The Maeve and Otis Story Continues . . .

Part 1

Otis awoke from sleep, sweating profusely, the third time in as many nights.  It had only been a week since Maeve left, and already the pain of the breakup was too much to bear.

Every girl he saw in a red shirt now reminded him of Maeve, as if some malevolent entity was tormenting him.  And still she hadn't texted him. "Why did I tell her no contact?" Otis muttered to himself. "Why?"

But then his logical side kicked in. "No, Otis," it said. "You made the right decision.  The long distance relationship would have been too hard.  You don't want to put yourself through that again."  Of course the logical course of action had to be right, Otis told himself.  He closed his eyes and drifted into a dream.

Suddenly, he was walking through a complex of stately buildings.  He didn't know where he was at first, but then, atop one of them, he could see an American flag fluttering in the breeze.  The thought entered his mind that he was at Wallace University, and it wasn't long before he would actually see Maeve again.

Instinctively, he knew where to go.  He entered the dormitory building where she lived, found the right room, and knocked on the door.  There was a long pause, then the door opened slowly, and there stood Maeve, wrapped in a blanket, her shoulders bare.  Otis was so overwhelmed with joy he couldn't say a word.

Maeve, however, did not seem happy to see him. "Otis," she said with a nervous look on her face, "I wasn't expecting you."  Then, over her shoulder, Otis could see, at the far end of the room, a man lying on her bed, dressed only in his boxer shorts, and the horrible realization came like a dagger to his heart that Maeve had already moved on.

Otis awoke again, sweating even more profusely, and leapt from his bed. "No!" he yelled out loud, not caring whether his mother would hear. "I'm not going to let this happen!"

All logic had now gone out the window.  He grabbed his phone, and got ready to text.  Then he stopped himself. "No," he said. "If I'm going to say this, Maeve needs to hear my voice."

He knew, based on the time zone difference, that Maeve must still be awake, so he dialed her number, and anxiously waited for her to answer.  The phone rang three times, then four.  Then Maeve suddenly picked up. "Otis!" she said surprisedly. "Yes," Otis replied, "it's me."

There was a brief silence as if neither one knew exactly what to say, then Otis started in. "Maeve," he said forcefully, "I've made the biggest mistake of my life." "What do you mean?" she asked. "Me saying we couldn't make the long distance relationship work," Otis continued. "Listen to me, Maeve.  I love you.  I'm not willing to just sit here and watch you end up with someone else.  Now, I've made a decision.  I'm coming to see you.  I'm going to be on the next plane to America.  The only thing that can stop me is if you say no."

There was a long pause.  So long that Otis wondered if this had been a big mistake.  Then Maeve's voice came through the phone, trembling.  He could tell she was crying. "Okay," she said.