Hello again everyone! Things are starting to ramp up a bit now, so let's do a little bit of foreshadowing this chapter. Enjoy!
Also, a quick side note: Someone asked me who my favourite ANB and SOS bachelors are in a review and I can't reply for some reason? So, if you see this, the answers are Neil, Klaus, and Raeger!
Chapter Twenty-Three: Plan B
Lisette was having a worrisome day.
Nothing was wrong with the shop, of course. Business was booming now that summer was soon beginning to wind down, and everything was in full bloom. Not to mention, the annual Flower Fair was coming up at the end of the season, and Lisette always saw a boost in sales around that time.
It wasn't even her love life, which was going… surprisingly well, actually. Wayne had finally- finally- confessed to her, and he happily turned out to be a model boyfriend. He brought her lunch at work, walked her home at night, and wished her 'good morning' and 'good night' every single day. Brad had started to tease him about his sudden burst of affection, but not even that seemed to bother Wayne.
No, on the surface, Lisette's life was on a definite high. So, what was on her mind?
Maya.
Her best friend was having a difficult time as of late, and it made her frown just thinking about it. According to all reports, things on the farm were coming along nicely and Maya seemed to be quite happy most days, but Lisette knew there was more to the story. She just hadn't figured out what.
The envelopes were her biggest clue. Ever since Frank had delivered that first one while she was there, Lisette started taking notice of them. There was always at least one on Maya's table whenever she was visiting, usually two or three. They were unmarked, except for a stamped return address on the back. Lisette couldn't make any sense of the stamp, so she stopped trying to investigate through that avenue.
She'd even asked Wayne to offer some insight, which she was mildly ashamed of. Wayne's job as a postal worker prohibited him from discussing people's mail with anyone but the customer themselves, but Lisette was just so worried. She brought it up to him over dinner one evening at her shop, and Wayne admitted he was a little bothered too. The letters never came from him, but Maya always mailed them back through the regular post. Each and every one. Wayne would never open them to see what was inside, but more than once he suspected it was cash.
That bothered Lisette. A lot.
Maya was struggling with her money; she'd told Lisette that herself one time at the Grill. More than once, Maya had had to go without in favor of making her bill payments on time. Without what, Lisette tried not to think about. Already Maya was ordering less and less on their brunch dates, and Lisette was increasingly suspicious of her regular food intake. She tried to offer some help, inviting her over for dinners, offering her leftovers, whatever she could manage without being too obvious. Maya usually accepted, which had the dual effect of making Lisette feel better and confirming that things were probably harder than she was letting on.
The strangest part about the whole thing was that Maya was good with managing money. Lisette had seen brief glimpses of her budgeting notebook, so she was fairly confident in that. She didn't gamble, she didn't have any expensive hobbies, and she wasn't a shopper. There was no discernable reason that she should be having so much trouble.
If she was mailing cash away to someone, it would explain a lot. The question then was who and why.
Lisette had gone over the reasons a million times, and couldn't settle on anything that made sense. Her father was a successful man, from what she could tell, so it would be odd for her to be sending money home to help out her family. Maya could have some leftover debt from living in the city, but mailing envelopes of cash was a strange way to pay off a debt.
Perhaps the worst of it all though was that Maya wouldn't admit to any of this, not to Lisette anyway. Not to anyone, except maybe Ludus, but Lisette didn't want to risk asking him and making Maya feel like she was prying.
That was another thing Lisette worried about. Maya and Ludus. The two were so obviously in love, but neither would do anything about it. Lisette felt like she would worry a lot less if Maya had someone in her life to help support her, if not financially then at least emotionally. Ludus would be that person.
The handyman was head over heels for the farmer. Lisette had known Ludus for a long time, and he truly was a wonderful person. He cared about Maya so much, Lisette knew he would never let anything happen to her. But then there was the small matter of actually convincing the two of them to date.
She'd tried, of course. Lisette spent time pushing both Ludus and Maya to make a move, but hadn't had much luck. Her little conspiratorial date with Wayne hadn't yielded anything either; everything they came up with was either too meddlesome, too simple, completely impossible, or crossing a line. She also found out that Wayne had exaggerated a bit when he'd said he helped Brad and Carrie get together, but that was beside the point. Wayne was sweet, but he was no matchmaker.
No, Lisette needed help from someone else. Someone with better resources than she had. Someone who didn't mind getting their hands just a little bit dirty, but knew when to back off.
She was at the Garden Grill when she found just the person she needed.
"Good Morning Tototara, Caolila," Lisette smiled politely, holding the restaurant door for the two women. "What brings you over our way today?"
