Healing Hearts | Keelin

Chapter Seven

 When Keelin first returned to New Orleans, Margret was not aware of it, and she was not expecting it. That was why she was very surprised when Keelin showed up at her hotel.

 Margret was skimming through a book about the history of New Orleans she found in a local bookshop. She had thought it might be interesting, and the book did have some interesting things in it, but it wasn't like when she heard stories about the people of the city from Josh and Freya. When someone knocked on her door, she was surprisingly relieved that she could put the book away. Thinking it was some kind of room service, she called, "Who is it?" 

 "It's Keelin." 

 Margret froze for a quick moment. Then she raced to the door and opened it. It was indeed Keelin standing in the hallway, and Margret threw her arms around her and hugged her. She felt Keelin hug her back. 

 "Normally, I would think this is a little weird," she said, "But I needed a hug." 

 That didn't sound right to Margret. She took a small step back and asked, "Is something wrong?" 

 "Yeah. Um, can I come in?" 

 "Of course." Margret stepped aside. "Please, come in." 

 "Thanks." Keelin slowly walked into the hotel room and looked around. "How did you get yourself into a place this nice?"

 "By compelling the entire hotel staff," Margret answered. "Trust me, I'm not very proud of it. But never mind any of that. So, you're back." 

 "Yep. I wanted to surprise everyone with a visit." 

 "Well, you surprised me. So, did something else happen?" 

 "Yeah." Keelin sat down on the bed. "It's Freya. She...we're not together anymore." 

 "Not together? What do you mean?" 

 "I mean Freya just broke up with me. The Mikaelsons are having another family crisis, and Freya is back to doing damage control."

 "Oh? I wasn't aware that there any crises going on," Margret remarked. "It must be something very recent." 

 "Yeah, it's something going on with Hayley and Hope. Hayley's missing and Hope has something to do with it, and somehow Klaus is involved, too. But anyway, Freya seems to think she can't be in a relationship while helping out her family." 

 "It sounds like she might have thought she was doing it for your own good," Margret pointed out, trying to think of some legitimate reason for Freya to end things with Keelin. "I haven't heard many good things about her family." 

 "Yeah, but her family's past doesn't matter to me," said Keelin. "She is what matters, and she...well, she'll always put her family's needs over her own, and that means there is no her and I anymore."

 Keelin's voice broke a little at the end of the last sentence, and Margret thought she sounded like she might start crying. Unsure of what else to do, Margret gave her another hug. Keelin hugged her back again, which made Margret decide that hug might have the best thing she could do. 

 "You know, I would have thought this hugging would be a little more awkward," Keelin said as she wiped her eyes. "It's been months since I last saw you in person, but I feel like I know more of who you are than I did since the last time I saw you." 

 Margret nodded. "I'm glad I asked about being pen pals. Trust me, there are plenty of things you don't know about me just yet." She paused. "And you know, we should get to know each other better. What about a road trip, you and me?" 

 Keelin gave her a surprised look. "A roadtrip? Do you even have a car?" 

 "No, but I can get us one. I'm not used to being in one place for so long, to tell you truth. It would be good for me to go somewhere else for a while. Maybe it would be good for you, too. You never know." Keelin looked very unsure, so Margret said, "How about this? Why don't take the night to think about it? If you're not back here by nine tomorrow morning, I'll know you've decided not to join me." 

 Keelin nodded. "Okay. Let me have that time to think about it." 

 So, Margret did. And by eight that morning, she packed what little she had and got ahold of a car and was waiting outside the hotel. She thought she would have to wait until nine, but it turned out that she didn't-at about eight-thirty, she saw Keelin coming down the street. 

 "I didn't think you'd be here this soon," she said. 

 "Yeah, well, I made up my mind fast," Keelin replied. "So, you want to get going now, then?" 

 Margret smiled. "Absolutely."