HIS SECOND CHOICE

CHATPER THREE

Eva stuffed her toothbrush and toothpaste into her skincare bag before zipping it up and tossing it into her suitcase. Slipping on her shoes, she took one final look at the room. The pastel walls that used to contain framed photos of her now looked plain and boring. She had packed up every single memory of her that she had kept in the house. Now the house was just as plain as when she had just arrived. Taking a deep breath, she dragged her large suitcase out of the room and locked the door.

"Yes?I'm about to leave for the airport" Eva said into her phone. It was Paige calling to ask if she had left the house already. "Um.. Could you give me a ride?... thanks"

She was at the main entrance to the house and was about to open the door when someone opened it from outside. Standing at the entrance of the house were none other than Stefan and Maya. Behind them were some bags which Eva knew immediately were for Maya. The atmosphere immediately became awkward.

"Um... hi there" Eva said softly. Since the divorce incident, Eva and Stefan had not said anything to each other, and it was driving her insane, but of course, she wasn't going to admit that to anyone.

Stefan nodded at her in acknowledgement, while Maya said "Hello" in a low voice.

Eva saw Maya trying to drag her bags into the house and she quickly stepped aside and said "Oh I'm sorry, I was just leaving" while pointing at her bags that were beside her.

"Let me drive you to the airport", Stefan offered.

"How did you know I was going to the airport?" Eva asked, puzzled.

"We overheard you saying it while we were trying to unlock the door" Stefan said, shrugging.

On hearing the word 'we', Eva's heart became cold again and any giddy feeling had just disappeared.

"I'm fine, I don't need your help" Eva said curtly. "Have a nice day."

With that, she dragged her suitcase out of the house and slammed the door behind her.

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"You know, you could always crash at my place for a few days. You don't need to head home yet, and I'll really enjoy the company" Paige suggested, as she sped across the highway. "I really don't think you're in the right state of mind to travel alone, not to talk about living alone", she insisted. When she got to Paige's apartment to pick her up, she met her sitting on the curb, in tears. That sight alone made Paige become skeptical about her going to stay alone, but Eva refused to be moved.

"Really Paige I'm fine. What you just witnessed outside there was closure. I'm definitely passed the stage of crying over a man", Eva chuckled, trying to reduce the tension.

She looked over at Paige and noticed her knuckles gripping the steering wheel so hard that it had started to become white. Eva knew that deep down Paige was still very upset about the whole divorce issue and if it had been left to her, Stefan would've been six feet under the ground by now, but Paige was trying to keep her head just for her sake. Heck, Eva knew that if the same thing had happened to Paige, all hell would have been let loose.

Seeing that Paige was not too convinced about what she said, she continued "Besides, I won't be alone. I'm going to my parents' house, remember?"

Truly, she was going to her parents' house. It had been a while since she last saw her parents. It had been since she got married, three years ago. Stefan had not been a huge fan of her parents, probably because of the arranged marriage suggested by her parents, so whenever she brought up the issue of visiting her parents, he always dismissed the thought. Looking back now, she realized that she was so desperate for his approval that she ended up cutting off her own parents and just thinking about that made her sick to her stomach.

She had failed as a wife, so now she was definitely not going to fail as a daughter.

"I will miss you a lot" Paige muttered. They hadn't been apart from the moment they met and the first time it happened was due to some inexplicable events.

"I'll miss you too" Eva replied, before she turned her head to gaze out of the window. She spotted a large carnival going on at the other side of the road and her heart clenched. She had heard about the carnival a few weeks back, and she planned on inviting Stefan to go with her, even though she was sure he wasn't going to agree. She couldn't stay here. There were too many memories and seeing them all the time could possibly make her heart burst.

Dragging her eyes away from the scenery and her heart away from the thoughts of what could have been, she closed her eyes in hopes that when next she opened them, she would find herself at the airport.

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Stefan walked into the living room. He was about to switch on the television when he perceived something. It was hours after Maya moved in and despite all his arguements, she was bent on cooking him dinner. Last time Stefan checked, Maya couldn't even boil water, let alone cook a whole meal.

He took a deep breath and after confirming that it wasn't the smell of fire, he stood up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen to see what was going on.

Stefan stood by the door and watched in admiration how Maya tried to read the instructions at the back of the box of macaroni. Her face scrunched as she tried to make meaning of what was written at the back. Stefan realized at the point that he had to either step in or risk eating whatever she cooked.

"Nahhh" Stefan thought as he walked towards her.

Placing a kiss on the side of her head, he felt her visibly tense but she relaxed just as quickly when she realized that it was him. "Does it smell nice?" She asked, turning around to look at him.

As much as he didn't like lying to her, there was no way he was going to tell her that he was skeptical of her cooking skills. 'It-t smells r-really n-nice" he stuttered.

Maya raised her eyebrows in confusion before pushing him out the door. "Get out, I want the meal to be a surprise."

Stefan held the door post for support to prevent being pushed out. "Why don't we cook together?" he asked, groaning as he felt the edge of the door posts digging into his palms.

"Because I want to cook for you" She replied, as she applied more force into pushing him out.

"Wouldn't it be more romantic if we cooked together?" Stefan said , not giving up. His stomach churned at the thought of having to eat a poorly cooked meal. He started to feel a bit queasy and Maya took advantage of that situation.

"Not interested" she said before giving him a final shove which made him fall on the floor outside the kitchen. She closed the big door and Stefan heard a click indicating that she had locked it.

Stefan leaned his head against the wall and sighed. "Oh no" he muttered to himself.