deepest desire • klaus hargreeves

ONE

"Lying fucking bastard." Maria repeated for what seemed the millionth time in the past hour. This was supposed to be the first day of the rest of her life. Today she was supposed to marry whom she thought was the love of her life. It now seemed like another lifetime in which she had eagerly adorned her porcelain dress and raced to the chapel, her darling sister Celine by her side, only to be greeted by the solemn faces of her friends and family as she caught sight of the empty alter.

He had never arrived. Had he ever planned to? Their whole relationship seemed like a fever dream, a sham, a complete and utter lie. All those years filled with kisses and hand holding and promises of being together forever - all of it was now reduced to nothing. John had been her childhood sweetheart, the only man she ever had eyes for. And now he was just gone. Maria could only hope and pray that she would never feel the pain she had felt when she saw that empty isle. Like someone was ripping her heart out and cutting it up in front of her. And the sheer embarrassment of seeing the pity that every guest wore as they saw the lonely bride. It was enough to make her hurl.

And once she had fled the scene and raced back to her family home with tears in her eyes and sobs ripping through her throat - she did. Several times. And once she had nothing left to retch she got to her feet and in a fit of fury tugged her wedding dress off her body, grabbed the nearest pair of scissors and ripped it to shreds. Celine had given her sister a few private minutes before bounding into the room and picking her up from the pile of shredded fabric.

"I know Maria, I know. Just say the word and I'll gut him." Celine promised, running her hands through her sister's hair, soothing her as her sobs died down to a soft sniff. "I can't stay here Celine." Maria told her sister, peering up at here. "I need to get out of here. Somewhere far away. The thought of having to go about my life knowing that there will be all those whispers. 'Oh look it's the jilted bride' or 'did you hear the maguires youngest can't even keep a man' my reputation is ruined Celine."

"You never cared about that before Maria." Celine pointed out as her sister gently removed herself from her embrace and reached for an outfit from her wardrobe, suddenly aware she stood only in her undergarments. "I know, but this is different from when we were kids. This can stop me from ever getting married, you know how the men in this town are. And besides I want to live. I want to go somewhere far away where no one knows who I am. Where I'm free to just be myself." She explained as she tugged on a lilac dress.

"And so what are you going to do? Live out our childhood fantasy and flee to America?" Celine chortled and she stood and zipped up her sisters dress for her. Celine was greeted with silence. "Maria?" The younger sister turned to face her sister, her blue eyes cutting through her like glass. "I - I don't know Celine. Maybe. I mean it's so far away, it's my chance to start again."

"You're right Maria." Celine sighed, and Maria's eyes widened. "It's so far away." Maria ducked her head in shame only for her sister to place her hand under her chin and raise it to meet her gaze once more. "But if that's what you want to do then I will help you. Mary's Jimmy works at the docks he should be able to get you on a boat. The trip might take a little longer but it will be a whole lot cheaper."

Maria nodded furiously as she blinked back the tears. "Thank you Celine."

And that was the true beginning of Maria's new life. That night her and Celine packed up her stuff and reminisced about their favourite childhood memories. Telling her mum and dad has been a whole different scenario. Her mum had cried, begging her daughter to stay while her father merely held his wife, smiling sadly at his child. Once she realised that she wasn't backing down, Maria's mum rushed to her and held her close, covering her face in kisses. Her father had made her promise to be safe and to write home as often as she could - which of course she swore she would.

And when it was finally time for her to go her father handed her a small envelope. "It's not much." He admitted. "But it's all we can afford, and I hope it will help you - even if it's only a little."

And that was it. That was the day that Maria had left her home in Ireland behind for America. The trip to America was utterly nauseating but worth every moment of it. The first couple of months was rough, she was unable to find a job anywhere and the money was not lasting. Maria had been on her last dime when she had walked past the flower shop at the end of her block and spotted the sign posted in the window that read 'job vacancy'.

And despite having no experience, despite having no one and nothing - she somehow had gotten the job. Where it was out of pity or curiosity at her accent, May Jones had taken one look at the girl and told her she started in the morning. Things had gotten a lot better after that, and Maria would always be grateful to May for taking that chance on her. Within a few months she had managed to earn enough money to move out of the shack of a motel she had been staying in and instead rent the apartment above the flower shop that May owned. May of course had said Maria could live there rent free, but Maria refused. The woman had already been too kind.

And that was how Maria had been living for the past three years. Utterly content in her simple life. She worked full time in 'May's Bouquets' and then retired to her apartment at the end of the night to read or write letters to her family, all with a large mug of tea in her hand.

That was until she met Klaus Hargreeves.