“I need space.”
Alex nodded immediately.
“How much?”
She almost smiled.
“You really are a CEO.”
“Sorry.”
“Again.”
“Right.”
He stepped back.
“Maya.”
She looked.
“I won’t use Lily.”
“Good.”
“I won’t ask my grandmother to call.”
“Very good.”
“I won’t send flowers.”
“Excellent.”
He nodded.
“Then I’ll wait.”
Maya studied him.
“Alex.”
“Yes?”
“Waiting isn't a test.”
“I know.”
“You don't get to watch whether I come back and decide that proves something.”
He swallowed.
“I know.”
She opened the door.
“Good night.”
“Good night.”
He left.
For three weeks, they did not see each other.
Alex hated every one.
He did not call.
Not once.
Maya went back to deliveries.
The rumors faded after Harper Global’s statement.
Some employees apologized.
Others avoided her.
Her delivery company offered to remove Harper properties from her route.
She refused.
“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
That mattered.
If she changed her life to accommodate lies, the lies would own something.
Rosa watched her daughter become quieter.
One evening she finally said:
“You miss him.”
Maya washed dishes.
“No.”
“Then you are angry at someone you don’t miss with impressive consistency.”
“Mother.”
Rosa smiled.
“I liked him.”
“You met him for forty seconds.”
“He held elevator.”
“Standards are low.”
“At my age, knees decide character quickly.”
Maya laughed despite herself.
Rosa’s expression softened.
“Did he apologize?”
“Yes.”
“Without excuse?”
“Mostly.”
“Did he pressure?”
“No.”
“Send money?”
Maya glared.
“He knows better.”
“Good.”
Rosa returned to tea.
Maya said:
“He tested me.”
Rosa looked up.
“He didn't call it that.”
“But he did.”
“He wanted to know whether I cared about money.”
“He decided what I was allowed to know so he could observe me.”
Rosa nodded.
“That was wrong.”
Maya looked surprised.
Her mother continued.
“People can do wrong things for understandable reasons.”
“Understanding isn't absolution.”
Maya stared.
“Whose side are you on?”
“Yours.”
“Which means not making decisions for you.”
That sounded annoyingly familiar.
Maya dried her hands.
“What if his life is too much?”
“Then say no.”
“What if he is not?”
“Then don't let pride answer because fear is embarrassed.”
Maya went to bed angry.
At her mother.
At Alex.
Mostly at herself.
Two days later, Lily Harper sent a letter.
Not directly.
It arrived through Maya’s delivery dispatcher because Lily had remembered the company name from Maya’s jacket and asked her grandmother for help mailing it.
Eleanor had written on the outside: