Shade The Ground

It had been about a couple of weeks since the incident in her office and Maya was relieved to not have heard anything from Michael since then, but now things between her and Marius were a little off. He seemed to be busy a lot these days. He seemed distant. He hadn’t brought up Michael again; it seemed he was completely ignoring the whole thing, which meant something was wrong. The Marius she knew in college and the one she was getting to know now wouldn’t let something like this go. It was the weekend and once again she was at home enjoying a day off and catching up on some reading in between glancing at some work files. She was doing anything to distract herself from thinking about the fact that maybe this thing between her and Marius had run its course. She picked up her phone and started to dial his number again, but decided against it and instead headed out of the door and up to his apartment. She wanted to talk to him, to find out what was going on. Just as Maya stepped out of the stair well, she saw Marius walking out of his apartment…with someone else. She had met a few of his friends, but not this person. She looked like she had stepped off of the pages of a magazine, dark skin, long legs, and amazing body. Maya turned around before he could see her and hurried back downstairs trying not to let her thoughts drive her crazy. The only thing she could think to do was call Reese and Lina.

Marius was a little confused as to why his ex wife wanted to see him, but he invited her to his apartment to talk about whatever it was she wanted. They had ended things on good terms but as far as he was concerned, there was no need to keep in touch with each other. Since the divorce had been finalized, he and Kimberly had nothing more to say to each other; at least that’s what he thought. For her to show up now was a little weird but he had obliged her request and offer to take her out for a bite to eat so that they could talk. He didn’t want her in his apartment for too long, he didn’t want Maya to come upstairs and think that something was going on. He had to admit to himself that he had been a little distant with Maya since the incident at her office, but he couldn’t help it. Despite the fact that he’d told her he wasn’t going anywhere, he’d given her some distance so that she could really figure out what she wanted. He missed her, the way she smelled, and the way she smiled at him in the morning and how she looked walking around his apartment in his t-shirts. They had barely spent any time together; he seemed to always have something to do. He wondered if maybe what they had was over already, if maybe she was going to go back to Michael and drop him back in the friend zone again. He shook off the thought and headed to the elevator with Kimberly, praying that they didn’t run into Maya on the way down. As soon as he was done with Kimberly, he was heading back to her apartment to talk. He needed to know where he stood with her…now.

“So what’s going on sis?” Reese said as she walked in to Maya’s apartment.

Lina noticed before Reese did. Maya was on the verge of tears. She walked back across the room and sat in the chair next to her window and looked out. She was trying to fight breaking down but it was too late. She sobbed uncontrollably while her sister and friend tried to console her. She finally got herself together enough to tell them what had been going on right up to seeing Marius with the mystery woman coming out of his apartment. In true Lina fashion, she tried to rationalize what Maya saw.

“You know, Maya, that woman could have been just a friend or a business associate. You shouldn’t draw any conclusions just yet. Talk to him, tell him how you feel and let him know where he stands with you. That man has loved you since college and when he finally gets a chance to be with you, it’s complicated by the terrible ghost of boyfriends past. You need to figure out what you want and who you want. Be honest with yourself and be honest with him.”

“She wants Marius, she’s just too afraid to admit, Reese started, she’s letting Michael mess with her head, but it’s obvious that Marius is it for you. You’re in love with that man and you’re afraid that you’re going to mess it up or he’s going to end up being just like Michael.”

Leave it to Reese to tell her what she wanted, but maybe she was right. She hadn’t really thought about what she felt for Marius except that she wanted him in her life, but then there was Michael. She was relieved to not have heard from him in so long, but wondered how long that would last and what she would do about it. When he kissed her in the elevator, she still felt something, something that scared her so much that she had run to Marius to make her forget. She thought about that kiss often, but not as often as when Marius kissed her. She could feel his lips against her skin even when he wasn’t around, she loved the way they seemed to fit together in every way that she had ever wanted. Marius challenged her in a way that no one else had ever done before, she learned from him and he was always willing to learn from her. He was the ideal man. He was her best friend. What else did she need to tell her what she already knew? She loved him; she was in love with him.

She didn’t know what to say now. This was definitely something she wanted to avoid, Marius and Michael were in the same place at the same time and she was too upset to hide anything from Marius.  Marius walked further into the office, stopping in front of Maya and kissing her on the lips. She glanced at Michael who looked amused and pissed at the same time. She wanted him to just leave so that she could be with Marius and avoid having to deal with how she was feeling about him and how confusing it all was. Marius put his hand on the small of her back like he had many times before and it calmed her a little. She finally found her voice to speak.

“Um…Marius, this is Michael, he was just leaving.”

 What were they talking about before he walked in? He’d heard her yelling before he opened the door. Who was this guy she seemed so irritated with? Marius decided to leave those questions for when they were actually alone and walked a little closer to Michael. The men shook hands and Marius walked back over to where Maya was standing. She hadn’t moved from that spot. She almost looked like a deer in headlights. He could tell that she was uncomfortable and had been before he even walked in.

