For Reasons Unknown

Brian drove her home in silence as she aimlessly gazed out of the window. She was only aware that she was home when she realised the car had stopped. Neither of them moved for a moment, and then Maya lifted her head and turned to face Brian, who was staring blankly out of the windscreen.

“You are still going to stay the night?” she asked in a whisper causing him to turn and face her.

“Of course I will if you still want me to.” He stated placing his hand gently on her leg. She nodded silently as he gave her a weak smile.

“Oh god Maya are you ok?” Abi greeted her with a hug as soon as she set foot through the front door.

“I need a shower.” She said simply and Abi pulled out of the hug looking slightly confused.

“I won’t be long.” She whispered walking solemnly over to the bathroom.

A little over half an hour later Maya emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel. Brian and Abi were sat talking on the sofa.

“Abi, can you do me a favour?” she asked as she walked over to them.

“Can you make me a hot chocolate while I get changed?”

“Of course I can.” Abi replied standing up. Maya gave them both another weak smile and walked into her bedroom.

“Thanks Abs, I’m going to take this to bed.” She said taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

“Brian. Can you just hold me?” she asked. He quietly nodded as he stood up to follow her.

“Night Abi.” She said quietly.

“Night honey.” Abi replied as she watched Maya and Brian disappeared into her room.

Maya climbed into her bed and took another sip of her hot chocolate. Brian stood silently watching her as she took two of the sleeping tablets she’d been given after the first attack.

“Tonight was meant to be perfect.” Maya whispered as Brian still stood nervously beside the door.

“Don’t think about that now.” He finally spoke taking a few steps forward.

“He’s spoilt everything.” Again she whispered calmly but this time a few tears escaped.

“Not everything.” Brian replied taking a few more steps forward before sitting on the bed.
She looked up at him and caught his gaze; his eyes were not showing half as much sparkle as they usually did when he looked at her.

“I’m not going to let him spoil things between us.” He whispered raising his had to her face to gently wipe away her tears with his thumb.

“But-“ Maya stuttered.

“But nothing. The first night I met you, you told me that you were attacked for a reason. Now I believe that reason was for us to meet and so that we could be together.” Brian said softly, cupping her face with his hands and looking into her eyes. Maya’s heart skipped a beat on hearing his words. She looked back into his eyes and knew that he was right. She was not going to let what had happened to her spoil what she had with Brian. This was just the beginning for them and she didn’t want it to end.

A small smile briefly appeared on her lips, which Brian mirrored before he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. He then got up and stripped down to his boxers and got into the bed as Maya finished her hot chocolate. She placed the empty mug down on her nightstand, switched the light off and made herself comfortable.

Without saying a word she felt Brian edge closer to her and place his muscular arm around her waist. She placed her hand underneath his palm and allowed their fingers to entwine. At first she was scared to close her eyes in fear that she would see his face, but soon enough the tablets that she’d taken overtook her fears and guided her into a deep and peaceful sleep.

Maya woke the following morning with the memories of what had happened the night before entering her mind. She glanced up to take a look at the clock that stood on her nightstand. 10:17. She should have been heading into work around about now. She rolled over to find that Brian had left. Maybe he couldn’t deal with what had happened after all. She lay in bed silently thinking for a moment before the urge to pee became too overwhelming and she was forced to get up.

The flat was quiet as she emerged from the bathroom and she decided that she needed coffee and mindless TV. She made her way to the kitchen and filled the kettle before putting it on to boil. As she closed the refrigerator door after taking the milk out she spotted a note attached to the door with a magnet. She unclipped it and began to read.

“If you’re reading this note then you have spoilt my surprise. I got up to make you breakfast and then found that you didn’t have the ingredients so I’ve gone to get them, hoping that you’ll still be in bed when I get back. Xx
Oh and Abi’s going in to cover your shift and showed me where to find your keys so I can get back in – I didn’t go snooping in your purse – she did! Xxx
Brian.”

Maya couldn’t help but smile yet felt guilty that she’d doubted him. She finished making her coffee and took it to drink whilst she watched random TV. She had no idea how long he’d be as she didn’t know how long ago he’d left, but she managed to drink just half of her coffee when she heard the key in the door.

“Damn it you’re up.” Brian grumbled as he spotted her on the sofa.

“Sorry, if you’d given me another ten minutes I would have finished my coffee and headed back to bed and acted surprised.” She said smiling at him.

“Nevermind. How are you feeling this morning? You seemed to sleep well.” He asked as she walked over to his side.

“Better. Still sore. But determined that I’m not going to let what’s happened get the better of me.” she said trying to sound as positive as she could.

“What are you making me anyway?” she asked trying to peer into the grocery bag.

“Pancakes. They’re your favourite aren’t they? With chocolate chip cookies and ice-cream?” Maya smiled knowing that he’d remembered from the breakfast they’d had the morning after they’d met. She’d sulked when the waitress had told her that she couldn’t have that topping.

“You remembered?”

“Of course. How could I forget a sulk like that? I thought Zacky was the king of sulks.” He said with a smile.

“He may be. I am the queen.” She stated.

“So are we just having a day of shitty TV?” Brian asked as Maya finished her third pancake.

“That was my plan. Or as me and Abi like to call it. Duvet day.” She replied once she’d finished chewing the last piece of pancake.

“Duvet day?”

“Yeah, just PJs, duvet, remote and crappy food.” She explained.

“Sounds good to me. You go and get the duvet while I clear these dishes away.” Brian said smiling.

Brian and Maya were still wrapped up in duvet on the sofa when Abi came home from work at six. She’d phoned on her way home to see if they wanted pizza and so walked in with a large meat feast, a chicken combo and bottle of coke in her hands.

“Hey Abs. How was work?” Maya called over as she served out the pizza onto three plates. A normal person would have just put the box on the coffee table and allowed people to help themselves. But Abi wasn’t normal when it came to things like this. She wouldn’t eat in McDonalds because the food didn’t come on plates. She was beyond strange when it came to those kinds of things.

“Shit. We couldn’t let anyone in for the first hour as we had to clean up after the police and then when we did open we had to explain to everyone why we were shut and what had happened. Sorry honey, but it’s in the papers anyway.” Abi said apologetically.

“Hey, it’s not your fault. They were bound to find out sooner or later. I’d rather they get told what happened from you than some newspaper.” Maya said grabbing a slice of pizza.

“Have you seriously been on that sofa all day?” Abi asked and both Brian and Maya nodded their replies as they both had a mouth full of pizza.

“Alright for some.”

“Sorry honey, thanks for covering for me today. I know it was your only day off this week.” Maya replied.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. It really wasn’t a problem. We’re all covering your shifts for the rest of the week and Mike even mentioned getting in some relief from another pub until you feel ready to come back.” Abi explained.

“Really? But I really want to get back to work as soon as I can. Get some normality back as soon as possible.”

“Really?” both Abi and Brian said, both shocked.

“Yeah, I can’t let him spoil my life. This was supposed to be my first week doing shifts on my own.”

“Ok, if you’re sure. But do one thing for me first.” Brian said reasoning with her.

“Go there tomorrow, with me, just so you know if you can handle being there first.” He continued, looking directly into her eyes. She nodded.

“Ok, we’ll go tomorrow and talk to Mike about going back to work.” She said understanding his concern.

“You are staying the night again right?” Maya asked. Brian nodded.

“If that’s ok with you.” Maya blushed.

“I was kind of taking it for granted.” She replied in a whisper. Brian replied with a smile and a gentle kiss on her forehead.