𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧- 𝐄.𝐌

5. Done & Dusted ?

Roars of laughter and cheers came through the phone's speaker. Maeve giggled to herself, a hand pressed to her temple.

"This is fantastic! Awesome! Beautiful! Lovely!" yelled out Ezekiel over the call. The roars of laughter was then backed my Marcel and Diego simultaneously shouting with their glasses of scotch raised in the air. The small dining room inside the Abattoir was a place of celebration from the second Maeve announced what she had done.

A phone call to Georgia invited uphevealed, but only for a moment celebrations. Slowly, second by second, as it past, the wrecking feeling of what she had done came to Maeve. She glanced down at her blood stained hands and the flashes of everything she had done came back to her. She could not stop the tears from brimming in her eyes. 

Maeve picked up the phone and brought it closer to her mouth. "Zeke..." shouts slowly died down over the call. She heard a click on the other end of the line. 

"Moony?"

"I made them proud, right? Mom and Dad?" her voice was soft as she tried to control her breathing. Maeve looked up at the ceiling, tears in her eyes. "I made them proud. Right? Did I make them proud?" she repeated herself.

"Of course you did. How dare you think you didn't? You killed the woman who killed them. Separated all of us from one another for nineteen years. They are so proud of you." Maeve nodded her head and pressed her lips into a thin line. "I know right now, you feel bad and that's because you are not a bad person. The adrenaline rush has worn off and you are back to being Moony."

"I just---I feel like ever since I gave up my magic, I feel like I gave up on Mom, you know. She was there with me, with each spell. A reminder of why I am the way I am. Both of my set of parents are here with me but this isn't me, Zeke. This can't be."

Marcel walked around the table, and approached Maeve. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and pulled her close to him. "Its okay to be overwhelmed Maeve." he told her calmly.

"Mars is right, Maeve. You listen to me...okay? I know you feel lost, you are bound to, months you have worked your ass off, deals, travelling, meetings, events...everything in between and still somehow you managed to find time to go to that Taylor Swift concert with me, and attend little Nina's birthday party and go to your college reunion and if that is not all, get an interview published in the Forbes magazine for the women special edition. Maeve you haven't stayed in one place for longer than a day. This feeling is of the hardwork paying off."

Maeve smiled at the sudden shift in her emotions. Her eyes glistened in the light. She felt a light relief in her heart, a change from the heavy weight that had been on it. She had done it. But there still was a small hole in all of the happiness and pride she should be feeling.

"Give me the phone, son." she heard her auntie say on the other end of the line. "Hey Moonpie. Are you feeling okay?" Maeve glanced at Marcel and stepped away from him. She skipped out of the room and into her bedroom. She sat down on her bed and decided to answer,

"I don't know. I should be happy. All the chess pieces are in place. There is no reason to be sad. Yet I feel..."

"A gaping hole?" 

"Yeah." Maeve could not understand what it was that was making her cry. 

"Maeve...did you let yourself grief Elijah?"

"Why is everything about him?" she snapped defensively. "I don't want to date Onyx, Marcel says I am not over Elijah. I feel scattered, you say I am not over Elijah. Why is everything about him?"