It was a cosy Saturday evening, and Maya had the day off from her job at the restaurant. She decided to go to Venus City early to hang out with her friend Natalia in the staff room before her shift started.
Maya leaned against her assigned locker, feeling anxious. She kept glancing at her phone, anxiety gripping her. Unfortunately, in the end, she couldn't turn down Dan. In thirty minutes, she has to meet him at a bar for drinks.
Natalia, who was also leaning against her locker and was reading a romance novel, looked up and said, "Seriously, Maya, you need to grow a bone. You can be too timid sometimes. Just tell Mr. Nice Guy to fuck off."
"I can't. He saved my ass when I messed up an order. I need to repay him for his kindness," Maya sighed heavily.
"He just wants to get into your pants," Natalia said cynically.
Maya was accustomed to Natalia's bluntness, but she was still taken aback. "Natalia!"
"Did I lie?" Natalia rolled her eyes.
"No, you didn't. That's the gospel, sis," Laura backed her up; she was sitting on the metal bench, painting her toenails.
Maya shot Laura a disapproving look. "Not you too, Laura. Dan is a nice guy. He did it out of kindness," Maya defended him.
"Nice guys can be the worst men you could ever meet if they reveal their true colours. Be careful of Dan," Laura advised.
"There you are," a voice said.
They all turned their eyes toward the source of the voice.
Soraya walked in majestically, a waitress trailing behind her with a dress on a hanger. She held her head high as she surveyed her surroundings, cringing in disgust.
Soraya ignored Natalia and Laura, pretending they didn't exist as she focused her attention on Maya. "Hey, bastard," she hurled at Maya. "One of Uncle's friends is hosting a party at his mansion. Uncle wants you to be there. He needs you for something." She emphasized on "he needs you for something," which made Maya's heart quiver.
What will that be? What does he need her for? These questions raced through Maya's mind, fueling her anxiety.
Soraya signalled to the waitress. She hands over the dress on the hanger to Maya.
Maya glanced at the dress and frowned. It was so revealing. What was her stepfather up to? Fear slithered within her.
"Don't be late," Soraya said, sizing Maya up with contempt before dashing out.
Laura let out an amused chuckle. "She is so full of herself. Isn't she a former beauty pageant queen? I've seen her in a lot of fashion magazines."
Maya nods. She took the dress off the hanger and carefully folded it into her bag before responding to Laura. "She is Soraya, my cousin… well, my step-cousin. She is my stepfather's niece."
Laura furrowed her brows. "Oh, I see."
Natalia clicked her tongue and said. "That girl is jealous of you, Maya."
Maya let out a laugh. "Jealous of me? Soraya is gorgeous and classy, and I'm just an average-looking girl." Maya's insecurities surfaced.
Natalia pulled a small mirror from her locker. She stood behind Maya and held the mirror up to Maya's face. "Look at your beautiful face," she said. "You have the kind of face celebrities spend thousands of dollars to replicate, but they fail because you are so unearthly beautiful."
Maya stared at her reflection in the mirror and smiled shyly. She looks pretty, but damn Natalia is just exaggerating.
"And you have a sexy body that I wish I had," Laura said, envy lacing her tone.
Maya shook her head. "Enough, girls. You're all so pretty too. Stop patronizing me." Her cheeks flushed red.
"I have to go; I'll see you guys tomorrow." Maya quickly dashed out of the room before they could say anything else to make her feel flustered.
"Aww, your shyness is adorable," Maya heard Laura say with a laugh as she walked away. Her face flushed once again.
••
Maya was dressed and ready to attend the party. The dress was more revealing than she initially thought.
The dress hugged her body like a second skin, accentuating her curves and enhancing her figure. The slit of the dress revealed a significant amount of the skin of her thigh. The neckline was cut so low that her cleavage was on display. She looks like a hooker.
Why did her stepfather make her dress like this for a party that would host the richest and most elite people in the city? What is he up to? Maya feared she needed to prepare for the worst.
Maya was walking past the living room on her way to the garage when suddenly someone touched her ass. She turned around and quickly slapped the culprit, who turned out to be one of Terrence's friends.
"Don't touch me!" Her eyes blazed with anger as she glared at the guy.
"How dare you hit my friend?" Terrence appeared out of nowhere and shoved Maya to the floor. The impact of her body hitting the hard floor made her yelp in pain. Thank God she wasn't wearing her heels or she would have gotten really hurt.
"He touched my butt!"
"So what? You're dressed provocatively, trying to seduce men just like Cecilia used to do when she was alive. You're just a whore as she was," he spat at her.
Cecelia is their mother's name. Terrence was seven years old when she died, and judging by the happy pictures of him hugging their late mother, which Maya found in the basement, she was a good mom to him. However, Maya has never heard him call her "Mom." Instead, he addresses her by her name with a great deal of resentment.
Maya jumped to her feet. "Don't call her that," she said defensively. "She is our mom." Even though Maya doesn't know the kind of woman her mother was, she feels she has a responsibility to defend her honour. Deep down, she believes that her mother must have a reason for cheating on her husband. After all, Frederick Hathaway is a terrible man.
Terrence abruptly hit Maya hard across the face , leaving her lips bruised.
"Don't tell me what to do! You should have die too! You should have followed your harlot of a mother to the grave!" he shouted, furiously hurling the hurtful words at her.
Painful tears welled up in Maya's eyes. She couldn't hide them. She let the tears flow as she cried silently in agony.
Terrence stormed off.
"If you change your mind and want me to touch your sexy body, call me," Terrence's friend said as he tossed a card at her and walked off in the direction Terrence had taken.
Maya ignored the card that had landed on the floor because she hadn't caught it. She stopped crying and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Her face gradually returned to a normal expression.
She walked into the garage. She didn't indulge in her sorrow for long. She has a party to attend.