Maya & Tarik - The Journey Pt. 01

---------- I ----------

It was another slow, boring day on the job for Maya. There were hardly any customers and her co-worker had left an hour early. So, she did what she always does when it's this slow and started cleaning. A detail-oriented and dedicated worker, she hardly ever used the downtime to be idle. Even though this was just a part-time job while she completed graduate school, she still took her work seriously. Of course she chatted with her co-workers, but she liked to keep busy and moving.

Even though she was about 100 pounds overweight, Maya still liked to stay active. She carried her weight well, and her soft sexiness combined with her sparkling personality and dazzling smile drew people to her. She had medium length soft, but slightly wild curly brown hair and intense brown eyes that captured the attention of those around her. She knew a man was attracted to her when she could simply look at him and see him become weak under her stare.

Maya was tidying a shelf and singing softly to herself when a customer approached her. She turned to look at him and was immediately struck. He was an extremely good-looking man, just a little taller than her and athletically built. He wore glasses and had a head full of thick black hair and a well-groomed beard.

Judging by his face, he was probably around Maya's age, in his early 30s, but she could see the small streaks of gray in his hair. She could tell by the way he paused and seemed a bit shaken when she looked at him, that he was taken with her as well.

Maya approached him and asked if he needed help finding something as he looked a little lost. He told her he was looking for an herbal supplement for the back pain he was having, but couldn't remember the name for it. Maya picked up on an accent as he spoke, but couldn't quite place it.

His voice wasn't deep or high, and the accent gave his voice a richness that seemed to stir deep into Maya's soul. She found herself staring at him, captivated by his voice and eyes. His eyes were almost black and incredibly soft, and Maya couldn't help but feel lost for a moment in them.

"Do you think you could help me find it?" he asked Maya, peering at her, his question snapping her back to reality.

"Oh yes, of course. Umm. Do you have a picture at all? Or maybe the name on your search history?" she replied, looking away, blushing.

"Ah yes, smart idea! Here, I have it on my phone," he said and pulled out his device.

When he unlocked it, the selfie mode on his camera was open and for a brief moment, they both appeared on the photo screen. Maya ducked out of the way but he held his phone up, trying to keep her in the frame.

"Oh no let's get a picture hey come here!"

They both laughed and looked at each other, something palpable between them.

He stared at her for a moment, then cleared his throat and turned back to his phone, pulling up the name of his back problem and what he was supposed to get to help on a screenshot, showing the picture to her.

"Oh yes sciatica, that's not fun, but yes turmeric might help, here I'll show you," Maya said as she began to lead him over to the turmeric supplements.

They chatted for a few minutes while she helped him pick out something. As he was leaving to go to the register, he looked back at her and gave her a big toothy smile, brightening up his face and sending a lightning bolt through Maya's body.

"Mmm who was THAT?!" Maya thought to herself while she finished her shift. She couldn't get his face out of her mind. She had never felt that instantly attracted to someone as she had just now. Physically he was so much of what she liked. Dark hair and eyes, glasses, beard and a full head of thick hair to run her fingers through. He was on the athletic side, not scrawny or slim, but not hugely muscular either. Just right.

He was just two or three inches taller than her, making it easy to look into his soft dark eyes while they spoke. Just thinking about how he looked so deeply into her sent Maya's heart racing. And then there was his accent. It sounded like Eastern European and was somewhat subtle, but it was definitely there. Thinking about him excited her as she distractedly struggled to finish her shift.

That night Maya couldn't help but think of him while she tried to sleep. Her Mystery Man. As she thought of his eyes and his hair, she felt her pulse quicken and her pussy grow warm and wet. She imagined his head between her legs, his full lips on her pussy and his tongue on her clit. Looking up at her with those soft dark eyes as she grabbed his hair and pulled him closer to her.

Her pussy was dripping as she could almost feel his mouth on her, eating her pussy and bringing her close to orgasm. She thrust her hips forward and played with her clit while her other hand brought a pillow forward in between her legs.

