for this story, imagine Lucas and Maya's friendship to be something like...Elena and Tyler from The Vampire Diaries. They're decent friends, they have mutual friends, and Maya is Lucas's ex's best friend. Something like that. Or maybe like any girl from Pretty Little Liars with another girl's boyfriend.
Some people had said to Maya Hart over the past year that "money doesn't buy happiness". She neither agreed nor disagreed with that statement but she did have one thing to say: Having no money at all fucking sucked.
It was embarrassing at first. Hm. Never mind. It still is embarrassing and it always will be embarrassing. It was very much shameful to her and her family.
Maya Hart. Maya was the daughter of Katy Hart, a wealthy socialite in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York. They were one out of a good handful of socialite families with huge fortunes. They were famous for just having money.
But that was a year ago.
Things changed. Now, Maya had no idea where her mother was. She hadn't seen or talked to her since the day that they met with their lawyers to discuss what to do about their drained fortune. Katy had more than likely ran away with a rich boyfriend to the Maldives or the Canary Islands or somewhere like that.
Her father had been long dead since before she was born. She never knew him.
The Hart family owned one of the largest fortunes in New York City. It had millions and millions of dollars. Anybody would kill to get their hands on it. And somebody basically did. Well, they didn't necessarily kill anybody but their actions were sinful enough. Every penny was scammed and wiped out by the low bred Perry family from Uptown Manhattan. Maya never liked to discuss the Perry family.
Especially the oldest Perry child. Kaz. He was the devil out of them all. She still couldn't believe that she was once with him. It disgusted her to even think if how stupid she was to have fallen under his spell.
But she held her head up high and was supported by her fellow (or maybe not "fellow" anymore) wealthy friends. Riley Matthews, Farkle Minkus, and Zay Babineaux were heirs to large family fortunes, as well. That also went for Vanessa Weiss, Brandon Montgomery, Charlie Gardner, Missy Bradford, and Billy Ross.
Vanessa and Zay were engaged. Missy and Billy were also engaged. Brandon and Charlie were basically womanizers. Apparently, the number of zeroes behind a number in a trust fund made them believe that they could live their lives crazily and without a second thought.
They had all helped Maya out, one way or another, throughout the past year. It was Lucas Friar, though, who assisted her the most. Surprisingly. Maya was never all too certain as to why Lucas, out of all people, would be the one helping her the most but she kept her mouth shut.
She couldn't necessarily refer to him as a "friend". Maybe an acquaintance. They had both gone to the expensive, exclusive private school, Collegiate School, along with the others. They were classmates. They talked occasionally, but it wasn't like Maya would pour her heart out to him about her sad feelings or anything like that. They talked more when Riley had dated him. Even though they really weren't " best friends", they both had a special place in each other's lives.
He paid for her apartment in the Upper East Side. Sure, it wasn't the glorious penthouse she once lived in but it was still a place to live. He footed the bill for all her meals and extravagant shopping trips with Riley, Missy, and Vanessa.
He was her main source of income, aside from some modeling gigs every now and then that paid hefty amounts of money. Maya was grateful for him of course. She didn't know how to thank him for his generosity.
Eventually, the possible "friends" sealed the deal by becoming friends with benefits. Occasionally, they had sex and maybe they would even talk or just hang out together. They would get drunk together and then get into bed, having no memories in the morning when they both woke up naked.
Riley didn't mind their indescribable relationship. She had been dating Farkle for about 6 years now, since the beginning of senior year of high school. Riley had been the one who broke up with Lucas, pretty much breaking his heart in the process. Riley had carried feelings for Farkle ever since before she dated Lucas and eventually, she let go of the latter and got together with the Minkus heir.
Lucas and Riley had an okay friendship. She didn't think their friendship was awkward but anybody with half of a brain could tell that Lucas was still a bit bitter around Riley. Now that one female was out of the picture, Maya was the closest thing he had to a female friend.
Although Lucas had all the money he could want, he was still a busy businessman for Friar Management. He had taken over his father's business after his parents died in a car accident years ago.
Maya would mostly see him at the late hours of the night. This was how it always worked.
One year of this life later, the stick had 2 vertical lines.
Pregnant.
She was pregnant. She was pregnant with Lucas Friar's child.
Maya walked into Lucas's grand office in his company's building down in the Financial District on a cool September morning. His secretary had called her up and she had just let her into the room.
Maya was going to tell him. Today. Right now. She was going to tell him how his baby was growing in her womb and she wasn't going to hold back anymore. She wouldn't add the details from her doctor's appointment this morning unless he asked about it.
