I raised my arm high above us, hailing a suspiciously clumsy taxi driver towards the dry curb. He pulled over, and rolled the window to greet us. Since neither of us, however, had any luggage, we just huddled in the back. I shut the door, having held it for Maya and gone in myself, second.
"Where y'all headed this afternoon?" He grumbled. He had a raspy voice that matched his look. He sported a gray wiry beard and mustache, and a bald shiny head. His long johns shirt was frayed and slightly overstretched at the sleeves, and the entire cab reeked of alcohol. I glanced over at Maya to confirm my suspiciousness, and the look on her face did so indeed. She made a sly move to cover her nose, pretending to scratch it but obviously plugging it. I made a point of rolling down my window and hurriedly responded to his question.
"4951 18th Ave West" I said through gasps. "Y'all apartment goers?" He grumbled as he shifted the car into neutral. We were silent, not knowing how to answer such a obvious question. "Yeah." Maya finally said, taking my hand playfully and intertwining her fingers hands in with mine. The driver chuckled happily, seeing the happiness in Maya's bright eyes. I sat unmoving, feeling horrible for what I was allowing her to do to me. Joke or not, I had Heather. I cleared my throat and shifted my clammy hand in hers uncomfortably. She didn't budge, and kept her lost gaze out on the white New York sky. The whole drive, as short as it was, was long and awkward. Although I seemed to be the only who thought so. When our bearded driver finally rolled to a screeching halt, Maya finally released her grasp and scooted over to the edge of her seat to open her door. I casually wiped my hand on my jeans and opened my own door, being weary of the taxis zooming by. I walked around the back of the car to meet Maya standing adorably on the sidewalk. As the driver pulled away and faded into the hoard of cars up ahead, I took the time to pull Maya aside before entering the lobby of my apartment. "Look at me." I said, lightly grasping her shoulders to turn towards me. She had a faint smile stuck on her lips, which I couldn't help but glance at. Her eyes waited patiently for me to speak, which I couldn't seem to do. "What you did in the car, was not ok." I managed to choke out. I suddenly realized my hands hadn't left her shoulders, and quickly dropped them down to my sides. Her smile continued to stand out on her face. "Don't do it again." I finished weakly, rubbing the back of my neck and turning to open the door for her. She respectfully said nothing, and walked through the open door of the apartment building. Once inside, I politely closed he door and led her to the single elevator. The lobby was small, nobody attended it, and it contained a mail wall, and a small janitor closet. The room itself was well kept, it had faintly floral wallpaper and a linoleum floor. The lifts were always maintained and the power box was easily visible in case of power outages. I clicked the up button, there being only three residents in the building, and three floors. Heather and I were on the first, and we always have been. The elevator was fast, and we were out as fast as we were in. The familiar ding made its happy chirp as the doors slid silently open. I stepped out, into a smaller room with a door. I flipped out my keys and jiggled it into the old lock, which after a bit of manipulating, clicked open. I twisted the knob and slowly pulled open the door, Maya right behind me.
Heather was sat on the couch, reading a book she always read. The lamp was over her head, providing enough light for her to see. She turned around, her beautiful makeup-less face glinting in the lamp light. I smiled, an awkward "hey" coming out. "Hey babe!" She said eagerly, hopping up from her sitting position and running up the two stairs to the front door. She suddenly stopped, losing her smile all together, and I knew she'd seen Maya. "Who's your friend?" Heather chuckled awkwardly, not wanting to get angry. Maya piped up. "Hi! I'm Maya. Your boyfriend has been so kind to me." She glinted happily. Heather stood, mouth agape, trying to speak but nothing coming out. Her sweats swayed in the breeze of the fan above us, and her ponytail was tightly pulled back. I finally moved from the doorway, allowing Maya to walk in. She perkily stuck out her hand, a smile beaming across her cheeks. Heather glanced, dumbfounded, from Maya's face, to her hand, to me, and back to Maya. "I'll explain everything." I told her reassuringly. Heather shut her mouth, and pressed her lips together, glancing at her hands, which were nervously clasped together on her stomach. She shut her eyes, which she did a lot when she was thinking something over. Maya turned back to look at me, her eyes piercing mine, and she turned back around just as Heather opened her eyes. "Ok, ok. Maya, was it?" Heather said, smiling kindly and putting a hand out for Maya to shake. "And Heather? I've heard about you!" She said happily. Maya eventually released the handshake that she seemed to stretch out, and stepped back. "Well, Maya I think I have some explaining to do." I told her quietly, turning her toward the kitchen and giving her a nudge. "If you'd like, you can go ahead and wait in the kitchen."
"Oh, alright." She said quietly.
Once Maya was settled at the table, I took the opportunity to take Heather down to the living area. The apartment was split oddly. Once you walked into the room, it was on the highest point of the apartment room. There was linoleum and a loft-like railing across from the door that looked down around the living area that curved from the right hand open room all the way to the lowest point of the room. There were two wooden steps that led into said living room, and it had a modern grayish blue couch, and a set of hard chairs, with a mounted television and high ceilings. If you walked left in the living room, you'd go to a hardwood open area, with a dining table and gigantic open windows, covering the wall, viewing the street. If you continued in a circle, you'd go up a staircase to the kitchen, which was right off of the fist linoleum sector. And finally, going off of the kitchen was the hallway that led to the bedrooms and the bathroom. Heather sat on the goddess portion on our gray large gray couch, and I pulled up a hard modern looking chair, and turned it, back towards her, and straddled the seat to face her. "You seriously have some explaining to do, Graham." She said, anger piercing my ears, but she was quiet enough for only me to hear. "Look, you know I'd never do anything like this." I began, but stopped when I realized I had no idea what to say.
"You brought another woman home with you, Graham. That doesn't look very good from my point of view." she hissed. "I understand. But-" I was cut off. "Where'd you even meet her? Why is she here?" Heather snapped.
"I met her on the subway. She-"
"The subway?!"
"Let me finish."
She crossed her arms bitterly.
"She was in a wedding dress. Bawling. Nobody but me helped her. She needed a place to stay. I felt bad." Heather sat quietly, anger fading from her expression. She relaxed and leaned back, taking it in. Slowly, she began nodding.
"I'm sorry that I didn't let you know, but I felt like I needed to say this face to face." I explained slowly.
She continued nodding and uncrossed her arms. She scooted to the edge of the couch and stood up, opening her arms to hug me. I stepped out from behind the chair carefully, and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. Her dark ponytail trailed down my arm. "You're a good man." She whispered silently, caressing the back of my hair lovingly. "I love you." I responded quietly, matching her volume. She squeezed tighter, giving me all the response required. Eventually, we released our embrace, both with a mutual understanding of what to do with Maya. We walked to the steps to confront her in the kitchen where she stood, admiring the pictures on the refrigerator door innocently. She turned once she heard our footsteps, and I looked down, unprepared for the spike from her eyes. Heather threw on a fake smile that only I knew, and reached out to hold onto Maya's arm gently. "I'm sorry that I was so jittery before." She said kindly and almost unbelievably calmly. Maya dropped her smile and placed her hand on top of Heathers. "No, please don't say that. I totally impeded, and I'm so sorry." Maya finished with one of her innocent smiles, that could melt fire itself. Heather, silenced by the unexpected sincerity of the apology.
"Oh, why thank you, Maya. Can I show you the guest room?" Heather said nicely, leading her down the hallways. The two mumbled a conversation about the color of the walls as they turned into the doorway. I sighed and opened the fridge to obtain a beer, something that seemed long overdue. I brought it down into the living area, switched on the television, and eventually dozed off until morning.
