Fate Has A Say

Broken all over again

Mac lasted until AJ was fast asleep, then the tears erupted. Not wanting AJ to hear, she went into the shower. Broken all over again. Even though, it had been years since she last saw him, her heart beat for him the same way, the same rythm, after all, these years. Mac cried silent tears of heartache. She had trained herself to cry this way in order to not upset AJ. "Why did bad things always happen to her? First her parents, then Alexei, now, Alexei again. The moment she saw him, her frozen heart had started beating again, only to die a sudden death. All hope had gone. She would have forgiven him for what he did, if only he hadn't told her that he loved Melissa and wanted to marry her. Now, that tiny tendril of hope, that had always simmered, within her, ever since she left Alexei, died a quick and painful death. On top of all this, something she had never shared with anyone else, was her suspicions that Uncle John had something to do with the 'lost' inheritance."Why? Why am I always left on the side of the road? Why must I always get pain? I can't do this anymore! I was doing fine, pretending he didn't exist, only for him to come back and destroy me again."

"I'm so tired of always being strong. I'm tired of always being there for everyone. Who do I have except Jenny, Megan, AJ and Bryan? They need me and they are all I need and I will, get stronger for them. This, I swear! I  promise you this, Alexei Nikolov, you will never touch my heart, ever again.  This foolish love I have for you, dies today. I don't want, any other man and noone will get a chance, to come close to me. Ever!" Mac's biggest problem was that she suppressed her feelings and suffered in silence. This was why, Jenny was worried, when she left Mac. Mac always pretended to be okay when she wasn't.

On the way home  with her brother, Jenny could see that he was troubled. She wanted to know what happened, so she asked him. His response was that it was nothing. He had his closure and it was time to move on. So, why didn't he look happy. He looked, almost, as miserable as Mac.

Mac went to bed with an aching heart and an empty soul. "Today was the last. Tomorrow, is a new day. A new life. A new me!" She fell asleep, to the fleeting memory of Alexei as he was, today. In the morning, Mac rose from bed and got AJ ready for school. After, dropping him off, she stopped at the grocer to get supplies then made her way back home. She was almost done with an order, when the doorbell rang. Thinking that it was Megan, who, usually called in around this time, she shouted that the door wasn't locked. She was busy icing the cake and couldn't stop. The door opened and she apologized to Megan for her lack of attention. She knew Megan understood. Fixing her focus on the intricate pattern of the cake, she didn't pay any mind to Megan as Megan was comfortable in her home and would sort herself out. 

Finally finishing the pattern, she placed the icing gun inside a dish of warm water and stood back, to check her work. "Megan, what do you think? This is for a fortieth birthday." The cake had a floral theme with many different shades of roses to honor Rose, the lady, whose birthday it was. "I think it's great. In fact, its beautiful. I never doubted how truly talented, you are Mac," came the deep and husky, masculine voice. "What the.....Megan is a man!" Her eyes snapped in the direction of the voice, only to behold, Alexei, Melissa, Uncle John and Aunt Glenda. "Lord, give me a break she thought, a person can only, take, so much!" Plastering a fleeting smile on her face, Mac managed to show pleasant surprise at seeing them. Ushering them to some seats, she offered something to drink. Everyone declined except for Alexei. Preparing coffee for Alexei, gave her some time to compose herself. She was experiencing so much inner turmoil, that she didn't even realise that she hadn't asked him for his preference but had prepared the coffee the way she used to, in the past. So much for her pep talk, last night. Alexei accepted the coffee with a thanks, while Mac took a seat on one of the bean bags scattered around the 'lounge area'.

Alexei took a sip of the steaming coffee and gave Mac a puzzled look, which she didn't see. Mac looked utterly composed on the outside, while she waited anxiously on the inside for them to state their purpose. " What did they want?" she wondered. Realizing that nobody else was going to talk and just how awkward it was, Alexei cleared his throat and asked Mac how she was. She answered that she was good and that AJ was also good while wondering what they were doing there. Seeing how Melissa kept putting her hands on Alexei, was attacking her resolve to remain in control. Mac was taking a hard knock and wanted this over with.
Alexei was thinking how beautiful she looked, when they walked in, while she was focusing on icing the cake with her tongue between her teeth. The feeling of nostalgia when he tasted the coffee, puzzled him. Mac had remembered how he liked his. Noone came close to making coffee the way she did. Why was he feeling uncomfortable, every time Melissa touched him? As if he was doing something wrong? Wanting to tell her to stop, he looked at her and she smiled that gentle smile and Alexei couldn't do it. Deciding to get to the point, Alexei finally told Mac the reason for the visit. "Huh, Mac, Melissa and I are engaged and we are busy discussing the wedding with Uncle John and Aunt Glenda. We don't want to wait so we set a date, three weeks from now. We were wondering if you can cater the wedding and make the wedding cake?" Mac was astonished at this request and her immediate response was to decline with an excuse but maybe this was her test in life. Maybe she could finally move on. If she hammered the final nail in the coffin of her love, then she would finally be pain free. Not giving in to her thoughts, Mac agreed and Melissa asked her if she would mind, coming over to their house, hers and Alexei's to plan. Alexei felt something strange when Melissa indicated that the house belonged to him, and her. For some reason, he had always felt that Mac belonged in his house. He had never thought of Melissa there, especially in the kitchen. Mentally slapping himself for his weird  thoughts, he felt the need to leave. He needed air. He felt stifled.

Letting the others know that they should leave as he had a meeting, Alexei, noticed how, Mac's relatives barely spoke to her. He wondered why. Goodbyes over with, they took their leave. Mac closed the door and slid down to her knees. She had to do this. Bury her love once and for all. She covered her face with her hands and emptied her mind of everything. " Why couldn't they have left her alone? She would do this, not for the man, but, for the boy she loved and still did. For the boy who had been her anchor for many years. If this was what made him happy,  then she would gladly do it. If this was what it took to finally get over him, then she would willingly do it. If this, was a 'How to bury your love' guidebook, then she would adamantly do it!"

Later, when Jenny heard the news, she wanted to scream in frustration. "Why were men so stupid? Why was her brother so stupid? Couldn't he see how he was breaking Mac? What could Jenny do, to prevent a catastrophe?" An idea came to mind as a grinning face rose in her memory.

The best laid plans of mice and men. Mmmmm.....