My Strange Addiction (1/2)

chapter eighteen

I know I have to come out of the room sometime, so might as well do it now. I take a deep breath and walk down the stairs to meet my fate.

"Pacifica?"

Maxine's confusion doesn't surprise me a bit. "What are you doing here?" She asks.

"Have you seen Dipper?" I ask, looking around the room to find him.

"Uh. . .He just left." Maxine looks down.

"Oh. . .tell him I need to talk to him about something when he gets back." I have to get out of here before she picks up anything suspicious.

"Pacifica, he won't be coming back." Maxine explains softly.

I stop midstep. "What do you mean?" I ask.

"He's left for London, where he lived previously. And he won't be coming back to work at Tech G." She says shaking her head. "Stanford was upset when he left."

"He's not coming back," I choke out. "Why?"

"Why do you care?" Maxine seems suspicious about all of my questions about Dipper.

"Because they're quote unquote, married."

I look up to see Mabel walking down the stairs. "He proposed to her for the company publicity and she agreed to it. They've been lovebirds ever since. Oh and Penny," she turns to me, "try to keep it down the next time you two have sex."

My eyes widen and my face turns a deep red. Maxine's eyes are wider than saucers. "There won't be a next time," I reassure Mabel, "because he's left for London."

Now it's Mabel's turn to be surprised. Her eyes widen and I see a flash of pain and anger in her eyes. "He can't be," she whispers, "he wouldn't have left without me."

"When did he leave?" I turn to ask Maxine who still gapes at me. "When?!"

"Ten minutes ago," Maxine replies. "Don't waste your time going after him, he's not coming back." She walks away from me and Mabel and I hear a door close.

"Mabel, I know you don't like me but I need your help." I plead with her. "We can still catch Dipper!"

"Stop caring," Mabel rolls her eyes, "he doesn't really care about you. He doesn't care about anyone but himself."

Flashbacks go through my mind. "I love you," he said, as he pulled me closer. I shake my head of the thoughts. "Are you sure you don't want to yell at him for ditching you?" I persuade.

She raises an eyebrow at me. "And what about you? What do you gain from this?"

I gulp and look away. "I will be able to call everything off, and keep my job."

~ ~ ~

Ten minutes later, I'm sitting in Mabel's car and we're heading to the airport. Mabel keeps her electric gaze on the road and for once, I am thankful for the silence over us. "Why would he just leave?" Mabel suddenly asks me.

"I dunno," I admit. "Maybe he wasn't happy here?"

"That's what I'm thinking," she shakes her head and flashes a gaze at me. "Do you really think he loves you?"

My breathing stops and I cough. "Would he have had sex with me. . .?"

Mabel opens her mouth to answer but I cut her off. "Never mind, I don't want to hear that." I look out the window and think about where Dipper is now. Would he be on a plane? Waiting for one? Would he be thinking about me?

"Why did he choose you?" She asks me.

I shrug but keep my eyes outside. "I dunno, I guess I either caught his interest, or he believed I would be the only one to try and keep my job."

"Why do you want to keep your job do badly?" Mabel asks, "if you're okay with telling me." She still keeps her eyes on the road.

"Well, I want to try and prove to my family that I will succeed here in this town. When they came by to meet Dipper, they were shocked about his house. And I felt like they finally respected me enough to make decisions and live on my own." I explain quietly. "I dunno anymore. I dunno what I'm going to tell them, because I already told them about the damned wedding and now it isn't even happening!" I dunno when the tears started pouring down my face, but they didn't stop.

Mabel must have known that this was going to happen. She swiftly pulls a tissue out of her purse and hands it to me, still keeping her eyes on the road. I mumble a thank you to her and try to dry my eyes. "Do you think he even loved me?" I whisper.

"Do you want my answer, or a happy typical Prudence answer?" She asks.

"Pacifica," I mumble under my breath. "I'll take any answer right now."

She sighs and grips the steering wheel. "I think a part of him loved you. But the way he watched you, it made him seem like a predator and you were his prey. But the other part of him was confused about his feelings. I'll let you in on a little secret," her voice becomes quiet. "Dipper and I weren't raised properly. We never really had parents to show us the typical relationship of what the usual person wants. So when I dated, I would walk all over my boyfriends. And when Dipper dated," she trails off into a silence.

"When Dipper dated. . .?" I try to squeeze more information out of her but she remains silent for the rest of the way.

What was Dipper like before me?