Page 5 of Lisa's Unexpected Valentine's Day

She led the way into the house and dropped her bags on the table by the door. “Want some coffee?”

Lisa shivered and shook her head. “I’d love something hot, but if I have another cup of coffee, I’m probably going to start bouncing off the walls.”

Maya laughed. “Um, how about some herbal tea?”

“That would be wonderful.” Lisa sniffed and wiped her eyes again as she followed Maya into the kitchen.

“Sit.” She bustled around the kitchen putting the copper kettle on the stove and digging out a box of assorted herbal teabags, which she dumped in front of her friend. “Long day?”

Lisa settled on one of the tall stools at the counter island and sighed. “A long month really. Sorry to barge in. I just… didn’t have any place else to go.”

‘You know you’re always welcome here. You should have let yourself in instead of freezing outside though.” Maya made a tsking sound as she dug out milk and sugar for the tea. “Not like you don’t know where the key is.”

“I hate doing that.”

Maya snorted and rolled her eyes. “You’re my best friend. You think I want to find a Lisa-cicle in my driveway instead?”

It was Lisa’s turn to roll her eyes. “I had blankets. Besides I would have turned the car on if it got really bad. You’re usually home earlier though, so I didn’t think I’d have that long a wait.”

Maya pushed her dark hair back behind her ears and sighed. “I had kind of a long day myself. One problem after another, and of course, it would be the one time I finally talked Rick into taking me out for Valentine’s.” She blew out an exasperated breath.

“Valentine… oh no.” Lisa’s hands flew up dramatically. “I’m so sorry. I totally forgot it was Valentine’s Day. And you haveplans, of course… I’m so dumb. I’ll get out of your hair.” The words tumbled out with barely a breath between them, and she was getting up to leave before she’d even finished.

“Hey! Stop that. You sit right back down, missy.” Maya wasn’t used to being the one who scolded people, but she’d heard the tones enough to replicate them.

One eyebrow went up, as Lisa stared at her. “Missy? Aren’t you the one who’s supposed to get bossed around?”

Maya scoffed. “Not when you’re being silly. Date or not, there’s no way I’m letting you leave in the state you’re in.” She pointed at the stool. “Now, plant that butt in the seat and tell me what happened.”

Lisa shook her head, but she did sit back down, so Maya considered it a win. Maybe she had a bossy person in her after all. She stared hard at her friend and waited.

Eventually Lisa started to open up. “So, um, basically I got evicted. It was kind of unexpected, and I came home to find the locks changed and all my stuff on the curb.”

Maya’s mouth dropped and worked soundlessly for several seconds, before she could get any words out. “What the hell? That’s not legal. You can’t just throw people out with no warning.”

Lisa sighed. “Well, it wasn’t entirely without warning. I hadn’t paid my rent since December. I kept hoping the landlord would give me more time, but I guess he got tired of waiting. There was an eviction notice on the door.” She rolled her bottom lip under her teeth and looked down.

“I—but why couldn’t you pay your rent?”

Lisa’s pale face got paler, but two bright red spots appeared at the center of each cheek. “I got fired back in November. I thought I’d be able to get another job, but so far…” She trailed off.

“But—” Just then the kettle began to whistle, startling them both. “Fuck. Hold on.” Maya quickly moved over to pull it off the burner, and poured each of them a large mug of hot water. “Here,” she said, as she placed one in front of her friend.

“Thanks, Maya.” Lisa focused harder than necessary on fixing her tea. She spent nearly a minute debating on the teabag, finally choosing cranberry-orange, and then took her time in pouring just the right amount of milk into the cup, before adding the sugar.

The fussing was clearly a stalling tactic, but Maya didn’t want to push too hard. Lisa was normally very strong and stable, but today she looked like the smallest thing could make her crumble.

She kept hold of her patience until Lisa had taken a few sips and then she cleared her throat. “Why don’t you start from the beginning, okay?”

So Lisa told her everything. Starting with her skeezy boss, and the sexual harassment—because that’s what it was, and Maya told her that in no uncertain terms— and ending with being kicked out on the street. It was a lot to take in, especially because Maya had known about none of it.

She was quiet for a few moments, stirring her tea as she watched the swirls of steam. “I just don’t understand why you never told me any of this, Lisa. I could have helped you. You know I would have—”

“I know, Maya. I know you would have helped. You would have insisted on helping, but I…” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m used to handling things myself.”

“Sure, I get that. You’re good at solving your own problems. I’ve always admired how you have everything on the ball.” She sat back and clapped a hand to her chest. “I swear without Rick keeping me on the path, I’d be all over the place with my ADHD and just generally being scatterbrained. I once forgot to pay the bills for a whole month.”

She laughed at herself. It was funny now, though it hadn’t been at the time, especially not when Rick found out. “But you’resupposedto go to friends when you need help, Lisa. That’s the whole point. Everyone needs help sometimes.”

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