Guess who's back? Back again...

I hope you had a wonderful weekend, L x

☽Ⓛ❈Ⓒ☾

I force myself to peel my eyes away from Maya's butt. The fact that she is oblivious to how much she is tempting me is even hotter. There's no tricks or ploys to get me to want her. She's just herself, genuine and sweet as sugar.

"There you go," she says triumphantly and steps back. "Have at it."

I kneel down in front of the sink and check if all of the plumbing is easily accessible.

"Okay, I'll remove the U-bend and clear it out. I'll be back in sec, gonna grab a bucket."

I collect everything I need and get to work. Maya sits at the table, typing away on her laptop as I clear out the gunk in the pipes. Once everything is done and I've fitted it all in place, I run the tap and the water goes down instantly.

"All sorted. Just needed clearing, that's all."

"Wow, thank you so much!"

"No problem. Right, I'll be off. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Joss."

I go out to my truck and get into the seat with a sigh. I push the key in the ignition and turn it. It splutters but nothing happens. I turn it back and then forward again, jiggling it to try and ignite the fuel.

It splutters and then goes silent. Not the noises you want to hear from an old truck.

"Fuck."

I might be a handyman, but I'm no mechanic. I can't simply lift up the hood and fix it. I need to call someone.

I pull out my phone and call my garage. My friend, Oz, owns it.

"I can come out and get you but it won't be till about seven I'm afraid, mate. I'm at my kid's birthday party and the other lad's away today. Will seven be alright? Can you get a cab?"

I grimace at the thought. Not out here, there's no cab companies. I glance at my watch. It's just gone half five.

I can last an hour and half with Maya, can't I?

"Yeah, seven's fine. Thanks, mate."

"No worries, see you shortly."

I hang up and slip my phone back in my pocket. I look up and spot Maya on the porch. Her hands are on her full hips and she has a concerned look on her face. I take a deep breath and get out of the truck.

"Everything alright?"

"Uh, no. My truck won't start. My mate is gonna come and have a look at it but he won't be here till seven."

"Oh, no. Well, that's not a problem. I'm about to start cooking dinner, I'll make some for you, too. Come on in."

I open my mouth to protest but then hesitate. I'm gonna be hungry in an hour and regret saying no, I know it.

"Um, okay. Thanks."

I follow her inside her house and I take off my shoes. I stand awkwardly in her kitchen whilst she starts grabbing things from the fridge.

"Do you want me to do anything?"

Maya lays all of the ingredients out on the counter and gestures towards a stool with her knife.

"Yes, sit there please and talk to me. I get bored doing the prep."

That's really not what I meant, but okay.

I take a seat on the stool and watch her chop all of the veg. This feels weird, sitting here whilst someone else does all of the work. I'm so used to making my own meals, I forgot what it's like having someone cook for you.

"You got the week off or something?" I ask her the question that's been bothering me since I saw her sunbathing outside.

"More like six weeks," she says with a grin. "I'm a food tech teacher so I've got the whole summer off."

"Wow, that's impressive. Must be nice to get all that time off, but I guess you've earned it after dealing with kids the rest of the year."

"Yeah, they can be a handful sometimes. I love teaching, though, it's the best."

I scrunch up my nose. "I couldn't do it. Kids are too whiny."

She laughs and shakes her head. "That's why I don't teach primary, only secondary. Most of classes are taking it as a GCSE or A-level, so they're between 14 and 19 and are a lot less whiny."

"Oh, that's alright then."

"What about you?" She enquires. "Have you always been a labourer?"

Immediately, I'm taken back to my accident. The noise of the explosion fills my ears despite the fact it is silent in the kitchen. My head throbs and my tongue fills too big for my mouth.

I shake my head and clear my throat. "I'm ex-army," I force the words out.

Stop being shit, Walker. Man up.

"Wow. That's impressive. What was your title?"

"I was Captain in the Armoured Corps."

"Captain? Jesus, that's even more impressive! Aren't they quite high up?"

"Just above a Lieutenant."

"Wow. Did you enjoy it?"

I chew on the question for a moment, wondering how to respond. For some reason, my mouth opens and the words just come fucking tumbling out. I start spilling shit and talking about stuff that I don't talk to fucking anyone about.

That's the thing about Maya, she's so easy to be around and to open up to. She makes me do without either of us realising.

"I loved it at first. It took me five years to move up from Officer to Captain. I got to travel fucking everywhere, and I mean everywhere. My passport had more stamps than pages. There were some shit times, sure, but it was good."

Maya gives me a sympathetic look and waits for me to go on. She knows that there is a 'but' coming.

"But, it was getting messier and messier. The place we were deployed to...fuck. It was front line, there was a lot of combat involved and a shitload of armoury and tanks. It was the kind of thing you see on movies. Really opened my fucking eyes."

I drag my hand down my face as I recount the worst time in my life to a near stranger, because in all truth, that's what Maya is. She's a woman I've known for a couple days and came over more times than I want to admit.

"There was this IED that went off, took out our truck...no one was killed but three of us were hurt. I was...critically injured. I was giving military discharge based on medical grounds and sent home."

"I'm so sorry, that must have been...unimaginable," Maya's voice is quiet and she's stopped chopping.

"It was a year ago now and a lot has changed since then...I've recovered."

Her eyes wander to my hair and I know she's looking at the scars that run through it. The IED went off next to the driver's side door. The window shattered and the shrapnel came flying in.

I was the driver.

Some lodged in my head, the other pieces sliced clean through. The hair follicles in the wound tracks have never recovered so I have thin bald patches where the scars are in my hair. The damage to my head is what fucked up my cock, which is ironic considering my lower body was the only place that was barely harmed by the explosion.

"I'm glad to hear it," Maya murmurs and goes back to chopping.

I change the subject. I don't want her pity.

With the conversation redirected, the heavy atmosphere lifts and we just...chat. It's so fucking easy with her. I wish it were like this with all women. I wish I felt this comfortable with all women, with anyone, to be honest. She makes me feel like we're old friends or at least like we've known each other for much longer than we have.

A couple times she says something and I think how much my sister would like her. I can see them being friends. I can see Bex pushing me to ask her out, I can practically hear her voice at the back of my head, urging me on.

Fuck this. I'm not asking her out whilst I'm still working for her. What if she says no and I still have to see her every day? Maybe when the job is finished I'll find the balls to ask her out.

It's no different when Maya serves up and we eat dinner together. It's nice to eat with someone again. Most nights I eat alone in my flat with no company but my fish. I would get a dog but it's not fair when I'm out all day.

Oz arrives exactly on time and makes his presence known by honking in the driveway. When I come out, he's up to his elbows in my engine. He has the problem fixed in twenty minutes. With the truck starting again, I thank him, pay him and send him on his way.

"Guess this is the end of our evening together, then," Maya says sweetly. "I enjoyed your company tonight, Joss. Thank you."

I nod awkwardly, feeling unfamiliar with all this pleasantness. "Thank you for cooking, that was great."

"No problem. See you tomorrow."

"See ya."

I get in the truck and watch her go back inside. I did it. I survived a whole evening with her. I only need to last another week.

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