Altering the Plans Ch. 01

"No, but it was getting physical." Maya stared at her glass half-full of white wine, then took a sip. "Last night he grabbed me. Didn't hit me, just kind of shook me."

"Damn. I'm glad you left," said Krista. She reached for another slice of pizza.

"Me, too." Maya took another drink, savoring it before swallowing. "I see it now. I thought he was nice at first, but I don't think he ever was. After a while, I couldn't do anything right, no matter what I did or how. He always found something to be angry about." She knew she should have more pizza or she'd regret the wine, and took a small piece even though she wasn't too hungry. "I don't know why I didn't see it earlier."

Lacey shook her head. "He probably apologized a lot, right? Said he was stressed from work or something?"

"Yeah." Maya nodded. "There was some of that. And blaming it on me. 'I didn't mean to say that, you just made me so upset.' Stuff like that."

"Oh, god, girl, that is the worst," Lacey patted Maya's hand. "I worked with someone like that, and they worked the cycle. Be nice, be mad, blame you, be nice. It's gaslighting, pure and simple. It makes you second-guess yourself all the time, and question your judgment."

"It does, you're right." Maya thought a moment. "Wow. That's so damn obvious and I should have seen it sooner way sooner than I did."

"That's why it works," Krista said. "It's sneaky, so you don't see it. It's only obvious when you can get some distance." She tilted her head. "You'll need to work to trust yourself again, Maya, but you'll get there."

Maya nodded, wondering if she could trust her instincts when they'd failed her in such a major way.

"You will," Lacey agreed. "I did. And you already took a big step. You trusted yourself to walk away, all on your own from what I hear."

"Mostly." Maya shrugged, then smiled a little. "Krista standing up to him helped."

Krista scoffed. "That was nothing. He was a bully, and bullies don't like being confronted. But you're welcome."

Maya nodded. "You're right, he did, but it really did help me," Maya said. "When you leaned forward and he was he stepped back—I don't know, that just made it all clear to me and I knew I couldn't wait much longer to break up. I thought maybe I'd do it when we were in private, but then I couldn't wait."

"Honestly, Maya, you were probably better off doing it this way," Lacey said. "If you'd been alone with him, he might have talked you out of it. Or, I hate to say it, been more violent."

"Yeah." Maya sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Okay, enough talking about the past." Krista poured herself some more wine. "Let's talk about Maya moving forward."

"Absolutely. To Maya," Lacey said, and they all clinked glasses. "So, what's next?"

"I don't know." Maya stared at her wine. "I came here for a job. I'm a dressmaker. And a photographer."

"Oh, cool!" said Krista.

"It's a lot of fun," said Maya, "but it's not the easiest way to make a living."

"Do you think you'll go back?" asked Krista. "To whatever mysterious place it is you come from?"

They all laughed, but Maya shook her head. "No," she said. "I don't want to go home. I don't have—there's nothing for me there." She stopped before saying any more and tried to organize her thoughts as it hit her that with her mother and stepfather having moved, she had no home to return to.

"I've wanted to go somewhere, anywhere, for years, and try to work as a dressmaker. I was working at an office and it was fine, but they downsized and I found the job listed at the shop and I jumped at it. It didn't work, but I'm going to find something else."

"Good. I like you," said Krista. "I want you to stay."

"Thanks." Maya sipped at her wine, hoping the others didn't see her blinking back tears. Having someone openly tell her she was welcome was something she hadn't experienced often.

"Look, Maya, I know you'll want to find a job," said Lacey, "but take your time. We're not in a hurry here. Our roommate broke her lease early and left money for her remaining rent, so that's covered. I've been where you are, and you should take a little time to get your head straight. We'll help where we can."

Maya choked out a laugh and wiped at her eyes. "Thanks, you guys. I have a little savings, but it means so much. And you hardly know me."

"I think we know you well enough," said Krista. "I'm a great judge of character, ask anyone. I knew Dean was an asshole the second he walked in the store, for example, and I knew you deserved better."

"If you had such great insight," said Lacey, "you'd know that Devlin has a thing for you."

"What?" Krista shook her head. "No, he doesn't."

Lacey looked at Maya and grinned. "Her one blind spot."

Maya smiled. "Who's Devlin?"

"Aaron Devlin," said Lacey. "He's an old friend and he has had a thing for her for years. She has one for him, too. She just won't admit it."

"He does not. Lacey's just making trouble. Don't listen to her, Maya." Krista rolled her eyes but Maya noticed the blush in her cheeks and suspected it might be from more than just the wine.

Lacey yawned. "All right, ladies, this has been fun but I am late getting to bed. I need to get up and serve coffee to the multitudes tomorrow."

Maya realized she was exhausted herself, emotionally as much as physically. Her face ached as well. "Good idea, Lacey. I'm beat."

"And me makes three," said Krista. "Let's get moving before we all fall asleep on the floor."

They collected the pizza and went to the kitchen, sorting out the leftovers and putting the boxes in the trash. Finished with the cleanup, they went upstairs.

"Here's your room," said Krista, showing Maya into a small bedroom at the end of the hall. "Sorry it's tiny."

"Not a problem." Maya looked around. The room was fairly empty, since the previous occupant had gone, but it wasn't sterile. The carpet was a warm shade of green, the walls had been painted a cream color, and the window curtains made it seem cozy. "Thanks so much. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Krista said. "The room is small, but you're closest to the bathroom, so that's the trade-off. There are extra toothbrushes and things in the closet. Do you know what time you'd like to go get your things tomorrow?"

Maya rubbed a hand over her face, wincing as she touched her bruise. "I hadn't thought too much about it, but earlier is better I guess. He usually meets up with some friends on Sunday mornings to golf or something. You guys don't have to go, you know. I appreciate it, but it's my situation and I can deal with it."

