Richard stepped out of the conference room to a scowling Maine playing on her PSP with Ardee and Adam right beside her trying to suppress their laughter.
"Maine?" He asked as he slowly approached her. There was a worried look on his face when she just glanced at him and let out a huff as she continued to play her game.
"What's going on?" Martin asked from behind Richard, looking at the trio curiously.
"Maine did something pretty amazing awhile ago, Martin," Ardee replied in between fits of giggles.
"She kneed Marc right in the family jewels," Adam explained as he finally subsided from his laughter.
"What?!?" Richard exclaimed as he stood infront of her. He reached out to caress her cheek. "Did he hurt you?"
Maine sighed aloud as she ended the day in her game and saved it. She leaned her head to the hand that was on her cheek and she held it as well. As she stared back into Richard's eyes, her anger slowly subsided replaced by worry.
"I'm fine," she replied. "He didn't hurt me. But do you think I'll get in trouble when I kneed him?"
"Don't worry about that, Maine," Ardee assured her. "There were three witnesses that would vouch that he deserved it."
"What happened?" Richard asked, worry etched on his face.
Maine looked at Richard's face trying to gauge his mood. She sighed and answered, "he's trying to ruin Alden's memory."
"What?" A scowl formed on Richard's handsome face at the mention of his brother. He heard Adam asking about Alden but only earned a shrug from Ardee and a discreet head shaking from Martin. He turned back his attention to Maine who was looking at him worriedly.
She reached out and placed both her hands on his chest, trying to appease him. She said, "promise me first that you will not hunt him down. I think kneeing him was enough of a lesson."
"When it comes to you or Rich you know I can't promise that, Maine."
"Please!"
Richard took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. He bit his lip in frustration and just look back at Maine's hopeful eyes. He held her by her upper arms, rubbing his hands up and down to try to relax her. Even though he was very frustrated at the moment, he could still see that she was upset.
"I can only promise that I will allow Adam and Martin to restrain me in all the ways possible if I start crying bloody murder," he said, looking at Maine seriously. "I have never broken a promise to you. I'm not starting now.
"You were too upset that you actually hit someone. You never get too violent, even on your worse days, Maine. He said something really bad. And I hate it that he got you so worked up."
Maine kept her eyes on him and sighed. She asked permission from Martin to use the conference room that they just left and when she got the nod, proceeded to move towards the room with Richard following suit. Once inside, she sat on one of the chairs and started to fidget with her fingers, trying to get her mind organized so she could relay to Richard what Marc said without getting too affected by his words. Richard sat on the seat next to her, bracing himself for what he might hear.
Maine sighed again as she began to to narrate, "Captain Marc saw me playing on the PSP while I was waiting for you to come out. He is such an asshole. He not only interrupted me playing the game but I had to restart my whole day. It was harvest day, in Autumn and I wasn't able to hire elves."
Richard bit his lower lip once more to suppress his smile. 'Give it to Maine to try to make light of a serious situation,' he thought as he kept silent while she continued.
"He then started to say that my console was obsolete," she went on with a scowl. "It wouldn't be able to play the latest games that are out in the Market right now. I said it was fine since I only play 'Harvest Moon'. And do you know what he said? He said that whoever introduced me to the game should get a life. That Harvest Moon shouldn't even be worth the time spending hours in. That whoever taught me the game was just trying to get into my pants. That it was clear that it was the only reason he introduced the game to me."
Maine was fuming by then so she stood up and started pacing. But she continued, "I could ignore his flirting. I could even let the arrogance slide. But that was too much. So I hit him between the legs. Serves him right. I mean, how dare he? How dare he talk about Alden that way. How dare he say those things about my Alden, our Rich! How dare he say that about my best friend!"
When she stopped pacing and just stood there, Richard shot up from his chair and rushed to her side. Maine was already in tears. He immediately wrapped her in his arms and tried to calm her down but she continued to sob. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tight as she let him console her from her grief.
"Hey," he said softly as he tried to soothe her. "It's okay, my Heart. I'm right here. Let it all out. Just let it all out."
Richard placed a hand on the back of her head and his other arm stayed on her back, rubbing his hand in an up and down motion to calm her. He felt her hold him tighter.
"How could he say that?" Maine said as she continued to cry. "Alden was a good person. He was the only one who was patient with me when I needed a friend badly. He was always there, doing his best to make me feel confident that I would be able to be better when I had a heart condition. He gave me his heart when I really needed it! He died for me, RJ! He died for me! I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for your twin. I wouldn't have met you if it wasn't for him. He led me to you! My Home! My rock! My missing piece. He brought me home! He made sure of it!
"How could Marc say that about a person he doesn't even know? How dare he claim to know me and my life? He doesn't know Alden the way we do! He doesn't know Rich the way you do! How could he say such a thing?"
Maine was wracked with grief that all Richard could do was hold her. Marc unknowingly went too far this time. He must have thought Richard was the one who gave the PSP to Maine. What he thought was a joke, even a bad one, struck a nerve on Maine. If he wasn't holding Maine right now, he would have cried bloody murder on the other captain. Although he couldn't blame Marc entirely for this, the sight of a hurting Maine really pained his heart. But Maine was his priority. He needed to calm her down more than confront Marc. He needed to make sure she was alright. So he let her cry and he kept his hold on her never letting go, as he hummed "Central Park" softly in her ear to ease her grief.
-oo-
Richard was too focused on Maine that he didn't notice he left the door ajar, just enough for their conversation to stream out. Martin, Adam and Apple heard everything.
"Jase has a twin?" Adam said softly. Shocked by the news.
"Had," Martin whispered. "Alden was in a car accident about 8 years ago. He didn't make it but his heart was compatible with Maine, so his heart was donated to her."
"I remember Maine mentioning a brother months ago, in Milan," Apple recalled. "No wonder Jase suddenly changed when Adele teased him about a brother."
"Now it makes sense what he said a while back," Adam said. "And no wonder their connection is quite deep. A heart recipient, wow! Maine really is something else! Now I get Jase's over protectiveness of Maine."
"Guys," Martin said. "Please let this be in between the five of us. It's not juicy gossip but we should keep it contained. I personally don't know why Jase never mentioned him before but it's not our place to say anything otherwise. Jason hasn't grieved properly and apparently, so does Maine."
"This is actually quite an honor to keep something for Jase," Adam said as he added with a laugh. "It feels like I've joined a secret society."
They suddenly notice that the voices in the conference room was gone, replaced by a soft sound of someone singing acapella. They listened as Richard sang for Maine. Martin tried to peek in the crack on the door and did his best not to show his giddiness when he saw Maine enveloped in Richard's embrace, his lips near her ear as he sang the first song he has ever written for her.