Mai Legacy
1.21 - Growing Flames
Leah picked up the phone, and stared at Maverick’s number. It had to be done. It'd been nearly a month since Seth's wedding to Jocelyn.
She pressed the number and waited anxiously as the phone rang.
“Maverick?” she said in a tiny voice when he picked up. “Could you come over? I want to talk.”
“Uh… yeah, okay, Leah,” Maverick stammered. “That really isn’t a question anyone wants to hear…”
“I’ll meet you halfway. How does downtown Windenburg sound?” Leah asked, totally disregarding his comment about the question.
“…alright, Leah,” Maverick sighed, hanging up.
Leah took a deep breath and readied herself. Slipping her phone back into her pocket, she stood up and headed for the door.
“Leah, you going out?” James asked, stopping her.
Leah nodded, and James could tell something was up.
“Is there something you’re not telling me and mom, Leah?” James went on.
Leah shook her head. “I’m just going out, okay? Leave me alone.”
James nodded slowly and stepped back to allow Leah to pass. Once she was gone, he went to see Susan in the garden.
Susan was happily watering the flowers, whistling an old karaoke tune she and James had sang to each other what seemed like a million years ago. The new plants were thriving in the new location, looking better than they ever had randomly scattered in front of the house. Leah and Seth really had been right to complain.
“Susan!” James called, and she put down the watering can.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“I’m worried about Leah…” James said quietly. “She just left the house, and I couldn’t get her to tell me anything about where she was going… she almost seemed sad, Susan.”
“But the question here is, did you actually try that hard to get information out of her?” Susan asked firmly.
James hesitated for a moment, then shook his head slowly.
“That’s what I thought,” Susan said. “It’s no biggie though, come on, I’ll make us both a pot of tea. We’ll talk to Leah when she gets back.”
Leah smiled a little when she walked into the tiny little park and saw Maverick sitting there.
“You know, I saw photos of my dad, Akira, and Salim sitting here right after my dad first moved here,” she told Maverick as she sat down next to him.
Maverick smiled and nodded, but his face quickly returned to a frown. “Alright, tell me Leah, why am I here?”
“I was just wondering how you were doing now that Seth is married and I’m not sure if you’re still questioning your feelings for him, or whatever-“ Leah said very quickly.
She cut herself off. “No, that isn’t it. This is rough to say, Maverick, okay? Just bear with me here.”
Maverick gave her a curious look.
“The whole reason I haven’t really hung out with you, and why I barely talk to you even though we are dating is because of these horrific commitment issues I have. I’ve spent many a sleepless night just lying in bed stressing about being in a relationship long term. That’s why I didn’t ask you out in person and texted you while I was at Jocelyn’s that we were dating now. I didn’t even give you a choice, I’m literally the worst.”
“Hey now, Leah, it’s okay,” Maverick said, reaching out to embrace her.
Leah shoved his arm away. “No, Maverick. This isn’t okay. The way I’ve been treating you just isn’t fair. I’m going to give you all the time you need to take a break, or if you just want to end this relationship entirely, I totally get it,” Leah said, tears running down her face.
Leah fled the tiny park, leaving Maverick sitting there, struggling to come up with a response. As she wandered the streets of Windenburg, Leah realized she really didn’t have anyone she could talk to about this. She’d ruined her relationship with Seth over the last year, her mom and dad were completely ridiculous when it came to any situation ever, Maverick was the boyfriend she’d left on a bench, and she’d managed to destroy any friendship she’d ever had by generally being rude to everyone around her. Hell, she’d even managed to scare off all of Seth’s friends, it'd never been that he was bad at making friends, like James and Susan had always assumed. Didn't help that Seth had beaten her in their little competition, even Ivan had found a wife in Ulrike before Leah had managed to find the courage do anything with Maverick.
With no other options, Leah made a decision and headed for Jocelyn’s.
Meanwhile, back at home, Seth was enjoying dinner with Susan and James when there was a knock on the door.
Seth opened it up, and was surprised to see Jocelyn.
“Seth,” she said quickly. “I’m pregnant.”
A lone click sounded in the night outside the Dishman’s house.
Sara woke up and blinked her eyes slowly at the dark celling above her.
“Rene,” she groaned, nudging him.
“What?” he grunted. “You know how I feel about being woken up.”
“It’s pretty hot in here,” Sara smiled. “Could you turn down the heat?”
Rene sighed, but went over to the door to reach the thermostat that sat just outside the bedroom door. He opened the door, and gasped. Orange flames crackled against the wood that made up their hallway.
“Sara!” Rene shouted. “The house is on fire!”
Sara leaped out of bed, and upon seeing the fire, swore loudly.
Sara and Rene jumped through the flames to escape their bedroom. Looking down the stairwell, they saw a figure wearing a bright red jacket exit their dining room.
“Ivan!” Sara shrieked.
Ivan emerged from his room downstairs, yawning, only to quickly pull his foot back when he felt the heat of the fire.
“What the -!” Ivan exclaimed.
“Get out of the house, Ivan!” Rene shouted. “Your mother and I are going to grab the money from our bedside table!”
Ivan didn’t need to be told twice, and ran across the living room, narrowly avoiding burning parts of the room. He got outside, and immediately dialed the number for the fire department.
Ivan’s phone was knocked out of his hand by someone who came up behind him.
“I don’t think so…” she whispered.
Ivan watched as a bright red boot ground his phone into pieces. He was only able to catch the back of the woman’s head as she fled the scene, something he would tell the cops later.
When she was safely behind the Dishman house, Hajar turned around to admire her handiwork. She may not be able to make any moves against the Mais, but she’d be damned if she wasn’t going to do something.
Hajar watched from a distance as the blasted Mai girl, Leah, ran up to the burning house and called the fire department for Ivan from her phone. It didn’t bother Hajar. Enough time had passed that no one would arrive in time to save Sara and Rene Dishman.