Broken

21.6 Mae Schnautz

Spring 1998, West residence

"Mae! So there you are!", Linda almost jumped when she entered the door.

Mae came to hug her sister. She felt sorry that she had made her worry.

"We've looked everywhere for you, after you didn't come back for a while!", Linda continued then. "You should also call Herbert, he went - "

Linda stopped when she noticed the suitcase.
"You know now what you're doing?", she asked quietly.
Mae nodded.

Linda pulled her to the sofa to sit down with her, waiting for her to talk.
"I'll move to Myshuno tomorrow morning!", Mae started. "I met this nice girl last time when I was shopping there, and she was looking for a roomie! Her appartement is small but cheap, and bartender jobs are easy to find, so I'll have no problem paying it! I even met someone that would help me find one! And in autumn I'll start business classes for working adults, and eventually start my own restaurant! I finally have to make that cooking class degree worth it!" Mae beamed out of excitement while telling Linda her plans.

"Mae... this sounds already perfectly planned... but you never even told me anything", Linda said quietly.
Mae's smile disappeared suddenly, when she saw her sister's face.

"Well - it's... I didn't really want to leave... I just checked out other possibilities, while shopping with Marie in Myshuno...", she stuttered.

"But - I just cannot stay here anymore! I'll turn into a freaking zombie! Everyday is the same shit, meeting the same boring neighbours, doing the same boring housework for a man who doesn't know what's a laundry basket, and the most challenging conversations being whose kid dropped out of high school and if Mrs. Pulp really cheated on her husband! And maybe I wouldn't have mind everything so much, but then I - "
She stopped for a few seconds.

"Linda, you have your research which keeps you excited, but I... didn't even manage to get a job at the local canteen to at least experiment with food... and I..."
Mae hesitated again.

Linda had quietly listened to everything so far.
"Mae, what's the real reason you want to leave?", she asked. "You wouldn't run to another town just because you want to break up with Herbert." Her face had changed to worried.
Linda just knew her too well. It was no use to beat around the bush anymore, so Mae tried to be honest.

"Well... the thing is... there at the wed- I don't know how to say it...", Mae stuttered.
Actually, she did not want to say it. She did not even want to think about it.
Admitting meant losing.
Linda watched her sister carefully. Then her lips curled into a warm smile.
"I see", she said. "You're in love. And it's not Herbert."

"No!", Mae cried out. It slipped out of her before she realized it, and the intensity sold her out. Linda even almost shrinked back.

"I should have noticed that a long time ago." Linda said. "First you don't want to go back to Paris, then you're totally absent minded after returning from that birthday party, and now you suddenly want to leave from here, head over heels, after talking to him. You love him, so you run, no?"
"It's no use...", Mae said. She felt her eyes stinging, and swallowed hard on the lump that had formed in her throat.
"We never had... a relationship... just messing around."

"Linda, he didn't even bother to tell me good bye! As soon as he got a chance to get what he wanted, he just left...  And - and now he married someone else, and he even has a kid, and..."
Mae had thought she had cried enough tonight, but the tears started to run again.
"And the more I run into him, the more everything comes back, and... I just have to get away, to finally get over it..."

"Come here..." Linda pulled her into a warm hug. "You'll find a new love, better than anything before", she said.
"I know!", Mae chuckled between her sobs. "Just promise me, you'll never tell anyone, okay? Ever."
"Promise", Linda said.

-----------------------------------------------

Author's note: 

Linda's pose is one of the poses the sweet allharloweseve created after my request.

You can download the pose set here: link

She has a lot more great poses on her blog!