The surface of the pillow felt so good on her mound, giving her something to grind against as she imagined smearing his face with her juices. Soon Maya was shaking and crying out with her orgasm as she came. Her breath was quick and hot as she imagined her Mystery Man rising up from between her legs, licking his lips of her cum.

"Oh shit," she exhaled, practically gasping. "I hope I see that guy again," Maya thought as she drifted off to sleep.

---------- II ----------

For several days Maya couldn't stop thinking about him, looking for him every time she worked. She just couldn't shake the feeling that there had been a connection between them. Something she hadn't really felt before with a stranger. And it seemed crazy, even to her, but she was sure he felt it too.

She even told one of her coworkers about him so they could keep an eye out for him too. After about a week, he fell from her thoughts completely. And almost as soon as he had, there he was again. She ran into him at the deli counter at the store, while she was waiting for her order to be ready one late summer day before work.

He came around the corner and immediately his eyes locked onto her, and they both broke out into big grins. For Maya, it was reflexive, when she saw him, she just wanted to smile, she couldn't stop herself, no matter hard she tried.

He placed his order while she shyly stood off to the side, trying hard not to look at him and trying to stifle her grin, feeling his eyes on her. After he ordered, he walked over to her, his toothy grin brightening up his face.

"Hi, how are you?" he said, his head bobbing as he smiled at her.

"Oh, I'm good, how are you? How's your back?" she replied.

"Oh, it's good now thank you," he said, extending his hand toward her. "Ummm my name's Tarik."

"I'm Maya," she replied, pausing for a moment. "Tarik, that's an interesting name, where is it from?"

"Oh, it's Armenian, I'm from Armenia," he responded, blushing a little.

"Ah okay, cool. How do you spell that? T-A-R-I-K?" she asked, giving him a smile.

"Yes! Haha very good," he laughed, blushing even more.

"I'm always really interested in how names are spelled and like to see if I'm right for some of the unusual ones."

Maya's food order was called out and she started to walk over to the counter to pick it up.

"It was nice to meet you Tarik," she said, "I hope to see you again soon."

"It was nice to meet you too...Maya," Tarik replied and Maya walked over the register to pay for her food.

So, once again Tarik was running through Maya's brain constantly. "Tarik. Mmm, I like that name," she thought when she came back to the sales floor after her break.

She wished she had the guts to ask him out at that moment, but she was so afraid of being rejected that she just couldn't do it. Well, hopefully, he'll be back in the store soon. But she didn't see him for what seemed like an eternity, no matter how hard she wished to run into him. In fact, it was almost six months before she saw him again.

Maya was coming out of the back room at work, tying her apron on when she saw him in the aisle looking for something that he obviously couldn't find. She brightened immediately as he looked up at her, returning her smile.

"Hey! How are you? Haven't seen you in forever!" she exclaimed as she walked up to him.

"Ah yes it has been a while," Tarik replied, adding that "I haven't seen you when I've been in here. Also been busy this winter. Studying a lot."

"Oh?" Maya replied, "what are you studying for?"

"Oh, I'm taking a big exam for graduate school in about two months, so trying to get ready for it," he replied, his eyes locked on Maya's.

Maya felt her heart leap at the fact that he's applying to graduate school. "Holy shit! He's smart. And motivated! Oh, fuck that's hot," she thought as she tried not to show Tarik how excited she was by that.

They chatted for a few minutes and Maya mentioned the research that she was starting over the semester which happened to be on a subject Tarik was really interested in. It turns out that he was applying for a graduate program with the same department where she was working on her Ph.D. She could hardly control her excitement, touching his arm as she gushed over this shared connection. Maya wanted to keep talking, though she knew she had to get to the department, she did not want Tarik to slip out of her fingers again.

"Hey how about I get your email so I can keep you posted on that research project, and maybe we could get together and talk about it sometime." The words tumbled from Maya's mouth so quickly that she didn't have time to brace for his possible rejection.

"Oh yeah for sure that would be awesome, let's do that," Tarik replied enthusiastically.

Maya felt herself beaming from ear to ear as they went over to the desk in her department, and she grabbed a pen and paper out of the drawer. She didn't care that all of her coworkers and her boss were waiting for her to join the shift change meeting, watching their interaction.

