Altering the Plans Ch. 04

Trinity posed by the couch, leaning and sitting and standing, which was also a good test for the dress. It held together, which gave Maya more confidence it would last through the show.

"Oh, gosh, that was so much fun," Krista said as they straightened up after Charles had left. "I can't wait to go to the club. I haven't been out anywhere in forever."

"Me either," said Maya.

"Oh, no," said Krista.

"What is it?"

"What will I wear?"

Maya smiled. "I'm sure we can find something."

"I don't know." Krista sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. "I'm too tall." She gave Maya a rueful look. "I know shorter people say they want to be taller, but let me tell you, it's not always great. It's hard to find clothes, and guys, forget it." She rolled her eyes.

Maya stood next to her, amused by their contrast. "At least you can reach the high shelves in the cabinets." She nudged Krista, who gave a small laugh. "If a guy turns you down because you're tall, you're better off without him."

"Thanks, Maya." Krista sighed. "I'm sure I have nothing in my closet to wear, and there's no time to shop."

"I don't think we need to get too dressed up," said Maya.

"That's good." Krista made a face. "Lord knows Toby won't. I don't think he knows how."

"Jesus, what is this with the phone?" Maya said as her phone rang yet again. She'd silenced the ringer when Charles had arrived. The calls had started coming more frequently, and even with the ringer off, she'd left it upstairs so the constant vibrations wouldn't bother her. "It's been a few days now. Not that many people have this number. I guess declining the call is too subtle." She hit the answer button. "Hello?"

"Maya."

She almost dropped the phone when she heard Dean's voice.

Krista gave her a questioning look. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

Maya swallowed. "It's Dean."

"Put it on speaker," Krista said.

Maya could hear Dean's voice, tinny as he shouted her name. She took a breath and tapped the speaker icon. "What do you want, Dean?"

"I want you to know I know what you did, and this is not over."

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Maya.

"The fuck you don't."

"I'm hanging up, and blocking this number. Don't call me again." Maya disconnected and added the number to her blocked list. "Goddamn it," she said. She hated how the good feelings from her success with Charles faded so quickly after a fifteen-second phone call. Happiness and excitement had been zapped and replaced with fear, but also a little anger.

"Come on, sit down." Krista guided her to the couch. "What was that about?"

Maya spread her hands in confusion. "I have no idea. I blocked him everywhere, I haven't been on social media, and I got a new phone with a new number. I didn't see him at all until he came in the coffee shop last week." She ran her hands through her hair. "Shit."

"You didn't tell me you'd seen him. Yes, block his number. Maybe even write down what happened," Krista said.

"Yeah," Maya said with a sigh. "That's a good idea. Keep a record, like before."

"Listen, why don't we get some lunch and then you can come to the shop with me," said Krista. "We can celebrate a little. Maybe Lacey can come too."

"Yeah, okay, thanks." Maya took a deep breath. "That's a good idea."

"Don't let him drag you down," said Krista. "You did great work, and you should be proud of it. Come on, let's go."

Maya got her jacket and followed Krista out, wondering who had given Dean her number, and what he thought she had done.

x-x-x-x-x-x

"You good up front, Toby?" asked Jackson. "I have a client coming in."

"Sure, I'll be fine." Toby nodded.

"You're a terrible liar," said Jackson. "We could have called Ashlee."

"I did. She was sick. I think the two of us can manage until Krista comes in. Come on," he said in response to Jackson's skeptical look. "We are grown men. We should be able to answer phones and talk to people for a couple of hours."

"I know I can, but you hate that kind of thing. Face it, Toby, you are not the customer relations type." Jackson studied his friend. "On the other hand, you do seem a lot more relaxed than usual. One might even say happy. What's up?"

"Nothing's up."

Jackson grinned. "You finally talked to Maya. Made a little headway, even."

"What the fuck." Toby looked at him incredulously. "You're worse than Krista."

"Don't be mad." Jackson held his palms up. "I'm glad something happened, and it looks like it was a good something. And I'm not psychic. Lacey told me a little about last night when I stopped for coffee earlier."

"When's something going to happen with you and Lacey?" Toby asked, changing the subject. He'd been trying not to think about Maya and how much he wanted to see her, and what he wanted to do when he did.

"Nah." Jackson shook his head. "She's out of my league."

