BLOODSUCKER

six

Maeve locked her bedroom door behind her as she stormed back into her home. She had practically ran home from the town centre. Her makeup had now become tear stained, not because of what Charles had said, because she was frustrated. She ripped her dungarees from her sweat soaked body and stood there in front of the mirror. She pulled on the skin on her stomach, her ribs were on full display for anyone to see. she looked down at her chest and let out a sob at flat chested breast, there was nothing there to entice a male. Maeve believed her body to be boy like. she had never cared of anyones opinion before, but when one of the most handsome men in the world picks up on your flaws, it's going to hurt a tad.

'Open the door Maeve.' Charles voice soaked through the wooden door. How on earth did he get here so fast, that was one of the worlds greatest mysteries.

'Go to hell.' Maeve responded childishly as she wiped the snot and tear combination away. she now hated the way she looked. She didn't have hips or flat stomach like she had previously believed. She was jut skin and bones.

'Maeve, I swear to god, open this door now.' Charles shouted from the other side of the door. Maeve felt so delusional, she had always thought her body was okay but she had just been deceived by the image in the mirror.

'I don't want to talk to you.' Maeve shouted back, examining her naked body. She needed a change, she needed a distraction from her gross, despicable body image. she needed something new. She scanned the room and her eyes landed on a pair of scissors. a new haircut was not on the cards, but I guess it was a temporary distraction to Maeve.

'Do not make me come in there, Maeve.' Charles responded but Maeve was done talking. She picked up the scissors, pulled the hair forward and began chopping away. Her hair had always been down to her bum, she had rocked long, dirty blond hair forever and now, well the left side of her head was up to her breasts.

Maeve was completely unaware of her actions as she hadn't fully comprehended what she was doing until it was too late. the removal of the scissors from her grip brought her back to reality. Charles was now standing beside her, holding the scissors, not too certain with the events that had unfolded moments previously.

'What have you done?' Maeve couldn't look at him, why did she always feel so ashamed around him? he was standing in front of her waiting for an explanation, she wasn't going to budge. Instead he turned her to face the mirror, and moved her her to the back of her. 'You cut it unevenly, we are going to have to cut it shorter, is that okay?'

Maeve covered her stomach area with her hands as Charles proceeded to cut the rest of Maeve's hair, into somewhat a fashionable style. Maeve was shocked to learn that Charles was a man of many talents.

'Thank you.' She said once he was finished correcting her mistake, she was still unable to look him in the face.

'I am sorry.' Charles responded once he was finished cutting her hair. 'I was out of order, It wasn't my place. I was just worried you were starving yourself.'

'My parents couldn't afford to put 3 meals a day on the table for me, it was a rare occasion when I had 3 meals a week! As a result I could never put weight on. this is all because of my damaged childhood.' Maeve responded as she brushed her hand through her now shoulder length hair.

'Tell me about it.' Charles spoke as he sat down on Maeve's bed, making sure to hand her some pyjamas that where on the bed.

'There were times where we had no money, not for bills, not for water and definitely not for food. My parents worked 2 jobs but that still wasn't enough to provide me with basic needs. My parents marriage fell apart when I was six years old. They have always argued over everything. They can't be in the same room for longer than 3 minutes as they start tearing each others heads off. They have slept in separate rooms for the last 13 years. I am an only child which is so lonely, I have no cousins as my parents are only children and both set of my grandparents are dead. I don't have much of an education as I was relentlessly bullied for being the dirty unhygienic kid. I am twenty and I don't have a single friend or a single accomplishment.' Maeve informed Charles as she began to get dressed. 'You paint me with same brush that tainted my parents, you have already made a decsion about me before you even knew me, your mother sees me as a human and your mum is trying to help me with opportunities to build a career. Your mother seems like a lovely woman Charles, so I just don't understand why you are so cruel.'

'You think I am cruel?' he questioned with a snort of laughter, as if that was the only part of the conversation he listened to. Charles felt an ounce of guilt for Maeve when she was discussing her childhood, he had everything he could have wanted at his disposal, whilst she couldnt even afford a hot shower and a decent meal.

'I think part of you liked me before you realised I was the one you were going to marry.' Maeve told him. it was true. Charles cast his mind back to the night in the bar in the south of France, the night before the worst day of his life, his last night of freedom as they say. Her voice had put him under a spell, her voice soothed him in way he had never been soothed. Maeve was a woman who intrigued him the moor he spoke to her. But how could he not hate her after everything her parents had done.

'I believe if we had met under different circumstances things could have been different.' Charles finally spoke, he was fixated on Maeve, the way that this new hair cut made her eyes sparkle in the sun.

'I believe if you would open your mind, you would realise that you don't want to hate me, you just think hating me is the right thing to do.'

'I don't hate you.' Charles stared blankly at Maeve. 'I don't hate you as much as I did.' So Maeve speculations had been correct, he did hate her in case it wasn't obvious. no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hate him, she was too intrigued by him.

'If I hated you so much, I wouldn't have bought you this.' Charles revealed a bag with the silky satin dress from the designer shop. 'You looked amazing in the dress Maeve. Will you please be my date tonight?'

Maeve blushed at Charles's attempt of a compliment, it was strange that he wasn't rolling his eyes at her. 'Okay.' She finally agreed.

Charles got up from the bed and landed a soft kiss on Maeve's cheek 'We will leave in 2 hours. You also need a new door.' Charles pointed to door that was now obviously broken.

'Why did you do that?' Maeve questioned with folded eyes, shocked how she didn't previously realise the broken door.

'My wife was in here crying, it hurt me that you was upset, I just wanted be be with you.' He smiled before leaving the room so Maeve could get ready in peace.