Always Into You

Adoration - Chapter 10

Tanya's POV

The 2nd week after the hospitalization i felt like walking through a dark tunnel.

I was recovering physically, at least. The bruises on my body faded, the exhaustion faded its grip, and the ghost of that night grew quieter. But something else lingered, something I couldn’t shake no matter how much Joanna and Maico tried to keep me distracted.

Joanna had been skeptical to leave me for her Art gallery in Milan. I could see it in the way she walked at the doorway of our apartment, her suitcase already packed, her hands fidgeting as if she was looking for a reason to stay.

“You’re sure about this?” she asked for the hundredth time.

I rolled my eyes, giving her a tired smirk. “Jo, I’m not a child. I can take care of myself.”

She didn’t look convinced. “That’s argumentative.”

“Harsh.”

Joanna sighed, stepping closer, her voice lowering to something softer, something more careful. “I just… I don’t want to come back and find you the way I did that night, and i don't know what to do if I lose you T, i just.... i just couldn't.”

The memory between us like a dying star.

“I won’t,” I promised.

She hesitated, then nodded. “Maico will check in on you. You need anything, you call him. I mean it, Tanya.”

I looked into her, my eyes again, but a part of me appreciated it. Joanna had always been the one to worry too much, to take on burdens that weren’t hers. But I saw the relief in her eyes when Maico arrived, standing beside her with his usual unbearable expression. Jo trusted him. Maybe I should too.

After a long hug that neither of us admitted to needing, Joanna left.

And then it was just me and Maico.

He made himself comfortable fast, treating my apartment like his second home. Not that I minded. He was good at pretending not to watch me too closely, and giving me space while still keeping me in check. Some days, we sat in silence, him flipping through his phone while I stared at my laptop, pretending to work on something important. Other days, he’d drag me outside, forcing me into the outside world, like it was his personal mission to remind me I was still alive.

I should have been so much grateful.

Instead, I still found myself lost in thoughts of him.

Christopher.

It didn’t make sense. He had been part of the disaster that led to my downfall. The reason Ambessa had humiliated me, the reason I had fallen apart in the first place. Joanna wanted me to forget him. Maico probably did too.

But I couldn’t.

I still remembered the way he looked at me that night, his eyes warm with something like admiration. The way he laughed at my silly jokes. The way, for a brief moment, he had made me feel seen.

It was pathetic.

I should hate him.

I wanted to.

But in the quiet of my apartment, when Maico had gone home and the world was silent, I still thought about Christopher Hightower.

And worse?

I still adored him.

Maico didn’t push me. He was just… there.

Sometimes, that was enough.

One night, I found myself curled up on the couch, flipping mindlessly through a fashion magazine, when Maico plopped down beside me, tossing a bag of chips onto my lap.

“Eat,” he said.

I raised a brow. “Seriously?”

“Yes. I’m tired of watching you survive on caffeine and sadness.”

A laugh bubbled up in my chest before I could stop it.

It was weird. Being this comfortable around someone who wasn’t Joanna.

But with Maico, it was easy.

He didn’t force conversations. He didn’t give me pitying looks or ask me how I was feeling every five minutes. He just existed beside me, making sure I didn’t completely fall apart.

And maybe, just maybe, I was starting to rely on him more than I realized.

Brunch with Maico was always a gamble.

Sometimes, he’d order something normal pancakes, eggs, coffee. Other times, he’d make the most unhinged choices possible just to see my reaction.

Like today.

“You ordered what?” I asked, staring at his plate.

“Spam and peanut butter sandwich,” he said casually, taking a bite.

I recoiled. “You’re disgusting.”

“It’s protein,” he defended. “And creativity.”

“It’s a crime.”

Maico smirked, nudging his plate toward me. “Wanna try?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Do I look like someone who has a death wish?”

“Debatable.”

I threw a sugar packet at him. He caught it effortlessly, popping it onto the table like he expected it to.

This was how it was with us. Snark, sarcasm, but underneath it something real.

“So,” Maico said after a moment, tapping his fork against his plate. “Christopher Hightower.”

I tensed.

“What about him?” I asked, feigning indifference.

Maico shrugged. “I don’t know. Just curious. You haven’t mentioned him since… well, since everything.”

I let out a breath, stabbing at my pancakes. “That’s because Joanna would have my head if I did.”

“And if she wasn’t around?”

I frowned, then exhaled. “He’s…” I hesitated. “He’s different.”

Maico tilted his head. “Different how?”

I thought about it. Christopher had been part of the mess that ruined me. But when I closed my eyes, I didn’t see the betrayal. I saw warmth. The way he had smiled at me that night, like I was something more. The way he had listened, really listened, as if he cared.

I should hate him.

I didn’t.

A small, almost wistful smile played at my lips. “He’s kind.”

Maico’s expression shifted, just a flicker of something unreadable before he masked it with his usual indifference. “Kind,” he repeated, his voice carefully neutral.

I nodded. “And… charming. And smart. And..”

“You’re doing it again.”

I blinked. “Doing what?”

“Adoring him. Like nothing happened.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but the words caught in my throat. He wasn’t wrong. No matter what had happened, no matter how much Joanna tried to erase him from my mind, Christopher still lingered there.

I didn’t notice the way Maico’s fingers tightened around his coffee cup.

I didn’t notice the way he swallowed like he was pushing something down.

Because I didn’t know.

I didn’t know that, somewhere along the way, Maico had started to feel something for me.

And I definitely didn’t know that he didn’t have the audacity to say it.

Not yet. or he had no feelings. or he is being a friend.