Her Villian

THIRTEEN

Mara

Cody gave me a key to his place.

I would say that's a big step, right?

Everything is going fine. Cody and I get along great, and I am getting used to him being late for things, and my worrying has gotten better. It just took a little while for it to all settle in my mind.

For a few days now, Cody has been missing in action for a bit. I last saw him last week, he returned from his walk, saying it was fine. And then I went home and he has not asked me back over or to go out, or really anything. It should worry me, but I trust him.

Since he gave me a key I decided to head over and surprise him with a morning coffee. I take the hot drinks and head to his door, balancing the holding tray in one hand as I stick the key into the lock and turn in.

"Cody!" I say entering his cold apartment.

I turn the corner to see him sitting in the kitchen with a girl I have never seen before, sitting at the counter. Their laughter dies down once they see me.

"Oh! Mara! This is my friend Maria. She is new to town." He says standing up straight as I walk in the kitchen.

The girl looks at me. She has short black hair with purple streaks, and she's wearing a yellow tank top and black jean shorts.

Usually, I am good at reading people, and something about her just rubs me the wrong way.

Or maybe it's because I haven't really heard from him in a week, and I walk in to see him laughing with another girl as if they were in high school.

"It's nice to meet you, Maria. I wish I could say I've heard of you but oddly enough, I haven't. Cody, can I speak to you alone please?" I ask as kindly as I possibly can.

He nods and leads me to his room, and I shut the door.

"Who the hell is that? Is she why you've been quiet this week?" I ask as I sit the coffee on his dresser.

"What? No, she's just new to town, I ran into her at her shop, and I have been showing her around. It isn't what you think." He reassures.

"Right, of course, it isn't. Why didn't you just tell me that then?"

He scoffs. "So now I have to tell you everything I do? Since when are you so controlling?" he asks, getting upset.

"I- What? I am not being controlling I'm just asking for a little respect here." I state.

"Respect? God, Mara. She had no friends and was feeling lonely. I help people. It is what I do, you know that! I am just helping her get used to the city, and she's really nice. You two would get along if you'd stop trying to judge her."

I shake my head. "Does she know?"

He looks at me and then out the window and sighs. "Yes but- "

"There's no but about it! You didn't even tell me for months! And what? You meet her and tell her in a day?"

He rolls his eyes. "I didn't have a choice! She found me out! I took off my mask when I thought I was alone, but she was there checking out the building!"

I take a step back. Because that does seem like he didn't have much of a choice. Am I being controlling? Maybe I'm being so harsh on them both, I haven't even spoken to her yet.

"Okay, Cody. I'm sorry. Let me meet her and we can go from there, yeah?"

He nods and places a small smile on his lips. He walks over to me and kisses me softly. "I'm sorry for getting mad, thank you for giving her a chance."

He opens his door and we both walk into the kitchen.

"Hey, sorry for that. I'm Amara, Cody's girlfriend. It's nice to meet you." I say standing in front of Mara, who still sits on the counter.

She smiles at me and shakes my hand. "It's totally okay! I'm Maria!"

Instantly I feel bad for judging her so quickly. She already seems so sweet.

"So, what made you move to New York?" I ask as I sit on the counter beside her.

She looks at Cody and then back to me. "Oh, I just wanted to get away from my hometown and decided I wanted to have my own flower shop. And where better?" She laughs sweetly.

I nod. "Nice! I love flower shops! I will for sure be stopping by when it is all finished."

Maria laughs. "Great! I will be sure to give you a discount!"

We spent the next 3 hours talking in the kitchen. I learned a lot about Maria, and I really do think we are going to be friends. We exchanged phone numbers and then she headed out.

"SO, do you like her?" Cody asks once she's gone.

I nod. "Yeah, she seems sweet. I definitely would want to hang out with her again." I say honestly.

"That's great, do you wanna stay the night? We can order pizza and watch a movie?"

I agreed, and that's exactly what we did the rest of the night.