Chapter 11
Maya spent the twenty-four hours between their dates wondering where they would go and what they would do. It was Everett’s turn to pick the activity and endless possibilities had gone through her head. Never in a million years did she imagine she’d be sitting across a highly-polished dining room table from Trudy.
Everything about the evening had been a surprise. Everett picked her up and drove her straight to his mother’s house—surprise number one. Then they’d set Trudy up in the living room with tea while they made dinner together—pleasant surprise number two. While the roast was in the oven and the corn was in the pot, Everett turned on some mellow music and pulled Maya into an impromptu dance in the middle of the kitchen—very pleasant surprise number three.
Now the three of them sat at the table, stuffed to the gills, and stared at one another, every one of them wearing a goofy grin on their face.
“There’s something I want to discuss with the two of you,” Trudy said out of the blue.
Everett visibly tensed up. Maya felt the embarrassment that was about to be laid down upon them by the innocuous-looking woman coming toward them like a steam train.
“Mom.” Everett’s tone was soft and respectful, like always, but there was a warning edge to it as well.
Trudy, of course, completely ignored that. “I was wondering how serious this is between you.” She shook her finger side to side. “The thing is. I’m already pretty enamored with the whole idea of the two of you together.” She swiveled her head between them for a moment, then added, “No pressure.”
What could only be described as a guffaw left Everett’s mouth and Maya laughed aloud.
“What are you laughing at, you sillies?” Trudy stuck her hands on her hips and tried to look serious.
“No pressure,” Maya replied between large sucks of air.
“None what-so-ever.” Everett laughed harder and wiped at a tear under his eye.
Trudy pursed her lips. “Oh hush, and answer the question.”
“How can we hush and answer the question at the same time?” Everett asked, his grin wide.
“Stop making fun of the old lady!” Trudy’s words did not match the twinkle in her eye.
“Mom,” Everett reached over and put his large, muscular arm around her tiny shoulders. “I love you. Can we not do this right now?”
Her large brown eyes peered into his, and for a moment Maya got choked up seeing the love there. Then Trudy patted his cheek and said, “No. What’s next? More dates, weekly stay-overs? What?”
Everett’s arm slipped out from around his mother and hung at his side as he dropped his head to the table and banged it against the wood.
“I have a suggestion,” Maya said. Trudy turned those big peepers Maya’s way. Everett lifted his head to gaze at her. “How about you show me the garden?”
This seemed to completely overtake Trudy’s mind. She jumped up from the table and clapped her small hands together. “Garden tour! Absolutely!”
Everett stood as well and started clearing the plates from the table. “Why don’t you get started? I’ll clean up the dishes and join you in a few.”
Maya rounded the table and offered her arm to Trudy. Trudy smiled up at her and latched on before practically dragging Maya toward the backyard. As they walked out the door, Trudy stopped and flicked a switch somewhere on the wall.
Maya had been out in the yard during the daylight, but this nighttime view was completely different. Whatever Trudy had done with that little tap on the wall had created a magical display of light and nature.
Past the brick patio, where the outdoor table and grill sat, a stone path led out into the yard. The centerpiece was a cascading fountain covered in vines. All around the fountain plants leaped out toward them from every level. It reminded Maya of an outdoor version of the Conservatory of Flowers. The path led farther into the garden and wound in a large circle around the yard.
Trudy explained every plant and when they flower and what they would look like when they did. They walked through the garden slowly, then Trudy slumped onto a slatted wooden bench tucked into one corner of the yard.
Maya perched beside her and found the bench to be surprisingly comfortable. All around them the space was swallowed up by plants, and Maya realized they were now hidden from view.
“Secret spot?” she asked Trudy.
“Not so secret,” Everett answered, appearing around the corner to stand in front of them.
“Good.” Trudy pushed herself to standing. “You’re here.” Maya went to stand as well, but Trudy put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down. “Stay. I’m going to bed. Everett is here to keep you company.” She cranked her neck back and Everett, in a seemingly instinctual move, leaned down to allow her to kiss his cheek.
“Need help?” he asked.
“Hell no. I’m old, not dead. I can get into my own damn house.”
