The Fight For Love (Joshaya)

Chapter 44

  "So, I'm still not understanding why Josh allowed you to sleep over at his place if he also doesn't want to sleep with you until you're wedding night."

  Maya sat on the bay window with her best friend after having spent that morning at Josh's university. She tucked her hands underneath her thighs before explaining what had happened. She says, "Here's what happened last night. Josh was over at my apartment yesterday when my mom got home and asked if I had finished my homework. I lied and told her that it was done, but she asked to see it since she didn't believe my lie. I panicked and dragged Josh out of the apartment. We ended up on a subway train where I ranted to him about what's been going on with my mom lately. Then he decided to let me stay over in his room for the night. However, he slept on the floor and I slept on the bed. So we didn't actually sleep with each other."

  Clarity seems to overtake Riley's expression. "Okay! That makes so much sense now!" Riley pauses and thinks through something that seemed to come to mind. Then she says, "One thing doesn't make sense, though. How come you didn't just tell your mom the truth about not finishing your homework? I feel like you could've avoided sleeping over in Josh's room."

  Hanging her head down, Maya bites her lip before she says something that she'll regret to the second most important person in her life. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes; she squeezes her eyes tight, not wanting to spill tears onto her own clothes. With her eyes still closed, she feels a hand on one of her shoulders; she knows Riley is trying to comfort her and wants to care for her in however way possible.

  "Peaches?" Riley says softly. "Are you okay? What's going on with you and your mom?"

  Still biting her lip, Maya is surprised that her lip hasn't started bleeding from the intense pressure on it for so long. She lets out a sigh before answering Riley: "Let's just say that there was one night that Josh came over to our apartment to have dinner with my mom and me. While I was making dinner, Josh and my mom were talking apparently regarding something with her story. I tried approaching her to open up about her past, but she basically shut down as a mother. She said that now she's only waiting for the day when she has to attend my wedding so that she can send me off to be with Josh. I guess you could say that I feel emotionally abandoned by her." Maya stares down at the floor and pats her thighs. "Well, that's what's been going on with my mom and me."

  Placing a hand over Maya's hand, Riley tilts her head in order to look more directly at Maya. She says with comfort and concern in her voice, "Maya, honey, I'm so sorry. That's really hard. I wish I could help you, but I have no idea what that's like. When do you think you'll head back to your apartment?"

  The dreaded thought of having to go back to her apartment and face her mother makes Maya pull her hand out of Riley's grip. She stands up from the bay window and heads in the direction of the bedroom door. Once she opens the door and starts to step into the hallway, she hears Riley dash from behind her and tug at her arm.

  Riley spins Maya around, making her friend look her in the eyes. "Maya. You're not leaving without telling me your plan. You can't just hide out in Josh's room again. I will let you stay in my room tonight, but at some point, you have to face your mom."

  Nodding, Maya glues her eyes to the floor. "I know."

  "Then where do you plan on going? Are you going to talk with your mom?"

  "Not right now."

  "Then where are you going?" Riley crosses her arms.

  "I don't need to be reprimanded right now. I get enough of that from my mom." Without another glance at Riley, Maya dodges out of the bedroom and away from the apartment.

~~~~~

  "Maya! What are you doing here? I let you stay in my room one night, but this cannot be a consistent thing. You need to go talk with your mom."

  Standing up from the floor, Maya steps away from the door and motions for Josh to open it.

  After a brief pause and shake of the head, Josh gives into Maya's wishes and goes to unlock his door. He opens it, and Maya follows him inside of the room. When she turns to look at one of the beds, she notices that his roommate is passed out asleep on his bed. She goes to sit atop Josh's bed and pats for him to sit next to her.

  He appears to be contemplating whether sitting next to her on the bed is a good idea or not. When she thinks he decided on sitting next to her, he sits at the very far edge of the bed.

  Not ideal, she thinks, but it'll do. She asks, "Don't you want to sit closer to me?"

  "I would love to sit closer to you," he smiles.

  She smiles in return and waits for him to move next to her. When he doesn't move at all, she raises her eyebrows at him. "Josh, aren't you going to move closer to me?"

  "Oh!" He says, seemingly caught off guard. "You want me to move closer to you. I get it now. Well, see, I can't do that. However, we can move and sit on the floor together. Do you want to do that?"

  She decides what the better decision would be in the present situation: sit on the floor with Josh or sit feet away from each other on his bed. At least if she sat on the floor, the two of them would be next to each other. She gets off of his bed and sits cross-legged on the floor, and he follows suit. 

  Putting out his hand, she places hers over his hand. She says, "So, what do you want to do?"

  "How about you tell me when you plan on going back to your apartment? Because as much as I love having you over here, we can't keep doing this. One day, I won't be able to control myself anymore and I'll do something I regret."

  Hanging her head down, Maya releases a sigh. She tells him something that she didn't even know until this very moment: "Josh, I'm not going back."