(New York, New York) If you asked Maya to share a strange but true fact about her life, she'd probably tell you that her best friend of nearly two decades is also named Maya. But if you pressed harder—if you asked about her biggest secret—she might admit that her feelings for her best friend go far beyond friendship.
The Mayas (distinguished as Maya S. and Maya T.) have been friends since Kindergarten. The two instantly became friends when they learned that they had the same first names. But in addition, they also shared the same interests and developed new interests together. Some of their interests as children and as adults including romance movies, K-pop, and video games. It also helped that they both grew up on the same street in Scranton, Pennsylvania together, so they were pretty much never separated.
That was until college, as the two girls, while they stayed in touch every day, would end up going to different colleges for different reasons. Maya S., the shorter, skinnier, shy, and introverted one with long brown hair, was academically gifted, even going as far as being the valedictorian of their graduating class. Because of her academic accomplishments, Maya S. managed to get into Columbia University on a full-ride scholarship, where she studied finance and managed to land an investment banking position at Goldman Sachs a few months before graduating. On the other hand, Maya T., the taller, muscular, outgoing, and extroverted one with shorter black hair, was very athletic, even landing a full-ride athletic scholarship to Penn State to play on their women's basketball team. There, she studied marketing and managed to land an advertising specialist position a few blocks from where Maya S. works. Therefore, the two friends immediately decided to split a two bedroom apartment in Manhattan together, as they've always wanted to live together and be closer after being so far apart in college.
"Oh my god, I'm so tired," Maya S. said as she stretched her arms across the couch.
"Me too," said Maya T. as Maya S. lowered her left arm onto her left shoulder.
"I didn't think we'd have so much shit," said Maya S.
"Same," replied Maya. T. as she leaned her head gently against her friend's arm, "moving in and out of the dorms was never this exhausting. The heaviest thing I had to move was a TV, and here we had to move a couple of desks."
"Thank god that was the worst part," Maya S. said, letting her left arm drape lazily over Maya T.'s hip, "I'm sure glad the beds, couch, and counters we bought at IKEA were already moved and assembled by the time we arrived."
"I'm so glad maintenance here sets that stuff up for us and doesn't even charge anything for it," replied Maya T., "would have been annoying trying to put everything together. All we got to take care of is the absolute fuckton of boxes everywhere."
The girls then began looking at the pile of boxes they laid in front of the glass wall.
"I'm so ready for those boxes to be unpacked," Maya S. said, "I absolutely fell in love with the view from that window when we arrived here. The fact that we can see the Hudson River, the Statue of Liberty, and New Jersey from here is fucking wild."
"I know right?" Maya T. replied, "We get great views of the area and of each other."
Maya S. was taken aback by her comment.
That wasn't just friendly, was it?
She thought as Maya T.'s comment replayed over and over in her head. While the two had been friends for nearly two decades and would often make extremely out of pocket statements to each other, neither of them had ever flirted with each other before or shown any romantic interest in each other.
"You're right," Maya S. responded as her hand moved up Maya T's spine and eventually her hair, "the view is cool, but being with you is so much better."
At this point, both Maya's were blushing intensely, hearts pounding, and clearly nervous. Silence dominated the room has the two girls began realizing what the other had said.
Eventually, Maya T. broke the silence. "God I'm so tired. I want to go to sleep, but I'm so dirty right now and smell like utter shit and I don't want to dirty my bed."
"Same," Maya S. replied, "why not you go take a shower and clean yourself up? I'll probably do the same, so you can go first."
"I don't even think I can stand for too long," Maya T. groaned, rubbing the back of her neck, "I think I'll just sink into the tub and melt with some Epsom salt for a while."
"That works too," Maya S. said, "Don't drown."
Maya T. then got up and headed for the bathroom. On her way there, she stopped by her bedroom to grab some clean clothes, and then she made her way into the bathroom.
As the water began flowing down into the tub, Maya S. stayed on the couch, this time lying down as she thought about what just happened.
However, her time alone didn't last long, as Maya. T soon left the bathroom and was back in the living room.
"I think our shampoo and conditioners are still packed," she said.
"Check the bathroom box," Maya S. replied.
Maya T. made her way over to the pile of boxes. After roughly 15 seconds of searching, she found the box labelled "bathroom" and got it out.
"Your idea of labelling the boxes was genius," Maya T. said as she picked up a bottle of shampoo and a towel.
"I knew that would come in pretty useful," replied Maya S.
Maya T. then glanced at Maya S. with a romantic look as Maya S. began slightly to shut her eyes from exhaustion.
"Maya," Maya T. said, "how exhausted are you?"
"I'm so fucking tired," Maya S. responded.
"I bet," Maya T. added, "are you still planning to wash up before going to bed?"
"I am," Maya S. said.
"I've got an idea, and it's totally okay if you're not into it," Maya T. said, "in order to get both of us into bed sooner, would you like to join me in the bath?"
Maya S. blinked.
Did she just ask me to take a bath with her?
Her chest tightened, and a wave of warmth flooded her face
.
While the two Mayas were used to seeing each other naked, they've never done anything intimate like bathe together.
"D-Did you just ask me to take a bath with you?" Maya S. asked shyly.
"It's okay if you don't," Maya T. said defeated, "It's just a suggestion. Sorry if I made you nervous."
"No it's fine, y-you're not making me nervous," Maya S. replied. Her fingers fidgeted with the seam of the couch cushion. She then glanced up and smiled at Maya T. "I'll take you up on your offer."
