Where We Are

“So, how did your talk with Iker go?”

Maia, who was quietly perusing the notes that filled the screen of her laptop, looked up at the sound of Alex’s voice before she shrugged her shoulders. It had been a few days, after she had talked to Iker, almost a week had passed, and whilst things were civil between them, Maia couldn’t help but feel slightly uncomfortable, even if Iker had been nothing but warm and kind towards her, she still couldn’t shake the knots in her stomach.

She knew that they were avoiding the elephant in the room, in the couple of times that they had met up, talk of their relationship and breakup had been fleeting, and whilst a small part of her was glad that Iker wanted to be around for the baby regardless of things between them, most of her wanted them to talk about it, wanting to get it out of the way.

It wasn’t something they could avoid forever, sooner or later, the topic of ‘them’ would arise, and a part of Maia wanted it to. It had happened quickly, before she had had time to think things over, her relationship with Iker had been over, and she knew that it was something they needed to talk about, even if it was just to get closure. They needed to have a conversation.

“It went” she noted.

Alex, who’d moved to place a cup of tea down beside Maia’s laptop, lifted an eyebrow. “It went badly?” she posed, returning to her seat.

Maia closed her laptop before shook her head, offering Alex a small look. “It didn’t go badly” she replied “I mean, he was upset that I’d taken my time when it came telling him about the baby, but I was expecting that. It went fine, we talked, he wants to be around for the baby, and that’s about as far as it got. There’s really not a lot else to say” she added, sipping on her drink.

Alex was quiet for a moment, mulling over her words, before she tilted her head, something which made Maia shake hers. “Alex” she warned.

“Come on, Maia” Alex replied “I can’t not ask. Did you talk about the breakup?” she pressed, her voice soft. She knew that it was a sore subject, since she and Iker had broken up, Maia had appeared reluctant to talk about it, but Alex wanted to encourage her to, even if she knew that it was likely to be futile. It was clearly something that bothered Maia.

Maia shook her head. “Briefly” she replied “But it’s not exactly priority right now. Besides, even if we did talk, what would I say to him, Alex?” she posed, shyly twisting her finger in her hair.

Alex watched her for a moment before she shook her head. “How about. ‘I still love you’?” she quipped “Or ‘I hate that we broke up’?” she added.

Maia scoffed. “Alex...”

“You didn’t want to break up with him, Maia” Alex interrupted “You were crazy about him, and I know that, if you had the chance again, you’d fight for him. You weren’t perfect, Maia, you know that, but you loved him then and you still love him now, and don’t you think you ought to tell him that?” she posed, her voice gentle and encouraging.

Maia offered her a look, allowing her words to hand around them briefly, before she shook her head, a soft sigh falling out of her mouth. “I messed up, Alex” she breathed “More often than not, I put him in second place, and whilst I hate that things ended between us, I don’t blame him for getting frustrated. I let him down, Alex, I kept walking in and out and expecting him to be OK with it, and I should have seen it coming. He wanted us, he wanted a future and I...I wanted it too, I just never gave him an indication that we were on the same page, and before I knew it, we were broken up” she explained, her fingers shyly drumming on the side of her mug.

Alex noted the shy movement of her fingers before she gently shifted her foot, nudging it against Maia’s leg. “Do you still love him?” she pressed tentatively.

Maia hesitated briefly before she nodded, a feeble smile on her lips. “You know that I do” she pointed out, bashfully tucking her hair behind her ear with her spare hand.

“Then you’ve got to talk to him about it, Maia” Alex quipped “I get that it’s not the biggest thing right now, for the next six months, you and Iker can skirt around one another as awkwardly as you want, but at the end of it, there’s going to be a baby. That little boy or girl is going to need their mama and papa on the same page, working together, and comfortable around one another, and those aren’t things that are going to happen if you just skirt around the elephant in the room whenever you’re around Iker. You’ve got to talk about it, Maia, even if it is just to put a definitive end on it, and if I were you, I’d not wait around. The sooner you two figure out what is going on between you, the sooner things get easier” she added, her voice firm, yet still encouraging.

Maia listened to her, taking in the words that her friend was saying, before the sound of her phone beeping filled the air, causing her to pull it out of her pocket, her blue eyes settling on Iker’s name which had appeared on the screen. “Speak of the devil” she murmured.

“It’s Iker?” Alex posed, trying to sneak a peek down at the screen of the phone.

Maia moved the phone out of her eye line before she nodded. “He says that he is free tonight and asks if I’d be Ok to head over there. He wants to do a little more talking” she explained, not taking her eyes off of the phone.

Alex nodded. “You going?” she posed.

Maia, who’d moved to type out a reply, nodded. “I think I have to” she replied “I mean, other than telling him that I am pregnant, we’ve not done a lot of talking, and I think it’s something we need to do. We’ve got a lot to figure out before little baba arrives” she added, her lips curving into a faint smile at the mention of the baby.

Alex admired her smile for a moment before she gently reached her foot out, nudging it against Maia’s leg once more. “Talk to Iker, Maia” she noted “Not just about baby, but the two of you too. I think it’s something you both need” she encouraged before she pushed herself up to her feet, musing about having to get ready for a date that night.

Maia watched her friend step out of the room before she flicked her attention down towards the phone, her blue eyes studying the picture which was still set as a screensaver. It was a sweet one, Maia was sat on Iker’s back, grinning over his shoulder whilst he laughed at the camera, and whilst she knew that she should have changed it, she hadn’t found the heart to. Admiring the picture quietly, she mulled over Alex’s words before she shook her head, not quite sure she had the nerve to broach the topic of their relationship.

It was over, Iker had made his mind up about them, and Maia didn’t know if there was any potential to change it.