Altering the Plans Ch. 04

Content warning: this story features a main character who leaves an abusive relationship, and whose ex engages in harassment post breakup. I would characterize it, in terms of storytelling, as "mild", although I realize that no abuse is mild or justified.

Chapter 4

"Maya, you made it!" Charles came to greet her with a hug and an air kiss as though they were old friends.

"Hi, Charles. I hope I'm not too late."

"No, you're fine." Charles looked Toby over. "And who is this? You brought your own bouncer?"

Maya laughed. "This is Toby Chandler, a friend of mine. He offered to keep me company."

"That's all right, then." Charles nodded and they shook hands. "Good to meet you, Toby Chandler. I'm Charles Ramirez. Thank you for making sure Maya got here safely."

Toby nodded. "No problem. Good to meet you."

"Well, come on back, Maya, might as well meet the crew." Charles gestured for her to follow. "Toby can come too, but space will be at a premium."

Maya glanced at Toby, an eyebrow raised in question. She hoped he stayed, but she could understand if he might not be comfortable. It was an odd situation for her, too; she'd been backstage at the theater, but it hadn't been like this.

He shrugged and indicated she should go and then fell into step behind her.

Charles led them to a backstage area that was roomier than some she'd seen, but like all such places, it was crowded. There were people, mirrors, clothes, vanities, makeup and lots of noise from overlapping conversations. "Now, usually at the club, we go by our drag names, but one thing at a time. Just call me Charles for now," he said.

"Sure," said Maya.

"All right, everyone, quiet down." Charles clapped his hands and the noise subsided. "This is Maya and she's going to save my dress and my ass, so let's give her room to work."

"And who's her friend?" A man in an odd combination of jeans and a bustier turned and gave Toby a once-over.

"This is Toby and he's her bodyguard," said Charles. "Behave, Roxxy. Now shut up and let the woman work. Maya, over here."

Charles led her over to his area and pulled a dress off a rack.

"Oh, my." Maya bit her lip. Even from a glance, she could tell the dress was some of the shoddiest work she'd ever seen.

"That, my dear, is an understatement," said Charles.

Maya reached out and gingerly picked up a sleeve, half-expecting it to come off in her hand. When it didn't, she got a little braver and stepped closer to examine the other sleeve. That one began to fall apart at the shoulder as she tested it. Shaking her head, she let the sleeve go and examined the rest of the dress.

When she stepped back, the entire room including Toby had gone silent as they awaited her assessment.

"Well?" Charles asked, and she could see his apprehension under the calm exterior.

"It's a mess," she said, "but I think I can fix it and get you at least a night out of it."

"You do?" Charles looked relieved. "How fast can you do it? I hate to pressure you, little darlin', but I need this for the weekend, and it's already Tuesday night."

Maya considered. She had shifts at the coffee shop the next two days but she was off Friday. Her shifts ran from ten to six, which would give her the mornings and evenings, plus whatever she had of Friday before Charles' deadline. She'd need some space and hoped Krista and Lacey wouldn't mind a little bit of a mess for a couple of days.

"I can do it," she said. "Is it all right if I take this with me? And get your measurements? I have my machine at home, and I think I'll need a few supplies, but I could have it by Friday afternoon, if that works."

"Friday afternoon would be perfect!" Charles squeezed her shoulders. "Fate must have taken me to that coffee shop today."

Maya laughed. "I'm glad you showed up, too. I needed the backup."

She and Charles worked out some details and exchanged numbers, and then Maya set about packing up the dress.

"So, Maya," said Roxxy, "when you're done with Trinity's dress, could you take a look at mine? I have a few that definitely need some work."

"I'd be happy to," said Maya. "But maybe you should wait and see what I can do here first, see if you like it."

Roxxy waved a hand and turned back to the mirror. "I have a good feeling about you."

Maya nodded and blushed, busying herself with getting ready to go.

"Okay?' Toby asked.

"Yeah. I'm ready to go." She turned to Charles. "Thanks so much. I'll do the best I can."

"I know you will, little darlin'," said Charles. "Come on, I'll show you out."

"Hey, you, tall guy," Roxxy said. "With the tattoos."

Toby turned back. "Yeah?"

Roxxy cocked her head and studied him. "You ever think about taking a turn on stage? You've got the build."