"I think you underestimate yourself, Jacks," said Toby.

"Thanks, man." Jackson shrugged. "I appreciate it, but I just don't think it'll happen. She could do better. But it's cool. We're friends."

Toby nodded and let it go. He disagreed with his friend, but he knew this wasn't the time to discuss it. Krista wasn't the only one who knew when to postpone conversations.

He was glad it was a slow day, but was looking forward to Krista coming in. He'd booked a couple of appointments, and even had not-horrible experiences with a couple of people who had walked in with questions. Still, it wasn't his strength and he could feel the tension building up. He'd rather be back working on a new design or working on a customer. Or be with Maya.

He'd even had ideas for a painting of her. Or not of her, since he did abstract painting, but something inspired by her. When he thought of her, he imagined potential but constrained energy, looking for a release but held back. He opened his sketchbook to make some notes.

The door chimed and he stifled a frustrated noise and looked up with, if not a smile, what he hoped was a neutral expression.

A large man, as tall as Toby but wider, walked in. "What did you do to get punished with desk duty?" asked the man with a grin.

Toby grinned back. "Fuck you, Devlin."

They both laughed and shook hands. "Hey, man," said Aaron Devlin. "what's up?"

"Not much. What brings you around? Where have you been?"

Devlin shrugged. "Here and there. Whenever my clients wish to schmooze, there I am. Seriously, what did you do to get banished to greeting customers?"

Toby shook his head. It was way too much to explain, and he didn't want to get into it at the moment. "Krista needed some extra time this morning. Ashlee was sick, and I figured I could handle a little while." He glanced at the time. "Although the while is getting a little long."

As if on cue, the door chimed. Toby glanced over, hoping to see Krista, but it was Jackson's client. Jackson came out, said hi to Devlin, and took his client back to his work area.

The door chimed again and Toby's patience was rewarded as Krista walked in with Maya. He smiled to himself; the day was looking up.

The women were engrossed in something on their phones, and he noticed they both had earbuds in. They each removed one as they walked to the counter.

"I loved that," said Krista. "I had no idea I'd like anything called death metal."

"That was melodic death metal," Maya said, "but it's kind of crazy with the labels. I just find what I like."

"That other stuff you played before, the doom metal? I really liked that, too. It kind of, I don't know, resonated or something. I like how it's slow but there's something fast under it."

"I'll have to play you some sludge metal sometime, if you want the really slow stuff."

Toby and Devlin exchanged perplexed looks.

Toby cleared his throat and the women looked at him. "Excuse me, but—death metal? Doom metal? Sludge metal?"

"This stuff is amazing," said Krista.

"You like metal?" asked Devlin. "Since when?"

Krista noticed him for the first time and Toby noted her reaction. She'd always been a little different around him, a little shyer or something.

"Hey, Devlin," said Krista. She swallowed, her usual bravado gone. "When did you get here?"

"Just walked in," he said, and nodded at Maya with his trademark Devlin smile. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Maya," said Toby, feeling slightly ridiculous for not liking Devlin's look at her. He caught her eyes. "Hey."

"Hi." She smiled. "How's everything going?"

"I haven't scared anyone away yet, so that's a plus." He liked it when she smiled at him like that.

"Aha," said Devlin. "I get it. Nice to meet you, Maya." He held out a hand. "I'm Aaron Devlin."

"Hi, nice to meet you." She shook his hand.

"Haven't met too many women who like metal," he said.

Maya shrugged. "We're out there." She turned to Krista. "Remind me to play you something by Jinger later, and Arch Enemy."

"More death metal?" Devlin asked.

Maya was civil but restrained in her response. "Death metal and metalcore. Both of those bands have female vocalists."

"Really?" Devlin looked surprised.

"Hold on, I'm looking them up," said Krista as she tapped at her phone.

"How did it go with Charles?" Toby asked, and was pleased to see Maya's eyes light up with enthusiasm.

"It was great, and we even did a little photo shoot. He wants us to come to the show tonight. Will you?" Maya asked. "He invited us all. And, well, I'd like you to see the finished product in action."

"Sure, why not?" Toby nodded.

"Where are we going?" asked Devlin. "Or am I not included in 'all?'"

"I think the place is called the Blue Dahlia," said Maya. She frowned and looked at Toby. "Is that right? I forget."