"Carrie mentioned that Brad was working on a new seasoning," Tototara hummed, shuffling through the front door quickly so that Lisette could drop her arm. Caolila held her elbow, helping her navigate the building. "I was hoping I could pick some up to put on my fish later."
"And I'm always looking for new ideas," Caolila added, brushing her braid back over her shoulder. Lisette loved Caolila's thick, black hair; it suited her perfectly. "Healthy competition breeds better product, as you know."
"I'm still hoping someone will open another flower shop," Lisette winked. She folded her hands in front of her, rocking back on her heels and directing her attention to Tototara. "Did Ludus go fishing for you today?"
The older woman snorted, shaking her head.
"This is from last week's haul," she chuckled hoarsely, "I've still got some leftover in the freezer. Good thing, too. I can barely tear that boy away from Maya's farm long enough to sleep, let alone help out with chores."
Lisette and Caolila giggled, knowing exactly how true that was.
"They're so cute, aren't they?" she mused, sighing. "I wish they'd get together officially already."
"You and me both." Tototara rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm not getting any younger. I'd like to go to at least one of my grandbabies' weddings. I've been trying to get Ludus to man up for weeks, but it's like talking to a rock wall."
"We can always go with my suggestion and lock them in a closet for a few hours," Caolila smirked, "worked for me and Zahau."
"I thought you two met at a Korean food fair?" Lisette tilted her head in confusion.
"That's just the official story."
"Don't listen to a word out of her mouth, Lisette," Tototara rolled her eyes, "she tells more tall tales than I do."
"Now that's impressive."
They chuckled good-naturedly as Lisette led them over to the kitchen, where Brad was in the back prepping for the next rush. Lisette hadn't been planning to stick around after her meal, but it had been a long time since she'd had a good chat with either Tototara or Caolila.
"As amusing as your plan is," Tototara sighed, shaking her head dubiously, "I'm not sure even that would work with Ludus. He's too much of a gentleman for his own good, sometimes."
"Tell me about it," Lisette agreed, shrugging. "Maya is just as stubborn as he is, if not more. At least she'll admit that she likes him, though. I'm pretty sure Ludus is still trying to hide it."
"And failing. Dramatically."
The women laughed again, stepping out of the way as another customer walked through the door.
"But you know, Lisette," Tototara sobered suddenly, leaning in and lowering her voice to avoid other patrons hearing her. "I had an idea not too long ago, and I think it might just work. It's a little meddlesome, but I'm his grandmother. I'm supposed to meddle."
Lisette blinked. Was she really surprised that someone besides herself and Wayne were trying to play matchmaker? After knowing Ludus's family for so long, Lisette was just annoyed she hadn't thought of it sooner. If she was going to get involved, then who better to cooperate with than Tototara?
"You old bat!" Caolila scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "You didn't tell me you were planning anything."
"You would've blabbed about it the second I breathed a word," Tototara countered, mimicking Caolila's stance. "I'm sure Lisette here has a bit more finesse."
"What were you thinking?" Lisette interjected. While she was pretty sure Maya wasn't visiting Westown today, she didn't want to risk it. The last time she'd forced Maya to make a move had resulted in the infamous 'sibling bonding' incident; she was sure Maya wouldn't be too thrilled about another plan.
"You know our Sealight Night has been moved to this month," Tototara whispered, counting the days on her fingers. It was only about a week away. "That was to accommodate Westown's Gala, right?"
"I remember," Lisette nodded. All of the town festivals had been rearranged for that year due to Westown's anniversary celebration taking up a full week in the winter.
"I don't think Ludus would ask Maya to go with him," Tototara tapped her chin with her forefinger. "It's considered a couples' activity, so I suspect he wouldn't want to be too forward. But that's not to say that someone else can't send her an invitation on his behalf."
Lisette pursed her lips, thinking. Tototara waited, watching the florist with a calculating stare.
"What exactly did you have in mind?"
.
"Another chair? Really?"
Maya was beginning to get seriously concerned about Mithra's daily habits. This was the third chair that Ludus had fixed for her in the span of nearly two seasons, far more frequent than anyone else in the village.
"This one had the leg broken clean off," Ludus shrugged, pointing to the discarded piece of wood. It was splintered horribly, like it was smashed against the floor. "I don't know what she does to them, but I'm starting to think they're not for sitting."
"Maybe she throws them at Lotus," Maya mused, crossing her legs in front of her. She was sitting on the floor of Ludus's room while he worked, having moved inside to protect the project from the light rain that had started around midmorning. "I could see her doing that."
"Poor Lotus," Ludus chuckled darkly, affixing the new leg with a metal screw. He would have used a hammer and nails, but he didn't trust his hands.