“If I interrupted something, Marius started, I can go out and wait for you to finish.”

“You didn’t interrupt anything, Maya responded, Michael’s visit was unexpected. I’ve been waiting for you so we could have lunch together.”

Maya looked back at Michael who seemed even more pissed now. She walked over to the door and held it open, letting him know that he needed to leave. He walked over to the door and stood there for a moment before walking out. Maya closed the door and walked over to her couch where Marius was now sitting. She sat next to him and smiled nervously. She was afraid of the questions he might have. She didn’t want to talk about Michael just yet, but she took a deep breath, preparing to do it anyway.

“Are we not going to talk about why you seemed so upset when I got here?” Marius asked.

“Michael is my ex, Marius. He showed up here unannounced and I didn’t appreciate it. He said that he wants me back, but that’s not what I want. He’s not giving up.”

“Did you tell him that?” Marius asked.

“In more ways than one, she responded, I don’t think he wants to accept it. That’s what upset me.”

“I wouldn’t want to accept not having you either, but he doesn’t have a choice. You don’t want him and I’m not going anywhere. Is there anything else you want to talk about concerning your ex? Do you want to talk about last night?  Did it have something to do with him?”

Maya didn’t want to answer any of those questions. Why couldn’t she just sit here with him and have lunch?  Michael had ruined yet another day for her and now she was dodging Marius’s question and trying to avoid lying at the same time. She looked at Marius, who was waiting on her to answer.

“I don’t want to talk about it here or now. I just want to have lunch with you. I just want to spend time with you without talking about Michael or anything else. Is that okay?”

Marius wanted to push for answers but he could tell by the look on her face that pushing would only make her shut down and he didn’t want that. He decided to drop the conversation for now. He pulled the food from the bag and placed it on the table in front of them. He leaned over, kissing her and taking in her scent before pulling away. He smiled as she caressed his face. Something was definitely wrong and she was struggling with it. He convinced himself that letting it go was for her, but the truth was he was afraid of what she might have to say to him.

“Not talking about your ex is absolutely fine with me, Maya.”

They sat there together eating in silence. 

Marius didn’t know what had gotten into Maya the night before and as much as he enjoyed what happened, he knew that something was wrong. She’d left before he’d gotten up, probably to go for a run or get ready for work. He didn’t have any meetings, so he’d decided to stay away from the office and do some work at home. Moving back had been his best move yet; his businesses elsewhere ran fine without him being hands on and he’d found her again. He didn’t think he would ever tell her that he was in love with her in college. Somehow he had fallen into the friend zone and stayed there without complaint because he didn’t want to be rejected and lose such a close friend. He’d listened to her talk about other guys and cry on his shoulder when she was hurt by them, all the while wanting her to love him the way he already loved her. Lina had pushed him to tell her the truth, but every time he tried to he couldn’t get the words out. Time had passed and even though they had promised to keep in touch, everyone had gotten busy with their own lives and drifted apart. Throughout his marriage he’d wondered about her, where she was, what she doing and if she was married like him. He had loved his wife, but Maya…she was always on his mind.  Marius stepped into the shower and let the water run over his body for a while. He couldn’t stop thinking about the night before, how she had completely taken control of him. They didn’t even make it to his bedroom the first time. He smiled to himself but he was a little worried too. She didn’t seem like she was completely there with him last night, it was almost like she was running from something. Maybe it’s nothing, he thought to himself, maybe I’m looking for something that isn’t there. Marius stepped out of the shower and dried off; he looked in the mirror and noticed the scratches on his back. She was definitely different last night. He guessed he could ask her if anything was going on. Didn’t hurt to ask, right?

Maya had gone to the office early. Her mind was still all over the place after what Michael did. What she had done next was a little out of character, but she couldn’t say that she didn’t enjoy it. Being with Marius seemed natural to her, but there were moments the night before where she thought of Michael and what happened in the elevator. She hated him for trying to be a part of her life again and she hated him for still having the ability to make her weak at the knees with just one kiss. She stared off into space lost in thought for a while before she decided to lie down on the office couch. She pulled out her ipad to read the day’s news to distract her. Before she could start reading, her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Marius. She was so tempted not to answer it; she didn’t know what to say to him right now. She finally picked up the phone and hit the talk.

“Hi, Marius, she said, I’m sorry I disappeared on you this morning. I needed to get to the office and I didn’t want to wake you up and you looked really cute sleeping.”

 “I don’t want to take up too much of your time; I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay. Last night it just seemed like something may have been wrong. What’s going on?”

