Elide sighed as she walked down her hallway towards the safety of her apartment. As a child psychologist, she was used to her days being long, but today was a long day.
All she wanted to do once she was home was to turn off her phone, strip down, and take a long, soothing bubble bath. Preferably with Enya playing in the background. Then, after she decompressed, she'd order the largest freaking pizza her local pizzeria sold, and pig out while watching one of her favorite movies. It was either going to be The Princess Bride or The Hunchback of Notre Dame, she hadn't decided yet. Or both, she supposed, both was good.
Just as she was wondering if she had any ice cream left in her freezer, and whether or not it'd be worth it to run down to the grocery to buy a tub, the door on her left opened and Elide found herself being stared down by the Mythic Bitch herself: Maeve.
"Oh, Elide. I thought that was you," her red lips split into what some would call a smile.
Elide's hands curled into fists. If Maeve started a fight today, Elide would gladly finish it.
"What do you want, Maeve?" Dark eyes flitting over the taller woman's shoulder, Elide asked, "Where's Lorcan?"
"Out," she replied curtly, flicking a lock of inky black hair behind her shoulder. "Look, I feel like we got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you come in," she stepped to the side, silently inviting her in. "I just made some banana bread."
Brows raised, Elide looked at Maeve like she'd grown a second head. Although Maeve looked contrite-sheepish, even-an invisible hand-one that had been with Elide her entire life and had never steered her wrong-desperately tried to pull her away.
"No, thanks," she said slowly, cursing herself for being polite even to someone who made her stomach turn. Her mother hadn't raised a brat, though.
At Maeve's crestfallen face, she added, "I've had a long day."
Perking up, Maeve offered with a hesitant smile, "I've got ice cream, too." Elide pursed her lips. Ice cream did sound really good right now. "Oh, come on," Maeve insisted, catching onto Elide's pause, "I won't bite."
Knowing deep down inside that she'd regret it, but also really wanting that ice cream, Elide shrugged and entered the apartment. The layout was the same as her own, so Elide easily found her way to the kitchen. "So," Maeve started, grabbing a pair of bowls and spoons before grabbing the ice cream. It was Rocky Road, Elide's favorite. Maybe this encounter wouldn't be so terrible after all.
"Why did your day suck?" She began scooping out the ice cream, "And is there anything I can do to help? My day wasn't fantastic, either. So helping you will actually help me. Get my mind off it, you know?"
Maeve smiled tentatively, handing Elide her bowl of ice cream. Elide watched as she took a bite, and wondered how someone so vicious, so evil, could look so normal. She chalked it up to the power of ice cream.
After taking a bite of her own Rocky Road goodness, Elide answered, "I don't think you can help," she rolled her eyes, "well, unless you can stop shitty parents from being so shitty."
Maeve's lips puckered, "No, can't say that I can."
Elide hummed and the two continued eating their ice cream in silence. The only noise around them was the soft clinking of spoons against bowls.
With her spoon in her mouth, Elide looked around the room. The carton of ice cream was still out on the kitchen island, the banana bread that Maeve had mentioned earlier-Elide would bet anything that it was actually store bought-was on a plate on the kitchen counter, and Maeve stood quietly across from her, pouting into her bowl of ice cream.
Deciding to be generous, Elide offered an olive branch and broke the silence by asking, "So why did your day suck?"
There was a glint in Maeve's dark eyes, gone as soon as it came, and was chased away by large, silvery tears. "Oh," she sniffled, her nose turning pink.
Elide watched, paralyzed like a deer in the headlights, as Maeve began to cry in front of her, "It's just-it's just," she stopped and wrapped her arms around herself. She sniffed, "I don't-I don't know what I did. What went wrong. I-everything was fine, and then-and then," she swallowed thickly.
She looked so . . . pathetic. Elide never thought, not even in her wildest dreams, that she's witness Maeve-the Mythic Bitch-so vulnerable. It was as shocking as it was humbling.
Reaching out across the island, Elide patted her arm in an attempt to comfort her. She couldn't stand to watch anyone cry, apparently not even Maeve. "It's okay, Maeve, everything will be okay. What happened?"
Hiccuping, Maeve shook her head, her tears flying off her face. "Lorcan . . . Lorcan left." Elide sucked in a sharp breath. So he did it. He finally did it. He left her. It was about damn time! Whatever their relationship was, it wasn't healthy. "We got in a fight," Maeve continued, looking like she was about to hurl. "And-and he left, and, oh, Elide, he's never been gone this long before! What if he's been hurt, what if he's stuck on the side of the road, what if he's in the hospital in a coma or something, what if-" she slapped a pale hand across her mouth, stopping herself before she thought up anything worse.
She really was worried. Elide was skeptical at first that Maeve could worry about anything other than herself, but she could see the panic, pure and dark and unadulterated, lurking within her eyes. She was two seconds away from a full blown panic attack. Standing up and quickly walking around the island, Elide tried to get Maeve to calm down. "Breathe, Maeve, breath." She placed her hands on the taller woman's shoulders, "Whatever happened, I'm sure Lorcan's okay. He'll come back, Maeve."
