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"So," Hasan started as he opened the car door for Maia, "are you ready for the best ramen of your life?"
"I dunno, Hasan," Maia said with a smile as he slid into the drivers seat. "There were some pretty fuckin amazing ramen places in DC."
"You haven't had shit until this."
"I'm just surprised you didn't ask me 'what I was feeling' for dinner..."
"That's bullshit," Hasan said, backing out of the parking space.
"...that's DC for you," Maia responded with a sigh.
Her dating experience hadn't been necessarily...the best on the east coast. Between basketball, school, and everything else someone in their twenties was living through, Maia had never really found time for a commitment like that.
"Yeah?" Hasan asked as he leaned towards her. Maia felt her breath hitch in her throat as their faces were mere inches apart.
"Well, this is Hollywood, baby."
Shifting back in his seat and focusing on the road, Hasan smiled, pretending to ignore the flustered look on Maia's face.
"Want aux?"
——
The restaurant was minimalistic, yet lavish with the simple decorations and sleek dark wooden furniture. The added atmosphere from the dim lighting was definitely a plus.
"If you don't mind, I have a question I wanna ask," Maia prompted, adjusting the red napkin on her dress pants.
She had opted for a fancy top and dress pants in exchange for a dress since she knew they'd be sitting down for most of the night.
Also, Maia wasn't too interested in having another one of her favorite dresses ripped down the back.
"At this point, if you told me you were a murder, I'd ask where you wanted to hide the bodies," Hasan said, chuckling at his own joke. "Ask away."
"What's your opinion on 9/11."
As Hasan burst out laughing, Maia did too, unable to hold the straight face she had been desperately trying to keep.
"I assume you saw the 'America deserves 9/11' clip from my stream then?"
"Dude, are you kidding!" She exclaimed. "One quick google search of your name and that's all that comes up!"
"Wait," Hasan paused, pulling out his phone, "That's a good idea."
Maia sighed sarcastically, pulling out her own phone as she waited for him to sift through the internet.
The Sparks : Maia your favorite coach is back in town : girl ur lucky ur out w that lover boy : ong! Vince been berating us nonstop ab these fucking losses
Rolling her eyes, Maia exited their team group chat. Of course Vince would take out his frustrations on them. Speak of the devil-
Vince Office. Now. As the team captain, I expected more of you this season We need to talk
If your not in my office in the next 10 minutes-
Turning off her phone and shoving it back in her purse, Maia looked back at Hasan, trying to distract herself from the sudden stress that had overwhelmed her.
A mischievous smile flashed over Hasans face as he seemingly found something interesting.
Pretending like she didn't notice, Maia took a long sip of the water in front of her.
"..."
"Do you pull bitches?"
Maia spluttered the water out, astonished by the question.
"Excuse me?" She asked, looking back at the man who was now hunched over with laughter.
"I said," Hasan said, still trying to calm down. "Do you pull bitches?"
"What???"
"Well, your middle name is Tate so I just assumed..."
"Alright motherfucker-
"Can I get you two anything to drink?" The waiter asked as he approached the table.
——
The rest of the night was spent talking about anything under the sun. From politics to basketball to streaming, there was seemingly a never ending list of things for the couple to discuss.
As the conversation flowed easily until the very end of the night, Maia found herself not wanting it to end.
Whether it was because of the man she was inevitably falling for, or the impending confrontation she would have with Vince the next day...that's for you to decide.
——
Unfortunately, time doesn't stop for anything, and Maia found herself dragging her feet towards the familiar wooden floors.
"Maia."
The angry and demanding tone from Vince made Maia shove the many snarking responses she had built up in her head, prior to entering the court.
Fully knowing she had to talk to face to face with him today, Maia made sure to prepare herself. She just wished she could've gotten in a quick training session before she had to see his ugly ass face.
"Good afternoon, Vince," Maia said, walking past him to place her bag on the chairs by the court.
The dead silent room made the tension speak volumes.
But she just simply ignored it, proceeding to take out her basketball shoes and slip them on.
"I'll be honest, its not a good look for you," Vince said in a slightly lighter tone as he walked towards the rack of basketballs, "bailing out on important meetings and such, especially as team captain."
"Well, I'm sorry I didn't meet your expectations coach." Maia retorted sarcastically.
She smiled to herself in accomplishment as she heard Vince huff out a breath of annoyance.
"You most definitely didn't," he suddenly smiled, dribbling once before shooting a 3-pointer.
Whatever he was about to say next wasn't going to be good.
"That's why the other coaching staff and I have decided to remove you from the starting lineup."
"What the fuck!?" Maia yelled, dropping the basketball she had just picked up.
Vince just laughed in response, turning to see her fuming expression for himself.
"Unfortunately, I had a long meeting with the other coaches and...after explaining your behavior to them, they agreed it would be best for you to spend some time on the bench for a couple games."
It was complete bullshit.
Both of them knew that everything Vince had told those coaches was entirely lies.
Maia just couldn't for the life of her... understand why?
