Maya hesitated for the umpteenth time as she stared at the domineering building in front of her. Forcing herself to step inside was easier said than done. She had no idea what was waiting for her when she confronted him, and that made her extremely nervous. Ever since she walked out of her apartment, she'd been trying to convince herself that this was a good idea and that she was finally going to get answers from him. But now that she was here, the butterflies in her stomach returned tenfold. "Are you gonna enter or what?" A loud voice suddenly spoke beside her, breaking Maya out of her reverie. Looking up, she spotted a burly young guy standing next to her, an eyebrow raised with arms folded across his chest, "You've been standing like that for the past five minutes, are you lost?" he asked, a curious glint in his amber eyes.Maya blushed slightly in embarrassment, quickly shaking her head. A quick look at his attire told her that he was a valet. As he waited for her to make up he
Her eyes were glued on the textbook in front of her but she couldn't make sense of the words. She willed her mind to focus but it was no use – her head simply wouldn’t function right now, so with an aggravated sigh, she slammed the cover close and let her head drop against the desk in front of her."You okay, babe?"She shook her head at the question, not bothering to look up from the ground."Hungry?" She heard him ask again and she released a sigh before raising her head to meet his gaze, "You look hungry, doesn't she?" Jason turned to look at their third companion and she followed his line of sight.Derek was looking at her, more like studying her and she bristled under his gaze, "She looks disturbed."She awkwardly coughed.Jason raised a brow, "Uhhh, I think you're deviating from the topic, mate."Derek simply frowned, returning his gaze to hers. She shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny but Derek just studied her for a moment longer before standing to his feet. Jason shot hi
Her legs moved on their own accord, stumbling forward until they neared the edge of the hill. "Wow." She breathed out in awe.From this point, she had a clear view of the valley below which sparkled in the sunlight. A small pool of water was nestled at the base of the hill, the river glistened beneath them, the water flowing lazily along the bank. The water was clear and clean, the wind blowing lightly through the trees causing the tree tops to sway gently. In the distance, the sun was slowly sinking into the horizon, casting a beautiful orange glow onto the lake below."It's beautiful." She said, breaking the silence."Isn't it?" He whispered, sounding pleased, "I've always loved being able to see the sunset."She looked over at him, surprised to see that he was already behind her. "How did you find this place?"He lifted a shoulder carelessly, "Just stumbled on it during one of my secret expeditions."She shook her head, a smile playing on her lips and a fondness forming within her
"I can't believe you're making me do this."Gabrielle chuckled sweetly and placed a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek, "It'll be fun, trust me. Besides, we haven't hung out together in ages!"Maya scoffed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes as she slid out of the car and slammed it shut with much more force than necessary. She leaned against the door, watching the scene in front of her.Jason and Gabrielle had insisted they go out to celebrate the end of their midterms, while Maya thought the 'celebration' consisted of a peaceful night at their favorite pub and splurging on some cheap wine. Her two best friends had another thing in mind.So she really couldn't be blamed for her sour attitude. She gave the entrance of the club one last disdainful look before turning to knock on the window of the driver's side. Gabrielle opened it with a smile, "Just give us a minute babe, Micah is getting cold feet." She couldn't help it this time, she rolled her eyes in response, "Well, I am getting a
Maya blinked several times as if to clear her vision, but he remained in that position, his full lips curled into a sardonic grin. Maya stumbled backwards, ramming into Jason,"Woah there, maybe you had too much to drink. Let's go sit down, yeah?" He had his arms wrapped protectively around her middle.She didn't reply to him, she was unable to. Her eyes fixed on the man standing across the bar, maybe it was her eyes playing tricks on her, or some strange optical effect caused by the dim light of the club. There was no way he was in here, especially not in a school week."Babe, come on." Jason tugged at her arm, forcing her to spin towards him. "Let's go sit." She complied and he led her back to their table where Gabrielle and Micah were sitting."God can you guys not do that !" Jason called out in a horrified tone, helping me settle on the lounge chair and taking a seat beside me. "I know you guys are dating and all but the sight of you two smooching gives me the creep." He shuddered
His dark eyes were confused as they searched hers, Maya clutched harder at his jacket, tugging helplessly. She looked over her shoulder, the creep was approaching faster now. Maya could almost hear his drunken slur,She faced him again, pleading with her eyes, "Please."Alex wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her behind him. Maya hid at his back, shuffling closer as she peeked over his shoulder,The creep emerged from the shoulders, bloodshot eyes glaring daggers at them. A silent whimper slipped past her mouth, and Alex shot her a concerned glance."Hey! Come back here!" The creek slurred, swaying from side to side. "Come here while I'm still being nice." He gestured with a hand, and she swallowed tightly,"Can I help you?" Alex's deep voice reverberated and the creep froze, eyeing him carefully. She felt his back stiffen underneath her touch and his fingers balled into a fist, "That's my girl you're holding there! We came in here together." He pointed at me and I shook my hea
