Thunderstorms

The Tango Singer

Maia's POV:

The moment I laid eyes on him I couldn't believe it. I had just got out of the elevator, and there he was, staring straight at me from my doorstep. For a moment, I stood petrified in my place, and Diesel was jumping happily all over him. He gently got Diesel off him, breathed deeply, and looked at me longingly.

"What are you doing here, James?" I asked, my voice sounding far away, strange even to my own ears.

"Hey, uhm..., I rang at your doorbell and since you didn't answer I figured you were out, so I stayed here waiting for you. I wanted to talk to you, Maia" He stated. His eyes were soft on mine, but I held the worst feelings deep inside me.

"Ok... do you want to come inside?"

"No, no, I'll be brief about it"

"Yeah, please, I've got some friends to meet tonight. Oh, I'm allowed to see my friends, right?" If there was one big flaw I had, it was my inability to just let go. I still wasn't done with him for having left me alone that night, besides, I hadn't done anything wrong. James' face had changed into an angry stare now, and I could see he was trying not to clench his jaw more than he already was.

"Well" He said looking sideways. "I'm sorry I'm a burden to you" His sarcasm only helped to get me even more furious.

"Oh, on the contrary. I'm sorry I'm a burden to you. I imagine it's a hard job to be following your girlfriend absolutely everywhere she goes to see who she's messing with" He took his hand to his jaw. I think he would have hit me right there and then, but of course he wasn't going to do it. He sure looked like he wanted to, though.

"I'm not going to go through that again, Maia. I'm just going to say what I came here to say and leave, alright?"

"Fine, go ahead" I said crossing my arms on my chest.

"Listen, I... I think it would be better if we just don't see each other for a while" I felt my heart breaking into a million pieces. Yeah, I was absolutely angry at him, but that didn't change the way I felt towards him, and the last thing I wanted was to hear that, as much as I'd feared he had come just for it. James, on the other hand, was staring down at the floor. Of course the fucking coward wasn't going to dare to lock eyes with me.

"Wh- What?" Was all I managed to get out of my mouth. My voice broke down, as much as I tried not to let my sadness show.

"Maia, please, don't make this harder than it is"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't the one who decided to bring the request up" I could feel the tears in the back of my eyes, and I was trying desperately not to let them break free, but they were stinging harder than ever.

"Maia, love...-"

"Don't call me that!" Diesel barked after my scream, maybe the tension in the air was beginning to be too much for him. James gave me an apologetic look, but I quickly shoved it away. "I'm not yours to call me whatever you want, James" He nodded. He knew it was better not to contradict me.

"Maia, listen. We've been together for three years now, maybe we just need some time away from each other. You know, give ourselves some time to think stuff through...-"

"Are you trying to tell me you've got bored of me? Because if it's that, you might as well just break up with me and leave it there, James"

"Maia, that's not what I'm trying to say" He sighed. "You know what I mean, Maia"