She didn’t want to lie to him, but telling the man you’re sleeping with that her old boyfriend was trying to win her back isn’t exactly what she wanted to tell him either. She dodged the question, telling him that she had to go and inviting him to come have lunch with her later. She hoped that he wouldn’t ask her again. The rest of the day went by smoothly, Lina and Reese were busy working or taking meetings and she had wrapped up her business meeting before one o’clock. She was excited to see Marius; she missed him when he wasn’t around. They still hadn’t decided what they were to each other now. They had basically fallen in to a routine without establishing anything. She heard some commotion in the hallway and got up to see what it is. She could hear the receptionist saying that someone couldn’t see her without an appointment. Before she could get up from her desk, the door opened and Michael walked in.

“It’s okay, Maya said to her receptionist, I’ll handle it. Thank you.”

The receptionist closed the door behind her. Maya watched as Michael walked over to her couch and took a seat. His showing up whenever and wherever he wanted was getting old quickly…and a little weird.

“Don’t you have a job, Michael? Don’t they miss you there? Why are you here?”

“I do, they don’t, and I’m here for you,” Michael responded.

“I have things to do Michael and I have another appointment in a few minutes. I need you to go away and I need you to stay away.”

“That’s not going to happen, Maya, it’s not going to happen because I know that you still have feelings for me. I want to prove to you that I’m serious about us getting back together.”

Maya got up and walked around to stand in front of her desk. She was pissed off again.

“You don’t prove it by barging back in to my life and forcing yourself on me. You’re a borderline stalker now. You’ve shown up at the café, you kiss me in the elevator, and now you barge into my office; you have to stop this. If you want to prove to me that you sincerely care about me, then respect my wishes and stay away.”

She was raising her voice now. She pointed at the door, motioning for Michael to leave, but he didn’t. He stood up from the couch and started to walk towards her. Not again, Maya thought. She prepared herself to resist any of Michael’s advances if he tried but she wouldn’t have to. Before he was half way across the room, the office door opened and Marius walked in with their lunch. She took a deep breath, half relieved and half scared that the two men were now in the same room. 

The day was almost over with and Maya was happy. She had been in back to back meetings since nine in the morning and it didn’t seem like she’d had a moment to just take a breath. She didn’t mind the meetings because new business meant more money and more opportunity to expand the company, but the morning’s event with Michael had irritated her a bit and threw her off her game. It wasn’t just a coincidence that Michael had been at the café the same time as her. He hated the food at the café, but he knew it was her favorite spot for breakfast. Had he been waiting everyday to see if she would show up? What was going on? Did he really think it would be that easy to get her back? She’d put on her poker face when she rejected him, but by the time she had gotten to her car she was so angry she’d had to take a moment before she could drive off and head to work. Her mind went from Michael and back to Marius. She hoped she’d get to see him that night, that they have dinner and talk. She wondered if she should tell him about what happened at the café, if it was important enough to mention when she didn’t even know where things were going with him. She knew that the weekend was much more than sex, that whatever was happening between them wasn’t over yet. Why ruin it with talk of the past? Since she had no more meetings scheduled, she decided to go ahead and leave. She grabbed her things and headed down the hallway to let Lina and Reese both know that she was leaving a little earlier. They would be surprised since they usually had to drag her out of the office, but her mind wasn’t on working anymore today.

Good, she thought as she stuck her head in Lina’s office, they’re together. I can’t say my goodbyes at the same time and get out of here.

“Hey ladies, she started, I’m going to head out a little early. I have a few things to do and no more meetings.”

“Whoa, sis, Reese said, we’ve barely seen you today. You can’t just come in here, say goodbye and walk out of here. Get in this office. Tell us how your weekend was. Did you do anything interesting?”

Maya hesitated a little and then smiled. She sat down and started to tell them what happened over the weekend between her and Marius. She didn’t give them details but they were so excited they were talking over each other.  Reese didn’t hesitate to tell her that she “knew it” and Lina was acting like a proud aunt. She finally got away from them and out of the office thirty minutes later. She stood at the elevator smiling to herself; she was looking forward to seeing him. She touched her lips, remembering him there and how sweet he tasted when she kissed him the first time and every time after. She was shocked out of her daydream by the elevator doors opening and seeing an unwanted visitor standing inside. This was too much now. She was hesitant at first, but stepped inside of the elevator anyway. She wouldn’t let him see her react in any way other than what she’d given him at the café. She stood as far away from him as she could and hoped that someone would have to get on the elevator before it got to the parking garage.  They were halfway there and no one else had gotten on yet.

“Maya are you not going to say anything to me?” Michael asked.

“I said what I needed to say this morning. Why are you here? Please don’t tell me you came to see me.”

“I had a meeting here but I’m glad I ran into you. I wanted to apologize to you again. I will apologize to you until you give me another chance, Maya.”

Michael pressed the stop button and turned to face Maya. She was getting nervous now. This was out of character even for him. There was nowhere to go; she was already in the corner of the elevator. She kept her poker face on and pretended that she wasn’t a little unnerved.

“What the hell are you doing, Mike?”

