Thank you to all the reviews/alerts/favorites!
Enjoy!
The second fight happened only three weeks after my failed proposal. I was closing down the bakery like I did every Friday night, dusting and mopping, preparing the flour and other ingredients for the next morning.
I had my back turned to her when she slipped inside the bakery. I had told her precisely where the spare key to the backdoor was, hidden in a planter adjacent to the pigpen. She knew this because this was the only alone time we ever got. My parents were never home on Friday nights, and neither were hers, allowing us to spend quality time together.
There was no reason for her to be here anymore so I don't bother to acknowledge her and continue mopping. I wondered if she would eventually give up and leave if I kept cleaning and pretending like she doesn't exist.
"Hey."
The nerve.
I plunge the mop back into the bucket, soaking it before mopping a different section of the bakery never acknowledging her presence. I refuse to look at her; those eyes will be the death of me.
"I heard you're getting married."
Yes, I, James Mellark, am getting married.
It didn't take long for the disastrous news of my failed proposal to circulate through the District. Inevitably, I was made the talk of the town but luckily I was not scrutinized for my actions. It doesn't take a genius to guess which side the town's people took.
I had done the honorable thing and asked her to marry me and she had chosen to run off with a coal miner. Literally.
When her father heard of her rejection he had exploded in a fit of rage and promptly kicked her out of the house, disowning her of all inheritance and association with the family. Her mother had slapped Mia across the face calling her a disgrace and sobbed in her husband's arms questioning what they had ever done in their lives to deserve a daughter like her.
Or so I heard. Quite frankly I didn't give a shit. I had woken up the next day and began working at the bakery as if nothing were wrong. She had humiliated me enough; I wasn't going to make matters worse by sulking.
I continued to mop away ignoring her. The tiled floor was beginning to shine from all the soap I had used.
"Why would you do that?" she questions in a defeated tone her voice whimpering. I turn to her, gently leaning the mop on the counter before crossing my arms. Unable to meet her piercing gaze, I look down and ponder over her question.
"You don't even love her."
"I can learn to love her."
"You're making a mistake."
I snort shaking my head "So are you."
"Tell me why you're marrying her."
It was a simple question which had a very simple answer to it.
Rena was a quiet girl. She often stayed with her small clique of friends and away from the spotlight, but the guys always talked about her. She was beautiful, blonde with blue eyes, a nice body and a decent personality. From what my friends had told me she had always had a thing for me and now that I had been promptly dumped by Mia she had begged her father to ask mine if we could get married.
It was a bold move on her part. Girls tend to wait around for the guy to make up his mind. Rena was different, she knew what she wanted and she wanted me and at this point I didn't give a shit anymore. She was quite a catch for a guy that clearly lacked something to be thrown away like trash for a coal miner. When my father had asked me what I thought of marrying Rena I just shrugged my shoulders and had accepted.
Rena was my last opportunity at the life I had always envisioned for myself.
When Mia asks again why I was marrying her, I shrug my shoulders and ask what she wants from me.
"I want you to be happy!" she practically screams in my face clearly frustrated by my lack of interest in pursuing a meaningful conversation.
"I am happy… I mean eventually I will be and Rena will make me happy."
"Why can't you just take your time, why are you rushing into this?" she questions stepping closer to me locking her watering eyes with mine.
I feel something bubble inside me and its way more than just frustration that I feel. I was angry with Mia, she was being selfish, cruel even, and it was making me sick.
"Take my time for what? Wait around for you, is that what you want me to do?" she opens her mouth to speak but I shut her up with my words "What did you expect Mia? That I was going to sit around and cry over you. Ha! You are mistaken if you think you're the only person that deserves to be happy." I am yelling at this point and I can't quite remember when I had raised my voice.
"I already found the one I wanted, the one I envisioned the rest of my life with. It was always you, it will always be you." I am sobbing again. How pathetic. I keep going. "If I can't be with you then the least you can do is to stay the fuck out of my face. Let me be happy with Rena, don't barge in here and try to tell me what to do."
