𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐈 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐬

1. The call

The sun peeked from behind my remarkably thin white curtains, a reminder that the day would come again whether I liked it or not. Turning in the comfortably warm bed onto my other side, I realized that Owen, my boyfriend, had decided to stay the night. The on and off relationship for almost a year was taking its toll. I had ever since the "incident" decided to never really make any progress in becoming more attached and it seemed like he was fine with that. Kind of a fling-esque sort of thing, even though I knew I wanted more. With him? Certainly not.

A noise like a ringtone in the living room startled me out of those thoughts. Trying my best to not disturb him, I quietly got out of the bed to investigate further. Owen's phone was ringing. It was in his jacket by the door and a number I didn't recognize was on the other end. It was most likely his work calling. Rubbing my eyes, I turned off the ringer and looked at the clock in my small kitchen. 7:56 am. But it was Saturday. It couldn't have been his work. That made my stomach fall.

The slight creak of the bed from the other room made me notice that his phone was still in my hand.  I set it on the counter. its probably nothing you moron. Deciding it would be better to distract myself rather than dwell on the internal conflict I now had, I started to brew a pot of coffee.

The footsteps grew louder as Owen walked into the kitchen. Turning from the sink, I forced a smile at him.

"Morning," he said groggily. I didn't say anything back. I wanted to get an answer before it bothered me any longer. He had already cheated on me once, but for some reason I went back to him. Familiarity was my weakness. you know you're not completely happy with him.

"Someone called you, thought it was work, but they don't usually call on Saturdays right?" I masked the  hint of passiveness in my voice with forced calm. He sighed and picked up the phone as I filled the machine with coffee grounds.

"Oh," He sounded surprised and I turned around.
"What is it?" Owen glanced up from his phone at me after I asked, he seemed fully awake now for some reason.

"Something important." He started to walk from the room. "I have to call back, but can you make me a cup Kai?" that nickname again.

"Yep," I forcibly smiled again and he left the room.

The eggs I had made him grew colder, not expecting him to be on the phone that long honestly.
"Kaia," I looked up as he walked back into my view.

"What?"

"I got the job in Utah," He looked at me as if he wanted me to be sad- to play up his ego and to make him feel as though I actually meant something to him. He had already hurt me once with my former best friend. I felt nothing and neither did he. Both of us knew that to be the truth. Instead I stayed perched on my cold metal stool and, to say the least, an uncomfortable silence filled the air.

"The national park one?" I asked, he nodded. He had applied for that a while ago. Still with that pitying look on his face for me. At that point, I was just pretending to be intrigued. I already made a comfortable living being an interior designer as is, it's not like I needed him or anything. As well as that, I was kind of starting to miss that feeling of freedom without Owen again. Now was my chance. Whether or not to leave things on good terms was also my choice.

"Kaia." He paused, still standing in the doorway to the kitchen and not bothering to come any closer, "I'm sorry but I really have to take this job,"

"I know." I said quietly, then I looked back at him. "And I think you should."

***

It was now a little over three months since Owen had left for Utah. I know this sounds cliche to say, but I feel like a brand new person without him. He wasn't what I was looking for and that made it best for the both of us to move on.

After spending Christmas at home, I was ready to spend New Years Eve back at my adopted home in LA. After spending that much time with all of my siblings children in New York, I need to talk to people my own age again. Luckily, I had a lunch meeting with one of my clients turned friend this afternoon. That was at least a start.

"Kaia!" Breana stood slightly up from her chair to greet me. "Come on sit down, we have a lot to catch up on," She smiled at me and I put my purse down and sat in the chair across from her.

"Oh yes we certainly do," I responded and smiled back her. Breana had picked a really nice place (not that I ever doubted her taste in lunch cuisine) with outdoor seating that we were currently taking advantage of on an abnormally warm day.

"So. What's happening in the life of Kaia Bianchi?" She sat back in her chair and inspected at me as if she were to paint a portrait of my likeness.

"Well, I officially cut things off with Owen, to start," Breana's face lit up.

"Hallelujah, it took you long enough." She groaned with exaggerated relief. "I didn't think you'd have the strength," We both laughed at the remark and she took a drink of of her mimosa.

"How do you feel?"

"I'd be blatantly lying if I said I missed him," I admitted for the first time out loud. Breana's eyes widened slightly.

"In my opinion, you should have left him ages ago. Good for you though. I really mean it Kaia, because you deserve to be happy and he was in the way of that in the end," She shrugged as if she hadn't just said probably the nicest thing I could think of. I was grateful for her words, needing that kind of reinforcement for my growth away from him mentally.

"What about you? Breana Helders, are you ready for 2016?" I chuckled and ate some of the fruit salad she had ordered for me before I arrived. Breana looked behind me, probably at the noisy couple seated near us.

"I'd like to think so and I'm doing pretty well, you know, with Amelia and everything," She looked back at me wistfully.

"Oh my goodness Amelia, how is she? I haven't seen her since she couldn't even walk," Breana beamed at me.

"She's been growing like a weed. Being a parent and everything, I mean that's just something wonderful in itself so I don't really know where to begin," I looked at her warmly.

The waiter came up to us to get our orders soon after, interrupting our conversation as politely as possible.

***

We started to clean up the table as nicely as we could without entirely doing the waiter's job, our conversation still flowed easily. I had met Breana when she had first wanted me to help with the design of Amelia's room, back in what I believe was 2014. She had in fact lied to me about needing me for another project today, she had just wanted to catch up, which I thanked her for.

"I do have one thing to ask you though before you leave," She said to me as we waited for the check. I looked at her inquisitively.

"What is it?"

"One of Matt's close friends is throwing a party for New Years and you're totally welcome to come as like a plus-one type of thing. I know you may not be interested but just something to think about,"
Breana looked at me and I grinned.

"I'd love to go, what time does it start?"

"At 8. I'll text you the details, and remember that this your opportunity to have fun." She looked at me knowingly. "Don't just stay by the bar all night," We laughed.

"I promise I'll try not to," Then we hugged and said our goodbyes, excited to see one another again tomorrow night.