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𝑳𝒚𝒓𝒂'𝒔 𝑷𝑶𝑽

I had just sat down at the kitchen table with my coffee when Maia started hounding me with questions.
"So, are you going to take the offer? I mean, the pay is great!"
Maybe I shouldn't have told her about the job offer as soon as I got it. But I figured since she's my roommate and friend that it'd be best to at least inform her. However, I am thoroughly regretting it now.
"Who is the guy that brought it up anyways? I've never seen him around before."
Maia kept rambling as I rubbed my temples and drank my coffee, hoping that I could drown her voice out with it. That was not working whatsoever, especially when she moved even closer to me.
"Come on, Lyra! Tell me!"
"Maia, please... it's not even eight o'clock in the morning yet." I sighed as I looked up at her with tired eyes.
Thanks to my severe insomnia and my brain not wanting to shut down, I barely got any sleep last night. So all I wanted was to drink my three cups of coffee in peace without someone breathing down my neck. Maia, however, was preventing that at the moment.
"Please, I wanna know!"
"Okay!" I groaned, throwing my head back in annoyance, "Just for the love of all things, sit down and shut up!"
Maia pouted as she shuffled over to the empty chair on the other side of the table, sitting down with her arms crossed.
"You're mean in the mornings."
"Maybe if I didn't have something talking my ear off so early, then I wouldn't be so mean." I bit back at her before taking another sip of my coffee.
I watched over the rim of my glass as she opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it. Knowing she wanted more answers to her question, I just sighed, downing the rest of the coffee.
"How many cups has that been?"
"Not enough." I sat the cup down, running my hands over my face, "you remember San, right?"
"The guy you used to go to school with?"
"Yeah, he's the one that I was with."
Leaning back in the chair I was sitting in, I thought back to the conversation that we had at the coffee shop. He had called me days prior to meeting up somewhere because he wanted to talk about something. Seeing as we hadn't seen each other since he moved to further his education, I decided that it was a good idea. However, when I got there, I was not expecting him to offer me a job.
"What about the job offer?"
I let out a small laugh, "So, long story short, he offered me to pretty much be the stress reliever for him and his friends."
"Stress reliever...?" Maia's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, and I just looked at her for a moment, then a look of realization took over her features, "Wait! Are you for real?!"
"Very."
"Well... how many guys are there? Can't be too many right?"
"Eight if you include San."
I watched in amusement as Maia almost choked on the air, her eyes wide.
"Seriously?!"
Nodding, I chucked before standing from my seat, coffee cup in hand.
"And they're really going to pay you that much?"
"San doesn't lie when it comes to stuff like that."
"How would you know?! You haven't seen the guy in like two years!"
I rolled my eyes as I grabbed the coffee pot, pouring more of the caffeinated liquid into my cup.
"Just because I haven't seen him doesn't mean that we haven't talked, you know."
Maia just stared at me with a blank look, and I just held her gaze as I took a drink of my coffee.
"You better hope that he keeps his word because that's a lot of dick."
In order to not spit my coffee out, I inhaled sharply, which only caused the liquid to go down the wrong pipe. Coughs racked my lungs as I sat my cup down on the counter and hit my chest a few times.
Once the coughing died down, I was left with teary eyes and a slight burn in my chest. Looking up, I met Maia's eyes once more.
"Why did you have to say it like that?!"
"I only said it how it is," She shrugged, "but what I wanna know is if you're going to take up on his offer?"
"I told him that I was going to talk to you first but that I'd most likely take it."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that." I shrugged before grabbing my coffee and going to take a drink. I stopped just in case Maia decided to say something crazy again.
When I knew that she wasn't going to, I took a long drink, letting the lukewarm liquid warm my body. We sat in silence for a little bit while I finished my cup of coffee, and Maia made herself a bowl of cereal.
"Oh, and I should probably tell you that part of the deal was that I was to move in with them."
I told Maia as I walked over to the sink to rinse my now-empty coffee cup out. Maia stopped eating to look up at me.
"Well, you'll have your room here if things go south."
"You don't have to keep my room, and I can figure something out if things do go south."
"Lyra, my parents literally pay the rent on this place. I literally could care less to find another roommate." She huffed, "Plus, you can stay over every once in a while."
I couldn't help the smile that spread on my lips. Maia has literally been a huge part of my life for the past two and a half years. Since I dropped out of college and my mom kicked me out of the house. Even when she was busy with her school life, she still stopped and made sure I was okay when she saw me at the coffee shop with my bags.
When I broke down into tears, telling a complete stranger about everything, she didn't judge me. At all. Hell, she even offered me a place to stay and helped me get back on my feet. Now she was one of my very few friends.
"Thank you, Maia."
"Aw, don't get all sappy on me now, Lyra. You know my soft heart can't take it."
I rolled my eyes with a playful smile before I turned my body to look at her. She finished eating before standing up, bowl in hand.
"Hurry up and tell San that you're taking the job, and I'll help you pack."
"Are you that quick to get rid of me?" I asked with fake hurt causing her to laugh.
"Not necessarily, but I am curious as to what these men look like."
Of course, she was. She was always one to go fangirling over all of the guys that were on her college campus. She washed her bowl out, then looked over at me with a raised eyebrow.
"Okay, okay!" I laughed as I pulled my phone out of my hoodie pocket.
Opening the device, I scrolled through my contacts before I found San's. Clicking on it, I typed up a message telling him that I had talked to Maia and was going to take the job. I finished it off by telling him to let me know when I was going to move in and start. Once I hit send, I turned the device around to show Maia.
"Good, now let's go get you packed."
"I don't even know when he wants me to start. What if it's like weeks away? Then I'm left with all of my clothes in suitcases."
"I highly doubt he wants to wait that long. I'm sure the same can be said for the other guys."
I just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and she only shook her head before grabbing my wrist and dragging me towards the stairs.