Title: J- Jealousy
Rating: T
Game: Animal Parade
Disclaimer: I only own the plot, all the characters, places, belong to Natsume sadly.
"We marry once because the world requires us to, but we love as many as twenty times in one lifetime." - Guy De Maupassant
Maya had no regrets.
She had everything she ever wanted; certainly more then she ever dreamed. A beautiful, healthy child, a large house complete with an enormous kitchen that was filled to the brim with all kinds of various cooking doodads...she had an adoring husband that was more then happy to help whenever she had a bad day. But she learned the hard way that the moment night fell he would be gone.
Maya lay in her frigid little bedroom beneath the cold, sterile white sheets. Her husband was absent tonight, like he was every night. The strawberry blonde rested her tiny head against the black satin pillow. The last thing on her mind was what she got herself into when she said "I do." (Or...maybe that was the only thing on her mind, she was never able to get much sleep without him near her.)
She knew that she couldn't tie him down. Maya really hadn't expected to. In her love struck state she had figured; with wide-eyed hopes, that marriage would settle him down for her. Truth be told she was hardly aware of anything happening during the first several months during their marriage. On the contrary, he did everything perfectly in Maya's eyes, perfectly. He was the perfect husband, perfect buisness man, a perfect circle of perfectness.
But Maya did notice that a few weeks after their baby was born; (Cora, it meant heart in some weird obscure language. Maya was never very sure where.) on nights when the baby was awfully quiet he would leave, right there in the middle of the night. Just leave, sometimes for a few hours, rarely for a few minutes. Always coming back a little before sunrise. Always with that same sleepy expression on his face, always a little less hollow. Always he would get under the covers and belly up to the blue eyed girl, twining a lean, muscular arm around her waist. Always waking up Maya with that little spark in his eye that seemed so completely foreign in the past three years they've been together. Always, he would be oblivious to the fact that she had been wide awake and only just then stopped wringing her hands with worry.
She was not oblivious.
Once she had made the mistake of staying up late. Maya had asked him questions and he had answered them; unbothered (at least that is what it seemed on the surface.), and in that lighthearted, comical tone that he used whenever he found whoever he was talking to was being either difficult or was incredibly stupid; (and in turn made the listener feel like a complete idiot). Frankly, him speaking to her in that tone had set her off. Maya knew by far that she was not the sharpest tool in the shed; no, that honor belonged to Phobe, but she would be damned if she was completely stupid. Maya played the part well though, mostly for her child's sake, partially because of her own foolish pride.
She was not stupid.
Which was why she had came to the brash desicion to see just where he was going. It had been one o' clock in the morning when she felt him stir. Maya lay perfectly still, adamant on not moving even after she heard the front door softly click shut. She lay there, under the sheets as they slowly cooled from the sudden absence of body heat; she counted slowly to ten, then eased out of the bed. Maya slipped on a coat and shoes and stepped outside. She followed him all the way to town, sticking to the shadows and waving off any idea that this may seem stalker-esque.'He's my husband for goddess sake, there is nothing wrong with this.' She thought as she hid out behind a bridge; watching with alert crystal blue eyes as he stepped into the bar. She cursed to herself, if she stepped in there Chase would see her. And then...and then...'the gig would be up.' She thought dejectedly as she walked back to her house.
She was patient.
Maya learned from various days spent failing to create one edible dish that she had been instilled with a superhuman amount of patience. That's what had won him over, after all. It wasn't her looks, her style, it probably wasn't even her personality. And that was fine, she was okay with that because it was her that got the blue ring in the end. It wasn't Selena. It wasn't Luna. It wasn't Renee or Anissa or Candace or Kathy. It was her. Maya was the one that won the rat race, Maya was the one who was able to be able to live on this farm, with this adorable kid and the big kitchen. Her, not them. Patience was her gift, and from now on this was how she was going to use it.
She was not naive.
Despite what the rest of the town thought. Maya heard the rumors the towns people were spreading. He was doing something. Something bad, something immoral, something that would get him either castrated or given divorce papers. Although the first one sounded nice, and the second one sounded even sweeter she knew not to make any judgements about him based on some pointless rumors. But are they really pointless? How many times did he come home smelling like something other then his cologne or the farm. Several, but she was not naive and she was not stupid so she would not make a baseless decision based solely on the town womens gossip.
She believed in proof.
Which was why she was here, hiding out in the bars kitchen as Chase chopped carrots anxiously. Maya came to him and begged for him to tell her something, anything. Chase had told her to simply see for herself. It had been half past twelve, the bar was about to close, when he walked in. Kathy had been polishing a table nearby and her head darted up the second a knock sounded on the heavy oak door. She cast a quick look toward Chase and darted out the door. Maya stood up from her hiding spot and Chase jerked his head toward the door. Maya thanked him and walked out.
She was not jealous.
Rage was a more adequate term; angry. Sprinkled with a little something bitter, as she watched the blonde and her husband hold onto each other out on the beach. She didn't believe it at first, he spoke so softly to the girl. More softly then he ever spoke to her. His hand reached up to cup the blonde woman's cheek; something Maya remembered, that he had only ever did to her on their wedding day. They kissed, Maya couldn't see it clearly whether it was because it was dark or because of the tears stinging her eyes she wasn't too sure. They parted for a moment and Maya heard Kathy's voice in the air, hushed and quiet. So unlike the voice Maya was used to the fiery blonde using.
"Kasey..." And then they were joined again. Maya turned away quickly, all that anger and shock and disbelief turning into something hideous, something ugly, something monstrous.
Jealousy.
She ran back to her house slamming the door shut and waking Cora. Maya swore and picked up her baby, (her baby because she was not theirs she was only hers, just hers.) She sat on the rocking chair and tried to soothe the child. Humming a gentle lullaby as Maya milled over her situation. She could leave town, take the baby. No one would notice, they could keep the whole thing quiet. Kasey, she knew would like that. Then the feeling was back again. Awful and burning like poison up her lungs, her throat, singeing her brain.
Jealousy.
But she wasn't jealous. She knew what she wanted to do, what she was going to do.
She wasn't jealous.
But she was going to make him wish she was.