Maya woke up at 10:47 a.m. to seventeen missed texts from Sienna and a churning stomach that had nothing to do with last night's wine.
Ethan was meeting Melissa at 11.
She should not be obsessing about this. She should be working, or painting, or doing literally anything except refreshing Instagram to see if either of them had posted anything.
She refreshed Instagram.
Nothing.
"You're pathetic," Maya told her reflection, but she didn't stop checking her phone.
At 11:32, her phone rang. Ethan.
Maya stared at it for three rings before answering. "Hey."
"Hey." His voice was strained. "Can I come over? We need to talk."
Every rom-com had taught Maya that "we need to talk" was the beginning of the end. "Is everything okay?"
"Just can I come over? Please?"
"Okay."
He arrived twenty minutes later, looking windswept and agitated. Maya let him in, her heart hammering.
"So," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. "What did Melissa want?"
Ethan paced her small living room like a caged animal. "The Thailand assignment got extended. Instead of six weeks, they want four months. They're expanding the scope not just the resort chain, but a whole travel documentary series for a streaming platform."
"That's… good? That's a huge opportunity."
"Yeah." He stopped pacing, looked at her. "But here's the thing. Melissa specifically requested me. She said she wants to work with someone she 'trusts and has chemistry with.'"
Maya's stomach dropped. "Chemistry."
"Her word, not mine." Ethan ran his hand through his hair. "She also suggested we use the assignment to 'reconnect.' Said she's been thinking about us a lot, about how we ended things too quickly."
"I see." Maya's voice was surprisingly calm despite the panic clawing up her throat.
"Maya, I'm not interested in reconnecting with her. I told her that."
"But you're considering the assignment."
"It's four months of guaranteed income. It's a streaming platform. It's the kind of opportunity that could change my entire career trajectory." He moved closer. "But it would mean leaving you. For four months. Right when we're just starting."
"So you're choosing the job." The words came out flat, resigned.
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to." Maya wrapped her arms around herself. "This is what I was afraid of. This exact scenario. You have your real life the travel, the career, the ex-girlfriend who wants you back. And I'm the complication. The new thing that's nice but not essential."
"That's not fair."
"Isn't it?" Maya's voice rose despite her efforts to stay calm. "We've known each other for two weeks, Ethan. Two weeks. Your ex is offering you four months of your dream job and a second chance at a relationship you already built once. Of course you're going to choose that."
"I'm not choosing anything yet. I came here to talk to you about it. To figure it out together."
"There's nothing to figure out." Maya felt her walls slamming back into place, protective and suffocating. "You should take the job. It's an amazing opportunity. We both knew this was temporary anyway."
"Stop." Ethan caught her hands. "Stop doing that. Stop planning the ending instead of fighting for this."
"Why would I fight for something that's already over?"
"Because it's not over! Because I'm standing here telling you I don't want to go!" His voice cracked. "Because I'm falling in love with you, Maya, and I don't know what the hell to do about it."
The words hung in the air between them, raw and terrifying.
Maya's eyes burned with tears. "Don't."
"Don't what? Tell you the truth?"
"Don't make this harder than it has to be." She pulled her hands away. "You should go to Thailand. You should take the job. You should probably give Melissa another chance because at least she understands your life. I'm just I'm the mistake you almost made before you came to your senses."
"You're not a mistake." Ethan's voice was desperate. "You're the first thing that's felt right in twelve years. You're the reason I'm questioning everything I thought I knew about myself."
"Exactly. I'm the disruption. The chaos. The thing that doesn't fit." Maya's tears spilled over. "You have a whole life, Ethan. A career you love. Friends. Opportunities. You can't throw that away for someone you've known for two weeks."
"Watch me."
"I don't want you to!" The words burst out of her, loud and anguished. "Don't you see? If you stay for me, you'll resent me. You'll look at every missed opportunity and blame me. And then you'll leave anyway, and it'll hurt worse because I'll have let myself believe"
"Believe what?"
"That someone could choose me over everything else. That I could be enough." Her voice broke completely. "But I'm not enough. My mom died and left me. My dad loves me but he's too broken by grief to really see me. Everyone leaves. Everyone always leaves."
Ethan pulled her into his arms and she let him, sobbing against his chest while he held her tight.
"I'm not leaving," he whispered into her hair. "I'm right here."
"For now. But you will. Eventually, you'll realize this isn't what you want. That I'm not what you want."
"Maya"
"You should go." She pulled away, wiping her eyes. "Think about the Thailand offer. Really think about it. And be honest with yourself about whether staying is what you actually want or just what you think you should want."
"I know what I want."
"Ask me again in a week," Maya said, throwing his own words back at him. "When you've had time to really consider what you'd be giving up."
Ethan looked like she'd punched him. "You're pushing me away."
"I'm giving you space to make the right choice."
"The right choice is you."
"Is it?" Maya's voice was hollow. "Or is that just the dopamine talking? The newness and the chemistry and the way everything feels intense because it's fast?"
"It's intense because it's real."
"Then it'll still be real in a week. Or a month. Or after you come back from Thailand." She moved toward the door, opening it. "Go think about it. Really think. I'll be here or I won't. But at least you'll have made the choice with your eyes open."
Ethan stood there for a long moment, and Maya saw the exact moment he gave up trying to fight her walls. His shoulders sagged, his expression shifting from desperate to resigned.
"Okay," he said quietly. "I'll think about it. But Maya? You're doing the thing your therapist warned you about. You're creating the ending you're afraid of."
"Maybe. Or maybe I'm just being realistic."
He kissed her forehead gentle and heartbreaking and left.
Maya closed the door and slid down it, finally letting herself completely fall apart.