She tried to move around him to start the elevator again, but there was no getting around him when he grabbed her by her waist and pulled her to him. Before she could protest, he was kissing her. She put her hands on his chest trying to push him away…at least she thought she was trying to push him away. She finally pulled away, slapping him and gasping for air. She managed to start the elevator again and stood in the corner again as far away from him as she could get. He was standing in the opposite corner, not saying anything, just looking at her. He started to move towards her when the doors opened, but she backed out of the elevator putting her hand in front of her to keep him at a distance.

“Stop, Michael!”

She hurried to her car and could hear him yelling something to her, but couldn’t and didn’t want to make it out. She jumped in her car and sped out of the parking garage trying to catch her breath and keep her mind from racing. She needed to get home; she needed to get to Marius. She got to her building, parked her car and headed straight to his apartment. She was hoping he was there and he was. He opened the door and before he could speak, her mouth was on his. She pushed him into the apartment, closed the door and started to undress him. She didn’t want to talk; she wanted to forget what has just happened. She just wanted to get lost in him again. 

Maya decided to get up early and go to her favorite café for breakfast. She usually hated Monday mornings, but after the weekend she’d had, she was full of energy. As she sat at her table and waited for her order, she went through her phone to listen to the messages that had been left over the weekend. Most of them were from Reese giving her details of her latest weekend escapades and some were from Lina who didn’t really want anything at all. She hadn’t noticed that there was someone standing in front of her table until they spoke.

“Hi, Maya” a voice said.

Maya looked up and almost dropped her phone in shock. She hadn’t seen his face in months and here he was standing in front of her, speaking to her as if they were old friends. It took everything in her not to toss the coffee she had in his face.

“Michael, she said, I would say it’s nice to see, but it’s not. What do you want?”

“I…um…I saw you sitting over here and thought it would be rude of me not to come over and speak. I thought we could at least be civil to each other. I know that things ended badly, but I was hoping that by now we could at least be friends.”

Maya laughed at the idea of them being friends. She had no interest in being his friend or anything else. She wasn’t interested in having a conversation with him and she wasn’t about to let him ruin her good mood. She was in a good place.

“Michael, she started, you and I will never be friends. I don’t hate you, but I definitely don’t want to be friends with you. I wish you the best of luck in your life, but I don’t want to be a part of it and I don’t want you to be a part of mine anymore. I’m having a great start to my day, so I’m nicely asking you to walk away from my table and go back to what you were doing.”

“Wow, he said, you hate me that much.”

“I just said I don’t hate you, Mike; I’m just done with you. You don’t have a right to expect anything more than this from me after what you did. I value honesty, and respect and you gave me neither when you ended things, so I don’t owe you anything now.”

Michael sat down at the table instead of leaving which irritated Maya. She looked at him and pushed her chair away from the table a little.

“Just…wait, Maya. I know that I hurt you and I am truly sorry about that. I thought that I wanted something else, someone else. I thought that I had found something better in someone else when the truth is I already had better. I was even prepared to walk down the aisle with her, but the fact is I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I missed you…I still miss you. I want another chance with you. I think we invested way too much into each other to not try again.”

Maya looked away from Michael and motioned for her waitress. She had her change her order to go and then she turned her attention back to Michael.

“Invested? I’m not stock, Michael and you didn’t “invest” nearly enough into our relationship as you should have. I didn’t sit and wait for you to decide that you might want me back either and I don’t care if you missed me.  You made a decision to walk away from us and into someone else’s bed, it’s not my problem if you don’t like where you ended up laying. My heart isn’t a revolving door. You don’t have the privilege of coming in and out as you please. Now, I’m going to leave. Since you seem to like the table so much, you can have it.”

“I get it, Michael said, you’re giving me a hard time, you’re going to make me work for it and I’m willing to do that. I’m not giving up on you, Maya, I’m not going anywhere.”

Maya glared at Michael as she stood up from the table and grabbed her things. She really wanted even more to toss her coffee in his face, but it wasn’t hot enough anymore to do any damage. She walked around the table towards the café counter, but turned around to say one last thing to him before she left.

“I’m not giving you a hard time Michael; the bottom line is I don’t want any part of you anymore. If you actually listened to anything but the sound of your own voice maybe you would have heard that.  Don’t work for something you can’t have because I am not an option for you anymore. Stay away from me.”

Maya walked over to the counter, paid for her breakfast, grabbed her food and walked out of the door without giving him a backwards glance. 

Maya turned over to face him. He was still there…it wasn’t a dream. He was sleeping and she was enjoying watching him. This felt right, being in bed with him, being able to touch him like this; it felt like it should have happened a long time ago. He woke up and she hadn’t noticed because she was lost in thought again, not second guessing what had happened but why it had taken her so long to let it. He pulled her closer to him and she could feel the heat of his skin against hers. He kissed her and smiled.

“What were you thinking about?” He asked.

“What just happened” Maya answered.

“Are you regretting it now? Marius asked.

