I woke up to the most beautiful view possible.

Maya sat next to me, my head on her side as she scribbled something in a black book. She looked so calm that I felt sorry when she noticed that I was already awake.

"Good morning." She smiled at me and closed the book.

"What's in it?" I nodded my head at it.

"Nothing." She shook her head and I knew she was lying.

I wanted to ask again, but it quickly passed as she tangled her fingers in my hair. Oh my God. Why is it the best feeling?

"I'm glad you're up. Eddie was texting me asking if I could fill in for one of our bartenders at lunch. I have to go get ready." She said, her hand still in my hair. When did I become a puppy? You know what? I don't even care.

"What time is it?" I wrapped my arms around her and buried my head in her stomach.

"Late." She laughed. "We should get up."

Her words only earned her a disapproving groan. I don't want to move from here.

"Come on Sebbie, I need a shower." She patted my back and I raised my head and glared at her.

"Don't call me that." I grabbed her hand and put it back in my hair before laying down again.

"And what do you want me to call you?" She laughed.

"Acker. I like it when you call me that."

"Not Sebastian?"

"You call me Sebastian when you're mad at me or drunk, so no, don't call me Sebastian."

"You know that's your name, right?"

"Maya," I said in a warning tone. "Are you trying to piss me off? Because if you are, it's working. And I can assure you that if you keep going, the only place you're going to end up is the bed. No work."

"I don't know if that was meant to be a threat, but it sounds like a better way to pass the time."

"Don't tempt me." I looked up at her. Maya was grinning from ear to ear.

"Sorry, Acker. It won't happen again." She bent down and kissed my forehead. "But I really have to get up."

"Fine." A disapproving moan escaped my mouth and I sat up. "Shower." I put my hands on my knees and stood up.

"Together?" She raised an eyebrow. "You really don't want me to go to work do you?" She stood up and laughed.

"Is that a possibility?" I raised an eyebrow.

"No." She bent down and kissed me. "I wouldn't be mad if you made breakfast." She winked at me and started walking to the bathroom.

"Would you like whole or half-shell eggs?" I shouted after her and she just laughed.

I was smiling, even after she closed the door behind her. But my smile fell when my cell phone rang on my desk and Theo's name flashed on the screen.

Without hesitation, I turned off my phone and turned the screen on the table.

I will delay this conversation for as long as possible.



I think there is something wrong with me.

I can't stop smiling in Acker's presence.

Neither of us was in the mood to walk, so we drove the two steps to my work.

When he put his hand on my thigh without looking at me, I was as red as a tomato. I don't know what's happening to me.

"You can pick it up," I said as he looked at his cell screen while it rang.

"No, that's fine." He tried to smile and hung up before putting his phone in his pocket. "Let's go." He opened the door from the bar and I entered first.

I immediately noticed Mason behind the bar who looked nervous when he saw me. I smiled at him and wanted to wave to him, but my hand suddenly found itself in Acker's hand.

He intertwined his fingers with mine and I tried not to smile.

But for some reason, I felt like everyone was looking at me and judging me.

I let go of his hand and started walking towards the bar. "Hi." I greeted Mason, who just smiled.

I went to the back, to the dressing room, and threw off my leather jacket. I put it in the locker and took out a black tight top with a smaller neckline from the backpack.

I kept the jeans I was wearing and changed my top.

"Maya?" I heard a rough voice and for some reason, I jumped a little.

"Yes?" I peeked over the edge and found Mason standing in the doorway.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" He said slightly nervously.

"Yes of course." I shrugged and walked back to the locker before Mason walked over to me. "What's up?"

"I feel like we haven't talked in a while." He got out of himself. "You always stayed after work at least for a while."

"I'm sorry, Mason." I closed the locker. "There's a lot going on right now."

"No, no, I understand." He put his hands in his pockets. "I just wanted to ask if you would like to go somewhere outside of working hours. We could finally have a proper talk and get to know each other better."

Oh.

Oh.

"Mason, I..." I hugged myself. "You mean a date?" I asked cautiously.

"We don't have to label it." He laughed nervously. "But I want you to know that I like you, Maya." He smiled. "You are beautiful and..."

"Please don't." I interrupted him, and his smile immediately dropped. "I'm sorry Mason, but that wouldn't work."

"How can you know?" He snorted and shook his head. "Maya, you've been flirting with me since day one."

"What?" I frowned. "No. And even if I did, it wasn't on purpose. You're my colleague. You know I don't do that."

"No, this is something else, right?" He ran his tongue over his teeth. "It's that the guy." He pointed behind him. "The one who keeps following you around like a puppy, isn't he?"

"He has nothing to do with it." I hugged myself tighter and wished I could leave this unpleasant conversation.

"Then come on a date with me. It can't hurt, can it?" Something in his eyes made me take a step back. It was a mistake as he took a step towards me and suddenly I was backed into a corner, his hand on my wrist.

"Mason, you're hurting me." I tried to break free from his grip but in vain.

"What does he have that I don't? Why can't you see me?" He frowned.

"Mason, please." His hand still hasn't let go and it's only a matter of time before he leaves a mark on me. "It hurts."

"I can assure you that he is no better for you than I am." He raised his hand to my face and stroked my cheek. I looked away from him. "Just let me show you."

He leaned towards me and at that moment my knee flew straight into his crotch. His grip on my hand loosened and I successfully got away from him.

I pushed him so he couldn't catch me and he hit his back against the metal lockers.

Without a word, I ran away from the dressing room. I ran past Eddie's office, and down the hall, and when I got to the bar door and opened it, Acker looked up at me.