Maya showed up a little unexpectedly today. The last time they'd seen each other was painfully brief, just a five-minute chat after he'd returned from the city with the plush cow that he'd bought for her as a thank you for helping him. And that was barely a chat at all.
Ludus was, admittedly, avoiding being alone with Maya. He was embarrassed and skittish, like a cat that was startled by a falling broom. How was he supposed to face her now? Their conversation the morning after her nightmare still haunted him with the mistake he'd almost made. The things he'd almost confessed.
"Careful," Maya's hand suddenly appeared at his arm, squeezing to stop him. Ludus jumped, stalling the tool in his hand immediately. He looked down, noticing that he was about three seconds from pinching his thumb between the screwdriver and the wood. He let out a shaky laugh, adjusting his grip.
"Thanks, My," he grinned, mentally berating himself. He couldn't be losing focus like that- what if he'd accidentally hurt Maya instead?
"Maybe you should take a break," she suggested, shuffling forward. Once Ludus accepted the offer, she moved the chair out of the way and sat back. Ludus tried not to stare at her, running his hand through his hair.
What was he going to do?
Back when his feelings had only been a crush, it was easy to convince himself that he shouldn't tell her- well, maybe not easy, but doable. Maya probably wouldn't be interested in him anyway, so there was no use putting himself out there for a mild infatuation.
But now… now things were different. Ludus was in love with her. Didn't he owe it to himself to tell her that? Or was he just fooling himself into thinking he had a chance?
Maya was talking about something Lisette told her about Wayne, something she found incredibly funny. Ludus missed what it was, but she was too deep into the story to ask her to start again. He mimicked her reactions, trying to play along.
That was perhaps the worst part of the whole thing. Maya wasn't acting any different than she normally did.
Not that he expected her to, really. Yes, she'd been open and honest with him in a way she'd never been before. Yes, she'd taken his hand when he offered, absently running her thumb over his palm as she listened to Lisette and Wayne. And yes, she'd been adorably shy about her affection for him. But did all that mean that she felt the same way he did?
Maybe, but 'maybe' just wasn't enough to take such a monumental risk.
"Have you been sleeping okay?" Ludus asked after Maya was finished her retelling. She stiffened a little, but she didn't recoil like he'd been anticipating. All week he'd been sending 'check-in' texts every morning and evening, making sure her nightmares were well at bay. Maya usually dismissed him, telling him he was overreacting, but Ludus suspected she just didn't want to talk about it.
"I've been sleeping better," she answered evasively, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Your quilt really helped. I've only been- um, I've only had two bad nights since."
"That's great," Ludus grinned, easing back onto his hands and crossing his legs in front of him. "But I wish you would've called me. I sleep with my volume on now, so you can reach me if you need to."
"You don't need to do that for me," Maya frowned at him, "you need your sleep just as much as anyone."
"Don't worry about me," Ludus insisted, "I can sleep just about anywhere. I'm more worried about you."
Maya bit her lip, her forehead creasing with unease.
"Ludus, I actually wanted to talk to you about that…" Maya squirmed, trying to get comfortable as her skin crawled with nerves. "What I said to you the other day, about needing you? That wasn't fair of me, and I'm sorry."
"What do you mean?" Ludus shuffled forward, until they were sitting about a foot from one another. His expression mirrored hers, a tight knot forming in his stomach. "What isn't fair?"
"I know you're going to yell at me for saying this," she taunted, "but I mean it and it has to be said. I rely on you too much, and it's not fair to you. And I know-" she held up her hand, stopping him from interrupting, "I know you're going to say that's not true; you've said it before. You're too nice for your own good, Ludus. I appreciate you so much, your friendship means everything to me, but I'm worried that you're not caring enough about what you want."
Maya fixed him with a hard and determined stare, one that Ludus felt deep in his chest. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"What do you want, Ludus?"
What did he want?
"Maya…" Ludus reached out, gently taking her hands in his. Maya waited, uncertainty wavering in her eyes. He knew what he wanted, but he didn't know if he had the guts to ask for it. "What I want, more than anything, is for you to feel safe and happy. And I want to do whatever I can to make sure you do. I want you to rely on me, I want to be there for you, and I want you to stop apologising for everything you do. You don't need to feel guilty for existing."
Maya blinked, the whites of her eyes turning pink with unshed tears. Ludus wanted to draw her to him, to comfort her, but most of all, he wanted to kiss her.
This, this was the reason he'd been avoiding her all week.
It seemed like every time he was alone with Maya now, he bared more and more of his soul. Ludus couldn't stop himself, it was like she pulled it out of him without even trying. He'd almost confessed last week and maybe… well, maybe he should've.