He pulled away a little afraid that she was going to say yes to his last question. He hoped that she wouldn’t say that is was a mistake because it didn’t feel like a mistake to him. He liked laying next to her, being with her in every way. Maya didn’t answer right away. She stared at him and smiled, pulling him closer to her again and kissed him.

“I don’t regret anything, Marius. I wanted this, I wanted you…I still do. I wasn’t thinking that it shouldn’t have happened. Don’t worry.”

She slid on top of him and laid her head on chest. She could hear his heart beating faster and she could feel hers doing the same. She looked at the clock…it was 7 pm; they had spent the majority of the day in her bed exploring every inch of each other. She could still feel his hands grabbing her hair, his mouth going places that she hadn’t felt anyone go in a while. She wanted more of him and she let him know it by sliding her hand in between them.  He smiled and groaned in pleasure and they were at it again. No words, just mouths, hands, their bodies together saying everything that needed to be said at the moment.  After an hour and a half, they were spent. They fell asleep in each other’s arms, breathing in sync.

When Maya woke up, she was alone. It was seven thirty in the morning and the sun coming through the window had awakened her. She looked over at the nightstand next to her and saw the note Marius had left. He had gotten up early and gone to get some breakfast and would be back soon. She put fresh sheets on the bed and jumped in the shower hoping she would be done before he got back. She couldn’t stop smiling to herself while she showered. The events of Saturday had been unexpected but in a good way, she was hoping that Sunday would be just as amazing. She stepped out of the shower and dried off, just as she was done, she heard a knock at her door. Grabbing her robe, she went to answer it. When she opened the door, Marius was standing there with fresh clothes on and breakfast in his hand. Before she could say good morning, he reached for her, pulling her into a kiss. With one arm he picked her up and walked into the apartment, kicking the door closed behind them. He set her back on her feet and smiled.

“Hey, you didn’t have to get breakfast, I could have cooked something for you” Maya said.

“If anyone was going to cook breakfast, it would have been me, Marius started, besides I had a taste for this restaurant I found a few weeks back. I figured I’d pick something up for us. Their breakfast is amazing.”

“Okay, give me a minute to throw some clothes on and we can eat. I’ll be right back.”

Maya kissed him again and hurried down the hallway. He watched her go down the hallway. Realizing that she had absolutely nothing on underneath her robe, he put the bag down on the table and headed down the hallway towards her room.

“How about I help you get dressed” he yelled as he headed her way.

Maya turned around at the door and smiled at him. She slowly untied her robe, dropped it on the floor and walked further into the bedroom.  Breakfast would have to wait.

It had been three weeks since Marius’s speech at her door but Maya couldn’t seem to get it out of her mind. They had spent plenty of time together since then catching up with each other or going out with Reese and Lina but Marius hadn’t asked her how she felt about it or pushed for anything more than what they had at the moment.  She was glad that he respected her space and gave her the power to choose what happened next between them.  She wasn’t accustomed to any man doing that for her. He hadn’t allowed the incident to change the way he treated her either. The more time she spent around him, the more she saw the Marius that she had grown so close to in college in addition to the man that he had become after. She felt comfortable with him in a way she hadn’t been comfortable with a man in a long time. They could talk for hours about the old days or politics, or music. They had fallen asleep a couple of nights in a row on her couch listening to music and drinking wine.  She sat by the window  staring out at the city below her lost in thought, trying to figure a way out of what she was feeling. She didn’t think she was ready to be with someone else again and Marius was definitely a risk she was afraid to take. She had just gotten him back in her life and messing it up with becoming more than friends seemed irrational, but she couldn’t seem to shake how she felt when he’d grabbed her by the waist and stood so close to her. Her heart was racing just thinking about it. She was contemplating another cold shower when she heard the knock on the door. She walked across the room and opened the door to see Marius standing there with a bag in his hand. He had on shorts and a t-shirt that showed every muscle in his body. Maya tightened her grip on the doorknob and tried to control her reaction to how good he looked.

“Hey, Marius started, I didn’t know if you would be here, but I figured I’d find out and see if you wanted some company. I also brought you another bottle of that wine we finished off the other night. Do you have any plans this fine Saturday or can you spare some time for an old friend?”

“Come in and thank you for the wine. I don’t have any plans today. The girls are out shopping but I wasn’t up for that, so I would love your company.”

Marius walked past Maya into her apartment and she could smell his cologne as entered. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she closed the door. Keep it together, Maya, she thought to herself, this can’t happen.

Marius walked into the kitchen and Maya followed and watched as he put the wine he’d bought her into the mini wine fridge. He walked around her counter to sit on one of the stools and Maya moved to the other side of the counter to avoid being so close. She was craving that cold shower even more now.

“I’m really surprised that you’re not out in this gorgeous Saturday. No walk in the park? No morning run? Do you still run?” Marius asked.

“I’ve been busy all week, I figured I would just stay in and enjoy being caught up on work and not having to rush to any meetings. Besides, I would much rather sit here with you than go shopping or for a walk in the park.”

