What Happens In The Dark

CHAPTER 26

In the week following their conversation the two of them had slipped into a friendly, and sometimes borderline flirty (Maya only of course) text relationship.

The day after their talk Maya text Carina, wanting to prove she meant what she said that she will work to earn her trust and hopefully her heart back, so she figured the best way to do that was to 'show up' to be present, a constant. Everything she hasn't been.

Maya: 'Good morning, I hope you slept well, thanks for agreeing to hear me out yesterday, it was tough to talk though all of that, but thank you for hearing me and for letting me get it out as I needed to. I also very much enjoyed seeing you. Have a great day x'

Maya sent the text and didn't expect a reply. Which was good, because Carina was on a mission to prove to both of them that it would take more than a few words and apologies to get into her good graces. So she read the text and left it unreplied to.

For her part, as much as a small tiny corner of Maya's brain hoped to hear back from Carina, a much larger, logical part of her brain knew how unlikely it was and so wasn't surprised when the day passed in its entirety without a reply - or any communication from Carina.

Still, undeterred the next morning she again sent a text:

Maya: 'Good morning, just to say I'm thinking of you, I hope you have a great day. X'

Despite expecting the very same as the day before Maya was more than pleasantly surprised when 10 minutes after sending the text message her phone buzzed and Carina's name was on the screen.

Carina: 'Thanks, you too.'

Came the simple reply, but those 3 words were enough to put the biggest smile on Maya's face for the rest of the day, and also whether Carina realised it or not, encouraged more communication. When Maya arrived home from work that evening she sat and typed out several variations of the message she wanted to send before eventually closing her eyes and pressing send. Hoping she wasn't pushing too hard.

Maya: 'How was your day? I had a lot of meetings today with SFD about the school program, I also got the listing of the full program committee and noticed you are on it. Is it wrong that I look forward to knowing I will see more of you soon? x'

Maya set her phone down and tried to then occupy herself, this time she posed a question so in theory Carina really should respond... right?

Maya made herself some dinner, and then sat with some crappy cable movie playing that she was neither watching or listening to, her own thoughts far louder and more compelling to get lost in. With a sigh Maya thinks Carina is not going to respond after more than 3 hours have passed since she sent the message.

Just as she is getting herself ready for bed however, her phone buzzes on the bed. Maya feels her heart rate speed up as she turns to grab her phone, she closes her eyes, holding her breath as she picks up the device, waking the screen and feeling her heart leap seeing Carina's name on there.

Carina: 'Hey, sorry for the late reply. I was out at dinner. My day was good, thank you. And yes I am on the committee so we will be seeing each other at the meeting Thursday I assume?'

Carina's response, whilst mostly just answering Maya's question, lit a small spark of hope in her that she would hold onto fiercely. Because not only did she reply, she put a question there herself, suggesting she is open to elongating the conversation. Smiling widely Maya types out a reply.

Maya: 'No worries, hope you had a nice time. Glad to hear your day was ok. You will indeed see me Thursday. I am looking forward to it, and by it, yes, I mean seeing you. x'