Chapter 3: Crossed lines
1220 Words
Maya pulled her hand from Derek's and stood quickly.
Linda's eyes were ice-cold, her perfectly manicured hands gripping the doorframe.
"I said inside. Now."
"Mom, we were just—"
"I don't want to hear it." Linda's voice was razor-sharp. "Derek, I need to speak with my daughter. Alone."
Derek stood slowly, jaw tight. "Linda, nothing happened. We were just talking."
"Were you? Because it looked like considerably more than talking."
Maya's face burned. She walked past her mother into the house, feeling Derek's eyes on her back.
Linda followed, shutting the door firmly. The click of the lock sounded final.
"Sit."
Maya sat at the kitchen table, hands twisted in her lap.
Linda remained standing, arms crossed. "Do you want to explain what I just saw?"
"We were talking. That's all."
"Don't lie to me, Maya. I saw the way you were looking at him. The way he was looking at you." Linda's voice shook. "He's my brother. Your uncle. Do you understand how inappropriate that is?"
"Nothing happened!"
"Yet. Nothing happened yet. But it was about to, wasn't it?"
Maya's throat tightened. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't I? I saw you leaning toward him. Saw your hands together." Linda pressed her fingers to her temples. "God, I can't even say it."
"Because nothing was going to happen!"
"You're nineteen years old, Maya. He's thirty. He's family. This is sick."
The word hit Maya like a slap. "Don't say that."
"What else would you call it? A grown man pursuing his teenage niece?"
"He's not pursuing me! If anything, I—" Maya stopped.
Linda's eyes widened. "You what? You're pursuing him?"
Maya said nothing, face burning.
"Answer me."
"I don't know! We just talk. We understand each other. He doesn't treat me like a child or a project to manage."
"So this is about me? You're developing feelings for my brother to punish me?"
"Not everything is about you, Mom!"
"Keep your voice down. Derek will hear."
"I don't care!" But Maya lowered her voice anyway. "The truth is I want someone who sees me. Who listens. Who doesn't try to control every single thing I do."
"I'm your mother. I protect you from making mistakes that could ruin your life."
"Like Dad?"
The words hung in the air, sharp and dangerous.
Linda's face went pale. "Don't you dare bring your father into this."
"Why not? You never talk about him. You act like he never existed. Like I didn't watch him die." Maya's voice cracked. "You won't even let me grieve him because it's too messy for your controlled world."
"That's not fair."
"None of this is fair! You planning my entire future without asking what I want, treating me like a doll you can position exactly where you need me—"
"I'm trying to give you opportunities I never had!"
"I don't want your opportunities! I want a mother who actually cares about who I am instead of who she wants me to be!"
Linda's hand gripped Maya's wrist. Not hard, but firm. "Listen to me very carefully. Derek is off-limits. Completely. Permanently. I don't care if you think he understands you. It ends now."
Maya tried to pull away. "He's trying to help me."
"That's what he does, Maya. He makes you think he's helping when really he's just pulling you into his darkness. I've seen this before. With his ex-fiancée. He gets close to people, makes them depend on him, and then when things get hard, he runs. Or self-destructs and takes everyone down with him."
"That was eight years ago. He's different now."
"People don't change. Not fundamentally. He'll hurt you."
Maya yanked her wrist free. "You don't get to decide who I care about."
"As long as you live under my roof, I absolutely do."
"Then maybe I won't live under your roof."
The words came out before Maya could stop them.
Linda's face hardened. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Maybe I'll move out. Get my own place. Live my own life without you controlling it."
"With what money? You have no job, no savings. You're completely dependent on me."
"Then I'll get a job. I'll figure it out."
"You'll throw away your education, your future, everything I've worked to give you, over a man you barely know?"
"I'm being honest for the first time in four years!"
They stared at each other, both breathing hard.
Linda's voice went deadly calm. "If you pursue anything with Derek, I will cut you off completely. No more tuition payments. No more allowance. No more anything. You'll be on your own."
Maya's stomach dropped. "You can't be serious."
"Try me. I won't watch you destroy yourself over someone who isn't worth it."
"That's not your decision to make!"
"It's absolutely my decision when it comes to my money funding your mistakes." Linda straightened her blouse. "I'm going to my office. When I come back, I expect you to have made the right choice. Stay away from Derek. Focus on your internship. Act like the intelligent young woman I raised you to be."
She walked out, heels clicking on hardwood.
Maya's hands were shaking. She pressed them against the counter.
The back door opened quietly.
Derek stepped inside, face drawn. "I heard some of that. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault."
"Isn't it?" He stayed near the door, keeping distance. "She's right, you know. About me. About what I've done."
"I don't care about the past."
"You should." He ran a hand through his hair. "Maya, I'm not good for you. Your mom might be controlling, but she's not wrong about this. We need to stay away from each other."
The words felt like a knife. "Is that what you want?"
"It doesn't matter what I want."
"It matters to me."
Derek's blue-gray eyes met hers, pain evident. "I can't be the reason you lose your future. I can't be another person I hurt because I was selfish."
"Wanting someone isn't selfish."
"It is when it costs them everything." He moved toward the hallway. "I'm going out. I'll be back late. You should stay in your room when I get home."
He left before Maya could respond.
She stood alone, her mother's words echoing in her head.
Her phone buzzed.
A text from an unknown number: “This is Derek. I'm sorry. For all of it. You deserve better than this.”
Maya stared at the message, tears spilling over.
She typed back: “What if better isn't what I want?”
Three dots appeared, then disappeared.
No response came.
Hours later, after dark, her phone buzzed again.
Derek: “I'm staying at a hotel tonight. Need space to think.”
Maya's fingers hovered over the keyboard.
She typed: *Come back. Please.*
The message showed as delivered. Then read.
No response.
Maya waited until the house went quiet.
Then she grabbed her keys and jacket and climbed out her bedroom window.
She had to find Derek.
Her phone buzzed as she started her car.
Derek: *River's Edge. Midnight. If you want to talk.*
Maya's heart hammered as she put the car in drive.
This was the moment everything would change.
She pressed the gas and drove into the night, toward the river, toward Derek, toward a choice that would cost her everything.
- Writer