“You know what I would like right now? Some ice cream. Do you have any hear or do I need to go out and buy some?” Marius asked.

“Of course I have ice cream, said Maya; I haven’t changed since college when it comes to that.”

Maya grabbed bowls and the ice cream from the freezer. The sat at the counter next to each other eating and laughing about some of the crazy things they’d done in college. Maya noticed that Marius had ice cream on his face and started to laugh.

“I see you still haven’t learned how to get all the ice cream in your mouth Marius” she said.

She reached out to wipe the ice cream off with her hand and lingered a little longer, even after she was done. She stared at him with her fingers almost touching his lips. Her heart started to beat faster, she took a deep breath and said what she had been trying to avoid saying. She couldn’t fight it anymore; her desire had won over her fears.

“Marius, will you?” she asked.

Marius looked at her and moved a little closer. Their lips were almost touching now; his hands were around her waist. She had to say it; she had to tell him what she wanted. As much as he wanted to kiss her at that moment, she had to say it.

“Will I what, Maya?” Marius whispered.

“Kiss me, she said, I’m asking you to kiss me.”

That’s all he had to hear. Marius kissed her so passionately that she had to catch her breath. He had one hand on her waist and the other on her face.  Just as she felt like she couldn’t stand any longer, Marius stopped kissing her and looked in her eyes.

“What are doing? Why did you stop?” Maya asked breathing like she had run a marathon.

“I’ve kissed you, he replied, you have to tell me what else you want. I know what I want to happen next, you have to tell me what you want,” Marius said as he put his arms around her waist.

Maya kissed him again and whispered in his ear.

“The same thing you want.”

Marius kissed her again and she could feel herself being picked up, his arms holding her firmly against him as he pinned her to the wall in the kitchen and began to undress her slowly. By the time they made it to the bedroom, they both were almost completely undressed. Their shoes and shirts, her bra left a trail. She had let go and it felt good to do it, she was completely lost in the moment and in him.

Reese waited outside of the restaurant for everyone to show up. She didn’t have a problem walking in alone but this place wouldn’t seat her until everyone was there anyway. She watched as Lina pulled up in her car, got out and gave her keys to the valet.  Even without making an effort she seemed to grab everyone’s attention when she walked towards the door. It was like she had her own spotlight that followed her everywhere she went. A few men who had stopped paying attention to their girlfriends and wives were definitely going to be sleeping on the couch when they got home. Sure Reese got the same kind of attention, but with Lina it was more intense; it was like they all fell in love with her the moment she entered the room. Of course Lina never paid it any attention, it was like she was oblivious to the power she had over men or she was afraid to acknowledge it.

“Hey Reese, Lina said as kissed Reese on the cheek, you look good. You know I’m going to borrow that dress from you after tonight.”

“It’s all yours if you let me borrow those shoes.”

“We have a deal, now let’s call your sister and see what’s taking her so long.”

“No need to call, Maya said behind them, we’re here.”

Maya and Marcus had decided to come to the restaurant together since they lived in the same building at least that was what she’d told herself. She could see by the look on Reese’s face that she was going to have something to say about hem showing up together. She had to admit that it was nice to be there with him. When she’d opened her apartment door to see him standing there, she’d had to catch her breath, she was excited to see him in a way that she shouldn’t have been if she only saw him as a friend. Now he was standing next to her with his hand on the small of her back and she couldn’t help but want to lean in closer to him. They entered the restaurant and were immediately seated. Dinner went smoothly; they were all so engrossed in their conversation with each other that they hadn’t realized that they were out of wine.  While Maya and Marius headed home, Reese and Lina decided it was still early and that they were going to a jazz club for a couple of hours. Since Marius only had one glass of wine and water after, he’d insisted on driving Maya’s car back home.  While he watched the road, she watched him and wondered what it would be like to kiss him. She tried to shake off the thought, convincing herself that it was the wine that had her head in that space, but she couldn’t help herself. He must have noticed her watching him because when they stopped at a red light, he turned his head to face her.

“What is it? he asked, you’ve been looking at me since we got in the car. Do I have something on my face?”

“I…I guess it’s just good to see you I guess.”

“Is that all it is?”

“Yeah,” Maya said as she looked away. Now she was a little embarrassed. She had let Reese get in her head and it was affecting the way she acted with Marius. She was eager for this ride home to be over already.

“You know, Marius started, you never told me why your relationship ended. Who was the idiot that walked away from you and why?”

Her heart skipped a beat; she didn’t really want to talk about Michael anymore. She had decided to let him and the issues she had with how things ended go, but she didn’t want to dismiss Marius’s interest either. She knew that him wanting to know was well intentioned.

“Well, she started, after a few years he decided that I wasn’t the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He ended things almost four months ago and has married or will be marrying someone else. I let that go…I let him go. I’m free of that situation and I’m okay now.”

They’d arrived home by the time Maya had finished what she said. The headed to the elevator and to her floor. Marius walked her to her door, before she could walk inside; he grabbed her waist and turned her around to face him. They were so close she could smell the sweetness of his breath.