At that moment, she forgot everything. After Tarik wrote down his email, Maya joined the meeting as he returned to his cart to continue shopping. Maya tried hard not to look at him and bit her lip to keep from smiling too hard, but it was almost impossible.

When the meeting was over, one of Maya's coworkers said to her, "Who was that guy?!"

She replied, "Oh just someone that I've run into a few times here. And also, the hottest guy I've ever seen in my life!" she whispered, laughing with her coworker like a giddy school girl while they stocked shelves.

Tarik came back around to the aisle across from Maya's department about ten minutes later, and she couldn't help but look over at him. As she did, her eyes met his and he shyly turned away, smiling. Maya hadn't had this kind of shy flirtation with someone before and she loved it. She smiled ear to ear for the rest of her shift, and couldn't wait to contact him. And hopefully, see him again soon.

It took about a week for Maya to email Tarik. Not that she didn't want to, but she didn't want to seem too eager. She wanted to reach out the second he left the store, but she restrained herself. She held out for a few days, and thought about him constantly.

Finally, Maya sent Tarik a quick note with her phone number and said he should text her if he wanted to get together and to wish him good luck for when he took his exam next month. He eventually replied that he would after he took his exam and had more time.

For Maya, that seemed like a lifetime away but she liked that he was remaining focused on something that was really important. It was kind of hot. She'd had too many relationships with or crushes on men that had no direction or goal, and this was refreshing.

A week or two had gone by when Tarik texted Maya one evening while she was cramming to get the final draft finished for a big presentation she was giving later that week. It surprised her, especially since she knew he hadn't taken the exam yet, but she was delighted to hear from him. They texted back and forth a few times and decided to get together the following weekend.

And just like that, Maya had a "date" with Tarik.

---------- III ----------

The day of their get together finally came after what seemed like an eternity. The day was filled with anticipation for Maya, especially after Tarik surprised her by showing up at her presentation, which was scheduled for a few days ahead of their "date." She had sent out a mass email invite to a lot of people that might be interested in attending and included Tarik...just in case.

She was not actually expecting him to show up and was overwhelmed when he did. Maya was talking with someone after her presentation when Tarik came up next to her, bounding with his endless energy and swallowing her in a big hug. She could barely compose herself, she couldn't stop smiling and all of a sudden couldn't speak.

He stood next to her as she fumbled to speak, her stomach in knots as his arm rested against hers. He moved around as more people came to ask her questions and she got distracted. She caught sight of him every once in a while as he looked at projects that were on display in the hall and around the room, their eyes meeting and sharing smiles. After a while, he came back around and said that he had to go back to work.

He gave her another hug and as they parted, he said, "And I'll see you Saturday!", smiling as he walked out of the room.

The rest of the symposium went by in a whirl and after Tarik left, Maya went right back into mingling and answering questions. Later that evening, it sunk in for her that Tarik had gone out of his way, leaving work to come to see her talk about her research. She was always overanalyzing things and so she was convinced that it meant something. She was dizzy not only with his appearance at the conference but also with the anticipation of seeing him again in a few days.

Saturday, Maya got ready very carefully, making sure her curls were on point, and that she looked sexy but casual. She pulled on her favorite pair of black pants that hit at the ankle. She had big legs, but something about these pants brought out her curves and helped hold her in where she needed it. She slipped on a simple black and white striped top that had a scoop neck and opened up in the back around the shoulders. She topped it off with her favorite black zippered cardigan and her black boots.

This outfit was perfect for a cozy coffee shop on a cold February day, and fit her just right, looking sensual but comfortable. She didn't put on any makeup, just a little mascara to help bring out her beautiful brown eyes. Maya arrived at the coffee shop a few hours early to do some work, and also to make sure she was nice and calm when he arrived. Something about Tarik made her more nervous than guys usually did, and she didn't want to be jumpy around him.

Tarik strolled into the coffee shop, right on time, looking hotter than Maya had anticipated. She first noticed that he had trimmed his beard, and he looked even sexier. Now that it was cropped closer to his face, it brought out his jawline and his lips. He started to pull off his winter coat as he entered, and underneath he was wearing a loose white V-neck tee that clung to him but wasn't too tight.

