BREAKUP
Minerva took another bite of her sandwich as she scrolled through all her messages. The only one that may have mattered was an announcement for a meeting of all the cosmetic surgeons. She was supposed to be there right now, in fact, but Min had uncharacteristically decided not to go. Instead, she was eating lunch all by herself in her private office.
It had been almost two weeks since her discovery of pretty minds. Although it had upset her at first, gradually Min realized the cold, cruel truth: it was necessary. Most people really did have no value as human beings. They were shallow, and stupid, and contributed nothing to society. This was only a more mature and cynical view of what she had always thought as a littlie, her own conceit combined with her negative life experiences. Minerva was one of the smartest, one of the privileged few left to look after the planet. And it needed guarding, indeed. Minerva shuddered to think of what would happen to the fragile earth if humans somehow rediscovered creativity, conflict, and ambition. Giving the lesions to Max had been a mistake, though. Min would make sure that she was cured, one way or another.
The worst part was that Az had been extremely distant of late. They still spoke, of course, and appeared as a couple, but Min spent all of her nights alone in her own bed nowadays, becoming even more depressed and withdrawn than usual.
"Dr. Cable to Conference Room A, Dr. Cable to Conference Room A!" came a voice over the speaker system, and Min recognized it as Max's. Of course: the meeting. Minerva supposed she had to go, now, since being paged was somewhat embarrassing.
She hurried over to Conference Room A and found an empty seat waiting for her at the long conference table. She quickly sat down, looking in her lap to try and disguise her blushing. To make matters worse, Maddy was undoubtedly glaring at her, and probably feeling rather smug.
All hopes of a subtle entrance vanished when the mayor immediately stood up and cleared his throat. "Well, now that we're all here, let me begin," he said. If the mayor was here, this had to be important. He didn't have the lesions; none of the politicians did.
"As you know, two of our fine representatives on the Committee for Morphological Standards have decided to retire this year, after many years of hard work and dedication." The surgeons all applauded, and the two late pretties smiled appreciatively.
"This, of course, leaves two empty seats in Columbia's representation. After much deliberation, the City Council has decided on two young and talented doctors to take their place. We hope that today's appointment to the Committee is the start of a long career of service and excellence. Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce Dr. Minerva Cable…"
Min completely stopped listening after that. She stood up as she was recognized, the applause as thunderous to her ears as when she won a world championship. It was all she could do to keep from crying tears of joy, and Min certainly wasn't even an emotional person. This had been her dream, ever since she was a littlie. As she got older, Min began to think that this had been a rather silly idea, but suddenly it didn't seem so anymore. This was what she had been working towards all her life. It was absolutely surreal.
But when she looked across the room, Min saw Maddy smiling and hugging everyone around her, and she realized that Maddy must have been the second name called. Min had been so distracted by her thoughts that she didn't even notice.
But Minerva was not going to let this little damper on things ruin her happiness. At least not today.
/
There was a party later that night to celebrate.
It was being thrown at one of their colleague's houses, out of the kindness of his heart. Minerva had always hated parties, and being one of the guests of honor certainly wasn't going to help matters. It was safe to say that Minerva would much rather walk barefoot over hot coals than make small talk. She would have to have a false smile glued on her face the whole time, and pretend that she liked everybody and actually cared about what they had to say.
Min looked glumly back at herself in her mirror. At least she didn't have to wear some ridiculous ball gown. She had selected a dressy-casual ensemble, sensible and subdued, which was how Min preferred all clothing. The main focus of her outfit was Az's heart necklace. It sparkled silver against the pale skin of her chest. Az himself had pinged her to say that he would pick her up on his way to the party, so they could walk there together. Maybe Min had just been worrying too much about her and Az.
Min let him in when he rang the doorbell. "You look beautiful," he said, and kissed her. Min grabbed her coat and hat, and they continued to the party, their gloved fingers interlaced in the cool winter evening.
The party itself was pure torture, of course. Min had to endure countless awkward hugs, and her ears rang with the nonstop chatter. There was even some champagne involved, just for old times' sake.
It was strange that Min's fellow cosmetic surgeons were throwing a joint party for both her and Maddy. Didn't they know how much they hated each other? Luckily, Min and Maddy always seemed to end up on opposite sides of the room.
It would have been better if Max or Dr. Valen were there, but they weren't invited because they didn't really work with any of these people. After the first couple of hours, when Min felt like she had made enough of an appearance, she escaped into the bathroom. She locked herself in and sat down on the closed toilet, her head in her hands.
Min wasn't sure how long she stayed there, but she suddenly felt exhausted. The party was just too overwhelming, so much so to the point where Min almost felt ill, although she couldn't actually be sick. She just wanted nothing more than to return to the silence of her house, and lie down under the covers.
Min crept back out to the party and managed to pull Az aside for a minute. "I don't feel so good, I'm going home now," she practically shouted in his ear.
"I'll walk you back," Az offered.
"No, no, I'll be fine," Min answered. "You can stay here." Az was obviously enjoying himself, talking and laughing with everybody, and Min didn't want to tear him away from that. She was boring enough already.
"Are you going back to your place or mine?" he asked.
"Mine," Min replied immediately. She said a few hurried goodbyes, and the party guests surprisingly looked genuinely sad to see her go. She gave a lie about drinking too much, although that was completely out of character for Min. Hopefully, they wouldn't notice.
But as Min walked home, huddled against the cold of the pitch-black night, something made her take the turn over to Az's house. She wanted somebody to share her happiness with, and there was no one else, really. A quiet celebration with Az would be a nice relief from that party.
Min let herself in (Az had granted her access a while ago), and she made her way into his bedroom in the dark and sat on the edge of his bed, with the lights off. Min didn't even bother taking off her hat, coat, scarf, and gloves. She sat very, very still, although her mind was reeling. She just wanted him to come home, now.
After what seemed like an eternity, Min heard the front door click open. Az's laughter filled the house, and was soon joined by a woman's obnoxious cackle. Min's blood turned to ice when she recognized the other voice: Maddy.
"Are you sure our little friend Minerva Cable won't mind this?" Maddy was saying as the two made their way to the bedroom. They were right in the doorway now, although they couldn't see Min in the dark.
Az made a sort of strangled sound. "I'm not sure," he said. "She's really an odd one. You know, she may do great things out on the soccer field, but in bed, it's a whole different story!" And they both engaged in another round of laughter.
They were laughing at her?!
"I'm not even sure why I've stayed with her all these years," Az continued. "At this point, I'm just not sure how to break up with her."
Suddenly, Min twisted her ring, flicking on the lights. Az and Maddy jumped sky-high. Az gasped, and Maddy let out a small shriek.
Min couldn't even enjoy the look on Maddy's face. Her own facial muscles were relaxed, her face blank as she gazed at them, but her eyes burned with hatred. Min slowly, slowly, stood up, and didn't say anything as she walked past them. She felt Az and Maddy's eyes following her, but Min didn't look back once as she kept her steady pace towards the front door.
Once she had closed that behind her, Min began to sprint, her head and shoulders down, hands in her pockets, with tears stinging her eyes the whole way home.
/
/
/
Please review if you took the time to read this! The next chapter may be a while because it will take me a long time to write, but it'll be good, I promise!