Maya bit her lip as she waited for Toby's reply. Dean probably would have flown into a rage. She had no idea how Toby might respond. He seemed fairly laid-back, but you never knew where a person's sore spots were.

"Thanks," said Toby, "but I never could walk in heels."

Roxxy laughed and waved goodbye, and the rest of the room applauded and went back to their preparations.

Charles led them out, arranged to check in with Maya the next day, and after saying his goodbyes went back inside.

Toby hailed a cab and held the door for Maya. She appreciated the gesture, and as she sat down, realized she appreciated him.

He'd taken care of her a few times now, and it was a novel sensation. The draw she felt to him since they'd met had never faded, and she wondered what to do next. She'd never been one to make the moves in a relationship, but she knew she didn't want to miss out on anything with Toby. Maybe she'd have to try something new.

"Thanks so much, Toby," she said when they were on their way. "I really appreciate it. I was a little nervous and it was good to have backup."

"Anytime." He gestured at the bag. "You can really fix that?"

"I can." Maya nodded. "I haven't done anything quite like this, but the basics are there, and I have worked on some theater costumes." She sighed and sat back, trying to relax, wired due to the dress and her unexpected thoughts on Toby. "This is so unexpected, and I want it to work so badly, and I don't want to disappoint Charles."

"I'm sure it will work, and I don't think he'll be disappointed." He covered her hand with his and her heart sped up. "Sometimes the unexpected things are the ones that turn out for the best."

x-x-x-x-x-x

"Here's the food," said Toby. He'd brought over some Thai food for a late dinner on Thursday. "Where's Maya?"

"She must still be downstairs," said Krista. "Ever since she got that dress she's been down there any time she's home. Come on, bring this in the kitchen so we can get organized."

When Maya had come back with Charles' dress, Krista had suggested they clear out as much as they could of the basement so Maya could work. It was roomy and had been partly finished, so it hadn't taken long to make it workable. They'd moved down a table and a couple of chairs, and took other things down piecemeal as Maya needed them.

Toby followed his sister back and they started unpacking the food.

"Do you know how she's doing with it?" Toby asked.

Krista shook her head. "Okay, I guess, but I don't know anything about sewing. Someone should check on her, and I think we may have to force her to stop for dinner. She gets so involved she loses track of time. I'm not sure she ate yesterday after she got home from work."

Toby frowned. Sometimes people got wrapped up in their work, he knew, but it nagged at him. He understood nerves, and how it could turn off a person's appetite. But with Maya, he got the feeling she was almost punishing herself. Like she couldn't have or enjoy something until she'd suffered enough.

"Hey, Toby." Lacey came in.

"Hi, Lace."

"Jackson coming tonight?"

Toby shook his head. "No. I think he's meeting his brother. He didn't look thrilled about it."

"Too bad," Lacey said. "I hope it goes okay."

"Yeah, me, too."

"All right, I think we're ready to put this on the table," said Krista.

"I'll get the plates," said Lacey.

"I'll take this food out," said Toby. "Then I'll go get Maya."

"Thanks, Toby. Water to drink?"

"Sounds good." He nodded and took a couple of dishes out to the table. After setting them down, he went down to the basement.

The door was ajar and he heard music but couldn't identify it. He knocked on the door. "Maya? It's Toby." No answer. He knocked again and called louder, "Maya? Mind if I come in?"

She must be in the zone, he thought, and pushed the door open, knocking once more. "Maya? You okay?"

He saw her sitting in one of the chairs, bent over and focused on the dress. Inside the room the music was much louder, full of crunching, droning guitars and indecipherable, roiling vocals and it wasn't at all what he thought she might listen to.

Resigned to startling her, he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Maya?"

He stepped back as she jumped up and turned around.

"Ow! Shit!" Maya said. She dropped the dress and sucked at her thumb. "What? What's going on?"

Toby held his hands up. "Easy. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Are you okay?"

Maya looked exhausted. Her hair was pulled up in a loose, messy bun, her skin was pale and there were circles under her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She looked at her finger. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell."

"It's okay." Toby realized he was raising his voice over the music. "What in the world are you listening to?"

"What? Oh." Maya turned the volume down. "Sorry."

"What was that?"

"Death metal. Actually that particular song was more black metal." Maya rubbed her face, then met his eyes. "What? I like it. It's soothing."

"Soothing?" Toby grinned and then laughed. "If you say so. I have to say, I thought you'd be more the pop music type."

