AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER 33
That week, Maya persevered with the online dating site and now she had a date with MrPisces123, real name Craig. He was single with no children, which worried her slightly, but she wasn’t looking for a marriage proposal, just a date. He lived over forty minutes away in Gloucester. He seemed a normal enough guy and his profile picture was attractive. Possibly a little too-good-to-be-true attractive, when she considered the quality of the other men who had messaged her. Craig was a similar age to Maya, with dark hair and the designer stubble look. She’d kept to her rules — sort of — chatting on the site, then moving it to text messages. Quickly into the texting, he suggested meeting up on her birthday, although she hadn’t disclosed this piece of information. Fed up with twiddling her thumbs, she accepted the date.
Maya met Emma for lunch to celebrate her birthday, and she gave her approval.
“He looks nice. Tell me how it goes, okay?” Emma said, nodding at the screenshot of Craig’s profile while Maya opened her birthday present. They’d met at Cabot Circus shopping centre in Bristol and were sitting in their favourite Italian restaurant after browsing the shops. Emma had bought Maya some pretty costume jewellery, which she would wear on her date.
The Golden Lion was the agreed venue for a drink tonight — at this rate, Maya would get a name for herself, but she wasn’t sure of the reputation of any other pubs. She knew it wasn’t full of cliquey locals and if the weather remained pleasant, they’d be able to sit outside and watch the yachts sailing past. It being half-term, and warm, there would probably be plenty of boats out.
Maya was standing in front of her wardrobe with a towel wrapped around her, choosing her outfit for the evening when her phone pinged to notify her she had a message on Find My HEA — she’d changed the sound to distinguish it from her other notifications. She smiled at her phone. It was PeterPan26: Hey, sorry, I haven’t been ignoring you. I’ve been away with work and not been able to get online. How are things with you?
She thumbed a reply: Kids have gone away with their dad, so it’s been quiet. I decided to give the dating malarkey a bash again and actually have a date tonight! We’re only meeting at my local pub for a drink.
I hope it goes well, he replied. Message me later if you like.
Sam stared at his phone, disheartened. A dull ache formed around his heart and nausea rose in his stomach as he read Maya’s message. She was dating again. He’d thought he should give her some time after her relationship had ended with thatguy. Then, out of the blue, an urgent job had picked up at work, which had meant working all hours, then flying out to Toulouse for more meetings. He’d been stuck in France for over a week. Heather had looked after Chloe for him. He’d been pretty much out of contact with everyone. He hadn’t been able to access the online dating site, and then he hadn’t been sure about texting Maya directly, without the pretext of making a date for Chloe and Amber. And now here he was reading she was meeting another man!
He’d told himself to bide his time, but now he was losing patience and was worried he’d lose out completely. Since Jade, he’d never felt so certain about someone, and the past weeks had only made him more so. These days, if Chloe wasn’t at the forefront of his mind, Maya was.
Youshouldhavejustaskedherout!
Betherhino…
It had occurred to Sam that Maya might not be attracted to him. Well, he would deal with that scenario if it was the case, and move on. But he couldn’t ignore the nagging instinct that Maya would make him happy.
And, given the chance, he would do everything in his power to make her happy, too.
He wanted to text her right now, to tell her everything, share his feelings for her. But it would be best to do face to face.
Bepatient.
Dressed for her date, Emma’s jewellery sparkling, Maya arrived at The Golden Lion before Craig. As the evening was mild, she bought a glass of white wine and returned to the beer garden. She found a central picnic table, enabling her to spot her date but also giving her a good view of the sea. She sent him a text to say where she was sitting. He hadn’t replied yet.
While she waited, she scrolled through Facebook and Twitter, and checked her phone for messages. After fifteen minutes, and drinking her wine very slowly, she turned her mobile on and off, fearing messages weren’t getting through. But the network was good; she had four bars and 4G. Still no message from Craig.
How long should she wait? What if he wasn’t going to show up?
She perused the messages between them. They’d definitely agreed to meet here at eight. She sipped her wine, wishing she’d opted for the large now. He was coming from Gloucester. He could be stuck in traffic. And if he was driving, he’d be unable to message her.
Her phoned beeped. It was Craig: Sorry to be a pain, still at my folks’. Can we postpone?
Anger boiled inside Maya. She blew out her breath to calm herself. Really? I’m already at the pub.
Yeah, sorry, stuck at my parents’, unable to get away, he replied. Didn’t realise Dad’s had a new pacemaker fitted, and Mum’s been explaining it all to me in great detail.
If he was telling the truth, and this was a legitimate reason, Maya felt she couldn’t tell him off. How unreasonable would she look? Then again, he could be just making excuses. Extreme excuses. How could he not know his dad had had a pacemaker fitted? And surely he must have been aware of the time? No problem, she typed. Would have been nice to get this message half an hour ago, though. She inserted the eye roll emoji. Her favourite.
I’m sorry. Don’t make me feel worse. I’ll make it up to you, he replied. Are you free tomorrow?
No, sorry, I’m working, Maya wrote. To check her theory, and to see if Craig was sincere, her fingers trembled as she navigated through the Find My HEA app.
“The bastard!” she said aloud.
Craig was online.
She blocked him instantly. She didn’t want to hear any more pathetic excuses. He’d probably got a better offer closer to home — maybe guaranteed sex on a first date — who knew? But he was obviously a player.
Her woman’s intuition had known it — too good to be true. Overwhelmed with rage, she messaged PeterPan26: Cannot believe it. I’ve been stood up. On my birthday too! He’s sent some sorry excuse, but I can see the bastard is online on this site! I am so angry right now. Why do I have no luck? Do I go home or order another glass of wine?
