The Hurting Kind

Morning Surprises

Maya wakes up, shivering, before looking over at Nicole. Her sister was still sleeping, with her mouth slightly open and a foot dangling on the side of the bed. Chucking softly, Maya rolls out of bed and goes to take a shower.

As she leaves the bathroom, Maya gets dressed before nudging Nicole."Wake up Sleeping Beauty."

Hearing a low mumble from her little sis, Maya teases Nicole. "I wonder what the other interns would say if they saw a pic of you now..."

Nicole bolts up from the veiled threat, narrowing her eyes at her big sister. "You wouldn't!"

Maya giggles as she walks to the floor length window and pushes the curtains apart, letting in the morning rays into their room.

"No, I wouldn't. But you do have to go to work soon, so get out of bed and get ready to face the day Nicky!" Maya cheerfully says.

Nicole smiles as she finally does as Maya asks, but before going to the bathroom, she throws herself into Maya's arms. "I've missed you!"

Maya looks down pleasantly at Nicole and the two sway briefly. "I missed you too."

____

Instead of ordering room service, the girls decide to have breakfast with a few other interns downstairs of the hotel before they have to report to work. As Maya makes her way back to the dining room table, she notices all the others put away their phones. Sitting down, she whispers to Nicole, "What did I miss?"

When her sister quickly met her stare and looked away, Maya began to worry.

"Is something going on at FCI?" Maya questions briefly before continuing." It seems big, from the way you all are acting." 

Nicole looks at Maya again and lets out a sigh before taking out her phone.

"FCI is fine - I think. But, there are photos that a gossip magazine took of you last night... Just - promise not to get mad, okay?"

Taking a glance at her sister and the others at their table, Maya nods. "Just tell me what is going on. It can't be that ba-"

The pictures from Nicole's phone ended Maya's last thought and brought with it a slew of other choice words as she gawked at the screen. After her surprise appearance at Forrester Creations International, Caroline and Thomas convinced Maya and Nicole to join them for dinner at Swiss Cuts, a new hipster yet casual restaurant in the city. Thinking back to the night before, Maya remembers having a few glasses of wine before they left and Thomas insisting on seeing that her and Nicole made it back to the hotel safely.

I should have known that someone would follow us. Maya scolds herself.

Looking at the table again, Maya takes in a deep inhale and lets it out slowly. "Looks like I won't be joining you all today at FCI after all."

They all have breakfast in silence, with a few short conversations here and there, before walking to the entrance of the hotel. Maya wraps her arms around Nicole. "Have a great day sis. Don't worry about me, okay?"

Nicole looks up at her sister and nods quickly as she goes with the other interns to get inside the company van to head to FCI. Before Maya could return to her room to see what else she could do for the day, a black luxury car pulls up to the curb and stops. Her eyes widen as she sees Thomas step out of the car and the driver heading back into traffic.