She could see some chest hair peeking out, and the shirt seemed to be on the thin side, his skin showing through ever so slightly. He wore relaxed but also fitted denim jeans that showed off his muscular legs and a pair of brown boots.

Something about the way everything fit and looked on him sent Maya's pulse racing and an aching grew between her legs. She smiled bigger than she wanted to as he walked over to her table, unable to hide how happy she was to see him again. He leaned down and gave her an awkward hug and she could smell him. No cologne or anything, just the natural scent of his skin mixed with the faint smell of sweet tobacco.

Tarik went to get a cup of coffee and smiled at her from the counter. Maya bit her lip and looked away, shyly smiling to herself. "Holy shit he looks so good, I have got to chill out. Thinking about fucking him right now is not going to help," she thought to herself as she felt a surge of passion running through her.

Tarik sat down across from Maya at the table and they made the usual "getting to know you" small talk. Soon though, they were deep in conversation about politics, religion, and sociology, then moving onto a variety of other topics. During their discussions, they found that they shared a lot of the same tastes as her, and they also had many of the same political views.

Maya felt herself relaxing around him as the conversation flowed so naturally. Soon she was casually touching his hand when she made a point, and he returned the touch in the same way. The warmth of his hand on hers was heavenly. After a few hours, the coffee shop was set to close, and they headed outside. They departed and Tarik gave her a big hug.

As she was leaving, he said to her, "Hey, let's do this again soon!"

Maya replied, "Oh, absolutely."

It had been three days and Maya hadn't heard from Tarik. It wasn't like they had gone on an official date, so she wasn't sure what to expect, but she was expecting something. She thought they really clicked and had a good time. But..maybe he wasn't attracted to her, or interested in pursuing anything with her beyond friendship.

She tried not to stress about it too much, and some of her friends told her to just reach out and stop waiting. Maya had this feeling that if she didn't reach out first, it wouldn't happen. But she still had a hard time reaching out again. She was afraid to be pushy if he wasn't interested and didn't want to seem desperate.

But she couldn't shake the feeling that he definitely seemed interested in her. All of their smiles at each other, and those gentle touches. And the way he looked at her with those eyes of his. Not very many men could make her weak this way, but he had a strange effect on her. And no one had looked at her like that in a long time.

Maya was lying in bed one night, unable to sleep. Partly from stress from her work, and Tarik being on her mind didn't help. She let her mind wander back to him on that day, looking so fine and delicious. She imagined pulling the shirt off over his head, touching and caressing his chest and torso. She could imagine him having a fair amount of chest hair, with a long trail down his flat stomach to his pubic area.

She thought about what his hands would feel like running along her sides, grabbing her hips and ass while he pulled her closer to him, kissing her deeply. Soon Maya's pussy was aching and she reached under her top to squeeze her breasts. Just imagining him fucking her got Maya so turned on. She rolled her hard nipples between her fingers, flicking them gently with her fingertips. Maya imagined Tarik's mouth on her breasts, licking and sucking her tits, biting her nipples.

Soon she was working on her pussy with her vibrator, thinking about what Tarik would feel like inside her mouth and pussy, his big, thick cock filling her completely. In only a few minutes Maya erupted with an orgasm, her breath coming in gasps as she clenched her pussy on her vibrator, cumming all over it.

Awaking the next morning feeling some relief, Maya decided to text Tarik to see if he wanted to go to an art show with her in a few days. She sent him a quick text at around 10:00 am, and by noon he replied saying, "I might be able to make that, but I will let you know for sure in a couple of days."

Maya was a little miffed that he couldn't just give her a yes or no answer. It seemed like he was being non-committal on purpose which annoyed her. She texted back and said that she needed to give her friend an answer for the guest list, so if he wasn't sure, then maybe it would be best to forget it. She was trying not to make a big deal out of it, but she reacted as if he had rejected her completely. Even though she realized that she lashed out, she still hoped that he would be in touch.