out his bike, he left the sub-urban style mini-villa for his home. The breeze soothed his skin, sapping out all the stress he had gone through that day – babysitting Joy, giving Jakob a hand at the sinks and then of course - Therapy sessions. Ever since his mother gave him the green light to help people with their sexual problems, he has been taking sessions of some of his mum’s clients. It has been tiresome – sometimes he had to take two, three or even more sessions sometimes. But whatever might be his source of stress, he has never got tired of helping people. He wanted to pass through Sixth Form being the ‘Guy in the Corner’ but now he was nothing short of a celebrity among his school students. And for that he had to thank another special woman in his life – Maeve.
It’s been a week since he last spoke to her. She had informed him about all the projects and assignments she had to submit for the final week preparation. And so he knew that she would need all her attention in completing her work. And so he happily stepped down from their talks, as he himself got even more engrossed with the clinic - so much so that he didn’t even get the time to send a text. ‘But hey!’ He tried to cheer himself up, ‘It means she’ll be coming here soon. You’re going to finally meet her!’ And even before he could properly process his feelings – he had reached his house.
He locked his bike onto one of the railings that border their driveway, before heading his down the stairs, his eyes fixed at the keys of his bike.
First stair…..second stair…… third stair……fourth stair….. first landing. He looked up – and his body just froze on spot. This can’t be. Just not now. A teenager, black jacket, nose-ring – No way she was here.
“Maeve?” He blurts out.
---
Walking down familiar roads after ages later was a thrilling affair. meeting Otis, however, felt a new feeling altogether. She was walking down the road, through Browns, up the hill and finally reached the driveway to his house.
She climbed down the stairs and stood right in front of the door. She raised her hand and knocked at the door, but a pang of dread started to itch her stomach, and unconsciously, her hand dropped down to her side. She didn’t want to disturb him, now – she remembers how he once said that he puts Joy to sleep first before having his dinner, but the damage was done. Now someone would try to open the door and she has to face that person – it could be Mrs Milburn, Jakob, or even Ola. She had no choice but to run away from the spot.
She feels that it was better to leave that day and maybe try the next day – but when she turned around to see what was making the rustling sound – her face went pale as white. That same tri-coloured jacket, those blue eyes anyone could make out in any crowd. “Maeve?” she could hear him say, his looks suggest he was as much flustered as she was.
When the realization finally struck that it was none-other than THE Maeve Wiley, he practically ran down the stairs, engulfing her into the biggest hug he could muster. She was taken aback by the sudden jolt of his long arms around her back that she took some time to return the gesture back. Her lips twisted into a contended smile as she buried her nose inside the crook of his neck. They stayed like that for… who knows - minutes, hours maybe? It didn’t matter at all. But as they separated, Otis finally enquired,
“When did you return? You didn’t tell me?” his voice reflected a hint of sadness at the last part.
“Just came back yesterday night. I didn’t want to tell you – mostly because I wanted it to be a surprise, and also I didn’t have the energy after an exhausting trip.” She looks at him, guilty-eyed.
“It’s alright.” He assures, shifting his hand from her waist to her shoulder, “I’m glad you’re back. Did you miss me?”
“Of course, I did.” She remarks, making both of them chuckle. She further continues, “I know we haven’t spoken in a week or so, I was just very much engrossed with my work and then, I had to help my co-operators, talk to my friends, submit the pr-” she stops. She sees it, in his eyes – fixated right towards her. His blue eyes were enough to mesmerize about him.
“Did, did you miss me?” Her voice trembled.
He didn’t answer to that question. He just leaned towards her face and met her lips with his own. The kiss was sweet and tender – but fiery as passion either of them felt during the gas station or at the garden. His hands again slipped down her elbow onto her waist again – while her left hand wandered around the back of his head. Maeve felt same thrill she felt those 2 months ago. The spark was never gone – the heat from his body, his hand caressing her cheek, his tongue playing with hers, it all send an unusual shiver down her spine.
Their lips part, but he keeps their foreheads together, he replies, “It would be very stupid of you to think I didn’t.” Which made her chuckle again. She couldn’t resist and pulled him for another kiss. But they were rudely interrupted by the deliberate coughing of an older woman from the door. They turned their heads to the direction of the sound, and saw Jean standing at the door, with one hand resting over the door frame.
Jean started, “As much as I didn’t want to interrupt, it would be rather not be wise to make out and this hour of the cold night.”
Both of them looked down at their feet, in embarrassment of getting caught.
“Why don’t you come inside for dinner, dear?” Jean proposes, perhaps feeling sorry for the poor girl.
“Uh… I’ve had mine already. And… I-I should pr-probably leave now, I have to put my sister to sleep.” Maeve hesitates.
Otis looks at her mother wide-eyed, signalling her to stop. Then he turned his whole attention towards Maeve, “it’s okay, you can go now. Umm…..can we meet, tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I would appreciate it.” She steals another peck from him. “Goodnight Otis, Goodnight Mrs Milburn.” She says, before scooting her way over the stairs.
---
Otis turns towards her mother, awaiting the multitude of questions she would be asking,
“Who was she, darling?”
“Maeve.” He simply states, heading inside the room past her.
“Maeve? She got back from America?”
“Yes, she came here last night.”
“That’s great news. How are you feeling?”
“Euphoric.” He smiles at her mother.
“Aww. I’m happy for you, Otis. Now have your dinner please.” His mother requests.
After finishing his dinner, Otis climbed up to his room. He checked on his phone – and saw Maeve’s message pop in – she had sent him the text 10 minutes ago.
Maeve: -
Reached Home.
Me: -
Good.
Maeve: -
Yeah. I’m glad I met you today.
Me: -
And I’m already dying to meet you tomorrow.
Maeve: -
Hahahaha. See you tomorrow then Otis. Good night.
Me: -
Good night, Maeve.
He throws his phone over the bed. He slowly walks towards the window, and peeked into the night sky – observing the stars and the moon. He was waiting for the night to pass through, and look forward to the next day.
Surely, it would be exciting.