Morana Barnes: Murderous Love

26. Jace Lorn

A/N: Unexpected POV but I feel like it's needed.

*****

October 7th, 2022 9:35 am

Clearing The Air:

I sat at the booth waiting patiently for her to arrive. I could tell something was off. In the last couple of weeks, May has been seemingly depressed. I also noticed she hasn't said much about Morana or even spoken to her. Usually, she'll call her on the phone and they'd talk about their days to each other but recently she hasn't done any of that.

I asked May about it but she said she didn't want to talk about it so I let it go. I could clearly see not talking to her sister was getting to her but every time I brought it up she'd shut me down. I thought maybe I could ask Morana and see what was going on between the two of them.

The cafe door opened and I looked up at the sound of the bell ringing. Her long dark brown hair was pulled into a ponytail. She looked around the room until she spotted me. I stared at her attire and raised an eyebrow. She must've been at work, I thought.

She was wearing black jeans with a white button-up shirt tucked into them. She had on a black leather jacket and her work belt on. Her gun was very noticeable. She made no effort to hide that she was a cop. People stared at her as she walked toward me and then she sat down staring at me. "Thanks for coming," I said sincerely.

"Not to be rude but I don't have that much time. Why'd you call?"

"I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions about May," her eyebrows furrowed at my mention of her sister. "You know, I noticed you and May haven't been speaking recently and it's been getting to her. What happened between the two of you?"

"What happened?" she repeated. Her eyes narrowed and she took a deep breath leaning back in the seat and staring at me. I cleared my throat and rubbed the back of my neck. Her gaze made my heart skip a beat in nervousness. I didn't understand why she was being so standoffish. It was a simple question because I was concerned about the well-being of my girlfriend. This was awkward and I was starting to feel more anxious under her gaze the longer she stared at me.

"I think you know what happened, Jace," she said my name with venom lacing every syllable. I frowned. I know what happened? How would I know what happened?

"How would I know?" I questioned.

"Seriously? It's not like you're not the reason we don't speak," she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I had already told you we didn't think you were the murderer but we have a job to do and you showing up at Jenna's house a day before she dies was something we had to look into. If you weren't so dead set on making it seem as though I was trying to get you arrested my sister wouldn't have come into the station accusing me of accusing you of murder. You made it seem to her like we only questioned you, not knowing we questioned a multitude of Jenna's friends and Erin Lousey who we learned was also a friend of Jenna's,"

"What? I didn't make it seem like anything. I told her not to go to you and be harsh. I was simply telling her how I felt about the matter. She just took it the wrong way"

"Yeah, right. And her taking it the wrong way has led to my sister not speaking to me for weeks. If you're gonna explain your dislike for something make sure you have your story straight before you go accusing people of things, especially things like this,"

"It's not my fault that every time you see me you act all weird. Not to mention you and your partner had just accused me of stalking her so how exactly was I supposed to take being brought into an interrogation room getting asked about a murder that just so happened after I was there,"

"I don't know. If you hadn't been so quick to jump to conclusions we wouldn't be having this problem. I've done my part. I've tried to call May multiple times but she never answers and I have to wonder; Every time I call her is she with you? Does she not answer me, her sister, because she's too busy trying to prove something to you,"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, did my sister come to my precinct and yell at me about a misunderstanding because of your feelings? Was she trying to prove that she'll have your back even if you're not worth defending?"

"And why would she do that?" her accusation was upsetting, to say the least. Her eyes narrowed at me and she leaned forward, staring into my eyes, showing me just how much she dislikes me.

"I don't know. You tell me," she said, her voice low.

"I told her what happened exactly. I also told her not to be harsh on you because I know how much she values the relationship you guys share,"

"Shared,"

"Huh?"

"The relationship we shared. There is no relationship anymore. You tainted it. May doesn't plan on speaking to me for a while, I don't know if she'll ever speak to me again, and it's your fault. You are the reason she's not speaking to me and honestly, it makes me dislike you more than I did before,"

"So, you really didn't like me or have any interest in getting to know me?"

"Don't try and twist my words, I think you've done enough of that. Now, I gotta go. I got a lot of work to do and I'm not gonna sit here and continue wasting my time with this pointless conversation."

She got up out of the booth and walked out the door. The chime of the bell told me as much. I sat there staring at the empty seat in front of me and shook my head. I sighed and got up, leaving the cafe and walking to my car. I'll talk to May about it later, and see if I can get her to talk to Morana and mend their relationship because May needs it.

She needs her older sister whether she wants to admit it or not and I want what's best for her even if Morana doesn't like me. I'll stay out of the way and let them be. Morana and I don't have to speak for me to be with May and I'm honestly okay with that.

I sped off to my house and decided that's where I'll spend my day until it's time to get May. I'm hoping I can convince her to talk to Morana. Hopefully, she won't be too upset with my prying.