He smiled until he saw my expression. He immediately stood up and walked over to me. "Maya, what's going on?" He looked at my face with concern.

"I..." I shook my head and hid my face in my hands.

I don't know why I'm so shaky. It's not like it's never happened before. I had been cornered many times, but now it was someone I knew. Who I considered a friend

"Hey." He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly. "What happened?" He ran his hand through my hair.

"I was changing in the dressing room and..." I pulled away from him and at that moment his expression fell even lower.

"Maya." He carefully grabbed my hand which had the red mark right where Mason was holding me. "I'm going to kill him." He said as if he knew exactly who did it.

He tried to slip past me, but I caught him. "Please don't leave me," I said desperately.

When he saw my look, something in it softened. He pulled me close and hugged me again. "It's okay." He rested his chin on mine and pressed my head to his chest. "I'm here."

And suddenly I felt safe. As if nothing could hurt me. Nobody.

*****

Despite the fact that Acker tried to convince me not to stay at work today, we stayed.

I assume Mason left through the back entrance since we didn't see him. And that's probably good. I don't know what Acker would do.

He didn't take his eyes off me the whole time. Anyone who had been at the bar longer than they should have run away the moment Acker caught sight of them.

After a while, Arnie came in and laughed that he was taking his job. But Acker didn't find it funny.

The atmosphere was tense if you can call it that.

It was slowly getting dark and my shift was coming to an end but when a muffled bell rang above the entrance, it made me look up.

All worries vanished the moment my eyes fell on Mrs. Johnson. When she noticed me, she had one of the biggest smiles on her face.

She immediately walked towards me. "Maya, honey."

"Mrs. Johnson." I smiled at her.

She sat right next to Acker, who just looked at her in confusion. Since he didn't see her as a threat, he let it go.

"What can I get you?"

"Um." She looked past me at the wall of alcohol and then at Acker next to her and his glass. "Whatever is this gentleman having." She smiled.

"I'm going to let you down. Even though it looks like vodka, it's pure water." I laughed.

"Even better."

I chose a clean glass and placed it in front of her, already full.

I looked back and forth between Acker and Mrs. Johnson. Should I introduce them? Maybe not.

"So what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I was walking by and remembered you were working here. Luke is in Tacoma so I decided to walk around town by myself." She shrugged. "And I also came to ask if you were in the mood for home-cooked food."

My heart breaks when I imagine Mrs. Johnson in that huge house of theirs, all alone with dinner at the table.

I looked at Acker as if asking for permission, I don't know why.

Mrs. Johnson obviously noticed. "Oh." The corner of her mouth lifted. "Vilma Johnson." She gave him her hand.

"Sebastian Acker." He shook her hand with a tight smile.

"So you two are..." She pointed between us.

"Friends." I blurted out. I could see that Acker was hurt.

I don't want him to take it personally. I want him to know that it's only because I wouldn't be able to look Mrs. Johnson in the eye.

"Mrs. Johnson is Christian's mother," I explained to which he nodded and his gaze softened as if he understood why I said what I said.

"I cooked enough food for you to join us." She smiled at him. "So what do you think?" She looked between us.



Friends.

I don't know why it hurt so much when Maya said that. It was like a knife in the heart and I couldn't even move. But I get it. I understand why she said that the moment she introduced the unknown woman to me as Christian's mother.

I could see how much Maya admired her. I wouldn't even dare to jeopardize their relationship in any way.

So if I have to stay away from Maya tonight, so be it. I know it will make her happy.

And I saw another side of Maya again.

When we sat at Mrs. Johnson's huge kitchen table, Maya was different. It wasn't a pretense. She was just different.

And I couldn't be happier to see her laugh.

I still couldn't get the image of what Mason had done to her out of my head. But for a moment, I silenced the voice in my head that told me to find him and beat him up.

"Sebastian, sweetie, would you mind helping me with some boxes? I don't want to use you like this, but Luke won't be back for a few days and I'd like to finally put them in the garage." She asked after we finished eating.

"No problem." We both stood up from the table.

"I'll take care of the dishes." Maya began to collect our plates and glasses from the table.

"Oh no, don't worry about it." She tried to stop her.

"I insist." Maya smiled. "It's the least I can do after such a wonderful meal."

Mrs. Johnson smiled and I let her lead the way.

We went up to the second floor and entered a room that, by the looks of it, belonged to a young guy.

Christian.

There were a couple of boxes on the bed, which Mrs. Johnson walked over to. I didn't want to ask what was in them. I didn't want her to feel uncomfortable.

"Luke and I decided to give a few things to charity. Mostly books." She explained when she probably saw my look. I didn't know it was all written on my face.

"I'm sure it wasn't easy."

"No, it wasn't." She smiled sadly and ran her hand over one of the boxes. "I wanted to ask Maya to help us, but I didn't want to trouble her unnecessarily."

Even though I can't tell her out loud, I thank her for not doing it. It would hurt Maya.

"You know," she nodded her head with a smile, "I can see the way you two look at each other." Shit.

I opened my mouth to say something to her but she beat me to it.

"I'm so glad she's trying to live on. Thank you." She grabbed my hand and I couldn't be more surprised.

"I promise you, I'm not trying to make her forget your son. I'm not trying to replace him." I blurted out.

"I know." She nodded. "But I'm glad she has you. She deserves someone good."

"I hope I can be that."

"You already are." She smiled and squeezed my hand.

And for the first time in a long time, I felt something like a mother's love.



I love Mrs. Johnson and the way Acker respects Christian even though he never met him 😭