Mayas POV

'Did you enjoy your dinner?' The waiter asked kindly after we had paid for our meal. Or it wasn't really me paying. James paid for the dinner. He was such a gentleman.
We got our coats on and headed outside.

'I really enjoyed eating there James'

'I'm just happy that we got a proper date where it didn't involve me saying something stupid to you like the first date we had' he smirked at me and I smiled vaguely. I had a tiny sting that hit my chest when he mentioned that. He never knew how bad I felt that day. And of course, he wouldn't know anything – I didn't dare tell him how he broke me.

'Yeah, trust me – It was good that you didn't see me when I got home that night' I laughed a little after saying that.

Shit! I just exposed myself. Please don't ask it. Please, please, please!

'What do you mean?'

'Actually... hmm. About our first date...' He turned to look at me, still smiling at me and waited for me to continue.

'I-I um... You know what? Never mind' I shrugged my shoulders and kept walking. As he didn't follow me, I stopped and turned to watch him stand behind me and gawking at me.

'No, babe tell me. What did you want to tell me? What about that day?'

I sighed. Here we go.

'Well, after I left the restaurant I was actually really hurt. I got the impression of you not liking me at all. And when you mentioned my skin color, I just broke into pieces'

He didn't say anything. I kept going anyway.

'I actually went home crying my eyes out. And...' I stopped for a bit and then bit my lip. This was about to get weird for him. I laughed a little to lighten the mood even though I knew I already blew it.

I closed my eyes and spat it out.

'I tried to scratch my skin to get my brown skin color off''. There, I said it. Now he could laugh all he wanted. I wasn't stupid! I knew that any man who got such information would laugh their asses off. But I didn't hear anything. My eyes were still shut close tightly, but I got nervous now. I slightly opened one eye to see what he was doing.

He just stood there. Like he was frozen into an ice sculpture. I tried to smile playfully at him to change the subject or change anything at all, for that matter but failed at it. He just stood there inhaling and exhaling. Then he took a step forward, cupped my face with his hands and looked straight into my eyes.

'I never knew I hurt you that badly' he looked beaten up and he looked resentful. I felt bad about telling him this. I shouldn't have said anything.

'Hey, look at me babe. Wait... Don't cry Maya.'

It was uncomfortable sharing such a secret with him. Telling him my insecurities made me feel smaller than I already was. Tears were silently falling at my cheeks leaving me embarrassed to let him in.

'I, I just wanted to feel accepted by a man. What Oliver did back then ruined me, but it broke me, even more, to have heard it again after years. I tried so hard to not let such comments get me, but when you rejected me for how I looked back then, I hated myself even more'

I couldn't control my feelings. For a long time, I had tried to not show my vulnerable side. How I felt about myself. I always strived to make people see a confident and happy me. But this time I shattered.

'Hey, come here' He hugged me, and I just let out a few sobs on his chest. He embraced me and I felt his warmth. It was cold outside. Whenever I exhaled through my mouth, I could see fog coming out.

'I hope you can forgive me for what I said back then Maya. I was a complete ass. And I was narrowminded. In fact, I was amazed by your beauty when they turned on the light that day. I just happened to mess it up by saying the other stuff.'

He stroked his hands up and down at my back while holding me still. At last, he said:

'And never seek for acceptance in anyone but you first. If you don't accept yourself, then nobody else will'

He kissed my forehead and then we walked toward the car holding hands. When we drove for a bit he asked what I wanted to do next. I didn't feel like going home for now so I shyly looked at him.

'Do you want to go to a bar or something? I could really need a cocktail now'

He stared at me for a second and then laughed out loud. I grinned and watched him with curiosity.

'You are so cute. Yes, of course. Let's go get some drinks'

'Yay!' I clapped my hands like a little girl. I was in the mood for some delicious cocktail drinks tonight.
We found a nice bar. I had been here before, but it was ages ago. The place had changed a bit. They had exchanged the interior with different tables and the floor was different.
We found a spot where we chose to sit and the music was not too loud, so we could easily have a conversation without feeling distracted.

I ordered a drink called French Kiss. It consisted of gin, St. Germain, Aperol, some fresh lemon juice and topped with Martini sparkling Rosé. And at last it was garnished with an orange twist. I hadn't tried it before, but I chose the drink because of the name.

I licked my lips in a sensual way and winked at James. He groaned and ran his hand through his face.

'Babe, that's not fair. I could eat you right now' he chuckled. Okay, I flirted with him, but he was right. It wasn't quite fair toward him. I knew he wanted to get intimate with me and I wanted that too. But as it was right now, we both knew that it wouldn't happen any soon.

'Sorry, that's not cool of me' I took a sip of my drink and saw him drink his too. He ordered a Jack 'n' coke. A real classic one for men. I don't think he wanted to sit here with me with a girly drink like a strawberry daiquiri or something.

