No Regrets, Only Memories

A Revelation Unexpected

Daniel

"What the fuck was that?" Michael whispered to me as we followed Maeve and her team quietly up the stairs to our rooms to change.

She was clearly off, anyone could see that. When looking into her eyes though, instead of the normal light and the joking demeanor that she usually has when I try to have a silent conversation with her, I saw nothing. It was like she was looking through me instead of at me, her eyes were glassy and her face was devoid of any emotion. She didn't say a word during the entire debrief and when she was done, she stood and silently left the room. I had never seen her like this before.

"I don't know. She said something happened last night, but she wasn't like this after the race..." I answered Michael's silent question.

"No kidding. You should go talk to her." I shook my head.

"I think she needs a minute. She's coming over later and I'll talk to her then."

Michael and Charlotte didn't respond to that as we made it back to my room. Charlotte left to get some work done in the press room while I grabbed my stuff to head to the energy station. I would shower and change at home, but I was expected to show face with the team at the station.

They were more than happy to see me, greeting me with resounding cheers as I made my way to the pool. A ceremonial dip and some schmoozing later and I was back at my place, showered, changed, and definitely already on my way to being hammered. With the two events I was expected to be at, I wanted to let Maeve know I'd be by in about an hour.

Daniel R.

Hey. I'm just gonna hit these two parties, shake some hands, and then I'll be by. Do you want red or beer tonight? 😊

It was a simple text, one I had sent her specifically a million times. Only she didn't respond. She always got back to me when she wasn't actively doing something. I wanted to chalk it up to her being on a run or something to cool down. When 9 PM rolled around and I hadn't heard from her, I started to get concerned. I needed to find her and that started with me letting Michael know that I was leaving.

That only made me more concerned when I saw him in a very stressful looking conversation with Angela and Pyrita on the balcony or the club we were at.

"Hey," I walked up, clapping Michael on the shoulder, "I'm gonna head out and go see D. You gonna be ok tonight?" Michael went to say something but stopped to look at Angela.

"You have to tell him." Michael responded, but it was directed to Angela.

"Tell me what?" I asked, confused as to what was going on.

"I actually came here to ask Michael if he had seen Maeve," Angela sighed," she was actually offered her first official sponsorship and Christian wanted me to give her the good news. When I went to knock on her door though, it was open and she wasn't in there. Since you live here, we shared a suite this week. I didn't hear her leave or anything and she's not answering any of my calls or texts. I thought maybe she actually came out to celebrate with you, but Michael said you haven't seen her since after debrief..."

I furrowed my eyebrows, staring at her. Maeve didn't just go missing. She never went this long on radio silence. Concerned was barely able to describe how I felt. They didn't need to know that though. Whatever was going on with her, no one needed to be worried or involved. So I covered the best I could.

"She's asleep at mine then. She knows where the spare key is and she said she wasn't up for celebrating after not getting a ton of sleep last night. I can have her call you when I get there and wake her up if you want?" I gave Angela a reassuring smile and she let out a noise of relief.