Chapter 56
(Madge POV)
I stand and watch with excitement as Prim is officially adopted into the Hawthorne family. It's a small, sort of unsophisticated feeling ceremony, but for me, it feels like a very big thing. Prim needs this and Katniss would want this for her. Katniss's biggest concern in life was always to protect Prim, to keep her safe from the Capitol's control and manipulation. If she could see that Prim was now part of the Hawthorne family and living in a community where she has value and is free to make her own choices, she'd be so incredibly happy. To know that all risk of Prim starving to death or being reaped has been wiped away would elate her. Prim has a bright future now and I'm excited to watch her live it.
There are other children in the parentless unit and it makes me sad for them to not have families of their own. Perhaps one day, when I'm a little older and married, I'll try to adopt one of them too so that they can also have a family. That would be good, I think to myself as I file the thought away in my mind. After the ceremony, I go back to work and find Pemberly in the office, talking to Drew.
"Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting?" I ask, silently hoping I haven't interrupted anything. Hoping Pemberly was able to get him to talk to her about his grief.
"No, you aren't interrupting anything. I've actually got news for you." Drew says.
"Really? What?"
"You've been reassigned. Pemberly is going to be my new assistant." He tells me. Pemberly looks unnecessarily nervous.
"Wow, okay. Well, where do I work now?" I ask.
"You'll be working with Haymitch Abernathy. He actually requested you. Said if he had to work with someone, he needed it to be you."
I smile. "Okay. I can do that." I turn to Pemberly who still looks uncomfortable. "You'll need to make sure he eats. He has a bad habit of sitting at this desk all day long for hours on end and not remembering to eat meals."
She nods. "I hope it's okay. I didn't ask to take your job, I'm sorry."
I laugh. "Pemberly, trust me when I say that this is perfectly fine. It's probably a much better arrangement all around, for everyone."
"Still, I feel bad." She says.
"Well don't. I guess I'll see you two later, at dinner maybe?" I say with a smile as I go to leave Drew's office.
"That'd be nice." Pemberly says, smiling back now and looking more comfortable. Drew just nods, barely looking up from his work.
I go and find the office that Haymitch is supposed to be in but he isn't there. I can tell he's been there because there are empty coffee mugs and a half eaten bowl of oatmeal littering the desk but he never shows back up. I clean up the desk a little and return the coffee cups and bowl to the dining hall but other than that, I spend the afternoon sitting around doing nothing. It's not surprising at all that he isn't here though. Very Haymitch of him to vanish. I'm actually looking forward to working with him because it'll give me the opportunity to learn more about who my mother really was. And while Haymitch rubs a lot of people the wrong way, he's never bothered me. I'm about to call it a day when Drew pokes his head in.
"Got a minute to talk?" He asks.
"Sure." I say, gesturing to the other empty chair in the room.
"I wanted to tell you that while it wasn't my idea to have you reassigned, it probably was for the best."
"I agree."
"You are the one thing I can't seem to let go of in regards to my past life and it's really hard to see you everyday in such close quarters while trying to wrap my head around the fact that we will never be what I wanted us to be. I won't lie, when we started all this, I had hoped it would be a chance for me to win you over but honestly, I know better than to hope for such things anymore. Having Pemberly working with me instead of you will make it easier for me to move on. And I guess that's what I'm trying to tell you now. I'm making a real effort to move on from you." He tells me. His eyes so sad and vulnerable looking.
I inhale and exhale deeply. I don't know exactly how to respond. "I appreciate your honesty and your effort." I finally reply. I feel a whole mix of relief and loss wash over me as what he said sinks in. It's a strange feeling. I'm glad he's officially ready to let go of the idea of us being together but the finality of knowing it also feels a little sad somehow. The sadness surprises me but I suppose it's realistic to feel this way. Even though I knew I was never going to be dating him again, there had been a time when he was the person I thought I'd spend the rest of my life with, even if it was merely out of arrangement.
"And for what it's worth, I do think Mr. Abernathy would've been too much for Pemberly to handle. He's a little much." He adds with a little bit of a smile at the corner of his mouth.
I let out a laugh. "You're probably right about that."
"So we're good then? No hard feelings about the reassignment?" He asks.
"We're good." I assure him.
He leaves and I hang back a minute, letting him go ahead so that we don't end up with an awkward moment as we ride the elevators back to our floor. Best to let him move on like he said. Gale will be over the moon when I tell him about all of this. It's going to make his whole week. I smile to myself at the thought of how well he'll receive this news and head home to see if he's ready to go to dinner.
On the way, I run into Martin.
"Martin! Hi, how are you settling in?" I ask, knowing full well he can't respond and instantly feeling like an idiot. Again finding myself wishing I had a pen and paper with me.
Luckily, he's more prepared for conversation than I am and he pulls a pen and small notepad from his pocket. "I'm good. It feels really nice not to be a working avox anymore." He scrawls on the paper and holds it out for me to see.
I flash a bright smile at him. I knew he would appreciate that more than anything else. "I'm so glad to hear that."
"And I saw Drew." He writes on the paper.
"Oh really? Was it bad? Hard to see him face to face after everything?" I ask, almost afraid to hear what it was like when they encountered one another.
