Mai Legacy
1.25 - Revenge of the Le Chiens
“Guys!” Leah said excitedly. “I did it! I’m a talk show host now!”
James, Susan, Akira, and Salim turned to her and cheered.
“Congratulations!”
“I knew you had it in you!”
“That’s my girl!”
“Go Leah!”
“I start tomorrow morning,” Leah went on. “Mom, Dad, you can watch Willow, right?”
“Of course,” Susan smiled.
Leah skipped out of the room happily, and everyone in it returned to the conversation at hand.
“You were saying what, Akira? You and Salim…” James asked.
“We haven’t made a decision yet, but we really did like each other better as friends…” Akira said sadly.
“We’re the greatest of friends, but when we actually have to live together, our habits do nothing but irritate each other! Akira hates that I’m always leaving to try and find something, anything, to write about, and Akira spends practically every moment jealous-“ Salim went on.
“I do not!” Akira cut in.
“You see my point?” Salim laughed.
Akira nodded sadly. “While the sex has been great, Salim and I are probably going to go our separate ways…”
“I… I’m really sorry to hear that, guys,” James frowned.
“Well, hey. We’re gonna be happier staying friends than we ever were together. If anything, be happy for us,” Akira laughed. “We stopped coming ‘round your place cause we didn’t want anyone to know what was really going on.”
“Penny put two and two together at Leah’s wedding, asked us if we were happy, and we realized we had to take some time to really consider our options. And that definitely meant keeping our distance from Seth, we both know he held our marriage in high regard and used it as a motivator for marrying Jocelyn,” Salim explained.
“Thanks for that,” Susan nodded. “Seth… you two are what made him realize he was in love with Jocelyn, not Maverick. Of course he holds the both of you in high regard…”
Just then, Seth emerged from his bedroom with Jocelyn.
“And speak of the devil…” Susan muttered.
“Oh! Hey Akira, Salim! It’s been a while!”
“Hey Seth…” Akira laughed nervously.
A short distance away, Joaquin sat at the side of his and Hajar’s bed.
“Hajar…” Joaquin sighed.
Hajar’s eyes snapped open, and she slid into a sitting position. “Don’t you Hajar me, Joaquin. I’m dying, get over it. What you need to do is figure out a plan to get back at the Mai family, and quick! I don’t have much time left.”
“But, Hajar-“
Hajar’s eyes filled with fake tears. “Oh, Joaquin, you wouldn’t deny a dying woman’s last request, would you?” She paused, and thought for a moment. “Oh, wait, hang on a minute… You already did! What was dear old Rosaline’s last request? Track down Sergio, divorce Hajar… and, well, that clearly didn’t happen… you just love me so much, and by this point, Sergio is probably dead and buried. Just like I will soon. And so will you. So, hop to it Joaquin!”
Joaquin fled the room, and Hajar laid back down in bed, exhausted by the conversation.
“Things are great,” Salim said sappily.
“We’ve just been so busy, with, you know, each other, than we just haven’t had the time to see how you and Jocelyn have been doing! How’s the baby boy?” Akira asked quickly.
“He and Willow are at daycare…” Jocelyn muttered. “You two are acting weird.”
Down the hall, Leah was talking urgently to Maverick.
“You just don’t get it, Maverick! I have a show tomorrow, my first show, mind you, and I just don’t know what to talk about! I need good ratings, Maverick, I do!”
“How about something about some crisis somewhere in the word, politics-“ Maverick suggested.
“No, no, no no! Then I’m just any other news show! Everyone’s so excited for me, and I can’t let them down, no, I can’t-“
Maverick held Leah comfortingly. “Calm down, Leah,” he said quietly. “It’ll all work out…”
Joaquin scrambled frantically throughout the house, looking for anything that would work. At that moment, he sure was grateful that Lily had stopped sending her kid to his place and his kids were off at whatever daycare Hajar tracked down, as she’d made sure it was one the Mais would never get their kids into. His kids would freak if they saw him in the panic he was right now.
His kids freaked when they saw first his grey hair, so he'd started dying it, but now, he got the feeling that after today, they'd be seeing a lot more of it. Whatever he was about to do... he knew that after this, he'd lose the motivation for any last ditch attempt at making himself look decent. Everything else was already out the window, it wouldn't be a huge loss.
Petty revenge was Hajar’s thing, not his. The furthest he’d ever gone was yelling awful things at James when he’d discovered he was trying to found a legacy of his own, and then he’d made the life-changing mistake of letting his wife know. Joaquin produced a lighter from the kitchen drawer and held it up.
He vividly remembered seeing a picture Hajar had taken just after she’d set the Dishman’s house on fire, and shuddered. This lighter had been front and center in that picture, it was practically a murder weapon. A murder that was his fault to begin with. If he’d never told Hajar about the Mais, everyone would still be happy. He’d probably be part of James’s little squad, and his poor parents would have lived longer without the stress.
Joaquin took a deep breath, and headed outside with the lighter.
“Yeah… are you guys alright?” Seth asked.
As a response, Salim moved over to Akira and the two began to passionately make out.
“Woah, woah, okay, we get it!” Seth exclaimed.
Jocelyn turned to Seth, a grin on her face. “Seth, this is like what you used to watch before we got married!”
James coughed, and Susan put her hands over her face.
Akira separated himself from Salim. “Sorry, blame that all on me, that was my suggestion!”
“Akira!” Susan exclaimed.
Joaquin gave the garden Susan tended every morning a sad look. He knew that, too. With Hajar so ill, Joaquin spent a lot of time reflecting on the past and frequently came to observe the Mai family from the bushes. Every time he did so, his sense of internal disgust at his creepiness was quickly replaced by an intense sense of regret. He’d wasted his whole life with Hajar, and his relationship with the Mai family was a prime example of that.
He took a deep breath, and set the lighter to the plants.
“He was questioning stuff, and I had to suggest something!” Akira said defensively.
“My son!” James stammered. “You!”
“Guys…” Jocelyn said quietly, an expression of fear crossing her face.
“His intentions were entirely pure, well, not pure, but good, guys,” Seth laughed.
“Guy!” Jocelyn shouted, silencing the conversation. “There’s fire outside!”
Everyone rushed outside, James hollering for Leah and Maverick as he did. They emerged from their room and joined them.
They walked up on Joaquin, who has an expression of extreme sadness on his face.
“Sorry,” he whispered before fleeing for the hills.
By the time they’d managed to put the fire out, Susan’s plants were reduced to ash. Other than that, however, the house was untouched.
“We’re going to get them back,” Susan said furiously. “This time, we’ll be the ones dragging them all the way to a courthouse in fucking Newcrest and then? We’ll win again.”
Maverick turned to Leah, a sad smile on his face. “Looks like you’ve found a story that’ll get you ratings.”
“Maverick,” Leah said, swatting him. “Not funny. As stupid as it sounds, this garden was my mom’s birthday present to us years back.”
“But you’ve gotta admit…”
“You’re right, Maverick,” Leah sighed. “This’ll be my story tomorrow.”