my daughter is a pryce. | {marina/mackenzie oneshot}

my daughter is a pryce. | {marina/mackenzie oneshot} May 24, 2023 13:29:37 GMT -5

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Post by umber vivuus 12b 🥀 [dars] on May 24, 2023 13:29:37 GMT -5

She carried
with her, as always,
a sense of calm as she
walked across the barren lot
of Short Sue's Diner, the only place
her ex-son-in-law would agree to meet up,
to even hear her out. Though her pride stung,
this was the most progress she'd amassed, and was
after two years of trying and failing to find some way to
still be a part of her granddaughter's life. If Mackenzie needed
it to be on his terms, that was something she was going to have to
work with.

The lighting inside was dim: cheap fluorescents flickering above head in yellowed-glass domes. It smelled of burning coffee and frying meat, and she could hear the sizzle of bacon on the stovetop from the entrance. There was exactly one server, and she was surprised to see that it wasn't Mackenzie's mother, Juno. It hadn't slipped past her that Mackenzie had asked to meet at his mother's workplace; she'd assumed it was for a sort of back-up situation. Juno could still show up. For all she knew, the woman may have been the one cooking the bacon in the back.

But there, in one of the only two booths occupied at the moment, was Mackenzie. Alone. She quickly shook off the sting, as she'd slightly been hoping that he'd bring Violet along.

He stood when he recognized her: politely but hesitantly, as had always seemingly been his philosophy around her. When she was close enough, he offered a hand to shake, and then gestured toward her seat just as he was supposed to. She thanked him and draped her coat over the back of the booth before sliding in across from him.

"How have you been?"

It'd always been little more than formalities, really.

"Well enough," he responded earnestly, with a forced smile, "yourself?"

"I suppose I've been better."

Now was normally the part where he was obligated to ask her why. He didn't. The moment came and went, and there was only pause. She cleared her throat and sat back, her face long and haunted and, surprisingly, not entirely performative.

"I've been... lonely. You know? You marry young, and you have all of these children, and you build your life. You grow used to certain things: the noise, the messes-"

"What is this about?"

Mackenzie leaned forward, elbows on the table as he stirred the cup of coffee in his hands. Marina straightened her her own posture.

"I would like to see my granddaughter. I've already lost so many- my children, my niece... Last year, Valentino-"

"I heard. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Elena is all grown up, Sebastien is busy... Jacinta still doesn't speak to me, either."

She watched as the look in his eye grew from uncertain to annoyed. He set his jaw and looked away, out toward the parking lot as the waitress waltzed over.

"Two eggs, two bacon, one toast! Is that gonna be all?"

Her eyes flitted between the two of them. Marina shook her head so the lady smiled.

"Well let me know if you need anything! I'll be back
around in a bit to check on you."

Once she was
gone, Marina opened
her mouth to say more, but
Mackenzie held up a hand to quiet her.

He'd been dodging phone calls for as longas he could,
come up with excuse after excuse for why he couldn't meet up
with Marina Salazar. But Marina wasn't a woman who was used to not getting what she wanted in the end. He knew avoiding her was only prolonging the relentless endurance she'd used her entire life to get her where she was. The time inevitably came where he'd backed himself into a corner and now here he was.

He knew exactly what this conversation was going to be about. He'd known the whole time. That was why he'd been avoiding it in the first place. He decided it was best to do it somewhere public for witnesses, and somewhere he could trust so that they were reliable witnesses. See the sort of shit you have to think of when you accidentally marry the princess of a crime organization and she doesn't tell you until she's about to give birth to your daughter?

"What goes on between you and your daughter isn't any of my business anymore, Marina."

And he didn't feel sorry for her. For either of them. They both made their beds, now that is what they'll struggle to sleep on for the rest of their lives.

"Now, what goes on with Violet is my business. And allow me to be perfectly clear: She is staying with me. She's been with me for the past three years, and she's not going anywhere."

Marina reached out to grasp his hand and he shrugged it off. She looked hurt, which was comical since this was probably the first time he'd ever seen her display any sort of actual emotion other than cold rage in the decade he'd known her. She must have been desperate to get that yes.

"I know that," she said in a hushed voice, "I only want to see her. To help! Things are different now, Mackenzie. I'm different. It'll just be between you and I, we don't have to involve anyone else!"

"It's dangerous. Do you get that? I have to protect her. I have to think about her."

He was struggling to keep his voice level as his emotions began to churn.

"I know, I understand! That's why I'm telling you- I'm promising you that things aren't like they were when Valentino was around."

She said her own husband's name like it was a curse, lower than the rest of what she was saying. And her eyes flicked to the table when she said it as well, before rejoining eye contact for the very next word.

"I just want to know her. She's still a Salazar at the end of the day, that's all."

Mackenzie stood very suddenly at this.

"My daughter is a Pryce."

It came out pretty loudly, and he himself winced from it before he continued in a more quiet, even tone: "I'm sorry that you've wrecked your family, but you don't get to try again with mine."

He turned to leave without saying another word, and without eating a single bite of his food. Once he was all the way across the parking lot, he spared a single glance back at the window where they'd been sitting. Marina still remained in the exact same spot, staring blankly ahead at empty space. And he watched as slowly, her head tilted down and she pressed her hands to her face in disappointment.

He hesitated. And then he turned back around, and kept walking in the opposite direction.