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Maya threw open the door to the office, purse in one hand and doggie bag in the other. The comforting, familiar scent of the room, all fresh paper and lemon cleaner, hit her like a gentle wave on a river’s shore, washing away the smell of the road - asphalt and exhaust and spilled gasoline. She smiled as she bumped the door closed with a swing of her hip, then turned to put her stuff on the counter.
Or, would have, if Phoenix had not appeared like a wraith between her and said counter.
“Oh, hi Nick,” she said, grinning at him as she maneuvered around him to drop off her stuff. “What are you still doing here?”
“Is there a reason I shouldn’t be in my office?”
He sounded grumpy. Not surprising - it was pretty late. She’d meant to be back an hour… okay, maybe two… all right, probably close to four hours ago.
Was he mad because she hadn’t told him she was going to be late?
“Nope,” she said, hand hovering over the take-away bag from the restaurant. “Oh! Also, Dessie says ‘Hi!’”
“Wait, you were out with Desiree DeLite?”
She turned to see him looking a good deal more shocked than she thought the reveal warranted. Sure, the other woman was a bit older than her, but she was nice. They’d run into one another in the park the other day, and Desiree had asked her for a favor. The couple was moving into a bigger place soon, and she needed someone on hand to keep her from racking up too large a bill as she furnished it.
Maya thought it was sweet, and Dessie really had listened seriously to Maya’s recommendations about comparing materials and prices, or asking herself seriously if they needed each item.
It had been fun. And it was a little funny, how her name rattled Nick.
“Actually, what she said was ‘Tell Nicky-Boy he should join us next time,’” she added.
“And what were you doing until almost ten o’clock?” he asked.
He was being awfully nosy tonight. Maya, pleasantly full from the dinner Dessie had treated her to as thanks, couldn’t get grumpy about it. But if he was this worried just about her hanging out with Mrs. DeLite, then could it hurt to tease him a little bit?
“Oh, you know,” she said, leaving the bag for the moment and crossing to hang up her coat. "Had dinner. Shopped. Rode on her motorcycle.”
That last bit did it. She could just see his eyes widen a little, the frown pulling a little deeper. So she pressed ahead.
“You know how it is - when you get out there, riding through the dark, you feel a little bit more adventurous. And when she let me drive-”
“Wait, she let you drive?”
“Of course!”
“But you don’t… wait, do you have a license?”
“Do you?” Maya asked back, unwilling to let go of the house of cards she was building just yet. Before he could answer, she shrugged and said, “Anyway, it’s all fine. The cops didn’t even catch us.”
“You were driving a motorcycle, without a license, away from the police?” he asked.
Oooh, he was buying this. She felt a little bad as she added, “Well, yeah. Did you want us to stop and get a ticket? I don’t have a license, remember?”
“Maya-”
“What?” She clasped her hands behind her hands. “It’s for the best anyway, I think they have laws about helmets, but it’s not like she just carries extras around.”
“Well, she should,” Nick muttered. And it was at this point that she realized…
He’d been actually worried.
She supposed it made sense. Four hours late. He might have been busy with work, but eventually glanced at the clock and saw she should be back soon. Then a little more time, and she still hadn’t turned up. She wondered if he’d started fearing what might have happened.
Abruptly she felt a little bad. Teasing was fine, but she didn’t want him to be actually worried.
“On the bright side, a motorcycle is actually perfect for escaping the cops,” she said airily, laying it on thicker than a triple cheeseburger. “I was a little worried the first time we rode up onto the sidewalk, but everyone was really good about getting out of the way.”
His anxious, disbelieving expression was beginning to turn toward the incredulous, and she found she was glad about that. She loved joking around with Nick. It felt like the brother she’d never had, protective and sarcastic by turns. She liked messing with him. But she didn’t want him to really worry. And shortly, she’d be able to share what a fun time she’d had with him.
It really had been nice being out there, shopping and talking with Dessie. It felt comfortable in a way she couldn’t quite describe - perhaps familiar to an experience she’d imagined many times.
After all, she supposed somewhere in the back of her mind, she’d expected to do some of those things with Mia. Once her sister had left home to go earn her degree and become a lawyer, Maya had seen TV shows or read stories and imagined she and her sister doing all those things. She would leave home - the daydreams never said why - and her sister would help her with apartment shopping, and picking out clothes. They could bicker about a few little nick-nacks.
One more thing that could never happen.
Maya’s attention went briefly past Phoenix, to the dark room where her sister had passed away, alone, at the hands of a petty man who didn’t care what happened to anyone but himself.
When she’d found her sister, everyone else from Kurain was so far away, and half of them didn’t seem to care about Mia if she wasn’t serving them. Maya had felt like the only one who would mourn Mia - the only one who would miss her.
But she hadn’t been. Her sister had Nick, too. A man who solved her murder not because he was paid to, but because he wanted to do right by Mia. He might snark, or stress, but it was because he worried.
Because he cared.
And she realized again, powerfully, viscerally, how nice it could be, coming back to someone who cared.
Even if he could be a little silly at times.
“No, I did not drive the motorcycle,” he said, laughing as the relief wrote itself plainly across Nick’s face. “We were just shopping and it took a little longer than expected. And she insisted on buying me dinner afterward as thanks.”
“So you weren’t on the motorcycle,” he said, even more visibly relieved.
“Well… no, I was,” she said awkwardly. “But she drove, and I wore a helmet! And there were no police. And we didn’t speed…”
Nick crossed his arms. He stared.
She wilted.
“...mostly.”
His arms uncrossed, but it was only so he could plaster one palm against his face. Slowly he dragged it down, eyes closed, every inch of him screaming just how much he was preventing himself from saying what he wanted to say.
Then he sighed.
“Well, I’m glad you got back in one piece. I was hoping to ask your opinion on something.”
She perked up. “About that case with the dog?”
“It’s a miniature pony,” he replied, heading back toward the desk.
“It’s a dog,” she repeated firmly. Then, remembering- “Oh! And I brought something!”
He said something, but she was too far away to hear it.
“What?” she asked.
“I said what did you bring?” he responded, which was definitely shorter than what he’d said, but that was part of what made this place feel like home.
“Cookies!”
“Of course.” But there was a fondness in the words, and she didn’t miss his smile as they settled at the desk, looking over his notes.
Mia was gone. But she’d made a place for Maya to grow, to find the person she wanted to be. And Nick? If he hadn’t decided to be the kind of person Mia knew he could be?
Well. She was glad he was.