Maya

I haven't seen Holden in three days, besides on video calls. He seems excited and nervous and exhausted all at once, and I get it. This is a huge deal for him. I miss him a lot but I'd never say anything that would ruin this for him. He deserves all of this and more. I need to be supportive.

I wake up at 5A.M. on Saturday, my body buzzing with excitement. It's a long drive - six hours at least - and we are leaving by 8A.M. The exhibit opening is at 5P.M. that afternoon and we want to get there early so we can eat and relax a bit before the big night.

    Happy exhibit opening day! I text Holden before getting into the shower.

The water is hot and seems to wash away some of my nervousness, thankfully. I'm nervous for him, because I know a lot is riding on this. Really, it's a shit ton of people seeing his work. But there could be people who see it who might want him to do other exhibits in other galleries. There could be people who want to commission him for big, important pieces. A lot could come from this and we both know it.

I'm drinking my first coffee of the day when Holden texts back.

    Thank you. I'm so freaking nervous, but last night was awesome.

He called me when he got back to the hotel room last night, after the private showing of his exhibit. He said there were only about twenty people and it was more like a little party, but everyone seemed cool and they loved his paintings. One of the woman had already put her name on one of them.

Now, even though I want to talk to him more, I know he has a busy morning coming up.

    I'll see you soon, I send back.

    Love you.

I'm fully dressed and ready with a bag with some extra stuff in it sitting at the door, by 7A.M. It's too early to call and bother Annie, and I know that she and Landon will be here in under an hour to pick me up. So I call Nella.

"Hey," she answers, sounding surprised. 

"Hi," I say, then go on, "Good morning."

"You okay?" she wants to know.

"Yeah. I'm just... anxious. I'm going to New York City this afternoon," I tell her, even though she already knows this, and hearing it out loud is weird.

I spent the previous day with her and Willow and baby Evan, knowing I'd be gone for the weekend. Since Evan was born, I have spent at least a couple days a week with them, helping Nella or hanging out with Willow so Nella could nap with the baby.

"It's going to be great!" Nella shouts into my ear and I hear the baby squawk in the background.

"Give them both another kiss for me," I say.

"Tell Holden we say congrats on his exhibit and I can't wait to see pictures!" she goes on, then says, "Willow, no honey, don't climb onto the counter."

I let out a laugh. "You going to be okay?"

"Oh, yeah. George is not working this weekend, remember? We're good. Go have fun with your man!" Nella says then laughs.

After the night Holden and I had sex for the first time - the night Evan was born - things escalated quickly. Holden and I were us again, just like that. We were together whenever possible and hung out with Nella and George a lot, helped with the kids and even babysat so they could go on a date night.

"Okay. I'm going to go finish getting ready," I say to Nella.

"Call me later. Or tomorrow! Love you," she says back and the line goes dead before I can answer.

The drive goes by fast, surprisingly. We take turns driving and I drive the last two hours, in Annie's car. We talk about the gallery and the exhibit and the wedding. Landon is excited to spend a night in New York City and he's made that very obvious.

"Mom, the wedding is in two weeks," he suddenly says.

The GPS says we're only twenty minutes from the hotel.

Annie turns around to look at her younger son. "Isn't that something?"

"What's left to do? Since Holden's gone, I can help out when I'm here. Just let me know-"

"I have a list, and I'll show you it tomorrow. Today, we focus on Holden and his big day," she finishes, and I see Landon nod.

"I can help," I add in, smiling at her.

"Oh, that would be great, Maya. Thank you." She returns the smile and then looks out her window. "Wow. What a city."

"Do we have to go back home tomorrow?" Landon asks, then laughs. "We could stay all weekend."

"Well, Eddie had a bunch of work to do, so we will see," Annie goes on.

I listen to the GPS and keep driving, though the traffic is pretty congested. I asked Landon to keep his eyes out for the hotel but I see the gallery sign, first. New York Lights Gallery. That's it, we're here.

The hotel is across the street and I pull into the side parking lot and turn off the car, then exhale. It's almost 2P.M. and I could use a nap, or a coffee. Annie's out of the car first, stretching her legs, and Landon pushes open the door next. I pull out my phone to text Holden that we're here and then follow.

The lobby of the hotel is huge and bright and busy. I follow Annie towards the desk where there are people scurrying all around. Landon is holding all of the bags.

"Annie Prescott, we have a room booked for tonight," she says right away, to the woman behind the desk.

The woman is short and thick, with dark hair that flows around her shoulders. Her name tag says "Bonnie". She smiles at Annie and then starts typing away on the computer.

