3. My Dream Guy is Liam Powell

“ Gosh! I hate him so much, he's so heartless” Maya announced to her friend who was typing away furiously on her computer. Maya had gone to see Zara as soon as she left the office, with a heavy heart she had immediately complained about her boss to her.

“ It's not his fault, Maya” Zara turned to her with a smile on her face before turning back to her computer. She was trying to create content that will draw traffic to her website.

“ Whose fault is it?” Maya exclaimed glaring at her friend who was taking Liam's side instead of hers.

“ Babe, this is business. And in business, no one wants to lose out. Everyone's eyes are on the big prize which is the profit. So, don't blame him, no one wants to work without making a profit, or do you?” 

“ But not everything is about money, once in a while we should always thrive to do good to others. Losing a few million won't hurt him” Maya protested angrily banging her fists on the table.  

“ Not millions, Maya. It's Billions of dollars, the man is stinkingly rich” Zara told her as she stood up and went to the kitchen to get Maya something to drink. She knew never to argue with Maya Banks as she doesn't back down from a challenge.

Maya glared at her friend's retreating back, she couldn't help but feel jealous that her friend was taking Liam's side just because he was rich. What kind of a friend was she? Maya wondered in her mind.

“ Here, have this, I'm sure it would calm your anger” Zara smiled as she handed Maya a glass of chilled cola drink. Maya collected it from her and sipped it.

“ That reminds me, how's your blog going? Are you able to bring back your readers?” Maya asked her. She was guilty that she didn't give Zara her attention instead she was arguing with her about that heartless man.

“ Same old, same old. I'm getting frustrated with it” Zara sighed heavily as she abandoned the computer and turned to rest her back against the chair with her hands folded across her chest, she stared at her friend.

“ So tell me, how's your search going with finding, Mr. Handsome?” Zara asked her, she remembers Maya telling her about her mom wanting her to get together with Mrs. Blake's son.

“ Don't even go there. Who told you I'm looking for anybody. No, thank you, I'm comfortable being married to my work” Maya replied shrugging. She was an independent woman who did her things on her terms. She wasn't going to let any man control her in the name of marriage. 

“ But babe, you need someone to take care of you, what will you do when you are horny? I have Stanley with me. You need to get someone too” 

Maya makes a disgusted face at Zara “ I'm not horny, I don't want a man in my life. Moreover, Stanley loves you, that's why you both are still together” 

“ Fine” Zara huffed at her. Maya was one stubborn girl that she had ever seen.

“ What's your dream guy? How do you want him to be?” Zara asked her again after some time, she was trying to understand why Maya was this way.

“ Unfortunately, I don't have any dream guy,” Maya replied, shrugging like she couldn't waste her time thinking about such trivial things when she could be focusing on her work and making money to give her mom a better life.

“ Maya!!!” Zara screamed in frustration, she couldn't believe her friend. Who doesn't have a pictorial representation of their dream man?

“ Fine” Maya answered reluctantly giving in to Zara's demand.

“ My dream guy” Maya repeated with a faraway look in her eyes and a gentle smile on he lips“ I would want him to be caring, loving, intelligent, handsome with a brain” Maya answered grinning at Zara who shook her head at her.

“ Is that how to describe something? I want details, who knows maybe we might find someone on the net for you” 

“ Okay, I want my dream guy to be tall with a pointed nose, blue eyes, and chiseled chin. Lean body” Maya closed her eyes as she described Liam for Zara. At the moment, her brain could only come up with someone like him because, for the first time in her life, she was attracted to a man.

Zara smiled as she stood up clapping her hands together “ I know it, you like Liam Powell right?” 

“ Of course, who wouldn't like him but I do hate his selfish attitude. Remove that, then I'm okay with it” Maya responded sticking her tongue out at Zara who was back on her computer working.

Zara was about to respond when Maya's phone rang in her pocket, she picked it up to see a strange number“ Who is this?” Maya wondered in her mind as she accepted the call.

“ Hello! I'm I, speaking with Miss Banks?” The caller asked her immediately, the call connected, causing Skylar's heart to leap as she was scared.

“ Yes, please how may I help you” Maya answered back, getting scared. She didn't remember giving her number out to a random guy. No, she never gave her number to anybody. Her contact consists of only her mother's number, Zara's, her boss, and a few friends from school.

“ I'm calling in regard of a patient that has been admitted to our hospital, Mrs. Jessica Banks”

“ Oh my God,” Maya screamed, alerting Zara from the other side of the room as she ran to go meet her.

“ What is it, Maya?”Zara asked her, trying to pry the phone from her hands to speak to the caller herself.

“ I____ please that's my mother. Which hospital is she at?” 

