Chapter 9 #2
I lift my wine glass in defiance. “To old friends finding each other again.”
She lifts her glass. “To friends who lost touch and are having their last supper.”
Her comment stings, and once again I wonder what’s hurting her. Did I do or say something that offended her, all those years ago? Impossible. We were so close. Falling in love. Always looking out for one another. Seems like we were different people then.
The food arrives. We eat mostly in silence until I shift the conversation to Stella because her career seems to be a safe topic.
“You said your job isn’t what you thought it would be.”
She exhales, like she’s relieved for the change. “I like the work. I really do. I’m good at it.”
“I could tell,” I say. “Everyone speaks highly of you.”
Her fork pauses midair. “Except Katherine.”
“Except for her.” Phew. At last, something we agree on. “Your boss keeps you busy.”
“That’s one way to put it,” she mutters. “Long hours. Weekends. Whatever she needs.”
“You don’t have to accept that.”
She looks at me sharply. “Easy for you to say.”
I realize, then, how I sound. Like a rich man offering solutions she didn’t ask for.
“I’m thinking of relocating,” she says, quieter now. “To be closer to my mom.”
My ears perk up. “Where’s your mom?”
I tried to find out about her before, but Maya’s replies were short and didn’t give anything away.
“In Scranton. We moved there after …” She pauses, then reaches for her glass of water. I don’t say a word and wait for her to speak.
“The big city isn’t all that. Rents are high, the cost of living is crazy and this job is not what I thought it would be.”
I sense she’s being selective about what she’s telling me. I start to wonder if there’s something going on in her life. Some sort of trauma. She’s said she’s single, so it can’t be boyfriend trouble.
The conversation softens as she talks more about her work.
About projects she enjoys and the parts that still excite her.
She tells me that she loves being close to the fashion world, and loves the craftsmanship of the Stella products, the way a handbag is built, piece by piece, every stitch carefully placed, every detail attended to.
“I grew up watching this other, unfamiliar world from the sidelines. My mom, too. She loved all the dresses and glamour, and the big fancy houses, though there was none of that when we …” She stops like she’s said too much but I’m sitting forward, hands clasped on the table, hanging on her every word.
Taking every morsel she feeds me about herself, not wanting to miss a single one.
“Go on,” I prompt.
“We’ve seen the luxury and splendor from a distance. It’s a far cry from our real lives, and it’s not that we want to be a part of it, but the razzle dazzle is nice to see.”
I nod, listening, and she seems more at ease now, and continues talking, telling me more about her time at Stella. I give her my undivided attention because I see how she relaxes when she’s heard. The way her hands animate when she speaks. I catch glimpses of the teenager she used to be.
As the evening goes on, I discover that I was wrong and that she liked the food, because her plate is now empty.
“I forgot you were such a good listener,” she says suddenly. The words land heavier than she probably intends and she blushes, reaching for her wine glass quickly.
It’s empty. I suppress a smile, reaching for the wine bottle. “I’ve got all the time in the world to listen to you,” I tell her, pouring wine for her.
She takes a sip. “Ooooh, this is sooo nice.” She takes another sip. “It’s good.”
“Glad you like it.”
This is how I wanted this evening to be. I sip my wine, savoring the taste of the rich, warm liquid going down my throat. “What were you hunting for on the floor that day?”
She pauses as if to think. Then, “Katherine lost a diamond from her precious bracelet.”
“And she wanted you to find it?”
“Katherine barks orders, and I obey them.”
“Not all of them, surely?”
“She’s my boss. Not a lot I can do to ignore her.”
“Did you find it? The diamond.”
“No.”
I wince. “She must have been mad.”
“I don’t know because she sent me to the office to take back a few things.”
I recall. She wanted Maya away. Away from me.
“Does she know that we know one another from before?” I ask.
“No. I can’t tell her that.”
My eyes narrow.
“Because ...” She throws her hands up and I don’t press, but I can guess at the reason why; because Katherine is paranoid. Because Katherine likes people with money and power and she wants to please me, and she will hate that Maya and I have history.
Feeling emboldened, I press on, even though a warning in my gut tells me to drop it. “I want to understand what happened, Maya, why you and your mom suddenly vanished.” I have this gnawing feeling that it will explain everything, so I don’t want to let this opportunity pass by.
“Are we talking about that again?”
I don’t like the way she’s looking at me, or the way her voice has lowered. Or her response.
Unperturbed, I press on. “I never expected you to vanish like that. I thought I’d see you again the next day.”
She laughs, low and false. “As if getting into your cars was something my mom and I regularly did.”
“It looked odd to me, but I was confused. I thought that maybe your mom needed to go somewhere and quickly, and that my dad must have let you take the car.”
“Your father? Let us take the car?” Another cackle. My insides turn heavy. “What else did your father tell you?” she asks.
I scramble to put my incoherent thoughts together. “When you didn’t return, I asked the other housekeepers. They said to ask my dad. So I asked him. He said your mom and you had left forever and weren’t coming back. He said your mom had found a better job.”
She swirls the wine in her glass gently, staring at it. Not lifting her gaze to mine. “She ... did. We left the estate and my mom found another job.”
“Just like that?”
She lifts her chin, watching me silently. “Just like that.”
“B-but why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you say something?”
“It happened suddenly.”
“Your mom got a job elsewhere and it happened suddenly?” I cry in disbelief. “You could at least have left a note or something.”
“We were in a rush. It all happened so quickly.”
I don’t understand, but as I open my mouth to ask her, she shakes her head. “There’s no point in talking about the past. It’s not important.”
I disagree. It didn’t make sense, and her telling me they left because her mom found another job also doesn’t completely explain why she didn’t tell me. We were growing close. We’d kissed. We had a few weeks of summer left. She should have told me. She could have.
Silence sits between us like a big fat frog, unwanted and peculiar. There’s no use pressing her for more details because she clearly doesn’t want to talk about that.
I place my fingers around the base of the wine glass. “My father isn’t well. He has kidney disease. It was only recently diagnosed.”
She blinks, like the news has hit hard. “I-I’m sorry to hear that.”
“How is your mom?” I ask.
“She’s good.” I wait for her to elaborate, but she doesn’t.
“I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me. Did something happen to your mom? Something happen to you? What aren’t you telling me. Maya?”
“Zach, drop it. I’d rather leave my past in the past.” She glances at her watch like she can’t wait to get away. “Dinner was lovely. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I’m about to say something about the company being amazing, but decide not to. “Maybe we could do it again sometime?” I offer. I’d very much like to see her again.
She hesitates, and looks at me like she doesn’t want to. “Maybe.”
I start to get the bill, and she immediately pipes up, insisting she pay her share.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t accept this. Though, my dates have rarely offered to split the bill.
With Maya I have no choice but to give in.
We’ll do it her way, though the bill is going to be ridiculously high, especially for someone on her salary.
I regret coming here.
Outside I offer to drive her home.
“No,” she says, her tone hard like she’s expecting me to insist. “I’ll take a cab.”
I hail a cab for her, and, when it arrives, help her in without touching her. “Say ‘hi’ to your mom.”
She looks at me strangely, then nods.
I don’t know what I did wrong, but whatever is haunting her didn’t start tonight and I’m determined to find out, because I can’t just let her walk away again.
I need to see her again, and be there for her, because something tells me that everything isn’t alright in her world, no matter how strongly she tries to deny it.