Morana Barnes: Murderous Love

15. May Barnes

September 9th, 2022

Awkward Meeting:

Today was the day. Jace was gonna meet Morana and I had never been so nervous about something in my life. Morana was a cop she was trained to be naturally skeptical of people but most importantly she was my sister and her approval meant more to me than anything.

I decided to have a small dinner at my place instead of going out in a public setting so they can be more comfortable. I fixed the plates on the table and stared at it. Something about it seemed off. Just as I was going to try and fix it again my doorbell rang.

I quickly walked towards the door and opened it. It revealed Jace who stood there smiling. I smiled back and he handed me a bouquet of roses. I smelled them and let him inside. I replaced the flowers he had bought me last week and put those in the vase on the kitchen table and moved the other flowers to another vase in the living room.

I had been doing a good job of keeping them alive. I was proud of myself. "My sister should be here any minute," I said anxiously.

"Ok," he seemed pretty calm about meeting her. I guessed he felt like he had nothing to worry about. Which he didn't. At least I don't think he did. Jace was a sweet guy.

I've said nothing but good things about him to Morana so there's no reason she wouldn't like him. I guess we'll just have to see when she gets here. I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes preparing myself for tonight.

The doorbell rang and my body jumped in fright. Oh my god, she's here. I went to answer it and on the side, Morana stood there smiling. I pulled her into a hug she hugged me back chuckling a little before stepping inside. I went and grabbed Jace and brought him to meet Morana and the three of us stood in the hallway. I watched their interaction closely trying to see if my sister would approve. I stood straighter and frowned at the look on Morana's face.

There was nothing there except familiarity and judgment in Morana's eyes. She looked at Jace who also had a blank face but the nervousness in his eyes as he looked to the ground and back at Morana spoke volumes. What the hell is this? Have they met before this and didn't put two and two together? "Hi, I'm Jace," he said forcing a smile and sticking out his hand.

"Morana," was all she said still staring into his soul with her detective's eyes. She shook his hand the pressing look in her eyes strong. She didn't seem very relaxed. Maybe it was work, I thought. "You look very familiar Jace, have we met before?" Morana asked saying his name with a skepticism I'd never heard from her before. It was almost as though she didn't believe that was his name.

"I don't believe so," Jace said chuckling nervously. He glanced at me and I had a pensive smile on my face unable to figure out how I should react to what was happening right now. Instead, I directed them into the living room and we sat down.

It was awkward but maybe that was because I was being an awkward host. "So, this is my sister. I'm not sure how this should all go but Morana this is the guy I've been telling you about,"

Morana didn't say anything and that worried me. She sat back in the soft couch chair. "Nice to meet you, Jace," she said her voice a little hard. I wasn't sure what was going on but I didn't like it. It made moths swarm in my stomach and I folded my arms across my chest trying to hide my worry and uncomfortableness with the situation. My hands started to get clammy and I swallowed thickly. Morana looked at me and raised an eyebrow at my actions.

"You okay May?" she asked. Jace looked at me and I felt put on the spot.

"Yeah, I'm fine just really hungry. The food should be done in a little though," I said playing it off.

Morana didn't look like she believed it and Jace just accepted my answer. "So, Morana you're a cop," Jace started. Morana just stared at him waiting to hear what he had to say about her job. The look on her face only made me feel worse. What is this? Why all this hostility? I wanted to ask about it but I was scared it would only make the situation worse.

"Yeah,"

"Must be hard," Jace said.

"It is,"

I couldn't take it anymore. "I'm gonna go and check on the food," I smiled politely before practically running out of the room. I checked on the food in the oven and looked at the kitchen table. Something about the plates still seemed weird.

I tried fixing it to my liking when Jace walked in. I looked up and gave him a small smile before going back to fixing the plates. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Fixing the plates," I said.

"Why? They look fine to me,"

"I don't like them so I'm fixing them to my liking," I said moving around to the other side.

"May, what are you doing?"

I paused and looked at Jace wiping my hands on my pants. Jace walked closer to me and grabbed my hands. "Deep breaths," he said smiling. I chuckled a little and took a deep breath. "It's okay, everything's fine," but they weren't.

Everything was so awkward and tense. I was scared that Morana didn't like him. I wouldn't leave him if that was the case but I wanted her to like him.

"There's no need for you to worry, everything's okay," he said. I nodded and he pecked my lips. A blush spread across my cheeks and I went back to fixing the plates. I finally fixed them how I wanted them and Morana walked in.

She glanced at Jace before looking back at me. I examined her closely and her posture and facial expression told her everything. "It's okay," I said.

"I'm sorry May but it's important. We might be having a small breakthrough in the cases. We can do this again some other time I promise," Morana said, glancing at Jace again.

"It's fine Morana," I said, giving her a small smile. Morana walked over to me and hugged me. "Love you," I said.

"Love you too." She looked at Jace and gave him a firm nod before walking out of the room and leaving the house. I leaned against the table in the kitchen and let out a long sigh. I was sad about Morana leaving but I knew how important these cases were right now and how extremely time sensitive they are. Jace embraced me and rubbed my back soothingly.

Maybe next time it'll go better. This was the first time Morana was meeting Jace and as her little sister, she was feeling a bit protective. Morana has openly scared a couple of my boyfriends and this wasn't that different. It's extremely different, my consciousness wanted to point out. It's fine.