VOLUME FIVE: AN INTERESTING ETERNITY
NOVEMBER 2546
History really does repeat itself. When I was as young as I look, I always thought that it was a dumb saying—if the same things happened over and over again, why would we spend so much time learning about it in class? But as the years went on, it became apparent that not only do the same events seem to be on a recurring cycle, but I get a front-row seat to all of it. Over and over and over again.
Even the events of my own life give me a sense of déjà vu. I am once again a semi-public figure here in New York. It keeps me sort of busy, but other than that it's really not all that great. I'm more comfortable as a nameless, faceless nobody. Now just about everyone in Manhattan knows who I am, and many treat me with fearful respect. After all, one word from me and who knows what kind of things my husband would do to them? The thought makes me laugh.
I haven't seen or heard from Gabriel in about a year. He's been busy, of course, and he would be home only for a week or so before heading out again. But his absences got longer, and his visits got shorter. He was home for all of two days last time before he told me that he'd be in Asia for a while. That was thirteen months ago, and he hasn't contacted me once. After living with him again, raising our daughter together…the idea of returning to seeing him only once every ten years makes me embarrassingly panicky.
At first I brushed it off, telling myself that of course he couldn't always be here in New York, and that I was silly to compare these small disappearances to the decades we spent apart. But more and more, I find myself listening to the little voice in my head that tells me he's forgotten me, that he will no longer want me when he controls the world again. The feeling of abandonment, the one that I thought had died when I became a real wife and mother, has gotten almost overpowering.
It's not as though I don't realize how confusing it is. On the one hand, this man has made it clear that I'm not to leave New York without his goddamned permission, effectively keeping me from seeing Dani and Kale. But I still feel hopelessly alone now without him. It's enough to drive any normal person crazy.
I can only wait so long for him; I'm sure of that. I'm not capable of living forever on the rare scraps of time he can spare me—especially when those scraps are so few and far between.
A/N: Hello beautiful readers! We present volume five in the Interesting Hobby series, our final installment told from Claire's Point of View. Lots of M-ness ahead. Beware. We suggest having read at least volumes 1 and 2 before starting in on this one. They can be found on our author page. Reading volumes 3 and 4 would be super beneficial though, as there's a bunch of plot stuff in there.
Enjoy! And please don't forget to review, it's the only way we get paid.
--Mel and Chuck