"The Blue Dahlia? The drag club?" Devlin stared down at her. "Why are we going there?"

"Maya fixed a dress for one of the performers," said Krista. "She did a terrific job."

"No kidding?" said Devlin. "How'd that happen?"

"Fate, I guess," said Maya with a little shrug. "Just being in the right place at the right time."

Toby wondered why Maya seemed a bit stand-offish with Devlin. People tended to warm up to him right away, and to be fair, Devlin had an easy way with people that Toby had sometimes envied. On the other hand, he reasoned, Maya's experience with Dean wasn't that far in the rear view, and it made sense she'd be skittish around new people. Maybe especially people like Devlin.

"Anyway, I'm reporting for duty," said Krista. "Could you walk Maya back to the coffee shop, Toby? She's going to wait for Lacey and they'll go home together."

"Krista, I'll be okay," Maya said. "I don't want to impose—"

"No." Krista shook her head. "Don't brush it off, Maya. I didn't like that phone call."

"Phone call? What phone call?" Toby asked. "And sure, I can go. See you later, Devlin." He got his jacket and led Maya outside.

"What phone call?" he asked again.

Maya's shoulders slumped. "Dean called me. I don't know how he got the new number."

He took her hand, once more resisting the urge to get angry. That wouldn't help. "Are you okay? What did he say?"

"He said he knew what I'd done, and that it wasn't over. And no, I have no idea what he meant."

"I don't like the sound of that." He frowned. "What did you do?"

"Told him not to call me, hung up and blocked the number." She sighed. "I don't know what else to do. I don't think it's worth calling the police. He hasn't done anything except be an asshole, and unfortunately that's not illegal. Plus, police aren't always helpful in cases like this."

"Yeah." He squeezed her hand, wishing he could offer some concrete help, and did it again when she stopped walking. "What is it?"

"I thought I saw Dean." She took a deep breath. "I can't stand it. I thought saw him, but now I don't, and it makes me feel like I'm going crazy."

"I don't think you're crazy," he said. "If you think you saw him, I believe you."

"Let's talk about something else," Maya said. "Are you sure you want to come to the club tonight?"

"Of course. I wouldn't miss your fashion debut."

"Thanks. It's just that I know a lot of guys wouldn't want to go to a drag club."

Toby shrugged. "The way I figure, it's just entertainment. Doesn't say much about who watches, or who performs." He grinned. "At least, that's what I got when Krista and Lacey made me RuPaul's Drag Race."

Maya laughed. "They made you watch?"

"It was more that it was on and I was in the room. I crashed with them for a while when I was between apartments a couple of years ago."

"I appreciate that you'll go. It means a lot."

"Sure." He glanced down. "I was wondering if you might want to come back to my place afterwards. I know it wouldn't exactly be a date, but I don't know, I thought maybe."

She smiled. "I'd like that."

"Yeah?" He was relieved.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Hey, come here." He led her off the main street.

"What?"

"I wanted to kiss you again but there were too many people over there." Toby pulled her close. "This is much better." At last, he thought as his lips found hers.

He'd been aching to kiss her again after the previous night, and relief swept over him as she responded. Her lips parted at the touch of his tongue and he took full advantage, exploring and tasting. He loved her sighs, and hoped he could elicit more later that night.

"All right," he said after a minute. "I guess that'll have to last me until later."

Maya rested her forehead against his. "Me, too. Maybe another one, just to be sure?"

Toby chuckled and obliged.

"I'm glad you're not afraid of me," he said as they resumed walking.

"Me, too," said Maya. "I don't like being scared of people. I don't like being scared of Dean. It pisses me off and it's exhausting."

"Yeah, I'm right there with you." He nodded. "I know it's obvious, but be careful, okay? Please, don't try to handle it alone. Call me if you need me."

"I won't." She took a deep breath. "I am really trying to ask for help when I need it."

"Any thoughts on how he got your number?"

Maya shook her head. "I've hardly given it to anyone. You guys, my cousins, my mom, and Charles. That's it." She frowned. "My mom is the only one that makes any kind of sense but I don't even know why they'd talk to each other."

"I'm sorry he got to you," Toby said. "But for now, put it out of your head. You did a great job with the dress, and you deserve to enjoy yourself tonight."

She looked at him with a thoughtful expression, and then a quick grin. "I'm planning on it."