“We just found each other again, he started, and I’ve missed having you in my life. You were the closest person to me and I haven’t really had that since, not even in my marriage. I don’t want to cross any lines with you, I don’t want to lose you as a friend again but I would be remiss not to say what I’m thinking. I know that there’s something between us and I know that it’s only been a day since we’ve been back in each other’s lives so what’s happening is crazy and scary and fast.  I don’t want to scare you away, so I will only do what you ask me to when you ask me to do it. As much as I want to kiss you right now, I won’t do it unless you want me to. I’ll be your friend because even though you have Reese and Lina, I think you need me too. The only thing I ask of you, Maya is that you don’t over think, that you don’t talk yourself out of allowing us to possibly happen.  Whatever happens from now on is up to you, so think about it, and take your time. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”

Marius leaned in and kissed her on the cheek before he backed away and turned to head to the elevator. She watched him as the doors closed. Every word he’d just said was rolling around in her head and it took her a while to actually move from the spot he’d left her in walk in to her apartment. She locked the door behind her and dropped her keys and bag on the table. She started to undress before she even got to her bedroom. She walked in to her bathroom, stepped into the shower and turned on the cold water.

Maya sat in her office trying to work on new accounts but couldn’t seem to focus enough. Her mind was still on lunch and the conversation she’d had with Marius. Seeing him again, spending time with him was just what she needed and hadn’t even realized it. She had missed how easy and comforting it was to talk to him about…anything. Without going into detail, she’d told him about the ending of her relationship and that she was in a good place again. He had sat there and listened to everything she said without taking his eyes off of hers, which had actually made her a little nervous. The way he looked at her…no one had looked at her like that in quite some time. She was genuinely excited to hear about all of his successes since the last time they had been in contact and proud of how he had actually accomplished so many of the things he’d dreamed about doing. They’d followed up their lunch with a quick reunion between Marius, Reese, and Lina who were so excited to see Marius that they had convinced him to go out with them that night to a restaurant opening. That meant that Maya would see him again, three times in one day and she was nervous about it. She was already planning what to wear and wondering what he would think about it. What’s going on with you Maya, she thought, this is Marius, your friend, don’t cross that line. Her thoughts were interrupted by Reese walking into her office and planted herself on the couch next to her bookshelf.

“Soooo…Marius was looking pretty damn good huh?”

“Yeah, Maya responded, he looked great. It was really good to see him and reconnect.”

“Maya, don’t act like the two of you weren’t checking each other out. Marius was looking at you like he could take you down right in the middle of the reception area and you were looking at him the same way.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Reese; it was just good to see an old friend.”

“Sis, you can pretend there isn’t an attraction but a blind man could see it. Don’t fight it just let it happen. You and Marius would be great together, I always thought that and so did Lina.”

“That’s because you two are crazy, Marius is a friend nothing more nothing less. Besides, I’m not ready to date anyone right now.”

Reese looked up from the magazine she was thumbing through, tossed it back on Maya’s table and stood up to walk out of her office.

“You may not feel like you’re ready, Reese said, but Marius came back into your life at this time for a reason. You may feel like it’s too soon, but you and Marius are going to happen sooner rather than later and it’s one of those things you’re not going to be able to control.”

Reese closed the door behind her as she exited and Maya turned around in her chair to look out of her window at the city and took a deep breath. What Reese said couldn’t be further from the truth, she and Marius were going to keep in touch, they were going to spend time together…as friends. It’s too soon for something new and besides, I would never want someone like Marius to be a rebound and that’s what the next guy would be, she thought to herself. She couldn’t possibly be attracted to her closest friend. Could she?

Marius couldn’t help but be a little distracted after seeing Maya. It had been so long and he had been thinking about her a lot lately. It was blowing his mind that they happened to be living in the same building now. He couldn’t for the life of him remember why or when they had lost touch with each other, but he knew he was going to make sure that didn’t happen again. He pulled into the parking garage of the building where he was having his meeting and found a parking space next to the elevator. He headed up to the twenty ninth floor and to his friend Veronica’s magazine company. She had proposed that he buy into a new venture with her and considering that everything she touched turned to gold, he figured it wasn’t a bad idea. His mind went back and forth between business and the white pencil skirt that Maya was wearing when they ran into each other. He hadn’t been able to help looking at how it showed off every wonderful curve on her body. Snap out of it Marius, he thought to himself,get your head into taking care of business and off Maya. He figured that once the meeting was over he would drop by her office and offer to take her to lunch; he needed to see her again even if it was for an hour. The meeting took longer than he had expected but he was out of the office by eleven-thirty, so he hurried to his car hoping he wouldn’t hit any traffic on his way to Maya’s office. He reached inside of the tray in front of him looked at the address on the card; he couldn’t help but laugh out loud at what he saw. He was already exactly where he needed to be because her offices were in the same building. Marius flicked the card and stepped back out of his car and back towards the elevator.

