Dub sent Maia a text, presumably asking if they had dinner plans, or maybe asking how much time they had before boarding the train. He said he was cool to hang, so I told him the restaurant had a strict dress code and I was going to pop over to Dad’s house to shower and change. But after the words left my mouth, I realized I didn’t know where Dub came from or how long it would take him to get there, so I invited him to come and freshen up if he wanted to. He looked kind of relieved. Did he think I’d leave him or something? Weird.
He looked around and grinned, seemingly impressed with the restaurant, which pleased me because I got at least two aspects of the tour right. Once we were seated, I channeled my mother and wasted zero time getting to the bottom of his relationship status.
“So…this Maia…are you two…”
He may have rolled his eyes, but he never stopped grinning.
“I knew you were going to ask!”
“I mean, you only brought her up 87 times. How could I not?”
“Ha ha,” he said, flatly. “Anyway… I don’t know, man. I mean, I can see us together for sure, but she dropped something heavy on me today.”
“Ouch.”
I don’t know why, but I remembered Yasmine telling me about her open relationship lifestyle. I was so put off by it, not because I wanted a relationship with her, but I thought we were going to have fun for a little while. Knowing that made me want to hang with her a lot less. Hopefully Maia’s news was nowhere close to what Yasmine told me.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “Do you think you can recover and move past it?”
“I think so.”
I was very glad to hear that. She sounded like a good sim.
“I like her. A lot. So what she told me shouldn’t matter, but still… On top of that, there’s this other girl from back home. She popped up on my Social Bunny today and is now on my mind again. But she’s off limits, so…I don’t know. I’m sorry, dude, I’m rambling. I didn’t mean to drop all this on you. I don’t have anyone to talk about this with. Anyway, how about? Do you have a girlfriend?”
I felt for him because he reminded me so much of myself. Why couldn’t life ever be simple?
“You’re good, man. Seriously. I actually don’t have any men in my life to talk to either—except my dad. I’ve enjoyed your company today.”
He nodded. A half smile spelled his relief.
“But yeah, I have a girlfriend. Actually, I’ve been thinking about…well, that’s why I was out here today. I’ve had a lot on my mind too, and I thought a walk around the lake would help.”
“How long have you two been together?”
“Officially? Since early winter, but…well…long story.”
He chuckled.
“Complicated, huh? I’m very familiar with that.”
“What about you? How long have you known Maia?”
“Sometimes it seems like I’ve always known her, but it’s been like a week. Weird, right? My dad once told me that’s what it feels like when you’re in love. But how can I love someone I’ve only just met? My parents have an incredible marriage, so I know he knows what he’s talking about, but it’s crazy.”
Gosh, he sounded just like me a week or so ago. At least he could get all of this figured out early in life. At halfway through my young adult stage, I felt like I wasted a lot of time being confused and scared, and I was glad to see him asking these questions and searching for answers.
“It is crazy, but you are not crazy,” I said. “I know exactly what you mean because I felt the same way when I first started talking to Sophia. I didn’t understand it until recently, but I think your dad is 1000% correct.”
“So that’s her name. I was wondering. What’s on your mind that’s got you walking lakes in the middle of the day? Unless that’s too personal…”
“No, it’s cool. We’ve had a lot of serious conversations about the future lately, and I think maybe it’s time things stopped being hypothetical…if you know what I mean.”
“I think I do.”
“Yeah… Big movies, man.”
He nods in agreement.
“Big moves.”