"Oh yes, we do," said Krista. "This is something you shouldn't do alone. I mean, it's not that I don't think you're capable, it's just—"

"Sometimes you need support, even if you don't think you do," finished Lacey. "So in the morning we'll round up the posse and go help you."

Maya laughed at the idea of the women on horses with sheriff's stars. "All right."

"Well, not me," said Lacey, "because I have to work on the front lines. But everyone else." She looked at Krista. "Jackson?" When Krista nodded, Lacey hooted. "Now that I'd like to see, I admit. Jackson on a rescue mission."

"He acts like a doof," Krista acknowledged, "but he's solid."

"Yeah, he is," said Lacey. "All right, good night, ladies."

"Good night, Lacey," said Maya. "And thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Get some sleep. You deserve it."

The next morning, Maya got up early, almost before the sun was up. She'd slept poorly through the night, despite the comfortable surroundings. Alone in the dark, she'd started to worry about Dean finding Krista's house and coming after her, or that he might do something to the tattoo shop. When she wasn't thinking about that, she was feeling guilty about dragging Krista and the others into her problems.

She dozed from time to time, but when Lacey got up, Maya lay there listening to the noises until she heard the front door close, then gave up on sleeping.

It's a new day, and you're free, she reminded herself. You can make a new plan. One step at a time, and there's no hurry.

Maya took a shower, grateful for the change of clothes Lacey had given her. They were a little big, but she didn't care. After she showered and dressed, she went downstairs to get some coffee, which she was pleased to find was already made. Lacey must have set it going before she'd left.

Maya poured herself a cup, added a liberal amount of cream, and sat down at the table. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she checked her phone, which she had turned off the night before in case Dean tried to call, text, or track her.

She saw a load of voice messages and texts, which made her wary. A few were from her cousins, a lot were from Dean. She started with the messages from her cousins.

First was Allie. "Check online," she warned. "And be careful. Call me."

That wasn't too ominous.

Allie's brother, Gabe, wasn't any better, and was more blunt. "Hi. Dean put some stuff on social media. Might want to mute or block. Call me or Allie. We're worried."

It was too early to call either of them, so Maya opened her apps. It wasn't great. Dean had posted a rant about her, about how he had broken up with such an ungrateful bitch. He included some nasty hashtags, which she quickly muted. She muted and blocked on other accounts, then sent texts to Gabe and Allie. She couldn't explain it all but at least they wouldn't worry so much, she hoped.

"So you're an early riser?" Krista asked as she came into the kitchen.

"I was today. Didn't sleep well."

"You okay?"

"Yes and no. I'm fine, but I couldn't sleep anymore so I got up. I turned on my phone and it's not pleasant."

"Dean?" Krista asked with a sympathetic look.

Maya nodded. "Yeah. I shouldn't have expected anything else. There are a couple of messages from my cousins but Dean texted and left voice mail and put things on social media. It's tempting to just delete it all without even looking at it."

Krista got herself some coffee and sat down. "Take screenshots. I don't want to sound paranoid, but I really think you should do what you can to protect yourself, just in case. Document everything. Save it all and send it to me, if you like, for a backup."

"Yeah. You're right. Good idea." Maya took a deep breath and went into her messages. Dean got progressively angrier with each unanswered text and call. Maya took screenshots of the texts and saved them, and also saved the voice messages. Then she went to other sites and repeated the process. She sent them to Krista, and made a mental note to make a backup to her computer, shut down her accounts, and get a new phone.

"Was it bad?" Krista asked.

"Pretty bad," said Maya. "I hadn't thought about it, but I shouldn't be have been surprised. He always trolling people online, or posting rants in Reddit forums and things like that. It's unsettling because it's directed at me. I guess I thought he'd forget about me. I mean, it's obvious he didn't like me very much."

"What a piece of work." Krista drank some coffee. "You were right to ditch him."

"I know." Maya laid her phone face down on the table. "It'll all be over soon, right? I'll get my stuff and never have to deal with him again."

"Right." Krista stood up with her mug. "Let me grab a shower and then we'll round up the guys and head over. I'd better call Toby and make sure he's up. And don't," she said as Maya leaned forward, "tell us we don't need to come. We went over that last night."

Maya stared at the table. "I don't know. I should be able to do this myself. I don't have that much stuff. I could call a cab or something." She'd considered doing that before Krista had gotten up, but she found she couldn't muster the energy for it. Maya felt emotionally raw, and didn't like the idea of sneaking around on her new friends; it seemed like lying and she didn't want to do that.

Krista sat back down. "Maya, look at me."

With an effort, Maya did, and Krista's concern and sincerity were apparent.

"If you don't want us to go, we won't," said Krista. "But it isn't a smart move. I'm sorry to be blunt, but he's already hit you once, and in public. I'm really afraid of what he'd do if you were alone."

Maya swallowed back the lump in her throat. "You hardly know me. I am so grateful for what you've done already, I feel bad asking for more."

"You're not asking, we're offering. You're our friend, and we help our friends."

"A friend of less than twenty-four hours," Maya noted.

Krista tilted her head. "A friend is a friend. I don't know who told you there was some kind of time limit on that, but they're wrong." She smiled. "You're not on some kind of probationary friendship period with us. I know we don't know each other all that well, but there's no scale that says 'be this close, help this much.'"

Maya swallowed around a suddenly tight throat. She didn't think anyone, aside from her father and aunt and cousins, had ever accepted her so unreservedly.

"Okay," Maya said, then cleared her throat. "You're right. I'm just used to doing things on my own, but I—I need help this time. I want help, really. I just feel like I shouldn't."

Krista smiled and patted Maya's hand. "You do, and that's fine, and you're going to have it."