( BOOK COMPLETED )
Two years on, Maya St. Thomas and Ebén Cástro were living the love of their loves. Their wedding fast approaching and a bundle of baby joy on the way.
But, Reuben Smalls has come to foil this happy occasion. He's come for someth...
THE PLAYFUL SPIRIT THAT EBÉN had left the hospital with had now gone; and his eyes were a distracted oak brown as he tentatively pulled his Tesla Model X into park. The parking lot was not deserted nor was it jammed with shoppers — presenting a window of opportunity. Maya noticed how quickly Ebén had shifted from spirited to serious, it was too obvious for her to miss.
"Why are we... parked in the middle of nowhere?" Maya took a quick scan of her surroundings; then at Ebén, who hadn't said a word yet but his face painted a picture of a thousand words. A sad one. Maya didn't like this unsettling feeling that was misting the air.
"Promise me you'll... hear me out first?" Ebén said, almost placatory, but Maya was already fired up with anxiety. Ebén knew he couldn't blame her if she happened to lose her shit but with wilted hope, he prayed that she would listen first then respond.
He just didn't know how he could deliver the news about Rhodes' dismissal without riling up her blood pressure when she was such a firecracker?
"Suuure?" Maya's unsure eyes of hazel green matched his, trying to read through the energy he was displaying. There seemed to be no warmth to his words and his hands were folded like he couldn't stand to be acquainted with her touch. Something had to be serious, Maya had an inkling as to what.
"We need to talk, Maya."
"About?" Maya poked the bear, knowing that this was not going to be a pleasant conversation but a rough one. And rough meant Reuben.
"Us," replied Ebén, his eyes finally lifting to greet hers, but the weight of his news meant they didn't stay there and flitted across the dashboard of his car.
"Eb, if this is about what Reuben said earlier, I kn — " Maya found herself assuming that Reuben's "valiant" attempt to declare his intentions on live tv was what was pricking Ebén. She knew that while Ebén postured as a man that was largely unbothered by most things, this must have and was determined to offer him whatever reassurances she could.
He pled her an immediate no, the dogged stench of her ex was the least of his concerns, "Baby, no. What I want to talk about aint got nothin' to do with him."
Maya was partly relieved; "So then, what is it that you want to talk to me about then?"
Fuck, how am I supposed to say this? Ebén chewed his words to himself as he angled his body to face the strung out orbs of his wife and her raised bump.
He knew that she had a deep affinity to Rhodes as she didn't trust so easily and regretfully knew that that she wouldn't take the news well at all.
He thought against keeping this from her as though they weren't yet married in the eyes of the law — he wanted to treat her to complete honesty from the jump. Secrets were the very thing that she had beseeched Ebén not to keep from her; and he wasn't about to start his "marriage" on a broken vow.
He strained his jaw, "Just hear me out first?"
"You're making me nervous, Ebén?" Maya's hands were lifted up to her right temple; using her index and middle finger to rub out her tension.
She was about to be daggered with bad news and was conflicted as to where she could look.
"Baby, I know. I'm sorry. I don't mean to — "
His hands unfurled from the ridge of the car door to her bump, trying to lower the waves of anxiety that were now riding high and now beating up Maya's chest. The erratic rising and falling of her chest slowed by the mere presence of his strong and dependable hand but Maya was still struggling to navigate through the unknown.
"Is there... someone else?" Maya jumped to the conclusion of infidelity because all the signs seemed to point there. She noticed Ebén's heavy eye flicks that couldn't focus, how slow he was choosing his words and the utter reluctance to just drum out the truth. Falling helplessly in love with Reuben then being dragged out of it had been a bitter lesson; forcing her to accept the reality that fidelity cannot mask the true appetite of a man.
Men want and breathe sex.
Ebén didn't allow the speculation to fester, "Baby, no. No, no way! I made you a promise, just you, me — and her."
"Or him?" She let herself laugh.
It was too early for the positioning of her raised bump to give her any indication as to the gender that she was carrying — but Ebén seemed utterly convinced that it was a girl being brooded.
"Or him" Ebén clucked, with his hand placed against the curve of her bump, so gratified that all he had ever wanted, he had.
Though his own didn't steer him right, he wanted to set a new precedent for his own legacy. He wanted be there, but not just there — but be present.
"Tell me.. what you were gonna tell me?"
"I fired Rhodes."
Ebén wasn't in no mood to allow anyone, not even Rhodes, to play with Maya's safety; especially now, and the fact that Reuben had been allowed to prance into the supposedly secured venue undetected was the only cross Ebén needed to part ways.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"YOU FIRED WHO?" The volume in Maya's airy tone had been slashed into a sharp gruff; bamboozled that she hadn't been consulted before he made such an executive decision. Rhodes was way more than an employee; he was her friend — her confidant.
She didn't many of those.
Ebén tried to appease her to prevent the coming down of her obvious vexation, "Baby... you promised that you would hear me out first?"
"Blame my hormones."
Ebén tipped his eyebrow at her and smiled, knowing that was who he was going to silently blame. Her emotions were now like a sliding scale; sometimes up and sometimes down but never stable.
Her eyes silently pulled at his as her hands lapped over his against her bump in a leisured up and down motion, "So, what does... this mean then?" Maya knew what it meant; she grimaced at the thought of compelling herself to let someone new into their home when she was so resistant to trust.
"We need to hire someone new. Hugo has already got a few interviews lined up today and tomorrow. I'd like you sit in a couple with me? What you say?"
"Erm, sure." There was nothing assured about Maya's response.
Ebén saw the reluctance that had tainted her skin, "You don't know want to?"
"I... just think you jumped the gun." Maya's chest deepened as she took a sniff of the air, wondering why things had to change. She liked patterns, normalcy and Ebén seemed to thrive on chaos.
But, Ebén assured her, "I know it does feel like it but trust me, it was the right call. For you, for me and for us. I am going to make sure that the person we end up choosing prioritising your safety. You know that is the most important thing to me, Maya."
"I know. I just hope you're right Eb," Maya left with the last word; banking her fear into the fact that her husband would indeed keep his word.
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
Slyly think Ebén might have jumped the gun by firing Rhodes but... that's my own two pence.
Thanks for the love so far, cya in the next chapter!
