"I thought you were joking." Julia rubbed her eyes as she opened the door. "It's like eight in the morning." She yawned.

"I brought coffee?" I smiled innocently and raised two cups of coffee.

"I can't be mad at you." She smiled and took one coffee from my hand. She moved out of the way to let me in and closed the door behind me. "But I don't understand why you're here. I told you I'm feeling better. I'm working at Eddie's tonight."

"I'm trying to avoid my brother. Which probably won't help much since I'm going to lunch with him." I spoke as I walked around the kitchen and jumped on the couch.

"Excuse me, your brother?" She cleared her throat.

"Yes, my brother." I was slowly sipping from my coffee.

"Since when do you have a brother?" Julie walked over to me and sat down on the chair, right next to me.

"Since I was born?" I frowned. "You know how it works, right? I know you didn't really have a boyfriend, but don't tell me you don't know how siblings are made."

"Really, Maya?" She raised an eyebrow in annoyance.

"Please appreciate my sarcasm because it's the only thing that's keeping me alive right now." I looked at her desperately.

"What is your brother doing here?"

"How should I know?" I shrugged my shoulders. "I haven't seen him in about four years. And now he's here."

He didn't just show up because he called me a while back to tell me he was coming, but I really expected him to cancel at the last minute.

"Why didn't you ever tell me about him?" I could hear a slight reproach in her voice, which was unusual.

"There was nothing to say. He left when I needed him. I tried not to think about him."

"So why are you going to lunch with him? Since it's pretty obvious you're not in the mood for him. And trust me, I know when you're not in the mood for someone, and I know how it always ends."

It's true. Julie probably knows me best. I mean, not better than I know myself, but she gets me.

"He looked really desperate."

"You felt sorry for someone?" Her eyebrows shot up. "Wow. Progress?"

"Stop it." I picked up a pillow from the couch and threw it at her.

Julie caught it with a laugh and put it behind her. "He's your brother, it can't be that bad."

"Julie, when was the last time I talked about my family?"

"Uhm. I don't remember." She frowned.

"You can't remember because it never happened. Guess why."

"I take it that it wasn't a question and that you don't really want an answer."

"Smart girl." I smiled and took a sip of my coffee.

"But if you're asking my opinion. Why not give him a chance?" She said carefully, as if she was waiting for me to explode.

"Because I know exactly how this is going to turn out. He's going to be here for a few days, judging me for everything I do, for every decision I made in my life. He's going to give me lessons every day and eventually he'll pack up and leave. And I won't see him again for a few years. So why try?"

"Sounds to me like Maya Carter is scared." A smile was beginning to appear on her face.

"Don't." I clenched my jaw.

"Yes you are. Oh my god I can't believe this is happening." She enthusiastically jumped on the chair. "This is the first time something like this has happened. You're the woman who jumped on a bike with a dude you didn't know and drove to Washington with him because he said he had the best whiskey at home. And now you're afraid to talk to your brother?"

"First of all, that guy was right. I didn't have a better whiskey, plus it was nice to get out of town. And secondly, I'm not afraid of talking to my brother." But we both know that even though I'm a great liar, I can't lie to her.

"Maya." She moved closer to me, took the cup from my hand, placed it on the table and grabbed both of my hands. "It's okay. Yeah?" She smiled. "You don't have to be tough 24/7. Maybe you're right, and your brother will leave, but if you give him a reason not to, he won't. Of course he'll leave if he sees that you don't want him here and you're pushing him away."

This is probably a bad moment for a kiss, isn't it? I swear this girl deserves one right now.

"Give him one chance and if he screws up," she pulled away, "goodbye Maya's brother." She waved.

"Well, I can tell you straight up that he's going to screw up. Why waste precious time?"

"Maya." She said in a warning voice. "One chance."

"Ugh." I rolled my eyes. "Okay. I'll give him a chance. Satisfied?"

"Very." She smiled.



"In New York?" The waitress laughed. "No, I've never been there." She smiled. "Always here. I barely left Seattle."

"You should try it." I said as I wrapped a strand of her hair around my finger. "See the world."

"Perhaps..."

"Mirinda!" She flinched when she heard her manager's voice. She stood up quickly and gave me an apologetic look before running after the guy in the kitchen door. It was clear from a distance that it was not a pleasant conversation.

"One day in Seattle and you're already causing trouble?" Theo sat down across from me.

"Me? I haven't done anything. Yet." I laughed and drank my coffee, which is too weak for me, but it's only morning.

"I'm sorry you had to go find a hotel. I really thought Maya wouldn't have a problem with you staying over."

"Don't worry about it." I waved my hand at it. "At least I have some privacy." And a lot of really hot receptionists close. "So how did your Luna talk go?" I asked because the sooner he sorts this out the sooner we'll return to New York.

It's not that bad here, but home is home.

"We didn't get that far. I plan to tell her at lunch today. She came too late at night and had to meet a friend in the morning."

I laughed when I saw that he thought she wasn't avoiding him.

"Something funny?" He raised an eyebrow.

"You do realize she's avoiding you, right? It's obvious she doesn't want to talk to you. She's not excited to see me and not much happier about seeing you either."

