Page 57 of Take Her On

“What’s that?” Maya asked.

“If she wouldn’t eat one with us, then she couldn’t be a good match for you.”

Her serious manner made Maya smile. She really meant it. “I guess that’s a good theory.”

Hannah snorted. “Maybe I should put that in my Tinder bio. ‘Must like Pot Noodles.’”

The three of them cackled, debating which flavour would attract the best suitor for Hannah. The artificial sky twinkled above them as they lay back and let the night pass them by.

* * *

After giving Hannah and Maddie a big squeeze, Maya left their apartment, feeling reflective. When her mum had offered to pick Maya up from Hannah and Maddie’s, she’d hesitated. The atmosphere between them hadn’t been great since Grandpa’s second stroke. Each of them were like passing ships in the night trying to avoid deathly icebergs, but Hannah encouraged her to lend an olive branch.

“You don’t need to make things harder for yourself than they already are,” she’d said.

I guess she has a point.

Yet as her mum’s white Audi approached, unease swirled in Maya’s belly.

“Hello, love,” she said, as Maya climbed into the passenger seat and shut the door. Her perfume hit her instantly, stinging her nose. Her mum checked something in the mirror—her make-up or potential road hazards, who knew?—and pulled out onto the road.

“Hey. Thanks for picking me up. How are you?”

“I’m not bad, thanks, love. It’s been a long day.”

When the return question never came, Maya’s skin prickled. I’m doing fine, Mum. Thanks for asking. Her barriers were held together with sticky tape after the earlier incident with Carly. Normally, fading into the background suited Maya fine.

She exhaled, determined not to let it bother her. “How was work?” she asked.

“Fine. Fine. Although Hunter did mention a potential client in Miami. Imagine! Miami.” Her mum’s expression took on a dreamy quality as she waited at the roundabout.

Maya wondered if that would be soon. It was strange, really. For so much of her younger life, she’d wanted her mum to be at home. Now she’d got used to her being away, she found herself craving the opposite. Did that make her a bad person?

“Of course,” she continued. “It depends on what happens with…”

With Grandpa? That struck a nerve. How could she be so blasé about it?

“What, so when he dies, you’ll go to Miami, you mean?”

Her mum snapped her head to scowl at her, but Maya continued looking straight ahead at the road.

“God, Maya, that’s not what I said.” The car indicator filled the silence. She waited until she’d turned right before clicking off. “Family comes first.”

Maya resisted the urge to scoff. Actions speak louder than words. She really didn’t want to fight or argue, though, so she bit her tongue. Her mum had offered to pick her up without her asking—which was nice of her. The trains at this time were dubbed “the creepy train” on campus, and could also be very unreliable at night, so she chose to let her mum’s words go.

“Did you have a nice time tonight?” her mum asked.

“Yeah, thanks.” Which wasn’t a lie either. After the Carly encounter, the three of them had stayed in Maddie’s room laughing until their bellies ached. She’d almost forgotten about the entire thing. “It’s always good to see them.”

“Good. And what about Maddie’s…partner. Is…are they still…?”

When she fidgeted awkwardly, Maya jumped in. “Trans. Yes. You can say it, Mum. It’s not a dirty word.”

“Maya! I never said anything—”

“And his pronouns are he/him. Don’t overthink it.”

Another awkward silence filled the car. It seemed they couldn’t go two minutes without finding something to squabble over. Maya wished she’d taken the train.