DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Characters of Maggie Stone or Bianca Montgomery or any other resident of Pine Valley that may appear during this story. That privileged goes to ABC and All My Children.
CHALLENGE: Written as part of the 1001 Nights Challenge.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Not Pretending Tonight
By Megs
Maggie sat in an empty apartment. This apartment used to be filled with life. Now it was dead. Maggie looked around the room and felt her heart constrict. Bianca had left. She'd taken what she could and had left during the night. They had been living together for months. Maggie couldn't understand why Bianca would just leave as she had. They had been doing fine. There hadn't been any indication that Bianca was unhappy or even uncomfortable living here anymore. They had this perfect little routine that hadn't failed them yet. They would wake up an hour apart. Maggie would be the first up, she'd take a shower and when she got out Bianca would slip in. Maggie would make them both breakfast while Bianca showered and got dressed. They would eat together, talking about anything and everything, and then they would both head off to work and school. They'd get home within the same half hour of each other. Bianca would make dinner, or they'd order in, they'd watch TV while dinner was cooking and then they'd sit at the bar and eat dinner together. It had been simple, precise and now it was over and Maggie didn't know why.
There had been a note. It had given no explanation. It had given no reasons, no fuel for anything. It had been simple and straightforward. Bianca couldn't stay here anymore. That was all. There was no reason. Not that Maggie hadn't come up with hundreds of reasons on her own. What bothered Maggie the most was she had no idea what had happened or what had been coming. It was unexpected and unforgivable. Bianca had left her. Bianca had done what Maggie had intended on doing months ago but had promised Bianca she wouldn't. They had promised each other they wouldn't do something like this. They wouldn't hurt each other.
Maggie found she couldn't stop the tears that fell from her eyes. No one was here to see her cry and that was the only reason she was crying. In the morning she would pretend that nothing had happened and nothing was wrong. She would suffer on the inside and look completely happy and the same on the outside. She'd pretend to be herself. She'd become good at pretending. But for tonight she wouldn't pretend to be okay. Tonight she wasn't going to sit around and look at the world through rose-colored glasses. No, tonight she was going to sit here and cry and drink. Tonight she was going to acknowledge that she wasn't a magician. Tonight she wasn't going to pretend that there was a magic word that could make everything better. There was no such thing as magic or love for that matter. Not for her. Never for her. With a sigh Maggie took a swig from her beer bottle. Dreaming of happily ever after was for another night. Not tonight, because tonight she was facing the truth. She wasn't pretending and she wasn't dreaming. She was seeing, and seeing made her aware of what she had and didn't have.
"No such thing as magic." Maggie whispered to herself as she took another long drink from her bottle. When she found it empty she let out a pitiful dark laugh. She dropped the bottle to the ground and let it lie with the rest of the empty bottles there. Tonight was different. Tonight she wasn't all right and she wasn't going to make herself believe that everything could and would get better. Love, magic, and 'happily ever afters', weren't real. Not anymore. With a laugh Maggie waved her hand around, as if presenting the empty room to some unseen guest.
"Abracadabra!" Nothing happened. More laughter ensued. "Nope…see no magic." Maggie spoke to the empty room. "Nothing's different." Maggie whispered and more tears fell. Tonight, nothing was all right and sometime in the future that would be all right.
The End