Money Trees

28 ✮ if you let me

There are only about 3 chapters left so I'm trying to finish them quickly. After this I am so done with this app <3

I love the characters and the world I've created but the lack of reads and recognition has become disheartening and I need to focus on the real world now.

Love,
-hexed

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Mai was so fine. 

"I'm so fine!" She murmured to herself as she waited for someone to answer the door.

She was so fine. And she made sure Oliver and Charlie knew that by dropping into their apartment without any warning at eight in the morning on a Saturday. Her arms were full with Mille-Feuille pastries and their usual coffee orders; a soy latte with a shot of vanilla for Charlie and a very boring americano for Oliver.

Oliver was the one who answered the door, still clad in his t-shirt and boxers and rubbing his tired eyes.

"What?" He croaked at her.

"Morning, brother!" She exclaimed, letting herself in. "I brought breakfast!"

He watched in confusion as she set herself in front of the TV and flicked it on.

"What?"

She beamed at him. "Oli, it's eight! How are you guys not up yet?"

  "We are now," Charlie said, trudging down the stairs. He too was still in his boxers but had slipped on an unbuttoned shirt. "What's happening?" He turned to ask his fiancé.

  Oliver shrugged. "I think she's going through something."

  "I'm not going through something! I just missed my brother and my brother-in-law-"

  "Not married-"

  "And I wanted to do something nice for the two of you! So I brought breakfast!"

  Charlie looked at her incredulously before slowly taking the box of pastries and his coffee from her.

  "Thanks..."

  Oliver chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "So, you're fine?"

  "So fine! I sent Maddie a review I typed up and I'm really proud of it. I'm totally over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I'm finally moving on with my life."

  "Good. Because Dennis Roth's retrial is next week and I assume Alex Roth will be at it."

The mention of Apollo's real name hit her like iced water, but Mai quickly forced a bright smile, hoping neither Oliver nor Charlie would notice her brief drop of façade.

"Oh," she said, a little too quickly. "Right. The retrial." She busied herself with unwrapping a pastry, trying to focus on the delicate layers of Mille-Feuille instead of the knot forming in her stomach. "Good for him. I mean, not good, but, you know... closure. Or whatever."

Oliver raised an eyebrow, folding his arms and leaning against the wall, his skepticism palpable. "You didn't know about the retrial did you?"

  She didn't.

  "I did! And I don't care. I'm so over all that.," Mai replied, waving him off with forced nonchalance.

  Charlie, perceptive as ever, took a careful sip of his latte before weighing in. "Look, Mai, if you're not totally over him, that's okay. Breakups are messy. You don't have to pretend you're invincible."

"I'm not pretending anything!" She shot back, a bit too defensively. The truth was she didn't know how she felt. She hoped that maybe if she said she was over him enough times that eventually she would just get over him.