Hands.She felt scale-like palms caressing the sides of her face. She wanted to push the hands away, to run for her life, but she felt stuck. She screamed for help, wriggling helplessly against their hold. Her captor revealed its face then, yellow-rimmed eyes stared back at her and when he grinned, a rotten odour oozed from his mouth,"You're mine now!"Maya woke up with a startled scream, her heart pounded like crazy and her limbs felt too heavy. She placed a hand above her racing chest and tried to regulate her breathing. Blinking dazedly, she cocked her head at the sight of her reflection staring back at her.Her brown curls were all over the place, mascara was streaked to the sides of her eyes and her lipstick was all smudged. Maya gasped in horror, slapping both hands against her face,Was this what she looked like last night? No wonder Alex didn't want to fuck her! She wouldn't even fuck herself.Speaking of the devil, Maya decided to confront him this morning to demand an expl
Alex growled and captured her lips, his hands ripping her shorts apart. Maya whined lowly, pulling back to check out her torn attire,"I can't believe you tore those."He smirked darkly, "I'll be doing a lot worse to you." He captured her lips back again, pulling the material down. Maya roved her hands all over his body, touching everywhere.Maya moaned when he sunk his teeth into her skin, she tugged at the band of his shorts, silently demanding for him to get them off. Her pussy was dripping hard, she needed him inside of her...now.He understood what she wanted and shrugged off the material, flinging it to the side. They both exhaled in relief when he shoved himself into her. Maya threw her head back, moaning wildly as he pumped in and out of her,He wrapped one leg around his waist, grabbing her exposed ass with his fingers. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," He growled, his thumb finding her clitoris and rubbing,"Oh, my fuck!" Maya cried out when his fingers made contact with her flesh. "Oh
|SIX YEARS LATER|"All flu patients please come to the second floor. I repeat, all flu patients please come to the second floor."The voice behind the intercom echoed loudly in the space and she walked over to Mrs Carlyle. Before she even got within a foot of her, the woman sneezed noisily into her kerchief."Mrs Carlyle?" She gently called and the woman snapped her head. "Please go to the second floor, the nurses there will attend to you quicker."She bobbed her head up and down, grabbing her bag and rising to her feet, "Oh, thank you, darli-" She sneezed again and Maya winced as the elderly woman walked away. "It's not even winter and the flu is spreading like wildfire already." Someone said behind her and she sighed.She knew who it was without looking back, "It's heartbreaking seeing all these patients come in looking so sick." She spun around and the blonde exhaled when he saw the look in her eyes."Are you still blaming yourself for Lucy?" He placed a comforting hand on her sho
"Come on, come on!" Jason yelled at them, urging them to run faster. Her legs pumped with each step she took, her heart pounding erratically. Derek was close behind her, his harsh pants could be heard in the quiet hallway. Today was their last exam and as fate would have it, they were all writing the same course. Psychology.They arrived at the lecture hall in time and Jason raced in first, followed closely by Maya and then Derek. The hall was packed full and the professor was already at the lectern, handing out exam sheets to the students. "Thank God," Jason groaned, moving towards the end of the queue. The line moved fast, each student receiving their sheet before settling on the chair.Maya was surprised at the number of people that showed up, they weren't usually this plenty during classes and she wondered why they didn't attend any either."Thank you!" Jason quipped, collecting his sheet and hurrying towards the rows of chairs.Alex looked every bit professional today, his dar
Her mother had fallen in love with Esther Grey. She wasn't kidding, at first, the two women were quite reserved and spoke quietly to each other, sometimes speaking through Maya but after a few glasses of root beer, all three of them had loosened up and they were partying like a bunch of high school girls.They had booked a private room since Esther didn't feel comfortable being in the public eye, which she understood, and sang to their heart's content. After about an hour of jumping, drinking and screaming their lungs out, Maya decided that she had had enough and chose to lounge on the couch, rather preferring watching the two older women. She took a sip from her glass and sighed in satisfaction, her fingers were already buzzing and her vision was starting to double. She blamed the bottle of tequila that they'd added to their glasses."Maya!" Her mother called, swaying her hips lightly, "Are you sure you don't want to join us!?" She giggled drunkenly, the microphone in her hold almos