"My?" Ludus swallowed, hard, and risked a quick glance at her face. Her curls had fallen into her eyes again, but she hadn't bothered to move them. He resisted the urge to do it himself. "I… I'd like to tell you something."
She tilted her head curiously, the tears receding until it was like they were never even there. Ludus took a steadying breath, his heart thundering in his chest. He was going to do it. Now or never. Ludus had to tell her the truth about his feelings.
"Is everything okay?" Maya prompted gently, seeing that he was struggling. Ludus nodded, gathering his resolve and clinging to it desperately. Come on, Ludus! You can do this!
His lips quivered, words hovering just beneath the surface, but Maya never got to find out what they were.
"Uh, I think it might be best if you head home," Ludus smiled sadly, masking the conflicted emotion that had been there only moments ago. What was he doing? "I heard that the rain was going to pick up, and I wouldn't want you walking back in a storm."
"Oh, okay," Maya nodded slowly, stricken. Whatever Ludus had been about to say, she was almost sure that wasn't it. Gathering her things stiffly in her arms, Maya made her way to his bedroom door. "Was that… everything?"
"Hm? Yeah," Ludus nodded, following her absently. His mind was screaming at him to stop whatever the hell he was doing, but his mouth wouldn't listen. "I better get back to work on Mithra's chair before the day is out."
"Sure," Maya nodded again, sinking her teeth into her lip. "I'm sorry to keep you."
Ludus walked her silently to the door, keeping a firm distance between them. Maya didn't like that, but she stayed decidedly quiet.
"I'll see you later, yeah?"
When she turned, Ludus looked normal. He was smiling, waving, and had his arm resting on the doorframe casually, but Maya knew something was off. He looked like he did when she first met him, not now that they'd grown so close. Her Ludus would hug her, or ruffle her hair, or kiss her head as she left, not just… stand there.
With nothing to really say, Maya just nodded again.
"See you," she smiled shyly, making her way through the front door and out onto the Inn's expansive deck. Maya stopped there, back resting against a pillar, trying to work through the confusion in her heart.
What had just happened?
Maya knew that he wouldn't accept her apology for what she'd said the other night, but she also knew she had to give it. Something had changed between them after her nightmare, Maya just wasn't sure what. Was it a step in the right direction, or had she inadvertently ruined their friendship forever?
With the way Ludus avoided her all week, she was beginning to think it was the latter.
That's why she had to apologise. She opened up to him, she was honest with him, and it broke them. For just a minute, she'd thought that she was finally getting somewhere, like Ludus was starting to understand how she felt, but now? Now Maya wasn't sure about anything at all.
"What's eating you?"
Maya started, almost dropping her bag before realising that Iluka's voice wasn't directed at her at all.
"It's nothing."
Her brow furrowed. That was Ludus speaking, but how could she…?
Maya looked around, finding that the window to her right was open and the twins must be speaking to Ludus just inside it. She tried not to eavesdrop, but their voices carried in the still evening air.
"It's not nothing," Siluka's voice countered, "you look like you just had your heart broken."
Everyone was silent for a time, presumably staring at each other, until Ludus spoke again.
"I was just… trying to talk to Maya, that's all."
Maya sucked in a breath. Talk to her about… what?
"Didn't go well, huh?" Iluka snickered, "How badly did you screw it up?"
"I didn't screw anything up," Ludus sighed, sounding like he was walking away. Maya heard the legs of a chair scrape across the floor. "I don't think I did, anyway. I just… didn't do it."
"Chickened out. Makes sense."
Maya's heart was beating a mile a minute. She shouldn't stay, she shouldn't be listening, but her curiosity was burning her up inside. It took everything in her power to do it, but Maya had to move away from the door. She dropped to the step below her.
"I don't know what to do. I think I hurt her feelings, but I don't know how to fix it."
Another step. She was past the awning now, fat raindrops pelting her skin.
"Just tell her the truth," Iluka huffed; Maya could almost picture her rolling her eyes. "It's not that hard, Ludus. We've all been saying it for months."
Ludus's voice carried out to Maya just as she summoned the courage to take another step, reaching the dirt path, and breaking into a run. Ludus's words trailed off on the breeze behind her.
"I'm hopeless, you guys. I just wish I could-"
Maya didn't hear the rest, repeating a silent mantra to just keep going, to stop listening. Ludus was obviously trying very hard to tell her something important, she shouldn't eavesdrop to figure it out. That was wrong. Whatever Ludus wanted to say, Maya had to wait until he told her himself.
She'd almost made it to the bridge when she finally slowed, her ankle aching again and her breathing shallow. Maya knew she'd done the right thing, but it didn't stop the almost irresistible desire to turn back and ask Ludus what exactly he'd been trying to tell her.
It almost sounded like a confession.
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