Ironically Yours

          Today was just not getting better for Maya no matter how she tried to change it. After the outburst with Jared earlier and then the arguement at home, she barely had the sanity to deal with anything else. It didn't help matters when she found a pair of Miranda's panties under the bed while she was cleaning up the room for laundry and because her boyfriend is basically a pig when it comes to taking care of himself. With a couple of thrown objects and a swing that Jared had learned to carefuly avoid, Maya stormed out of the apartment and headed for the cafe. She knew it was bad to go there after what had happened but it was her fail safe. Julio also was a good influence when it came to calming down and trying to look on the bright side. Actually, everyone lately had been doing that. She was so used to being a shut in that having a small town actually care about her and ask her how she was doing was really interesting.
Julio rushed towards her the moment his eyes saw her walk through the door, making sure not to slip on a puddle of melted snow that someone had forgotten to mention was there.
"He didn't touch you did he? Any new bruises?" He said, touching her face and moving her hair so he could see her better. The one he had noticed earlier was still looking pretty gnarly, but otherwise no new marks had shown up. She laughed nervously and brushed him off.
"Nah, I think I won this one." She said, shrugging. Julio looked at her with an impressed grin.
"How did you manage that?"
"Caught him cheating and decided to confront him about it." Julio looked at her with a mix of shock and irritation.
"I hope you dumped his ass."
"Not yet. Remember he is the only person I can live with right now, and not like anyone is going to do anything about it. I'm doing this all by myself at this point."
"Well if you'd open up and give someone a chance, maybe you wouldn't have to deal with all this." Maya caught on to where he was indicating himself, but she waved it off.
"There is only one person who I could honestly say sweep me off my feet and that isn't going to happen. That was a chance that I didn't get before I decided to abandon everything for the chance at a fresh start." She said, sighing deeply. Julio frowned and then began walking away, muttering how being stuck in the friend zone sucked because all the good girls were taken. Maya knew that story way too well, but that is why she left. She was tired of being that one in the friendzone. She sighed, finding a place to sit in the far corner. Lunch was her favorite time of the day because for this side of town, it was quiet with everyone taking an hour or two to get everything squared away before the rush of customers came back.
As Julio stood at the counter, looking at Maya with an obvious pout on his face, a police officer walked in, his gentle sway in his step something she vaguely recognized. Something was off, but she didn't pay any mind for the fact that she needed to focus on the text book she had laying before her. However, she couldn't help but hear the conversation between Julio and the officer.
"So I hear there was a disturbance earlier," the man said, looking around nonchalantly and then back to Julio. The barista gave him a somewhat irritated look.
"Yeah, and? Not like it doesn't happen on a weekly basis." he said, shooting a look in Maya's direction.
"That Jared kid causing trouble here every week? Must be such a great place to throw a fit, or were you the one fraternizing with his girlfriend?" Maya's breath caught in her chest. This was NOT happening today. Julio seemed even more irked by that comment than she was.
"Look, I don't care what anyone says. Boots doesn't deserve to be with that abusive prick. And besides, I was bringing her the coffee she had ordered when he stormed in. Don't come in here assuming something without asking, I don't care if you're an officer."
The man raised his hands in apology.
"I didn't mean to offend. This has obviously got you worked up. So, her name is Boots? That's kind of a silly name."
"Don't make fun of her. Its short for her last name."
"Which would be?"
"Who wants to know?"
"Look kid, if this Jared kid really is trying to hurt her, I want to know who I'm protecting. Its part of my job."
Julio shrugged.
"Boutellier" he said, looking at Maya as if he were betraying her trust. She looked at him quizzically. Something was seriously off and she couldn't peg it. The officer stood back, then looked at her, then back at Julio. She could see the gears in his head grinding together. Then he said something that made her heart stop.
"Maya?"
"Oh shit.." She cursed, grabbing her bag and book with a few quick motions and darted out the door. Why was today a day that she needed to be running? It wasn't helping her asthma any as well as everything else today. To add to that, apparently the officer had hopped in his car and proceeded to chase after her, sirens blazing. This seriously was not happening. She took a hard right and ran down an alley way, heading towards the park on the edge of town. If this seriously was going to happen, she needed it out of range of Jared.
Ashe she reached the edge of the park she looked back and saw that her persuer had parked the car where gravel met grass and chased after her on foot. He was just as she remembered, the way he looked at her, the way he ran to meet her. It was very similar, but vastly different than it had been before. One thing that Sebastian had over her was the fact that he was a lot taller than she was and was able to cross the distance with a couple of quick bursts, tackling her to the ground. Maya let out a small yelp, her stuff falling from her arms in an attempt to brace herself. She was then flipped over, her face looking straight into his. Her heart began to race. This wasn't good...