I tossed and turned all night, plagued by vivid, terrifying nightmares that left me feeling exhausted and on edge. I’m surprised I didn’t wake Sophia. A heaviness sat on me like a thick sweater, so I sat on the edge of the bed, reminding myself of Sophia’s words: I’m okay, we’re all okay. If I ever needed a yoga session before, it’s now. But when my little lady finds out I did it without her, she’ll be upset. I want her to sleep. Between our travels and our traumatic night, we all need rest today. I went downstairs so I wouldn’t disturb Sophia and hopped on Social Bunny to see everyone’s Winterfest pictures. No sooner than I sat, Maira sent me a text with two pictures in it. No context. Just two extremely random pictures that raised all kinds of questions.
All my alarms blared. This snake duped my friend, and I wanted to knock some sense into him. I didn’t need this kind of energy today. My finger was just about to hit the call button when her face popped up; I never answered a phone call so quickly.
“What in the world, Maira!!!”
“Calm down, Luca. Let me explain.”
“Why would you send me those?? Why not just call and THEN send the pictures??”
“I wanted to surprise you!”
“Well, I’m not surprised! I’m concerned! Who is this man?? And why are you both in white?! Please tell me you didn’t marry him!”
“I can’t do that.”
“MAIRA!”
“Well, if you’d just listen!!”
“FINE!”
They met about a week ago and eloped yesterday, and it took everything I had not to scream. Yes, I see the irony of being upset about this when I moved into Sophia’s house after one date. But Maira is someone I care about, and she has a history of men trying to take advantage of her. It also reminded me of Alessia’s situation all over again. I kept saying to myself, I don’t need this right now and muted myself so I could take deep breaths. But as her story came together, I calmed down. Oliver O’Keefe is his name, but he didn’t sound like a snake at all. Honestly, he sounded like a proper gentleman. Maira is super clumsy and tripped while walking up some stairs at a restaurant. Oliver was coming down on the other side and helped her up. The next day, she went back to the restaurant, and I’m sure you guessed it; he was there. They arrived around the same time, and she invited him to dine with her. Turns out he’s a big foodie and was obsessed with the restaurant. They had hilarious conversations and learned a lot about each other. She wanted more, so she gave him her number. To her surprise, he called a few hours later, saying he wanted to make sure she got home okay, and that she wasn’t sprawled out at the bottom of anymore stairs. Funny. I gave him points for that one. They talked for the rest of the night—the rest of the week, actually. She invited him out every day, and he always left her wanting more. They had chemistry, but she cared for him in ways she’s never cared for anyone. I could tell even in her voice that she had stumbled upon something special. She kept her feelings to herself for a while because it seemed crazy to have fallen in love that fast, but she couldn’t deny it for long. Earlier this week, she invited him to her place to confess. She told him she’d understand if he didn’t feel the same and needed to step away, but he confessed to feeling the same. He respected her and didn’t want to put her off by making a move too soon. Needless, they had an amazing night, if you know what I mean. The next few days were quite epic, too. Finally, on Winterfest Eve, he invited her to an address in Chestnut Ridge. She felt special because he’d never asked her out before. She got dressed up, thinking it was a date spot, but when she arrived, it was just an old ranch. He acquired it long ago and restored it gradually until it was move-in ready, but he didn’t want to live there alone. And he wasn’t looking for a roommate, either. He wanted a companion to fill the space with love; Someone to enjoy the journey with him; A partner worthy of being a mother to his children. He wanted a wife. He wanted Maira.
I was all smiles by the time her story was over. My dreams for her had finally come true! I always wanted her to open herself up to love, and I wanted a worthy man to see her. He sounds worthy, but I’ll reserve judgment until we meet because he could still be a snake. Predators don’t strike right away. She invited us to hang out with them for New Year’s Eve tomorrow if Sophia and I didn’t have anniversary plans. I told her we had just gotten back in town and weren’t gonna do anything for a while, and we’d be happy to swing by.