Lucas looked up from his chrome desk and raised an eyebrow in curiosity. It wasn't normal for Maya to come visit him at work. If she needed anything, like cash, she would usually just call him on the phone. This was new.
Maya didn't say anything at first. She simply looked around the large office. Everything was decorated luxuriously and the office provided a 360-degree view of the beautiful Manhattan skyline.
Realizing how awkward the encounter was becoming, she turned her attention back to Lucas who looked sophisticated as ever in his space grey suit.
"Lucas," Maya said, immediately hating how stupid she sounds after the words come out, "I need to tell you something."
Lucas smired and slowly replied, enunciating his words properly, "So, then speak whatever it is to me. I'm all ears."
Maya took a deep breath. She was going to do this now. She didn't care how badly Lucas was most likely going to react.
She licked her lips and then took a deep breath. Finally, she said the two words, "I'm pregnant."
Maya wasn't sure how exactly Lucas was going to react. She assumed he would probably just dismiss her with a cold stare, without a care in the world. She thought that he would laugh at her and then make her leave.
Anything like that. She didn't expect Lucas to calmly smile at her and ask, "How far along are you now?" He sounded curious, which shocked Maya.
"My doctor said that I was about 3 weeks pregnant," Maya replied, quickly. She was wondering what was going to happen next. Maya could feel butterflies in her stomach and she was so nervous that she wondered if she should have just never came.
Lucas almost chuckled at the sound of her voice. She sounded so nervous and shy. These weren't usual traits of the Hart family, but hey, they had been through hell.
He stood up and adjusted his tie, before walking over to the blonde. He stopped right in front of her and asked her, "And you're positive it's mine?" A guy like him had to be careful. He made more money in a month than some people made in a year. He wanted confirmation that he had a real reason to keep Maya around.
Usual women would get offended at the question but Maya isn't. She knew that she had been living an extravagant lifestyle on Lucas's money. It wouldn't be out of the ordinary for someone to think the child she carried could be anybody's.
But she knew. She knew it was his child. Maya hadn't been with any man in over a month. Lucas had been the only one who had gotten into bed with her.
"It's yours," Maya replied, with a calm expression on her face, "There's no doubt about that." She almost wanted to laugh. It was so funny to just admit that she, Maya Hart, was having a baby with Lucas Friar.
Lucas looked down at Maya's stomach. He wasn't completely sure of how he feels about this. A baby definitely was not planned. Hell, he didn't even have a genuine relationship with Maya. It was already confusing and difficult enough.
Maya didn't know what to do or say now. She had said everything that she had planned to say. Maya was waiting for his response so that she could leave him back to his work while she did some much needed thinking.
After all, she had only found out last night and scheduled a doctor's appointment right away.
"Move in with me," was his response. It sounded so simple coming out of his mouth but the words sunk deep into Maya.
Lucas wanted her to move in with him. This was totally different from living in an apartment that he paid for you.
Maya was bewildered, "I... um... what?" This was not what she expected at all.
"Move in with me," Lucas repeated, "I'll have somebody move your things into my penthouse and we'll have to announce your pregnancy sooner or later. It'll have a better image if you live with me."
"Are you... are you sure about that?" Maya asked, with a stunned expression on her face. She wanted to throw in a sarcastic comment about how he would have to deal with her mood swings and cravings and morning sickness and everything but she kept quiet. She also knew that he was right about the announcement. A baby that was spontaneously throw in into the tabloids about the blonde heiress would do more harm than good.
Lucas nodded, "It's the responsible thing to do. We should do it at some event, but we can discuss that later." He shrugged and looked at her with a simple look on his face. His emerald green eyes are so beautiful that she tried hard not to get lost in them.
Maya cocked her head to the side lately, "So, is that all you have to say?"
Lucas started to walk back to his desk, "No, but it is all I have time for, right now. I have a meeting with Zay in 5 minutes."
"Okay," Maya nodded, as she started to walk back out the door.
She paused when she touched the doorknob. She turned back around and faced the father of her child, "You're completely okay with this right? You don't want me to... to have an abortion or anything, right?"
Even if he wanted an abortion, she wouldn't get one. Maya just wanted to know Lucas's genuine thoughts on the baby.
"Of course not," Lucas replied, shaking his head, "That's my baby inside of you. I want this baby." He sounded so serious that Maya didn't doubt his words at all.
"Okay," Maya said, swiftly, "I better get going, then." She was so ready to leave and just let her thoughts explode. Everything had changed now.
Lucas nodded affirmatively and watched as she shut the door behind her. For the first time in a long time, Lucas felt... excitement. He was going to be a father. He was going to father a child with the most beautiful woman in the Upper East Side. And most importantly, now he had a wonderful reason to claim his spot in Maya Hart's life.