"I'm not telling you anything, I just want you to be happy. I'm sorry that I can't be with you the way you want me to but James you need more than three weeks to figure out what you want." Mia has her arms on my wrist shaking them in her hands demanding my rationality. She was trying to be a friend, but I don't need a friend I am fine without her and I was going to make sure she knew that.
I push her back releasing my hands from her grip before quietly asking her to leave.
She refuses.
I breakdown.
I slump onto the floor and sob into my hands, my body shaking. She was being cruel, she was being unfair.
She slumps down in front of me and wraps her arms around me, pulling my head to her chest while I sobbed into her cotton blouse. Mia apologizes over and over, her voice barely audible, her lips muffled in my hair.
I don't remember how long we sat there in that position but when she pulls away, her eyes are puffy and mine are in pain, I can barely keep them open.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
I didn't take Mia's advice and married Rena a month later.
I don't regret marrying Rena. She turned out to be a fantastic companion and had a great mind for business. My father was ecstatic when he heard of all her suggestions and all those that we incorporated contributed greatly to the success of the bakery.
Rena was a loving wife, and I enjoyed getting to know her throughout the years. She had a short temper but I found that endearing because her outbursts always stemmed from a genuine place. She rarely laughed but when she did, her laughter was so loud that I had to shush her sometimes.
Eventually I realized I had stopped brooding over Mia and my relationship with her. I no longer kept tabs on her life in the seam or tried to spot her at District wide gatherings. My life was progressing exactly the way I had envisioned it.
On my twenty-first birthday, Rena surprised me with a candle lit dinner and a small oddly decorated cake.
"What is this?" I ask her laughing at her 'decorating' skills or lack thereof. Rena was never going to be in charge of icing the cupcakes let alone the cakes and this masterpiece in front of me was proof of that.
Rena was getting angry, I could tell so I pull her into my lap and kiss her on her neck whispering a thank you into her ear.
"Look at the cake." She demands pointing to the cake with a crooked smile. I focus on the cake and try to make out her drawings but fail miserably.
"That's a bottle," she points to a rectangular shape on the cake "and that's a crib" she turns the cake before turning to me with a smile "and that is the stork carrying the baby."
It takes me about a minute to fully understand what Rena was saying and I must have looked like an idiot gawking back at her. She rolls her eyes before turning her face to mine and says "I'm pregnant."
I am up on my feet with Rena in my arms bridal style in seconds. I spin around with her as we both cry out in joy.
For the first time in a very long time, I felt truly happy.
We were blessed with our second child when we were twenty-four and Rena decided to tell me she was pregnant by writing a simple "I'm pregnant" on a white piece of paper and taping it to the storage room door. She knows I go there every morning to adjust the ovens and must have slipped out of the bed in the middle of the night to plan this surprise.
When she got pregnant for the third time, we were both twenty-six and drained with the stress and responsibility of the first two boys. Rena's traditional surprise pregnancy announcement involved the two older boys this time. She asked me to bathe the two kids and as they came into the shower butt naked my oldest son had "I'm going to be a big brother again" written on his chest in black ink while my second son had "I'm going to be a big brother" on his. I was so excited that I had slipped and tumbled face first into the bath tub that night.
My wife was almost due when Mia came to the bakery alone one day with a few coins looking to purchase bread. I was surprised to see her because she never came to the bakery and we had barely spoken since that day we had said our goodbyes in the wet soapy floors of the bakery.
"You're pregnant."
Perhaps not the most appropriate thing to say to Mia after all these years. A simple hello would have been better, but it was the first thing that came to my mind and I couldn't stop myself from saying it.
"Yeah… six months." She says running both her hands over her swollen belly. She looked beautiful, her face radiant, her hair rich and blonde, her eyes sparkling.
"Congratulations." I say with a shy smile.
"Do you know what it's going to be?" I ask, packing a few cheese buns for Mia slipping in a couple extras for her.
"A girl." She responds tapping her belly again with a smile.
"And yours?" she asks chuckling when she sees my first two rush down the stairs with their very pregnant mother.
"A boy."
Next chapter will disclose the reason behind Rena Mellark's sudden change in personality to the cruel women we know, and display some interactions between young Katniss and Peeta.
Don't forget to leave me a review!