"Perfect, we have you in room 410. It's two queen beds. How many occupants?" Bonnie asks, looking at the three of us.

"Just two, my son and I. This is Maya, she's actually staying in my other son's room, Holden Prescott," Annie explains.

"Oh, Holden's been quite the celebrity the last few days! I even went over to see his exhibit!" Bonnie goes on, a real smile on her face now. "He's so talented."

"Thank you, I think so too," Annie says, then laughs.

"Okay, here's your room key," Bonnie tells her, passing her a card. "And for you, Maya... I have an extra card for Holden's room. 418."

I take it and thank her, and then we are on our way up. The elevator ride is quiet and I leave them at their room and keep walking until I'm at 418. Using the card to open the door, I don't even know if Holden is here or not. He didn't reply to my text yet. The room is empty, and clean. I see Holden's suitcase against one wall but the bed is made perfectly and it's so quiet. I drop my small bag by the door and go into the washroom to freshen up.  

I've only just finished in the washroom when my phone buzzes in my bag. My heart is beating fast as I pull it out. New text from Holden.

    I'm just having lunch with the gallery owners. I'll be back to the room in half an hour to get ready for the opening. Don't go anywhere. Can't wait to see you.

My heart is pounding as I re-read the message and then unzip my bag and pull out my two outfits that I brought. I want to hang them up so they are not wrinkled, plus I hadn't decided which to wear tonight. I'll let Holden help.

I'm drinking a hotel room coffee when I hear the door click open. My head turns just in time to see him - my amazing boyfriend - step into the room. He's wearing jeans and a long sleeved button up shirt, and he looks like he somehow perfectly fits into this world, this city. I feel like a a visitor, an outsider.

"Maya," he breathes out. "God, I missed you."

I stand up and go towards him and he meets me half way. "I missed you. How's your day been?"

He kisses me hard instead of answering. His tongue is in my mouth and his eyes are closed and it's as if he needs me, this, before he can do anything else. I let go of my nerves and kiss him back until we are both out of breath.

"Sorry," he whispers. "I'm better now."

I let out a laugh. "I'm glad."

"I'm so glad you're here. The real exhibit opening is in three hours. I - I just... I needed you with me."

"I'm here," I tell him, then kiss him again.

He looks around the room and spots my dresses on the rack. I watch as he walks over and touches the dark red one. "This is like... sexy. This isn't an exhibit opening outfit, it's a my-eyes-only outfit," he tells me.

I snort and walk over, pulling it off the hanger. "Really?"  The straps are thin and the front dips down a bit. "You haven't seen it on me yet."

"I want to see it on you, but not with a hundred other people looking at you," he says seriously.

"Well, I brought this, too." It's a blue dress with short sleeves and a few buttons at the neck. It goes down to my knees. It's not as fancy but it's still nice.

"I'll have to see them both on your before I decide," he smirks. 

After I try them both on for him, he decides he likes the blue one for tonight - the event - and the red one for him, for later. While I'm wearing the red one, he pushes me onto the bed and climbs on top of me, attacking me with kisses. We are both anxious and I know we barely have time to get dressed and ready let alone have sex and clean up again, but I don't stop him. His hands are at the bottom of the dress, pushing it up and his mouth is on my neck, kissing, biting, when his phone goes off.

He doesn't stop but I wiggle out from under him. "We don't have time, Holden. You need to be back over there in like thirty minutes."

He grunts and kisses my lips once before sitting up, reaching for his phone. "Hello? Yeah... I'm just getting dressed. I'll be there soon. What? Really? Okay, yes. Thanks."

I'm trying to smooth down the silky dress again when he finishes the call. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Um, a big name art collector is coming tonight. Mandy just told me. I need to-"

"Get ready," I finish for him.

"But, damn, you looks so good in that dress." He bites his bottom lip and blinks hard. "Put it on again once we are back here tonight?"

I grin and nod at him and then grab the other dress to go get changed. When I come out of the bathroom, he's fully dressed in a suit with a bow-tie and his hair is all fixed. Only minutes ago it was messy and all over the place.

"You clean up so nice," I tell him, then lean in to kiss his cheek. "See you over there. I'll come over at 5P.M. with your mom and Landon."

He nods and takes a deep breath. I can tell he's still nervous, especially now knowing there's a big name art collector who's going to be there.

After he slips on his black shoes, he glances over his shoulder and smiles, but it's forced. "Wish me luck?"

"You don't need it," I tell him. "But good luck anyway."