The Magnificent and The Maleficent by Heron Djenne Canvasback

Chapter Six: Paw Laws

Cordelia and Cecilia sat in their shared history class.

"There's a ten-minute waiting rule for professors, right?" Cecilia stared at the time on her cellphone. "History is already about lost time."

"Fifteen minutes after class should have begun." Cordelia laughed. "Then we can leave without being counted absent."

"Ugh! The past can't be changed. It can only be discovered and studied."

"I like it." Cordelia pulled out her notes. "You never told me what your fascination with rock stars are though?"

"Like Matty?" Cecilia blushed solid red. "They're just really sexy to me. They have that it-factor."

"How exactly? Is it the singing, the playing, stage presence, fame and fortune, or what?"

"I was a premature baby." Cecilia checks the time again. "I used to have really bad anxiety. I would shake, and I couldn't really sleep. My parents noticed that I was calm whenever my older cousins would be watching anime in our grandparents' den. That's when my folks started playing anime for me, taking me to conventions, and seeing Japanese movies. I grew up on the Japanese culture brought into the United States. As a pre-teen, I really got into Japanese music outside of the musicals and cartoons. I definitely fell in love with the boy bands and pop idols anime. I promised myself, in high school, to marry a Japanese rockstar; love is how I'll thank Japan for curing me."

"Aw. I didn't know that." Cordelia hugs her. "Did you tell Matsumoto?"

"I told him after the party." She smiles. "He thought it was really romantic."

"I guess some things really are destined to be."

"He passed my compatibility test." Cecilia said. "We watched Frosty with me while we ate Frostys."

"You two are so adorable." Cordelia laughed. "Love should be that sweet."

"Yeah." Cecilia blushed. "What about Geoffrey and you? He's your man in a uniform. Have you always wanted to be an Air Force wife?"

Cordelia grinned. "I didn't have any dream man schemes." She looked at her notes in embarrassment. "My war vet and I just happened. He's awesome, and that doesn't mean perfect. He treats me like a man should treat a woman. He's not over the top. He's not the center of drama. He's not difficult. We're normal. That's what I love. He's real. We don't have to play games. We can vulnerable. We have those honest talks. It feels like we're in love, and not just in a relationship. We're just being ourselves. We're just taking care of ourselves, while also taking care of each other. it feels like we just come together naturally."

"I get it." Cecilia patted Cordelia on the back. "He's not always available, but he's reachable. He's there once he can be. He isn't pushy. He does. There's no pressure. There's no rush. He guides you, but you don't have to just follow his lead. He wants you to be comfortable, feel loved. He wants you two to be in agreement, so he pays attention and listens. That's how he learns how to love you. And you also only love him only the way he needs to be loved."

"Yeah. Relationships aren't easy, but there's an ease about our love. We have to work together, but we don't have to try hard to make us work. I don't have to struggle with him to be open with me. I don't have to second-guess him, because we have a secure level of trust."

Cecilia nodded. "When you don't ghost each other, test each other. or obscure stuff, you're free to just love each other."

Professor Golf walked in right at the fifteen-minute mark. "I timed my arrival perfectly for today's lesson."

Cecilia rolled her eyes, but she also smiled.

***

Some revelations are devastating. Cordelia remembered her parents' divorce. She doesn't don't think she'll ever forget the slow destruction of their marriage. It's inseparable from her knowledge of her mom. The deterioration of her mother's health eroded the marriage. Her mother filled her emptiness with money, men, drinks, and drugs.