This is the eighth chapter of Maya's story, and for those of you who have been with Maya and Erik all the way, I thank you very much.
The last chapter revealed to Maya exactly what her husband was, and when Erik left the motel room, he wasn't really sure what would happen next.
....
The store was closed the next day, as was the policy for Sunday throughout all the company's franchises, and while I would have rather been open, I suppose that I secretly welcomed the day off as sort of a forced break. Seldom did I bother going to the place on Sunday, but for some reason I did on the day after my motel experience with Maya and her husband.
To my shock, Maya was sitting on a bench just down the block, when I pulled into the parking area. She was dressed in her company shirt and next to her on the bench was the little gym bag she carried her lunch in everyday. Maya didn't see me pull in, and when I walked up to the bench, she hadn't noticed me approaching, and she jumped when I spoke.
"You're very early for work, even for you," I said with a smile. "About 24 hours early."
"I'm sorry," Maya said, sitting up straight on the bench. "I couldn't..."
"Look, why don't we get a cup of coffee," I suggested. "You must be freezing in just that shirt."
The way the dense black hairs on her forearms stood up straight gave away the fact that she was freezing in the cool morning air, and she nodded, getting up very gingerly.
The coffee shop down on the corner was the only option for us, so I started walking that way. Maya followed, and the way that she was walking -bow-legged and with some discomfort, reminded me of the night before, as if I needed to be reminded, but I slowed my gait to let her catch up.
"You seem a little sore," I noted, and was happy when that elicited a little smile from Maya.
"Very sore," she responded as we entered the coffee shop.
I ordered a coffee and a danish, and looked at Maya to see what she wanted.
"May I have a tea?" she asked meekly, and as she spoke, I heard her stomach growl.
"Why don't you get something to eat?" I suggested.
"I don't have..." Maya started to say, and I cut her off and ordered a breakfast for her.
"My treat," I said after the waitress left. "I know you don't have money."
"Tanish told me at first that you took the money from him, and you made him do - what I saw him do to you," Maya said sadly.
"I take it that you know better than that."
"I know you do not like Tanish, but I also knew that you would never do something like that," Maya said. "I told him I knew he was lying and I told him so. He then admitted that he paid for the room in the motel so that he could watch us. He also said that he gave you the rest of the money for - you know."
"He bought the champagne too," I added, as the beverages arrived.
"I told him that I had lost all respect for him, and no longer wanted anything to do with him. I took a shower and when I came back out, he was gone."
"So you stayed in the motel last night instead of going home?"
"No, I could not stay in the room. I walked back into town and sat on that bench, where you found me just now."
"All that way?" I asked, and the thought of Maya hobbling all that way with her orifices in the shape they must be in, saddened me.
"I wish you could have stayed there, or called me somehow," I said even though she had no way to do so.
"I had no money - and I didn't even know if I still had a job."
"Why wouldn't you have a job?" I asked. "You've been a wonderful employee so far."
"I thought that perhaps once you had your way with me, I would no longer interest you."
"Quite the contrary," I responded. "I find you very exciting. As for having no money..."
I reached into my pocket and took out Maya's pay envelope, which had the exact amount of money in it that it had when I first gave it to Maya the evening before. I had added the money Tanish had taken out for the room and champagne to the money he had given me for - something else.
"I - I cannot take this," Maya said as she looked inside the envelope. "It would make me feel like a - whore."
"You were a whore last night," I said gruffly. "You're done with Tanish now?"
"Yes. Forever."
"Then you're not a whore any more. You're a single woman with a job and without that albatross of a supposed husband hanging around your neck dragging you down."
"I am happy that I still have a job," Maya said, digging into the pancakes with gusto. "I was wondering if I could ask you a favor, perhaps."
"You can ask," I said. "No harm in asking anything."
"I was wondering if perhaps I could stay in the back room of the store for a while - just until I can save enough money to find a place to live."
"No," I said coldly, watching Maya's grim smile disappear. "It's against company policy."
I neglected to add that I made company policy in my store, and I had just made that rule up a second ago. The fact that she asked a question like that was encouraging to me, because it meant that she was serious about dumping Tanish.
"I understand," Maya said.
"Probably not," I replied. "I'm guessing that you don't have any clothes that aren't on your back."
Maya nodded, adding that the clothes that she did have weren't very good, and were mostly hand-me-downs from her mother-in-law.
"I had noticed. After you finish eating, we'll take care of that."
We went to the mall, where I helped Maya pick out some clothes.
"Pick out a half-dozen blouses - nothing with long sleeves," I instructed her. "Short sleeves or sleeveless only. I always want to see your arms."
Those furry limbs had fascinated me from the first moment I had laid eyes on them, and if I was going to outfit Maya, it was going to be in things I liked.
She picked out a couple of pairs of jeans, and at my insistence tried on a pair of shorts. When she emerged from the dressing room, she was clearly embarrassed to have people seeing her hairy legs, but the sight aroused me quite a bit, so I kept the shopping trip going.
"My lady friend needs some bras," I explained to the woman in the intimate apparel department. "The ones she has don't fit her right at all."