“ The Calvary hospital” The man answered just before he hung up. Maya quickly packed her bag and walked out of the door with Zara following behind her. She struggled to keep the tears a bay but they kept streaming down her face as she wondered what could have happened to her mother.

“ Calm down, Maya. I'm sure it's just a minor issue, Mrs. Banks is rarely sick” Zara moved closer to her to comfort her while they waited outside her sidewalk for a taxi.

“ I know but she was alright this morning. Nothing was wrong with her” Maya protested. She couldn't help wondering why she was in the hospital. Her mother was okay this morning.

“ I know, just calmed down. At least let's get to the hospital first, okay?” Zara told her as Maya nodded and turned to wipe her eyes. Zara flagged down a taxi, they both got in after giving the name of the hospital to the driver who drove them there.

                                                                 ***

Maya ran down the corridor to the reception where a young nurse was attending to other people in front of her.

“ Please where can I find, Mrs. Jessica Banks,” Maya told the nurse who nodded and directed her to the emergency ward where her mother was. Maya couldn't go in as the nurse prevented her from going in saying that the patient needed to rest. 

Maya reluctantly sat down on the chair outside the room and bowed her head as she tries to wonder what could have happened to her mother.

“ What is going on? Is Mrs. Banks alright?” Zara's voice pulled Maya out of her thoughts as she looked up to see her friend coming down the stairs with her phone in her hands.

“ I don't know, they didn't tell me anything” Maya replied as she turned to look at her mother who was sleeping on the bed. A nurse was by her side.

“ It's alright I'm sure it's nothing serious. I need to go home, Stanley is around. I will come back and check on her tomorrow” Zara told Maya gently. She dreaded leaving her friend here but she has to do everything tonight not to lose her blog to the hands of that man, Adams King.

“ Okay. Take care of yourself and thank you for coming with me” Maya told her as she stood up to see her off.

When Maya returned to her mother's ward, she was surprised to see their neighbor Mrs. Blake in her seat, Maya was furious, she never knew Mrs. Blake will go to the extent of following her mom to the hospital because she wants to get the first-hand gossip of what's going on with her mom?

“ What are you doing here?” Maya glared at the woman who was seated in front of her with her hands folded across her chest. She was beyond angry right now with her.

“ Maya, you are here. Thank God” Mrs. Blake exclaimed excitedly, as she rummaged through her back to get her a letter.

“ Your mom fainted when she saw this, I had to rush her to the hospital” Mrs. Blake continued as she thrust the letter at a shocked Maya who collected it from her before turning it over and over in her hands wondering what was in the letter to make her mother faint.

“What is in here,?” Maya turned to ask Mrs. Blake who had stood up and was about to leave the ward.

Mrs. Blake paused on her way out and turned to look at the girl who has always hated her. If not for Jessica who needed her help, she would have never done it if it was Maya. Even after asking her to date her son, she refused as her son wasn't human like her.

“ That's the notice to vacate the apartment in the next one month. The new owner wants to build a condominium, your mother fainted after seeing that” Mrs. Blake told her and left the hospital without waiting for Maya's response. She needed to get home on time to plan where she was moving out to.

Maya was still shocked even after some minutes since Mrs. Blake had left. She couldn't come to terms with what she had just heard. How dare he? Maya cursed in her mind, he went ahead with everything even though she had told him not to. And now her mother was in the hospital because of him.

If only she knew that he had bought their apartment, she would have put in much fight into the debate yesterday and maybe, just maybe her mother won't be lying at the hospital right now fighting for her life. I will make him pay for what he had done to my mother!

“ Miss. Banks, right?” Maya came out of her thought to see a young man in a white coat staring down at her.

“ Yes, doctor. How is she? How is my mother?” Maya asked him as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She didn't know she was crying as she struggled to calm her nerves.

“ Your mother is okay. We need to watch her for the night and by tomorrow we can carry out a few tests on her. I'll suggest you go home and rest, the nurses here will take good care of your mother” The doctor replied as he patted her on the shoulder gently shaking his head before he turned to walk out of the ward.

Maya sat down on the chair, she was torn between going home and staying here with her mother. No, I need to go home to get my clothes for the office tomorrow, that heartless man needs to hear from me, Maya concluded in her mind and stood up to go home.

Maya quickly packed a few clothes that she will be using in the hospital, she didn't want to be coming back home every day. She walked to her mother's room to pack her clothes too.

 Her eyes got a bag filled with used drugs. Maya was shocked, she didn't know her mother was sick. What's the drug for? Maya wondered, she stood up and left the room after concluding that it was a minor case.

She rode the taxi back to the hospital while praying in her heart that her mother should be alright.