Finding Love Again

Chapter 29

Wanda took care of Steve all day long even though he didn't want her to be there. He knew she wanted to talk to him, but he wasn't ready for it. He knew Wanda wanted to speak about Sharon. Wanda had never liked his relationship with Sharon, but he always thought she was jealous. Now, he wasn't so sure. He was tired of people trying to talk him out of marrying Sharon. It was as if he were a lovesick teenager that couldn't think for himself. As evening came, he no longer felt the killer headache from that morning. He was back to his normal self, well, more or less. He still felt guilty about what he had said to Livy, but she wasn't here with him or Wanda. He didn't even know whom she was with.

Wanda so graciously cooked him dinner, and they both ate in an uncomfortable silence. She had opened her mouth several times to say something, but she would just close it again. After both Steve and Wanda cleared the dishes from the table and had started up the dishwasher, Wanda finally broke the silence. "Steve," she said with all seriousness, "we need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about," Steve coldly answered. "I appreciate all you've done for me today, but I really think you should leave now."

Wanda laughs bitterly. "You really think I should leave? How do I know you're not going to repeat last night? It was pure luck Natasha was in the same bar as you. Who knows where you'd be if it weren't for her. Besides, there is something I've been wanting to talk to you about. Now that you aren't busy, it's the perfect time to talk."

"I promise you I'll stay here tonight. I don't think I want to go through another hangover. As for me not being busy, I actually have some work to catch up on."

"That can wait." Wanda grabbed his hands and pulled him into the living room. "You obviously know what the subject of what I want to talk about is, and I know you don't want to talk about that. But, Steve, for the good of Maggie, you need to hear me out."

Steve sighed in frustration. "Fine." He sat down on the couch and looked at the floor waiting for her to begin.

"I should have told you all of this as Livy had been telling me, but for some reason, I listened to her pleas to not tell you. Now, it's time you should know. If you don't believe me, you can always ask Thor, Jane, and Darcy. I know Livy has shared some things with them as well." Wanda paused to collect her thoughts and find the best place where to start. "So, you have seen Livy and Sharon interacting, but you don't know how they get along when you aren't present."

"Of course, I know how they get along. They are all smiles when they come back from an outing together, and they both tell me they had a wonderful time," Steve scoffed.

"Have you ever considered that Sharon has been lying and putting up an act?"

"Now, why would she do that? She loves Livy just as much as I do. She doesn't need to lie about that or pull an act together. I've seen it with my own eyes."

"How about I tell you what Sharon has done and said to Livy over the course of the months?"

"Go on ahead."

"Well, before Peggy died, she said that she never wants to have any kids."

"She could have changed her mind," Steve interrupted.

"Steve! Let me talk!" Wanda snapped at him. She wasn't too fond of his cocky demeanor. "It actually surprised me that she agreed on dating you. At first, she would get along well with Maggie, but it was all an act. After a while, she started to get bored every time you asked her to spend some time with Maggie alone, so she started letting her work interrupt her and eventually, she just stopped spending time with her altogether. Maggie would either be at the office waiting until Sharon got off of work so that she could come home or with me because she would ask Sharon to take her to me. Maggie tried very hard for Sharon to like her, and she tried her best to learn to love Sharon. She would give her pictures she drew or colored, but Sharon would brush them aside. Many times, she would find the drawings in the trash. When she wanted to hug Sharon, she would tell her to get her dirty hands off her work clothes. Trying to give Sharon a kiss was also a complete disaster. You know that Maggie's kisses can be slobbery at times, so when she gave Sharon a kiss, she yelled at her for all the saliva she put on her cheek, claiming that she would mess up her makeup. Because of all those little things, Maggie started retreating into her little shell whenever she was with her. So you wouldn't find out about this, Sharon started telling Maggie to lie to you. She would bribe her with candy, toys, and clothes. Of course, she never mentioned to Maggie that she couldn't tell me, so she told me everything. After a while, Maggie got stubborn and didn't want to cooperate with what Sharon told her to do. It bothered Sharon and stressed her out, so she began threatening her that once she marries you, she'll send her to boarding school. Once Maggie found out what that was, she got terrified and meekly started to follow every order Sharon gave her. On top of that, if you haven't noticed, she bails out on most important events in Maggie's life, like the ballet performance. She also bails out on you because of work, yet you still want to marry her," Wanda finished, hoping that this would get Steve to open up his eyes and stop this.