Page 15 of Sunsets and Happy Ever Afters

Maya smiled and typed, It’s a long story…

You can tell me, he replied.

So, Maya relayed the disastrous end to Amber’s birthday party, which seemed so long ago now. She mentioned no names, and tried to keep the details to a minimum, aware she was talking to a stranger. But it felt good to get it off her chest as she explained why she’d had to rush out to collect her son, and how she’d returned to find the two girls looking nothing like how she’d left them. The situation would have been funny if Chloe’s dad’s attitude hadn’t been so vile towards her.

I really reprimanded my daughter afterwards for going through my make-up. She lost her pocket money and had to do chores for a week! I hate that he thinks I’m an irresponsible mother. I feel like I’m going to be judged whenever I’m around him. It’s hard being a single mother.

Peter Pan26 responded sympathetically:

He was probably having an off day, just like you. I’m sure he’s not judging you. He’ll see what a fool he’s been.

Easy for you to say, Maya thought as she read.

I seem to be attracting my fair share of fools on here too. Not giving me much confidence.

Maya went on to tell PeterPan26 about DIYDes. She even copied his message out. By the time she’d drained her coffee, she was wiping tears from her eyes, laughing at PeterPan26’s replies.

The man is an idiot. You’ll never die a miserable old hag — not with that smile! I’m here to talk. Please don’t hesitate to message me.

Maya sent another message back thanking him, and saying she needed to get up as she could hear her kids arguing. She didn’t want to go into anything more personal with PeterPan26. He hadn’t shared much with her, so she thought she would keep it the same. However, he was fun to chat to, even with an unidentifiable profile picture. She would maybe continue to chat until the conversation petered out. So far, he was the best the site had to offer.

Maya’s phoned pinged. It was a Facebook message from Selina:

Hey, how’s the online dating going? Have you started looking? I’m still going strong with Kelvin. Our weekend away was FAB! I’m so happy right now, don’t give up hope.

Where did Maya start?

Sam scratched his head, then reached for his coffee, digesting the messages Maya had sent. She’stalkingaboutyou: you’retheidiot. Heather was right. He’d overreacted. He had just jumped to the conclusion that Maya was irresponsible. He hadn’t even questioned why she’d had to dash out. Chloe and Amber had been in the wrong going through her make-up.

Andnowshethinkseverytimewemeetyou’rejudgingher. No wonder she ran from him at the sports centre and could hardly say a word to him when he collected Chloe from her house yesterday.

Had she been worried he was judging her for drinking with the kids about?

He needed to rectify this.

One thing was for certain, he couldn’t disclose who PeterPan26 really was now she’d talked to him about him. But he didn’t want to delete the account now either — which would be the wisest thing to do — because he wanted to continue to talk to her, if she let him. She’d chatted more to him this morning, than she ever had in person.

The day Jade had died, Sam’s world had imploded. The only glue holding it together was Chloe and his family. But now, as each month passed, his world had been rebuilding, gaining strength, the pain of her death subsiding. Back in October he’d been a different person to now. And maybe he needed to show Maya that. And maybe through this account, he’d find out how…

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