Maya laughed hard at something Brian had said, it was a cue.
Xavier sat two seats away from them but from his vantage position, he could see them but they weren't granted that opportunity.
He grimaced, noting the cue resenting the moment when Maya will have to leave him all alone and knowing it was now.
Her bag made a rustling sound in her hurried movement, their eyes met, she nodded at him and standing up excused herself from the trio and headed to the Ladies.
It wasn't the plan but he stalked after her besides he has never been good at following plans or rules.
"What are you doing?" She whispered yelled, immediately she was sure she was away from Melissa's sight.
"Please don't go,"
"What are you being a baby about? Melissa is supposed to be happy, she just got engaged to the love of her life but with the wine she keeps on gulping, I can still sense real sadness in her movements and I know though she might be too stubborn to admit it__"
He released a burst of nervous laughter, "That is one of Salvador's Gene but not the attractive one."
"Finally he admits something on him isn't perfect," Maya muttered meaning to lighten the seriousness in the air.
"Who says it isn't attractive on me?" he wiggled his brow, making her bark out a little awkward laughter.
There was a beat of more than a minute of silence.
"She misses you."
He stared in the distance, seeing as Melissa laughed, her hand on her fiance.
Maya followed his trail of sight narrowing her eyes at the glare he had on.
"She loves him__"
"That has never been a problem for Melissa. She has always loved things, the sleazy unkempt pick pocketer that stayed in the gate of the middle school she attended. The child had such sticky fingers that made her go hungry most days but Melissa still won't budge she loved her too and gave her everything she had on." He looked at Maya, "But she moved on eventually when Dad found out and flipped. I guess that was the only good thing he noticed on one of the occasions when he remembers the world doesn't revolve around his cock," He gave her a little smile.
"Mind you it rarely happens but when it does he appear like nothing is amiss and he has always been there. Then mom is happy again, smiles for herself and not just for the vain company she was forced to entertain." His hand was tucked into his pocket as he gazed at space like he could see the events all play out in front of him, "Then he goes back to the worthless whores once again and then mom relieves the pain again."
Maya slipped her hand into his, intent on having his attention.
"I don't think Brian is a disheveled cold puppy she pities. He makes her laugh, her eyes shine and with him, even though I don't know him and think his faked accent which he uses to impress her is too obvious and needs work on," He shook his head while she chuckle grinning, " She is happy and If Melissa were my sister and I notice how happy he made her with his long endless boring elegant speeches. I'll be happy for her and even laugh at what he considers funny. She deserves that much." She smiled at him patting his chest then chuckling made to walk away from him.
He held her back.
"Promise me you'll wait for me at the table."
"Xavier, I don't think I being around will change your sister mind if she is so Keen on not forgiving you,"
He smiled, "I want you to stay with me. No ulterior motive."
"I'll stay." She didn't miss a beat.
His stormy blue pools met hers, "Cross your heart?"
"A childish act of promise won't stop me from not keeping to my promise,"
He shrugged, "I love childish reassurances."
"Cross my heart then."
He leaned in and her eyes widened and for a split second she waited eagerly for his kiss and then even though it was wrong she huffed in disappointment at the kiss on her forehead he gave her.
As she walked back to the seat to watch Xavier win his sister back into his life, she could remember her mother's word and how her eyes had shone the first time her stepdad had visited the trailer they called House.
____________Flashback___________
"He had kissed me on the forehead and tucked a flower behind my ears," She had whispered excitedly to someone over the phone.
Her voice rose impatiently when her only friend had teasingly asked her if it was flowers he had picked at the town garden just next to her house.
"What does it matter? No one has looked at a whore like me in such a manner since forever and beggars can't be picky especially when it comes to romantic issues."
"I'll suggest you leave the men of this town alone. They are all good for nothing."
"He said he'll marry me."
"So did Gabriella's father," her friend lashed out.
She grimaced, "He is serious this time."
"Then there must be a catch, hope you haven't taken him home and he has no idea that you have a daughter? I hear the sex slave trade is damn lucrative now especially when you have fresh blood like Bree."
Maya watched her mom spare her a suspicious glance even as she stayed as still as possible, trying to sell the lie that she was deep asleep while her ears stood alert on her mother's side of the conversation.
She bought the lie obviously because she continued the conversation though her whispers were more hushed, "And so? He knows about her. What are you trying to say that a man can't love me without an ulterior motive?" She sounded angry, staring at the mirror that faced her directly bittered by the woman that stared back at her.
A scorned woman whose beauty had been stolen away by the street, One ugly man after another until she lost count and they had become just clients.
"Besides, if having Bree is what he needs to desire someone as wretched as I am. It is a fair bargain. Bree should be willing to do so much for me after I'd clothed her and gave her food all these years,"
Maya couldn't believe her ears as she wonders why a woman who gave her life could be this cruel toward her seed.
"Beside nothing goes for nothing in this life. A kiss on the forehead today and then the next, your girl child is sold to the highest bidder."
________End of flashback________
A kiss on the forehead was supposed to be the purest form of affection, void of lust and desire but only associated with care and tender feelings yet it was on the basis that her fate had been decided by her mother who was just desperate for the touch of a lover and caress of a companion.
And as Maya remembered Xavier's lip on her forehead, again and again, she found tears welling in her eyes.
Traitorous tears, she yelled in her head. Angry that they still manage to betray how weak she was to the world.