Maya shrugged and started straightening her work area. "I don't know. Never appealed that much. I know it's weird, but metal is what I like."

"Hey, it's fine." Toby put a hand on her shoulder. When she kept moving things on the table, he turned her to look at him. "Maya. Stop." He gave in to a small urge and stroked her cheek. "It's okay. I don't care what you listen to. But you look like you're running yourself into the ground. Come on up and have some dinner."

"No, I—I don't have time." Maya shook her head and stepped back. "I have to get this done. I told Charles I'd have it done by tomorrow and—"

"And you will. The dress looks stunning, honest to God." He glanced over at the dress, which hung on a dress mannequin that his sister and Lacey had found in the attic. It was hard to believe it was the same dress. Maya had worked wonders.

"You really think so?" Maya said. "Whoa." She swayed on her feet.

Toby steadied her and guided her to a chair. "I do, and I also really think you need to come have some food, and then get some sleep."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Maya rubbed her forehead and sat in her chair again. "I really am beat."

Toby pulled up the other chair and sat next to her. "You shouldn't work yourself this hard. It's not healthy. I worry about you."

Maya looked at him curiously.

He averted his eyes and rubbed his neck. Maybe that had been a little much. "I mean, we all worry about you. Krista says you've practically moved down here. You need a break."

Maya shook her head. "I'm sorry. I must seem like a basket case. It's really sweet of you, all of you, to worry about me. I'm not used to people caring that much what I do."

Toby didn't know what to say to that and changed the subject. "How much more time do you need for the dress?"

Maya got up and studied the dress as it hung on the mannequin. She ran her hand over parts. He wondered what she saw that a layperson like himself didn't.

"Okay," she said, and rubbed her temples. "I probably don't need much time, really. An hour or two. I have to leave some things until Charles can try it on, and I'm building in time so I can double check things because I get paranoid about forgetting."

"That sounds very reasonable. Can I make a suggestion, then?" he asked.

"Sure."

"Come up and have dinner with us, and then let me take you out." What the hell, he thought.

"Out?"

"Yeah, I know it's late, but maybe we can just take a walk." Toby stood next to her, hoping he wasn't intimidating her. "I think you could use a change of scenery, even if it's just around the block."

"Okay." Maya nodded. "Yes. I'd like that."

"Great. Hope you like Thai food."

"Love it."

"Cool." He stepped back and motioned for her to go up first. "Go on," he said.

Maya raised an eyebrow. "Don't trust me to follow you?"

Toby laughed. "I think I need to make sure you go up or Krista will have my head. Move it, little darlin', I'm hungry."

Maya shook her head. "Whatever you say." She gave him a sly grin as she started up the steps. "Tobias."

Toby smiled and followed her up. He was pleased she'd agreed to his plan, but still worried. He hadn't liked the look on her face when she'd come out of her work fog. She'd looked terrified, and he hated to see that. He hoped that getting her out of the house might help her relax, and maybe he could find out what was driving her.

Maya was calmer during dinner. Krista and Lacey kept the conversation light, and Toby contributed where he could. Maya didn't say much, but he was glad to see her eat.

After dinner, he decided a walk was probably the best bet. That would keep them close to home and let them talk, and since he knew Maya was tired, he didn't want to go far. Toby had grown tired of biding his time and wanted to see what might happen with Maya. No time like the present, he thought.

"It's a nice night," said Maya as they walked at a leisurely place down the block.

"Yeah." He nodded. Now that they were alone, he didn't know what to say. Small talk was never his strength, and it didn't seem right to say, so, how are you doing with all those issues you have?

"The dress looks good," he said.

"Thanks," said Maya. "I hope Charles likes it. I've never done anything quite like this before, but it was fun. It was so lucky I met him."

"Right. You said something about him backing you up," Toby said. "What was that about?"

Maya hunched her shoulders. "Dean came into the coffee shop that day, right before Charles did."

"Dean showed up?" Toby glanced down. He recalled his talk with Jackson and tried to tamp down his instincts to be angry and protective. "What did he do?"

Maya shrugged and looked away. "He was a jerk. He didn't really do anything. Kept ordering and then changing his mind, just to give me a hard time."

"What happened?"

"I tried to stay neutral. Calm." She hugged herself. "I was a little scared, but I tried not to let it show, and just kept entering the order. Finally, Charles had enough and called him out on it."