“Are you following me?”

He turned around to see Maya standing there holding drinks in one hand and a bag of food in the other with a curious smile on her face.

“I should be asking you that, but no I’m not, Marius replied, the meeting I had this morning was in this building. I looked at your card and realized your office was here too and I figured I could convince you to join me for lunch, but it looks like that may not happen.”

“This isn’t for me, she said, it’s for Lina and Reese. I had a couple of meetings before I came in and I figured I would treat them to lunch to thank them for picking up the slack for me. I’ve been gone for a couple of weeks, so if your offer still stands I would love to go to lunch with you. If you wait here, I’ll drop this off and come right back down, unless you want to come up now and see Reese and Lina. I know they would love that”

Marius couldn’t help but smile at her accepting his invitation.

“I think I’ll wait for you here, Marius responded, I would love to see them too, but I would really like to catch up a little more with you first. After lunch, I’ll go up with you and surprise them.”

Maya smiled and stepped into the elevator when the doors opened. He watched as the doors closed and didn’t move from where he was standing. He was going to wait right there until the doors opened and he saw her face again. Ten minutes later, Maya was back in the garage and stepping out of the elevator.

“Okay, she started, I’m all yours.”

Marius couldn’t help but smile at the thought of that. 

Maya looked at herself in the mirror making sure that her hair was in place and the outfit she had picked out looked alright.  It had been two weeks since she’d been to the office, two weeks since she had found out that the man she had been in a five year relationship with, who had ended it only three months ago was marrying someone else.  She thought that she was getting over it, but finding out that news had only reopened old wounds and raised more questions. How could he be ready to do with someone else after three months what he hadn’t been ready to do with her after five years? Had he been with this person before he walked out on her? How long had he been with her? How could she have not noticed if he was cheating? It was all too much for her to handle and she’d broken down in front of her sister Reese one night while they were having drinks. Reese had suggested that maybe she should take some time off, let her and Maya’s business partner and best friend Lina handle business for her while she took some time to deal with how she was feeling. For the first time, she had actually taken her little sister’s advice; she packed a bag and flew to London. She hadn’t been there in so long and she figured it was as good a place as any to get her head on straight. She spent the majority of her time there taking pictures and writing out her thoughts, finding anything to distract her from daydreaming about what his wedding must have been like. The time away had helped. She now knew that there was nothing she could have done to change what happened, that she wasn’t at fault for his choices. She wished him luck now and she let him go. Maya took one last look at herself in the mirror and smiled at her reflection. She was ready to get back to work and to her life. She grabbed her keys and bag and headed for the door. She stood at the elevator waiting for the doors to open and rummaging through her bag to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. She hadn’t realized that the doors had opened until she heard someone in front of her calling her name.

“Maya Randolph, is that you?”

Maya looked up to see the face of one of her closest male friends from college.  She hadn’t seen Marius Brooks since the year after they had all graduated. They had promised to keep in touch no matter how busy their lives got, but as time passed they had talked less and less until they had completely lost touch with each other but she had heard a few things about him from time to time.

“Oh my God Marius Brooks, I can’t believe it’s you! How are you?” Maya asked as she stepped into the elevator and into his arms for a hug. 

The elevator doors closed behind her as she held on to Marius and smiled. She realized she had been holding on for a little too long and took a step back.

“I’ve been good, said Marius, How are you doing? I heard through the grapevine you’re a big time financial adviser or something now.”

“Something like that, Maya replied. I have my own company now. I’m doing really well.”

“You look good too…damn if I had known you would still be this fine, I would have snatched you up in college.”

Maya had to admit to herself that Marius looked pretty damn good too. She didn’t remember him looking like this in college. His clothes, his hair, his lips, his eyes…he was damn hear perfect. She hoped he hadn’t noticed her checking him out. Why was she checking him out like that? This is Marius, she thought to herself, get it together.

“Marius, you were too much of a player to settle down with anyone back then. I heard you got married?”

“I was married, it lasted about a year; and then she decided that she wasn’t ready to spend the rest of her life with just one person….so we divorced about four years ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that Marius.”

“Don’t be sorry, it was the best thing for the both of us; I don’t think either one of us was ready she was just the first to admit it.”

Maya decided to change the subject. Starting off with talk about break ups was not what she wanted to do.

“Hey, if you’re not busy, you should come to the office sometime today. My sister and Lina would love to see you and I would love to catch up some more.”

The elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the parking garage. Hugging each other once more, Maya and Marius exchanged information and started to walk to their cars which were two spaces apart.  Before he could get inside, Maya had to ask Marius a question.

“Hey Marius, what were you doing in this building? Were you visiting someone here?”

“No, he replied, I just moved in a week ago. I’m a floor above you.”

Marius winked at Maya and jumped in his car and she laughed to herself as she got in hers. This day had started off better than she expected and the summer just might be interesting after all.