Maya and Everett watched her go. When the sound of the door opening and closing echoed in the garden, Everett sat down beside Maya. “I think that was some sort of hint.”
“The woman is anything but subtle.” Maya leaned back again, relaxing on the bench. “It’s a nice night.”
Everett looked up. “You can actually see a few stars.”
Maya followed his gaze. She counted at least twenty twinkling lights peeking through the cloud cover. “It’s a beautiful little spot, Everett. I imagine you had a lot to do with creating it.”
“My dad, too.”
“I bet you miss him.”
“Hmmm.”
Maya pulled her chin down, thinking she could stare at him unencumbered because he was still looking skyward. But her gaze met his abruptly. And they held. A deep silence settled between them.
Everett leaned forward, one hand coming up slowly to palm her cheek. “I need to kiss you now.”
“Yeah.”
The kiss was like a homecoming this time. There was no hurry and no hesitation. Their lips met and savored. Their tongues explored and lingered. They took breaths and dove back in. Maya lost track of time. Her body was a strange combination of peace and fire when Everett moved his lips down her jaw to her neck.
Maya’s hand had wandered inside his shirt and she pressed her fingers to his ribbed abdomen. She wanted desperately to let that hand wander lower, to reach into his jeans and…
“We should take a minute to calm down.” Everett was suddenly gone, his entire body pushed as far away as he could get on the bench.
Maya sat there, hands suddenly empty, mouth turned down. “Going slow?”
“Maybe. Or maybe just that we shouldn’t be doing this in my mother’s garden.” He sounded confused.
Maya saw the opportunity before her. She could easily convince Everett to go further tonight, to break his streak of taking things slow. She could get him in her bed, under her, on his back, her straddling his thighs.
Instead, she chose to tell him her deepest truth about them, about all of this. “I’m afraid of getting hurt again.”
The words weren’t meant to harm him, but she could see by the way his eyes fluttered closed and his mouth pursed that she had. “You’re right.” Everett stood and shifted from foot to foot for a moment. He held his hand out to her. “I’ll take you home.”
****
Alice. Everett had gone out with Alice. Maya still couldn’t wrap her head around it. But that’s what he’d said.
When Everett and Maya had tried to find a time to get together this week they’d run into trouble. One of them always had something on, every day of the week except Friday. And Everett had been candid about what he was up to on each day. When they’d reached Thursday he’d simply said, “I promised Alice I’d go to something with her.”
Maya had to make sure it was the same Alice. Her Alice? The Alice that shared her birthday and worked in sales? Alice who was bubbly, sweet, and almost ten years younger than Everett? Yep, he had confirmed that it was that Alice.
Maya had spent Thursday night trying not to obsess about what they were up to and why. She’d failed. And by Friday afternoon, she was still failing. With only an hour left in her shift, she decided it was impossible to wait any longer.
Maya shut off her machine and walked to the office on the factory floor. She told her boss she needed to speak to Everett. This was the request any worker could make that allowed them to immediately cease work and head up to the third floor. It was Everett’s decree. If he was in the office and one of his employees needed to see him, it would happen.
Maya turned her back on Kelly’s concerned face and headed up the stairs. She contemplated stopping on the second floor to talk to Alice, but instead pushed on. She paused in front of Everett’s cracked open door, out of breath and suddenly unsure of herself.
“Is someone out there?” Everett must have seen her shadow because she hadn’t knocked yet. “Come on in.”
Maya took a deep breath and swung the door wide. As soon as he saw her, Everett smiled. Maya crossed the threshold and closed the door. But instead of approaching him, she stayed there, pressed against the door, her hands on the wood behind her.
Everett stood and rounded his desk. There must have been warning in her eyes, because instead of going to her he leaned against it. “What’s up?”
“I feel stupid.”
Everett cocked his head. “You should never feel that way.”
Maya let out the breath she’d been holding. How did he do that? Her body relaxed a little and she leaned harder against the door at her back. “I want to know about you and Alice.”
Everett closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them there was regret there. Maya was sure of it. “I would love to tell you. But it’s not mine to tell. I can say that there is nothing romantic between us. We’re friends and we have a…special relationship. But it’s not got anything to do with me and you. I swear, Maya.”