Toby thought, then smiled a bit. "I think I would have liked to see that."

"Dean was surprised, that's for sure," Maya said. "It's strange. I know he's blustering a lot of the time. When Krista stood up to him, Dean caved. When Charles did, he caved. But I can't get there. I froze. I kept wondering if he would try anything in the store. Would he, I don't know, report me to management?" She shook her head and hunched down a little more.

"It's okay to freeze," said Toby, and put a hand on her shoulder. "More than reasonable. Maya, he hit you. Don't downplay that."

"I need my job," she said, as if she hadn't heard him. "It's all great to think I should have dumped some coffee on him or something, but it doesn't work that way. I need the job, I need to pay rent, to—"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down." Toby stopped and stood in front of her. She looked up, then down again as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. He gave her a minute to calm down. "Your reaction was totally understandable. I'm not criticizing. I'm just concerned. It seems like you're putting yourself under so much pressure."

"I need to get this done." She looked up at him with earnest eyes. "Charles needs the dress for tomorrow, less than twenty-four hours from now, and—"

"Yeah, okay, I get that, but you're working yourself to the point of collapse. You almost passed out before dinner. Charles wouldn't want that," Toby said, then paused. "I'm pretty sure, anyway. And if he did—never mind, not the point." He sighed and took her hands in his. "What is driving you this hard?"

"I don't want to fail." She spoke so quietly he had to lean down to hear her. "I need to prove—I don't know exactly. I need to show someone, maybe just me, that I can do something. It seems like I've failed so much, and I want to succeed at something."

"All right." Her last sentence tore at him but he didn't know what to say. "For what it's worth, I don't think you're in any danger of failing."

"Thanks."

"Come on." Toby kept one of her hands in his and gently nudged her to keep walking.

They walked in silence for a while. Toby was lost on what to say. He knew that when he was in the middle of high-pressure situations, the last thing he wanted was a lot of reassuring platitudes. Support was one thing, but endless "you've got this" statements tended to backfire. With Maya, he wanted to give her the support she wanted, he didn't know what that was.

"I'm sorry I'm such a basket case," she said after a while.

"It's okay." He shrugged. "Mind if I ask you something?"

"Sure, but I don't know what kind of answer you'll get. My brain is so scattered."

"What would help you?"

She stopped. "What?"

Toby gave her hand a gentle tug and resumed walking. "What would help you relax? Or at least be under less pressure? Is there something I could say? Something you'd like to do?"

"Wow." Maya shook her head.

"I'm sorry. That sounded better in my head."

"No, it's not that," she said. "You caught me off guard. I don't think anyone's ever asked me anything like that. And I don't think I've ever thought about it." She looked at him, her expression both a little intense and a little reserved.

He wondered how to keep the former and overcome the latter. While he pondered that, he asked, "Have you always done this on your own? The dresses and all?"

"Yeah. My dad and my aunt helped me, but when I was younger, my mom had primary custody. My dad had to travel a lot, so." Maya shrugged. "Mom and Roger, my stepfather, are very big on planning. They like things to be practical and thought out and don't have much time for creative pursuits."

"Sounds kind of boring."

"It works for them, I guess. But they wanted me to be that way, and my stepbrother. He was more amenable to it, I guess."

Toby smiled. "But you're not that way?"

"No, I guess not. I mean, I like to be organized. Plans aren't bad things. If I'm going to make a dress, I can't just do it from nothing. But they don't see making dresses or taking pictures as a real way to make a living. I tried to make a plan, and it didn't work, and all they would do now is say 'I told you so.'"

"Sometimes that happens. You can't plan for everything," Toby said.

She scoffed. "My mother and stepfather certainly don't believe that."

"And you?"

"I didn't plan to date an asshole, so I obviously can't plan for everything."

"But you were flexible," he pointed out. "You ditched him, you found a job, you're doing what you enjoy. That's not so bad. Plans aren't any good if they can't be adapted."

"I lucked into it all." She sighed. "I'm grateful, I am. I shouldn't complain. I guess I'm scared it won't last."

"At the risk of channeling my sister, I'd say you're scared you don't deserve it."

Maya glanced up at him, the gold flecks in her eyes highlighted by the streetlights. "Is being a tattoo artist like being a bartender? Like you're sort of an unofficial therapist for your clients?"