It had been only two days since Maya's 18th birthday, and her birthday money was already burning a hole in her pocket. Itching to spend it, Maya hit the streets of New York's shopping district.
She checked out a few vintage clothing stores and a couple music shops, then took a break to grab a smoothie. As she walked down the street, slurping up the 'Very Berry' goodness, she glanced through some more windows.
One store in particular caused Maya to slow to a stop. It was a jewelry store. She loved to spoil herself with some bling every now and then, so she couldn't resist taking a closer look. As she peered through the window, deciding whether she wanted a pair of shooting star earrings in silver or gold, something else caught her attention, causing her to drop her smoothie on the street, splattering purple liquid everywhere. Her father.
He was older, his hair was a bit shorter, and he no longer had a mustache, but it was definitely Kermit Hart AKA runaway dad. The dad she hadn't seen since middle school when he tried to reconnect, but she turned him down. That day was one of the worst days of her life right after the day he actually left, and today was quickly heading in a similar direction.
Her heart raced as she watched Kermit intently as he smiled down at the little girl next to him. The girl was about 8 or 9 years old, had long blonde curls, and Kermit's piercing blue eyes... the same eyes Maya had. The girl beamed at Kermit, admiring the silver locket he had just clasped around her neck, mouthed something like "Thanks, daddy!", and jumped into his arms. As they hugged, Maya felt a wetness on her cheek and started to hyperventilate. When he went to place a kiss on her forehead, Maya couldn't take it anymore and turned away, running down the street the way she came. If she had had bags she would have dropped them in her mad dash, but luckily nothing caught her interest until the earrings, so she used her free arms to her advantage and used them to wipe away her tears and move faster down the sidewalk.
Maya managed to weave her way through the people pretty well, until her tears blurred her vision too much causing her to smack right into someone. As she wiped her eyes for the umpteenth time, she felt a pair of strong arms, wrapped around her, holding her in place.
"Sorry." She said with a sniffle, then tried to move, but the person wouldn't let her.
"Maya?" Said a familiar voice before she felt the arms around her extend and push her back a step as if the person was trying to get a better look at her. "Maya what's wrong?"
Finally looking up and meeting the eyes of the person in front of her, she saw the boy of her girlish, childhood dreams and close personal friend: Joshua Matthews.
"Josh, I- I'm so sorry." She apologized, quickly smoothing out the front of his leather jacket.
"It's fine. I'm more concerned about you. What happened?" He asked again.
"Josh? You coming, bro?" a deep, masculine voice called out.
Following the voice, Maya saw Josh's college pal, Andrew, and another guy she'd never seen before crossing the threshold of a nearby comic book store.
"You two go on ahead, I'll meet up with you guys later." Josh said with a nod then returned his attention to the blonde in front of him.
"Look, Josh, it's nothing, really. You should go with your friends." Maya told him.
"They'll be fine. Like I said, I'm more concerned about you." He reiterated his former statement, taking in her puffy, red eyes and sad expression. Clearly something was wrong and Josh wasn't just going to leave her like this. He was more mature than that. Plus, she was a friend.
Maya tried to smile, but it only cause more tears to trickle out the corners of her eyes, which cause her to relapse into a full out sob. In response, Josh pulled her back into his chest and rewrapped his arms tightly around her. As she soaked his grey tee shirt that peeked out from his jacket in tears, Josh rubbed soothing circles on her back, silently encouraging her to let it all out.
Once Maya's tears and breathing slowed a bit, Josh led her across the street to a 50s themed diner and got them a booth in the back corner for privacy. Sitting next to each other, Maya attempted to fix her smudged eye make-up while Josh ordered some drinks. It wasn't until the hot chocolates were sat in front of them, that they actually spoke.
"So... you wanna talk about it?" Josh asked.
Maya was silent for a long moment as she stirred her hot chocolate around in her mug, then finally she said, "I saw my father."
"Oh." Josh said, not knowing what else to say. He knew that her father had left when she was young and that things were complicated where he was involved, but he didn't know any of the details. Therefore, he figured it best to remain silent and let her elaborate.
"He didn't see me." She went on. "But I sure saw him... with his new daughter." She finished, keeping her eyes focused on the warm drink in her hands.
"Are you sure-" Josh began, but Maya cut him off.
"Yeah, it was definitely his daughter. She had his eyes. My eyes." Maya confirmed.
"Wow. That couldn't have been easy for you to see." He surmised.
"What hurt most about the whole thing was that he was actually being a good father. He bought her a necklace, hugged her, kissed her... and I just... I lost it." She explained, then met his eyes with her own tear-filled ones and asked, "Why couldn't he be that father for me? Why wasn't I good enough?" A tear came loose and streaked down the side of her face as she added, "What's wrong with me, Josh?"
Sliding closer, Josh took Maya's face in his hands and wiped away the tears with his thumbs. As he did so, he looked deeply into her eyes and said, "Listen to me. There is nothing wrong with you. Nothing. Okay? It wasn't you that wasn't good enough for him, it was him that wasn't good enough for you. He couldn't handle the responsibility of being a father and husband, so he left. But that's on him, not you, Maya. You can't blame yourself."
She nodded her understanding and he dropped his hands, moving them around her once more for another hug. After a long moment, he pulled back and rested his hands on her upper arms.
"Thank you, Josh. You really are a great guy." She half smiled, still clinging on to his leather jacket clad forearms.
"And you're an amazing girl, Maya. I don't know how anyone could ever want to leave you." He said sweetly, offering a small smile of his own.
"Yeah, well, I guess I just have that effect on older men. They tend to distance themselves from me." Maya said somewhat pointedly, the comment clearly not just referring to her father, but to Josh too.
"Not anymore." He whispered huskily, then leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was short, but also slow and full of promise.
Josh new this probably wasn't the best moment for their first kiss, but he just couldn't help himself. He had to show her just how important and worthwhile she was, despite what her father's actions might have insinuated.
"Wow." Maya said pulling away to look into his eyes. "That was-"
"Just the beginning." Josh finished.
"Of what exactly?" She queried, arching one of her thin blonde brows.
"Of us... an official us." He clarified. "If you still want that."
Hecks yeah she wanted that, but she didn't want to answer until she was sure it was what Josh really wanted too, and that he wasn't just saying and doing these things to be nice and make her feel better.
"Wait... do you really mean that? I mean, you aren't going to wake up tomorrow and realize that this moment was a mistake and try to take it back, are you?" Maya asked seriously.
Josh answered quickly, wanting to set her straight and put her mind at ease. "Look, Maya, this moment may not have been planned or expected, but it wasn't a mistake. I promise you that. You could never be a mistake, and that kiss... that definitely wasn't a mistake, it was-"
"The beginning" Maya finished with a sweet smile and a hopeful twinkle in her eye.
Josh's boyish grin appeared at her words and he retorted, "Exactly."
Maya's smile grew, then she released Josh, raised her mug and said, "to beginnings."
Josh mimicked her movements and replied, "To beginnings." then clinked his mug against hers.
She took a sip of the warm, brown liquid to seal the deal, then nuzzled into Josh's side and placed her head on his shoulder. His arm came up and around her back in response, welcoming her closeness as he took a sip of his own.
And just like that, they began to be them and began their beginning... sipping on hot chocolate in the middle of a 50s diner in the middle of shopping district in the middle of one of the worst days of Maya's life that she would from now on also consider to be one of the best. Yes, it was definitely the best worst day of Maya's life.