Insanity (Sequel To Madness)

Welcome Home

I arrive back at my temporary home from my meeting with Allan happily. I'm in a much better mood now than I was when I left. At least now I have my mind at ease that I won't loose all power anytime soon. However, I still have to handle Violet and calm her down at least a little. I open the front door, which seems to be unlocked, and walk inside, carefully closing the door after me.
"Hey Shane, I didn't realize you left." Wade greets me from the living room couch.
"I only went to go speak with Allan about a few things. Have you seen Violet?" I question him as I loosen my tie slightly.
"Yeah, she actually told me about what she found, even gave me a picture of him." Wade tells me with a sense negative emotion in his voice. I nod slowly and lean against the wall near the door.
"I was going to give you the pictures when you were ready. I didn't believe that seeing pictures and talking about someone who recently died is good for you. I thought that once you all had time to heal and think things through a little better, then I would give them. She also found pictures of Ian, which I actually wanted to archive before you all went looking through my things." I explain, crossing my arms.
"Oh, just the person I wanted to talk to." Violet announces in a sarcastic tone as she enters the room. I stay silent and watch as she glares at me and grabs a coffee mug from the small coffee table and begins sipping on it.
"Your intentions were good, Shane, and I didn't think they were bad anyways. Just this kid wanted to talk to you about it, she thinks you did some huge crime." Wade whispers playfully.
"I don't think it's a crime, I'm just upset that, even though you seem to know me so well, you somehow didn't realize how much I love Jack." Violet states calmly as she takes another sip from her coffee mug.
"What do you mean?" I ask, completely confused. Of course I realized that her and Jack were in love, and I knew that from the beginning.
"You thought that me thinking about him or talking about him would hurt me. And yeah, it did. It killed me just to say his name, but now all I want is him. Anything from him. A shirt, a smell, a memory, a picture." Violet stares at me while she speaks and takes in a deep breath. "I need him. I need Jack to stay with me, I can't lose him. If I had the pictures you hid from me earlier, I'd be feeling much better I think. Since I believed I had to forget him entirely, that no trace of him would be left. But, come to find out that there are a lot of traces, and you his them from me? For what? My own good? My sanity?" She asks me. She suddenly starts laughing and shaking her head while keeping eye contact with me the entire time. "I lost everything a long time ago, I had nothing else to lose, Shane." Violet states as she takes a long drink from her coffee mug. She then stands and walks past me down the hallway. I take in a deep breath before I speak and muster up the courage as she makes her way almost half way down the hall.
"You never lost me." I call to her, slowly turning my head towards her. Violet turns around and looks at me ins shock.
"I never had you, Shane. You never are there to support me, or help me, or do anything that a real husband would do. You know, I think the real reason why we have a fake marriage is because no one could actually love you. You have no emotion, or anything, to love." Violet spits her words as she opens the door to an empty room and walks inside, slamming it behind her. As she speaks those last words I feel something break inside me.
"She's just pissed off right now, what she said isn't true, Shane." Wade tells me while he continues to lounge on the couch.
"I suppose..." I mumble to myself as I make my own way to my room. Inside, I find my documents skattered all over the floor and, in red lipstick, painted on the wall is the words "I can handle myself." I sigh and fling my tie off my neck and onto the messy floor. I push my suitcase and many classified documents to the floor off my bed and replace it with myself spread across my bed. I grab my com from my pocket and look through a few contacts before I decide on the one I had been looking for.
"Yes, this is Liam speaking." He answers. I breath heavily as I answer him.
"It's Shane." I tell him as I place my arm over my face.
"Oh, hey. I was getting tired of talking business, so what's up buddy?" He responds through the static of my com that seems to have become constant. Perhaps I'll have to replace it sometime soon.
"My wife is angry with me, and I'm staying in District 6 with Allan King. Does that explain enough?" I question with a small laugh.
"Oh... Why Allan? He's the one who's a bit unstable, right?" Liam questions me.
"Yeah, and he dragged his daughter out of the room while at a dinner that he invited me to." I tell him with a heavy sigh escaping my lips.
"Ouch, he's probably pretty embarrassed about that one. Why didn't you just come stay with me? I'd let you and your wife stay here if you wanted." He offers. I shake my head and take in another deep breath.
"I wouldn't want to involve you in my problems, Liam. My life is currently much too complicated, and I'd hate to involve an old friend like yourself." I admit.
"Well, the doors of District 16 always open for you if you need it. I can tell that you don't want to explain your life, so I won't ask, but at some point I'd love to hear about your stories on drama. And I'd love to chat more, but I actually have a meeting with business owners. I promise, I'd much rather stay and talk to you, but business is business." Liam apologizes. I nod to myself slowly.
"I know, you go to the meeting, business is more important." I tell him sternly.
"I know, you're the king of business, Shane. Anyways, I'll talk to you later, bye." Liam whispers that last word as he hangs up the com. Oh, how I've missed talking to my old friends.