What I don't quite understand. Maya liked me after all. I think. I don't remember much about the time I spent in San Francisco, where Theo and Maya used to live with their parents, and me as well for some time.

"I hope today clears up a few things between us and we can get closer again."

I looked up at the door above which the doorbell rang.

My gaze fell on Maya in the doorway as she looked around the restaurant.

While she was looking around, I had time to look her over.

And today she looks a lot different than yesterday.

A tight white tank top, highlighting the tattoos on her arms that I hadn't noticed yesterday. Black skinny jeans hug not only her butt, but also her hips and waist, which is as slim as a doll's.

Her hair is loose and from a distance it looks as soft as silk. I don't think I've ever admired or noticed someone's hair as much as I do now.

"Shit." I said quietly. This is definitely not the Mimi I knew.

When she finally noticed us, her expression fell down even further than it had been, which I had thought was impossible until now.

She started walking towards us and stopped at the table. "You, again." She looked at me. "Weren't we supposed to have lunch just the two of us?" She crossed her arms over her breasts, which only caused all my attention to fall on them.

Stop staring at your best friend's sister's tits, Sebastian.

"Yes, of course. Sebastian was just..."

"I was just saying I'd like to join." I jumped in Theo's speech. "Is that going to be a problem, Mimi?"

Under the table I felt Theo kick me and gave me a "what are you doing" look.

I don't know myself. Something in me just wants to piss Maya off.

"Sebastian is kidding." Theo spoke. "He was just leaving." He kicked me again, and now the table also shook slightly.

"I was?"

"Okay, okay." I laughed and made room. "Have a good chat." I winked at Maya, who visibly rolled her eyes.

I guess she doesn't like me. I don't know what it will be. Women love me.



"Asshole." I muttered under my breath as I sat down across from Theo.

"Excuse him, he slept badly." I don't think I've ever heard a worse excuse, but I'll leave it at that. I'm not in the mood to talk about Acker.

"You wanted to talk. Talk." I'm also not in the mood to sit here and eat in silence, so let him tell me what he wants and we can go our separate ways. For me, that journey is home, and for him, wherever he came from.

"Why won't we order some..."

"I'm not hungry." I interrupted him.

"Of course." He exhaled heavily. "So..."

"So?" I raised my eyebrows and waited for what he would say, but it wasn't much.

"How did you get to Seattle?"

"By car." I leaned back comfortably and enjoyed his torment. He deserves it.

"You...didn't go to college, I guess." He said nervously.

"I didn't see the point." I shrugged my shoulders. "I would study for several years and end up with nothing. This way I can earn money and not worry about school."

"And what about our parents? Are you in contact or..."

"I haven't seen them in over two years." I interrupted him. "That's what happens when they break up, and neither of them cares what happened to their daughter."

"That can't be true, Maya."

"How would you know? It's not like you were there." I snorted reproachfully.

I planned to be nice, but that's not me. Not for a long time. He can be glad I showed up.

"Do you even know that father is engaged again?" He looked at me in surprise. "That's what I thought."

"I missed a lot."

"You have no idea." I swallowed hard and chased away everything I buried a long time ago from my mind. "So why don't you tell me what you want and we can end this charade."

"What are you talking about?" He frowned, confused.

"You haven't come to see me in years. Why are you here now? And don't tell me you missed me. Another thing you don't know about me is I have a 'superpower', let's call it that. I can tell when people are lying. So try again."

A little thing I picked up while working at a bar. It is easy to tell people who are lying and who are not. I will use it quite often in my life. It fits in any situation.

"I wanted us to be close again. To be siblings."

"Then I'll have to let you down. You came too late. Four years to be exact."

"Maya, please..."

"You don't get it do you?" I snorted. "You have no idea what I went through after you left. How could you leave me?" An unpleasant feeling appeared in my chest and my throat. "You know what, it doesn't matter anymore. It happened. I don't know why you came, but if you were waiting for the girl who cried every night and wished her brother would come back and get her out of that hell, you won't find her here. She's gone, and that's good."

"I'm sorry for everything you had to go through. I really didn't mean that to happen." I could see the regret in his face, but he has himself to blame.

"Then you shouldn't have left." I said harshly. "I don't know what you want from me, Theo. But whatever it is, I'll give it to you just so you'd leave."

"I'm really sorry Maya."

"That means absolutely nothing, Theo."

"I just wanted to fix our relationship. That's all I really wanted." He looked at me with pain in his eyes. "And now I understand that there is nothing here to fix. But that doesn't mean I won't keep trying. I will try to rebuild it from the ground up, but it will only work if you let me. Please Maya, let me do that."

I told both Eddie and Julie that I would give Theo a second chance, but that probably won't happen.

"How can you come here and want something from me? You." My jaw clenched.

"I've missed a lot, I don't want to miss any more." With every word he said, I only thought about how to leave this conversation, because this is pissing me off. "I know I don't deserve anything after I left..."

"At least you know something." I jumped into his speech. "Give me one really good reason why I should give you a chance and I'll give it to you."

I could literally see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to come up with one reason. "Because you're better than me." He finally said.

"Funny you should say that." I laughed and stood up. "If you knew me, you'd know that's not true." I grabbed my purse and left the table before he could say anything else.