She was tall.That was the first thing Maya noticed about the blonde. Tall, shapely and a perfect skin to match. She sauntered forward, her hips swaying from side to side. Maya remained rooted in her spot as the model came to a halt just a few feet away from her,She had to crane her neck a little so that she could get a better look. The blonde eyed her with a narrowed gaze, ruby lips pursed tightly,She leaned forward, her mouth just shy of Maya's ear, "I don't like you. Your very presence annoys me so I'll just say this once," Maya turned her head slightly to the side, "Stay away from my boyfriend. Xander is mine, he has always been and he will always be. You are just a temporary thing, once he's done with you he'll throw you away like trash. So save yourself the heartache and end it before he does, because trust me when he does end it, it won't be pretty." She straightened back, patting my cheeks softly, "You're a smart woman, I trust you to do the right thing."She stalked off, he
She closed the door behind her, twisting the knob so it locked. She strolled into the large office, eyes darting around the area,Alex was seated behind his desk, a reading glass perched on his nose. He looked up when she stopped in front of his desk. He didn't appear surprised to see her so she guessed he must have heard their conversation out front. "Maya, what a lovely surprise." He smiled and then stretched a hand to the chair beside her, "Please, take a seat.""Thank you but I'll stand." He rose a brow at that, dark eyes watching her tentatively. Maya swallowed, her fingers fiddling with the strap of her bag,Don't let him see that you're nervous. She repeated the mantra in her head several times before nodding.He dropped the pen he was holding and steepled his long fingers together, "To what do I owe this visit?" Looking at him now, his dark eyes smouldering and intense, she felt the urge to jump on him and beg him to take her against the desk. Her pussy clenched at the thou
Maya had to take a cab back home, and when she got back, she was stunned to see Gab sitting cross-legged on the floor, ring light and tripod stand in hand,"Hey babe," She greeted warmly, kicking off her shoes.Gab smiled in acknowledgement, her brown curls were styled in a high bun, some stray curls hanging around her face, "Someone's in a good mood."Maya chuckled softly, plopping on the space beside her. "I guess." She grabbed the stand from Gab, examining it closely, "We hit the jackpot with this one, I don't think I regret sleeping on that hard concert throughout the night and nearly freezing my ass off."Gab snorted, twisting the ring light from side to side, "Don't forget the mosquitoes, they were horrible too." Maya shuddered, rubbing her arms at the memory, "Yeah, the mosquitoes were the worst part."They got to work, unboxing the other parts of the ring light and she noticed how Gabrielle kept shooting her curious glances,Maya sighed, shifting her weight so that they were
The entire ride was awkward and painfully quiet. She kept picking at her nails, eyes remained fixed on the dark nail polish. They were ridding southeast, towards the more fancy part of town, passing by different expensive-looking houses with a little garden in front and a small picket fence surrounding it. Finally, the car stopped,Maya's eyes went wide as she took in the large building in front of her. It sort of reminded her of a medieval castle, rather than wood, the owner opted for bricks instead. The towering metal gate made a buzzing sound before it gave way and Alex skillfully drove in. "Wow," She whispered in awe, taking in the grandiosity of the driveway. There was a giant fountain with sparkling lights surrounding it, the structure of Cupid was bold in the center as it spat out water into the pool.She was entranced. Maya had only seen places like this in books and movies, never in her life did she expect she would see it in reality. She suddenly had the urge to take a pict
No one said anything for a moment. Not when they were all too busy staring at themselves. Maya felt like digging a hole and burying herself in it, she'd never quite understood the expression before, not until now."Um, H-hi!" She did another awkward wave and somebody scoffed. Her eyes fell on the culprit and she frowned,It was a young girl, she loomed to be about seventeen or so. Her luscious hair was as dark as night and she had a stark resemblance to her brother. But that wasn't what caught her attention, it was the fact that the said girl was seating in a wheelchair,The girl seemed to notice her line of sight because she rolled her eyes in aggravation. "Who the fuck is this? Another one of your many accomplishments?" "Cora!" The woman screamed reproachfully. "What!"The real Mrs Grey sighed and rose to her feet, turning to face Maya, "I apologize on behalf of my daughter, she's not always like this. I'm Esther Grey," She stretched out a hand,Mays quickly crossed the room, gi
"Popcorn, please."Maya stretched, picking up the red bowl filled with the snack and passing it over to Gab. Her eyes were focused on the textbook on he lap, nibbling the bottom of her pen,The sound of footsteps padding softly against the floorboard met her ears but she made no move to lift her gaze. Then she felt a weight beside her and Jason's scruffy blonde hair blocked her view of the anatomy she was currently invested in,"Trust me, if you keep chewing on your pen like that you're going to end up breaking the case," She made a small sound of protest when he snatched the bulky book away from her thighs, suspending it in the air and far from her reach. "You've been staring at this book for more than four hours now, you need rest, sweetheart." "Jason! Gimme that!" She moved to a kneeling position and tried to grab the textbook from his hand but he was too quick, "Jason!" She squealed when he shot to his feet, running around the small room.Maya rose as well, chasing him everywhere
"WHAT!?" He chortled, shaking his head in an amused manner. "You can't deny it, I can see it clearly in your eyes. The look of those four-letter words is written in bold fonts."Maya shook her head. Jason could say the strangest things sometimes. Why would he even say that? She? In love? That was impossible. She didn't even have a boyfriend or a potential guy for one. It was just her so Jason was making no sense at all."I think you've gotten it wrong, Jay. I'm not in love and even if I were, it would be with the free tripod stand I just got. Have you seen that thing!?" He scoffed, rolling his eyes in aggravation. "No, I'm not wrong. My love radar is never wrong and it's picking up signals from your end, sweetheart." He poked a finger at her cheek, "It's obvious though, anyone can see how much you're glowing recently and there's always this dazed loved-up look in those grey eyes of yours." Maya choked on her saliva. What? Dazed? Loved-up?Jason had to be kidding, right?One look a
She stared at the message for so long, her sight was beginning to blur. She wanted to throw the phone against the wall and scream at him for being a dick, she also wanted to smile and blush and laugh at the text.So she settled for the third option, she threw her phone on the bed and jumped on it, burying her face into the pillow. She stayed like that for several moments, debating how best to reply to him,"So what are you going to do? Will you go or not?"She shook her head fervently, "I don't know," She replied but it sounded muffled due to the pillow."I think you should go."She shot up instantly, giving her best friend a murderous look, "Hello? Did you not hear all I said? He called me dumb?" "Well, you were kind of dumb.""Gabrielle Walker!"Gab chortled, slipping into a black tee, "What do you want me to say? You were kind of dumb though, why would you approach him like that without surveilling the area? What if you'd gotten caught?" She puffed out a breath, hating that Gab
|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