"You think so?" Maeve sniffled. Elide nodded reassuringly. Lorcan was responsible, he wouldn't go anywhere without his wallet, so if he was injured and in the hospital, Maeve would've already heard. And it was the twenty-first century, Lorcan had a cell phone and was resourceful, no way he'd be stranded anywhere for long. And, he did live here, even if he had left Maeve. He'd have to come back eventually, if only to collect his things.
"Oh, Elide," Maeve smiled, her voice suspiciously strong and without a hint of a wobble. "I knew I could count on you."
"What?" Elide asked, stepping back just as Maeve pulled out her phone and began dialing.
Suddenly the tears were gone. So was the pink nose. She looked completely normal. The sight gave Elide whiplash.
Maeve in all her confident, arrogant glory was back, and whoever she had called picked up.
"Lorcan?" Elide stopped breathing. "Good. I want you to come home." She paused, listening, then looked at Elide and smirked, "Oh, don't worry about that. Elide and I are friends now. Aren't we, Elide?" Her smirk slithered further up her face, "Yes, she's with me right now. Say hi, Elide."
Phone suddenly in her face, Elide blinked and stuttered out, "Umm, hi?"
Snatching the phone back to her ear before Elide could hear Lorcan's response, Maeve tapped her fingernails against the granite countertop and said, "Oh, just girl talk." She winked at Elide, "Don't be silly. Elide thinks you should come home, too."
Elide felt her face redden with anger and frustration that she knew she'd never be able to articulate. It took a while, but the situation finally dawned on her. Maeve had used her. She'd set a trap, lured her in, and played her like a fiddle. Cursing her bleeding heart and stupid courtesies, Elide high-tailed it out of there.
She didn't need to be there when the two had their reunion.
One bath, two pizzas, and three and a half hours later, Elide was hunkered down on her couch, halfway through The Princess Bride when a knock sounded at her door. At first, she ignored it. Her phone was still off, so it could've been one of her friends checking in on her. They all had spare keys to her apartment, though, and could let themselves in.
More knocking. So it wasn't a friend. Elide groaned and burrowed further her blanket, hoping that whoever it was would just go away.
"Elide," Lorcan's voice, muffled by the door, called out before he knocked again. "Elide, it's me." Elide stayed right where she was, weighing the pros and cons of answering the door.
He knocked again and she groaned before flailing herself off the couch. Taking her blanket with her, Elide stomped over to her foyer and opened the door.
"What?" She asked in lieu of a hello. She was fresh out of courtesies for the day.
"I, umm," Lorcan paused, unsure how to proceed. He'd never seen Elide's grouchy side before. Shoving his hands into his pockets, Lorcan's face shuddered closed, leaving no trace of any emotion. He was a blank canvas. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He looked away, "I didn't mean to disturb you."
Blinking, Elide waited for him to say something else. Anything else. When he didn't, she leaned back on the balls of her feet, "Okay." She drew out the word, giving him the opportunity to say more. If that was it, though-and it was looking to be-she was just going to go back to her nest on the couch and continue her movie in peace. She really didn't feel like being drawn into round two of . . . whatever this was.
"Well, I'm okay, so . . ." she was about to close her door when-
"Thank you," Lorcan burst out, his dark eyes desperately peering into hers, trying to silently communicate something to her. "For helping Maeve. Thank you." His words were jilted, awkward. Like he wasn't used to expressing gratitude.
Nodding, Lorcan took a step back, about to turn and leave. Eyes narrowing, Elide couldn't help herself as she asked, "What was the fight about?"
Lorcan stopped mid-turn, "What?"
"What was the fight about?" Elide repeated, leaning against her door frame. "The one that finally got you to leave her?"
Blushing ever so slightly, the dark haired man glared at her, "It's none of your business."
Pointing an accusatory finger at him, Elide disagreed, "It became my business once Maeve used me like a pawn in some sick, twisted game." Lorcan at least had the decency to look cowed. "So what was it?"
"You," Lorcan admitted, looking down at his feet. His hands were balled into fists and Elide wasn't sure if that was because he wanted to hit something or if it was an attempt to hide his trembling. "We fought about you."
Elide released a shaky breath. She hadn't been expecting that. She didn't know what to do with that.
Shaking his head, Lorcan took two steps away from before Elide regained control of her mind and tongue, "Why do you keep going back to her?" Her voice was probably a bit too loud considering the time of night and who lived next door, but Elide had stopped caring hours ago. "She's horrible, Lorcan, so why-"
"Don't talk like you know her," he snapped, his face twisting into a snarl. "Or me." He could glare and glare until his eyeballs shriveled up and rolled out of his head, but Elide wouldn't be bullied into silence. Not now, not ever again.
"You're right," she nodded. "I don't know you. But I got a glimpse of you." Lorcan flinched at the reminder of their first meeting. "What happened to that Lorcan? The one who decorated Easter eggs with me? The one who hated parties and crafts like egg decorating, but still went because his friends asked? The one who listened when I spoke, who noticed when I shifted or flinched and tried to figure out why? Where's that Lorcan? The considerate, witty, loyal Lorcan?
"Because I liked that Lorcan. But this Lorcan," she gestured towards him, "that's in front of me right now?" She grimaced and shook her head, "I don't think I want to know him at all."
Lorcan stared at her like a fish, all wide eyes and mouth agape. Elide didn't wait for his response, whether it was apologetic or admonishing, and slammed the door in his face.
A/N: Look who was productive todayyyyyy