Snapshots | ✓

Forty Nine: Hayes

Saturday, May 29th, 2016

Hayes couldn't get her legs to stop bouncing. She was waiting in a coffee shop but she hadn't had any caffeine yet, and she doubted the baristas would give her any given the concerned looks they kept giving her. Her anxiety was trying to claw its way out of her stomach and up her throat and all she could do was keep breathing and hope everything worked out.

The universe had given Micah back to her, so now she was keeping up her end of the bargain. Or at least the parts she could reasonably accomplish. She had told Micah how she felt with excellent results, and she was going to try to be a better overall person, so she just had one more major promise to fulfill.

A familiar head of dark hair that was pulled up into a messy bun entered the shop, and under it was the ever-beautiful face of Mara Waterstone. Hayes gave a little wave. Mara ordered her drink then came to sit at the small table Hayes had snagged.

"Sorry I'm late, I'm preparing to move so things have been kind of hectic," Mara said.

"I wasn't sure you were going to come at all," Hayes admitted, stirring her decaf tea with the stir stick.

"I considered not showing, but I'm really not that kind of person."

"Thank you."

Mara took a sip of her drink and made a face. "One sec, this needs more sugar."

She got up to grab a few packets and a stir stick of her own. Hayes took a steadying breath. It wasn't that she was nervous about swallowing her pride and admitting she was wrong, but she was terrified that Mara would hate her. The other woman took her seat again and emptied more sugar into her beverage.

"So what's up? Is this just a social call or?"

"I want to apologize for being a colossal bitch to you," Hayes started.

Mara laughed. "Okay."

"You didn't deserve how I treated you. You made me face the feelings I'd been trying so hard to ignore and I took my frustrations out on you by cutting you off without explanation."

"The reason was pretty clear, regardless. I hooked up with Micah. You didn't like that."

Hayes clenched her teeth. "Yes."

"Are you still mad about it?"

"Not at you," Hayes replied. "I'm mad at myself for being stupid about it. You wouldn't have gone after him if you'd known how I felt. But I was dating Jude as an attempt to convince myself I didn't have feelings for Micah, and I kept insisting we were just friends, so you didn't see an issue with it."

"You could've told me," Mara said softly. "I wouldn't have thought less of you for falling for your super hot roommate instead of that douchebag."

Hayes grinned. "I know. I should have told you. We told each other everything, and you would've been able to make me see how dumb I was being."

"I very much could've."

"But I didn't, and when you hooked up with Micah I just... I had a bit of a meltdown. And it wasn't fair to you because I didn't cut both of you off, just you, and I've felt terrible about it for the past seven months but couldn't figure out a way to talk to you without it being weird." She paused with a grimace. "I feel like I'm giving excuses. I'm not trying to excuse my behaviour, because there's really no excuse for how childish I was, but I'm trying to apologize. To show how very, very sorry I am, and to ask for your forgiveness."

"Hayes, I knew very quickly after we became friends that you're a mess when it comes to your emotions. If you can forgive me for sleeping with Micah, I can forgive you for ignoring me for an entire school year."

"What? No! I don't blame you at all for sleeping with Micah! He's gorgeous, and funny, and sweet, and tall, and he's... he's the best, really."

Mara laughed again. "Okay girl, your heart eyes are showing."

"Sorry." Hayes felt a blush rising in her cheeks.

"You really do like him a lot, huh?"

"I am head over heels in love with the man," she confessed.

"Does he know?"

"I'm not sure. I've stopped pretending we're just friends, but I haven't dropped the L-word yet."

"Have you kissed him yet?"

Hayes nodded.

"Have you slept with him?" Mara asked, raising her eyebrows.

Hayes was definitely bright red. "Your assessment of 'incredible' was correct."

"Fucking finally!" Mara exclaimed, earning a disapproving look from the old ladies a few tables down. "You can have my complete and absolute forgiveness in exchange for the details of how this happened."

"Where do you want me to start?"

"Since I was last updated, the end of August."

"A lot has happened since then."

"You better get talking then."

Hayes smiled and started filling her best friend in, the two of them quickly falling back into their old dynamic. It took hours for the story to be told in its entirety, and before they separated for the evening they promised each other that they would keep in touch and that Hayes would visit Mara once she'd gotten settled in Winnipeg.