'That's okay. I guess I just have to imagine you and me together until then...' He smirked at me.

Image him and me together? Now I got all warm. Phew, the room was getting hotter now.

It wasn't until a couple of minutes later that the evening turned into something else than I had imagined.

'Well look at this. Hi Maya'

I turned back to see who was talking to me.

No way. Not now, not here not ever!

I started to tremble. My lips got dry and it wasn't the drink. I observed James from the corner of my eye, and he had also turned around to see where the voice was coming from.

I was mute now. It was like all the air within me got sucked out. I couldn't say anything by now.

Oliver had his hand stretched out towards James now. I watched him in awe. 

How dare he come here and shake hands with my boyfriend. I was angry now.

James didn't know who he was yet, so he kindly shook his hand.

'Hey, I'm James. Unfortunately, I don't know you. You are...?'

'I'm Oliver Harrington. Mayas ex-boyfriend'

I saw how James got all tensed up now. I wanted to curl up into a ball and just escape. It wasn't like Oliver was mean or something like that, but it was still awkward, and it was humiliating seeing him after he broke up with me by cheating on me. And here I was with my new boyfriend.

'Ah, so you must be the one and only Oliver. The guy who cheated on Maya'

Oliver twitched and his jaw clenched. He didn't look happy now.

'I guess you must be her boyfriend?'

'As a matter of fact, yes I am'

Oliver eyed James for a bit and then gave a dry laugh right at his face. I just sat there looking from one person to the other.

'And how long have you been together, if I may ask?' he looked so cocky right now. I wanted to smack Oliver in the face. Or I wished James would punch him down or something.

'Longer than you ever was with her'

Oliver laughed loudly in the bar at James' reply.

'Dude, so you haven't got laid for more than six months. Wow, that's impressive. Unless you got it from the side like I did'

Did he just say that?

As the music wasn't too loud there were people around us who listened to our little conversation. I was flustered now.

This is not happening. This is so not happening!

All the attention was directed at us. More people were looking our way and James didn't say anything back for a while.

'I'm sorry to break it to you but I think you should back off now. It doesn't concern you how me and my girlfriend are spending our time together'

Nicely said, James. Even though a punch would have done so much better for my pride. Why is James so civil?

Now he was looking at me. I watched how Oliver turned his attention to me.

'Maya, you are the honest type. Seriously, do you really think that a man would wait on you this long? I'm sorry to burst your little bubble there, but you are almost forcing your boyfriend to cheat on you. Is that what you wa...'

Suddenly anger rushed across me and it resulted in my right hand forcing right through on Oliver's face.

Smack!

Oliver gawked at me in surprise. His left hand supported his cheek where I had smacked him. I gulped down my drink and then grabbed my purse and walked out of the bar. James followed me. I was furious. How could James get himself to do nothing? I mean, he was so chilled, and he didn't work himself up. Shouldn't a boyfriend protect his girlfriend when an asshole talked trash about me? I was so pissed right now.

'Hey, wait for me Maya'

I walked even faster now. How dare he walk behind me like a little dog when he was supposed to have my back like a real man!

'Maya, will you please stop?' he yelled.

I stopped walking and stomped on the ground. Then I turned around and glared at him.

'Are you for real James? I sat there and my ex-boyfriend completely humiliated me in front of strangers. He talked about our sex life and talked so badly about you and me. How could you just sit there silently?'. I panted because of walking so fast and my anger caused my heart to race also.

'Didn't it feel great to slap him?'

Huh?

I blinked twice and nodded at his question.

'Then it's settled. I didn't have to do anything' he just walked past me now with his blazer over his one shoulder.

'What do you mean?'

'Maya, I think you needed this more than anyone else. As I said before, you should learn to accept yourself before seeking acceptance from any man. And what you did there certainly showed that you weren't accepting his behavior. Trust me, I wanted to punch that asshole. I just wanted you to take action. You have been too good to him. And he crossed the line.'

My jaw was hanging down to my stomach. How on earth did I find a man like this? All this time I thought that it was the right thing if he started to punch Oliver. But he wanted me to fight for myself.

'James... What if I hadn't slapped him? Then what?'

'Oh, that's simple. Then I had punched him to the ground. But I wanted to give you the chance first. Women first, you know'

He winked at me with his one eye and then I couldn't hold it in anymore. I burst out laughing. Okay, so James did have my back after all. He was just kind enough to give me space to do the fighting myself first. How awesome was that?!

I definitely had the best boyfriend in the whole world. 

Dear lovely readers - This is a chapter dedicated to those who wished to have a little scene between James and Oliver. 

I knew it had to happen at some point and I figured that it went well here in this chapter. I sincerely hope that you like it, and please vote and comment on your thoughts!