He scribbles something down and then holds it out. "It was good to get closure. He apologized."
"He did? Thats' good. And have you forgiven him?" I ask. Surely he hasn't been able to forgive him. If he has, then it will be proof that Martin is a far better person than the rest of us.
He smiles and shakes his head before showing me another note. "I appreciated the apology, the acknowledgement that he did wrong. I doubt I'll ever forgive him."
I smile back. "That's very understandable."
"I have to go but it was good to run into you again." He writes.
I wave and tell him to have a good evening and then continue on my way to see Gale. I'm glad to hear that they saw one another and now that is out of the way. I never expected Martin to forgive Drew, I certainly wouldn't have been able to, but I'm glad they got the initial face to face encounter out of the way. And I'm glad it sounded like it was civil. Neither of them showed signs of a fight so I'm pretty sure it was civil. Knowing that takes a load off my shoulders because deep down, part of me was worried Martin would pummel Drew once he had the chance. I'm glad he had restraint instead.
In my room I find a note from Gale that they've all headed to dinner and to come join them. I head up to the dining hall and find the whole Hawthorne family, Prim included, at a table. Gale waves me over and I motion that I'm getting my tray first and then head to the line. It's some sort of stew and a corn muffin tonight. Soups, stews and casseroles seem to be common findings at dinner here. Usually they're the best meal of the day but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I sometimes miss the full course, fancier dinners of salad, beef wellington with asparagus and creme brulee for dessert. I take my tray to the table and join the Hawthornes.
Gale leans over and kisses my cheek. "Hey pretty girl, how was your day?"
I smile at him. "Really good. Yours?"
"Same."
"I have some good news." I tell him as I take a bite of my stew.
"What's that?"
"I got reassigned at work. I now work as Haymitch's assistant."
A massive grin spreads across Gale's face and I hhave to fight to hold back my laughter. I knew he'd be so happy I was working with Drew anymore.
"For real? So no more Drew?"
I shake my head. "No more Drew. In fact, he even told me that he thinks it's best if I don't work with him because it's easier to let me go if he's not with me all day. Said he's making a real effort to get over me."
"Huh. Well, I suppose it's good he's finally saying that out loud but I'll believe it when I see it."
I give him a look and then turn to join in the other conversations at the table. I love how large Gale's family is and how something as simple as dinner together feels like an event. It's so much better than anything I ever experienced back home with just myself and my father. I really hope I have a large family of my own one day too. And I hope we're this close with one another too.
(Gale POV)
I won't believe that Drew is moving on from his obsession with Madge until I actually see it. Like, see him pursing someone else. But, I can be happy that Madge no longer works with him on a daily basis. Really happy actually. And I definetly won't have to worry about Haymitch hitting on her at work. Knowing him, he'll just be passed out drunk and she'll be sitting there with nothing much to do.
I actually spot Drew as we're leaving the dining hall. He's with some girl who even in her uniform, looks far too fancy to be originally from here so she must be one of the people they rescued. Maybe he knows her. Might even be that girl Madge was telling me about, the one who was matched with Drew's twin. Can't remember her name but it doesn't matter. I don't care who he sits with so long as it isn't Madge. I throw my arm around Madge and pull her a little closer to me.
As we walk back to her place, we pass a group of the recently rescued tributes. They whisper and point at Madge. She gives them a little nod and a friendly smile. I think that's all there will be to it but then one of them calls out to her.
"Hey, aren't you that girl from District 12? The one that was all over the papers with your match?" A girl with long curly black hair calls out.
Madge stops and turns back. "I am. My name is Madge."
"I told you that was her!" One of them says in a too loud whisper as he elbows the guy next to him.
"So you aren't dead then." The girl with black hair points out.
"Nope. And neither are you but I bet the Capitol tells everyone you are." Madge says with a grin before turning and us continuing on again.
"But wait, where's your guy? Is he really dead?" The girl calls after us again.
"My guy is right here." She says gesturing to me.
"No, I mean the one the Capitol matched you with. The one the Capitol said you were so in love with."
"One thing you'll learn here is not to trust the things you see from the Capitol. I was never in love with the guy you're talking about. He's here in 13 too, but I was never in love with him. This guy right here? He's the one I was falling for the whole time you were being told I was falling for the other one." She says with a very matter of fact tone and then starts walking again.
I can't hide the grin covering my face and I know she knows it's there even without looking up at me. She's mine and she has been the whole time in a way. Drew may have had her as far as the Capitol was concerned but her heart, it was always mine. And mine will always be hers. I lean down and plant a kiss on top of her blonde curly hair. When we get to her room, we don't even speak. She leans back against the wall and pulls me to her, our lips crashing into one another, our hands tugging at the fabric of our clothes, desperate for each other. My mouth moves to her neck and she inhales sharply as I step backwards towards the bed, falling back on it and bringing her with me. She moves against me, arching her back as she whispers my name and seconds later we're completely lost in one another, oblivious to anything else in the world at the moment. After, as we drift off to sleep, I can't help but think that I'm happier now than I ever thought was possible. I never even dreamed this sort of happiness was possible. But it is. It absolutely is.