Page 57 of Sunsets and Happy Ever Afters

It was from Pierce. He had texted while she’d been showering to say he had to cancel. Something had come up.

Really?

Could he not have called her rather than sending a lame text? Why hadn’t he let her know earlier?

She could have accepted Sam’s invitation to stay for dinner! And she hadn’t needed to offload Lewis onto Emma and Lucas. She could have had an evening with her son. Now she was sitting here all dressed up with nowhere to go. And she was exhausted. She wasn’t sure she had the energy to call Emma or another friend to see if they fancied the pub. She went to the fridge and poured herself a glass of wine, then plopped back down miserably on the sofa.

All week her phone had been quiet with only the occasional text from Pierce, but she figured he was busy and didn’t have time to be constantly looking at his phone to message her. It had been the same during the Easter weekend, after all. But considering his attention before that weekend, it really had dropped off. Maya found herself pulling out her laptop and going online. Maybe she could ask Peter Pan for some advice.

Her eyes widened, her mouth falling open in shock. She could see Pierce was online. Anger bubbled in her chest. He had time to check his messages online … but he was too busy to keep their date! A date with the woman he’d been sleeping with for the past few weeks!

What an absolute arsehole!

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and her thoughts. She took another gulp of wine. Okay, she had to think this through rationally; she had only been seeing him for four weeks — nearly five. It didn’t mean they were girlfriend/boyfriend. That hadn’t been discussed. However, each time they’d met, they had slept with one another. In Maya’s opinion, that showed a level of commitment to someone. He’d seemed so keen when she’d last seen him. She hadn’t noticed any changes in affection. But this week he had distanced himself…

She understood some people were better at texting than others. Emma was sporadic in replying at times, but Maya appreciated she led a busy life, like she did. Pierce worked full-time, so she realised during the day he could be quiet.

Had he cheated on her over the Easter weekend and couldn’t face a scene?

She wasn’t putting up with this. She’d vowed, after Kyle, that no one was going to treat her like shit again. Fumbling with her phone, she rang Pierce. They never had conversations on the phone — another weird thing, now Maya came to think about it.

“Hello?” Pierce answered, sounding surprised.

“Hello, Pierce. Look, I’m sorry, but I’m a little annoyed you couldn’t call me to cancel,” Maya said, regretting her haste and the way she’d blurted it out. She knew her voice betrayed her. She sounded angry. Her throat had tightened as she held back her tears, and her hands were shaking with determination and the fear of confrontation.

“Yes, I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not good enough, Pierce. If you’re so busy, why can I see you’re online on Find My HEA? I think you can make the effort to at least call the woman you’ve been sleeping with these past few weeks…” Enough was enough. Her eyes were pricking with tears, yet she tried to hold it together. “Do you like me? What is this we have? I’m so bloody confused.”

“Maya, I do like you. I like you a lot. But I think we’re looking for different things.”

“I’m looking for a relationship. And it says you are too on your profile.”

“Over this past week, and while you were away, I was thinking about us. And whether this is what I want… I’m not sure if I believe in the whole happy ever after. I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure I can give you what you want … long term.”

“So where do we go from here?” Did he expect they would just continue having sex? Was that what Maya wanted? No, she’d gone online in the hope of finding a partner. She understood not everyone worked out for life, but eventually, she hoped she’d find someone to grow old with.

“I think it would be unfair of me to carry on seeing you, Maya.” She heard Pierce sigh.

Had it just been sex? Maya couldn’t bring herself to ask that question. She had to believe Pierce had liked her. He had treated her to dinners out, and even gifts. She didn’t think she could take the emotional blow, the knock to her self-esteem otherwise. “I think you need to update your profile, Pierce. It’s very confusing. It says you’re looking for a relationship, and clearly you are not.” He didn’t reply. “Goodbye, Pierce.”

“Goodbye, Maya. And I’m sorry. You’re really lovely. I do like you.”

“I liked you too. But I think I liked you a bit more than you did me.”

Maya hung up and burst into tears, throwing her phone onto the sofa and reaching for the box of tissues. She sobbed, awash with anger, hatred, sorrow and disappointment.

She hadn’t known Pierce long enough to be in love with him, but an affection had formed. Hell, this dating malarkey hurt. She hated herself when she had to break it off with someone she didn’t fancy. And she hated it when they broke it off with her. Although this hurt more, she preferred it this way. She didn’t feel guilty. Only sad. Very, very sad … and lonely.

What was wrong with her? Good job she hadn’t deleted her profile — only hidden it.

Drying her eyes, she reached for the laptop and set her profile back to visible. She had hidden it, not wanting to waste anyone’s time while she’d been dating Pierce. She went in and blocked his profile. Maya did not need to be reminded of his handsome face. She decided to message PeterPan26:

And another arsehole bites the dust. Lord knows what is wrong with me. Can’t seem to hold a man down. I’m starting to wonder if there really is anyone genuine on this bloody site.

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