“I need to know for sure. I have a lot of hang ups about us…”
“I know. And that’s my fault.” Everett took a step forward.
Maya desperately wanted to take away the pained look on his face. “Maybe I should talk to Alice.”
Everett nodded. “I would like that. It’s up to Alice if she wants to tell you what’s going on, though. It’s her story to tell.”
Maya nodded and smiled at him. “I’ll talk to her tonight.”
“I have a better idea.” Everett took another step toward her. He was just a few feet away now. “Why don’t you talk to her now and then I can take you to dinner tonight?”
“I’m still on the clock.”
Everett shrugged. “You think I care?” He closed the space between them. He reached behind her and took her hands in his. “This thing with us is the most important thing to me right now. I need you to trust me.”
The sincerity in his words and the look in his eyes got to her. She leaned up on her tiptoes to lay a light kiss on his lips. “I’m going right now.”
****
Seven years ago…
Maya: I have deduced that u r not a jealous person.
Everett: What makes you say that?
Maya: You were pretty chill about your girl stepping out the night of the show.
Everett: Maybe I’m just a pushover.
Maya: Maybe u r. I’ve never dated a pushover before.
Everett: I remember. You like aggressive alpha males that treat you like crap, right?
Maya: I don’t think ‘like’ is the right word. More like, they pick me and I go along with it.
Everett: So you’re a pushover too.
Maya: I guess so. This is a heavy conversation for a Saturday morning.
Everett: Are you a jealous person?
Maya: Wow. Way to up the ante.
Everett: You started it.
Maya: True.
Everett: Gonna answer?
Maya: Yes. To a fault I think. It’s why I can’t see you again. You get that, right?
Everett: I get it. Thinking about changing that.
Maya: ???
Everett: Maybe I could get rid of your reason to be jealous.
Maya: Seriously?
Everett: Seriously.
Maya: IDK what to say.
Everett: Say that if I did you’d go out with me.
Maya: I would.
Everett: You’ll be the first one to know
****
Maya stood at the entrance to Alice’s cubicle and waited until she’d hung up the phone. Alice turned to her friend and smiled. “Hi, Maya! What brings you here?”
Alice was so bubbly and sweet it was hard to ever get mad at her. But being jealous was another thing altogether. As the short, thin, woman with her long, black hair, and tiny features stood and gave her a hug, Maya remembered exactly why she was about to humiliate herself.
“Can we talk?”
Alice glanced at the clock. “Yes. After 4:15 I can put my phone to the answering service. That way I can close out paperwork and leave on time. And I don’t have much paperwork today.” She clapped her tiny hands together like this was the greatest news of all time. “Let’s go into the conference room.”
After doing something that looked overly complicated with her phone, Alice ushered Maya into a long, rectangular room and shut the door. Maya took a seat in one of the leather chairs sitting around the oval table. Alice bounced into the seat beside her.
“I have to talk to you about something personal, and, honestly, I have no idea where to start.”
Alice put her hand on Maya’s upper arm where it rested on the polished table. “I’m here for you, Sweetie.” Her tone was warm with concern.
“So, I guess I should start by telling you that…um…I have history with Everett.”
Alice physically shot back in her chair. Her eyes grew wide. “Really? Are you the one?”
“The one?”
“The girl he told me about. The one that he’s been pining away for since like forever. Like seven years or something like that. Is that you?”
“Um…yeah.”
“Wow.” Alice slumped back in her chair, her mouth open. “I would never have guessed. He was always so sly about who it was. He said you hated him.”
“Not anymore. Listen, that’s kinda what I wanted to talk to you about. You two are so close. And I know last night you were out together. And I was just wondering what’s up with you and him.
Alice suddenly grew shy. Her body folded in on itself. “Oh.”
Maya rushed to explain herself. “It’s just that. In the past…there was someone else in Everett’s life. Well, Rebecca actually. And it’s created a bit of a block in…whatever is happening right now. And I’m having a hard time with trust. And he wouldn’t tell me anything. And I’m kind of freaking out. And I’m hoping you can help put my mind at ease.”
Alice bit her lip and her eyes roamed Maya’s face. Then she let out a heavy breath. “Okay. I’ll tell you. But…you have to promise that nothing between us will change.”