"Thank you!"She gracefully accepted the large plate of pork ribs and placed it on top of the table. Her mother made a moaning sound as she sniffed the air and Maya rolled her eyes at the childishness. "What!" Her mother flared defensively, "This smells good." She rubbed her palms together and licked her lips.Maya found the whole situation hilarious especially how last year, her mother was adamant about never eating pork because she grew up on a pig ranch and considered them her family. And now,She shook her head in amusement, unable to hide her smile. Ever since Derek showed up yesterday, her mother kept bugging her about him. Asking if he was he was her future son-in-law and complaining about how skinny he looked. Maya had told her like a billion times that they were just friends but her mother didn't buy it.According to her, friends didn't hug each other. Maya shrugged her off, deciding to take her out to dinner since it had been a long time since they had some girl's time. T
Air whooshed out of her lungs, eyes wide with surprise. She fumbled for what to say, her gaze darting between Gab and her angry-looking mother. She took another step forward, hesitantly going towards her mother. "What are you doing here-" She shook her head, realizing how wrong it sounded, "I mean it's a surprise to see you!" Her mother chuckled softly, rushing to embrace Maya tightly, "Oh, mija¡ I've missed you so much." She pulled back to properly look at her, "Look how thin you've become and why did you dye your hair!? I think you're studying too hard and this town is giving you strange ideas, you were better as a brunette. Gab told me everything about it." Maya instinctively patted the ends of the wig and then gave her friend a skeptical look. Gab shrugged carelessly, "What do you mean?" "She said you spent the entire night studying at the school's library." She patted Maya's cheek lightly, "I know you care a lot about your studies cariño but you care for yourself better, oka
Maya gaped dumbfounded at the door, unable to move from her spot. She didn't know what to do at that moment, Then it hit her! Alex!He would surely have a solution for this. Just as she scrambled to her feet, the door leading to his room flung open and a shirtless Alex walked out. His eyes still looked bleary and his hair was flying all over,"Maya?" He looked surprised to see her but the expression quickly turned into concern when he saw her wide-eyed state, "Shit! What happened?" He rushed towards her, cupping her face,She silently lifted her phone, positioning the screen in his direction. She watched as his eyes grew dark and his lips turned down slightly.He threw a wary glance at the door before releasing her. Maya grabbed his arm when she noticed that he was heading for the door and gently shook her head,"What if it's them?" He smiled reassuringly and pried her fingers off his arm before heading towards the door. She watched with bated breath as he gazed into the peephole be
"Here." She quietly watched as he placed the glass on the table, the red liquid sloshing slightly from the motion. He settled on the space beside her, taking a sip from his glass. The living room was dark, their only source of illumination was the fairy light adorning the walls.After the whole scenario, Alex walked her back to the penthouse where he suggested they grabbed a bottle of his favourite wine. Maya patiently waited for him, whenever he looked at her, she would offer him an encouraging smile, "Can I hold your hand?" His request startled her a bit but she quickly blinked it away and nodded. He took her hand and squeezed gently, "I don't even know where to begin." He did an awkward laugh, shaking his head from side to side.Maya sighed softly and squeezed his palm, "Start from where you feel comfortable.""You might need a drink for that." He said in a joking manner and she chuckled alongside, "I mean it, Maya. Drink," He motioned to her untouched glass.Maya looked between
"Yes."He turned away from her, his back facing her agonized face. The first tear rolled down her face, shaky gasps escaped her parted lips as she fought to keep her emotions in check. She itched to reach out to him, to touch him. But he didn't spare her a glance so she squared her shoulders and swivelled around.She shrugged on her sundress ignoring its wet state, she gave him one last look before rushing out the door. Her heavy footsteps padded on the ground, leaving wet trails as she walked. Maya slipped into the elevator, relieved that she was the only occupant. Her trembling fingers managed to press the ground button before clutching the straps of her bag tightly. Once the doors closed shut, she allowed herself to fall to the ground, her chest racked painfully and she heaved for breath,Maya sobbed until she felt like she couldn't breathe anymore, her vision was obscured by glittering tears and her entire frame shook. If she closed her eyes, she could still vividly see the emotio
Maya was awed by two things; one was the fact that the pool was above the ground with a deck and the other was that it was jacuzzi-styled. She floated around the pool, flapping her arms around as she played with the water. "So this place is open 24/7?" She turned around to face him. Alex was leaning against the wall of the pool, watching her intently."Yes." He answered simply and she scoffed in amazement.Maya began doing a backstroke, resting her head against the water. The fairy lights adorning the entire space made everywhere seem magical and she sighed, "If I lived here, I would make good use of this place." She heard a wet plop and cracked her eyes open, but before she could turn her head, he had already wrapped his arms around her. "Hey!" Maya squealed, kicking her legs in the water as she struggled to break free. Alex casually turned her over so that she was now facing him. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his torso and flung her arms on his shoulder,He didn't s