Forbidden Christmas

Maya's Pov

The fluorescent lights in my cubicle were giving me a headache again. I stared at the marketing report on my screen, the numbers blurring together as I reached for my third cup of coffee that morning.

My phone buzzed. Sophie's name flashed across the screen with a photo of us from last spring, both of us laughing at some joke I couldn't remember anymore.

"Hey, Soph," I answered, tucking the phone between my ear and shoulder.

"Maya! Oh my god, finally. I've been trying to reach you all morning."

Her voice had that high-pitched quality it got when she was excited or panicking. With Sophie, it was usually both.

"Sorry, meetings. What's up?"

"Okay, so don't say no right away. Just hear me out completely before you make any decisions."

I stopped typing. That was never a good sign.

"Sophie..."

"I want you to come home with me for Christmas. Like, actually home. To Colorado. To the estate."

My stomach dropped. "I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Please, Maya. It's two whole weeks in the mountains. We can ski, make cookies, and watch cheesy movies. It'll be like college again, except with better wine and a hot tub."

I pulled up my calendar. It was mostly empty except for a few client calls I could easily reschedule. Two weeks away from my tiny apartment and the memories of Jake that still lingered in every corner.

Jake. My ex-boyfriend decided two months ago that he needed to "find himself" in Thailand. Apparently finding himself required a twenty-two-year-old yoga instructor named Amber.

"I don't want to intrude on your family time," I said.

"Intrude? Maya, you ARE my family. You know that. Besides, it won't be some huge gathering. Just me, probably Jason, maybe Melissa if she can get off work. And Dad, obviously."

There it was. The reason my hands had gone cold despite the warm coffee mug.

Dad. Derek.

Sophie's father.

"Your dad will be there?" I tried to sound casual. Failed miserably.

"Well, yeah. It's his house. He's been asking about you, actually, he Wants to know how you're doing after the breakup."

My heart did something weird in my chest. "He asks about me?"

"All the time. You made quite an impression at my graduation. He said you asked really smart questions about his work. You know how Dad is about architecture."

I remembered that day three years ago with painful clarity. The way Derek had explained the design of the campus library, his hands moving as he talked, his voice deep and sure. The way he'd looked at me like I was worth listening to, not just some twenty-three-year-old kid.

I'd avoided every family gathering since then. Every Thanksgiving invitation, every birthday party. I always had an excuse ready. Work deadlines, prior commitments, a cold that suddenly appeared and disappeared.

The truth was simpler and so much more complicated.

I was attracted to my best friend's father. Had been for three years. And the guilt of it sat in my stomach like a stone.

"Maya? You still there?"

I blinked. "Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about work."

"Forget work. You have vacation days. Come on. I need this. After everything with Jason being so weird lately, I need my best friend. Please?"

I looked around my cubicle. Gray walls. Dying plant. Photo of me and Sophie from freshman year, both of us so young and happy.

"Okay," I heard myself say. "Yes. I'll come."

Sophie screamed so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear.

"Oh my god, yes! Okay, so flights are pretty cheap right now if you book soon. We're heading up on the 18th. This is going to be amazing, Maya. I promise."

After we hung up, I sat there staring at my computer screen. Two weeks. At Derek's estate. Where I'd have to see him every day. Talk to him. Sit across from him at dinner. Pretend I didn't think about him more than I should.

I could handle it. I was twenty-six years old, not some teenager with a crush. So what if Sophie's dad was attractive? It didn't mean anything.

I opened my browser and booked the flight. Roundtrip to Denver. December 18th to January 2nd. Non-refundable.

Then I navigated to my photos, scrolling back three years until I found Sophie's graduation. There were dozens of photos from that day. And then one where Sophie had insisted her dad get in the picture.

He stood slightly behind us, not quite comfortable with the attention. But he was smiling. A real smile.

I zoomed in, studying his face. Dark hair starting to gray at the temples. Strong jaw. Lines around his eyes that suggested he smiled more than he frowned. Forty-one then. Forty-four now.

Sophie said he took the divorce hard after her graduation. Threw himself into work, spent most nights in his workshop designing things he never built.

I wondered if he was seeing anyone now. Sophie never mentioned it.

Not that it mattered. Not that I should care.

I closed the photo and set my phone face down on my desk.

"Get it together," I muttered to myself.

The rest of the day crawled by. By the time I got home to my apartment, I was exhausted. My apartment looked exactly how I'd left it that morning. Messy. Quiet. Empty in a way that made my chest hurt.

I'd been so sure Jake was it. Three years together. I'd imagined a whole future that turned out to be nothing but air.

I ordered Thai food and ate it while scrolling through my phone. I*******m was full of couples and engagement announcements and people whose lives seemed so much more together than mine.

I was about to close the app when I saw it. A notification. A message request from someone not in my contacts.

My finger hovered over it.

I clicked it anyway.

The message was short. Simple. But it made my hands start shaking.

"Looking forward to seeing you again, Maya —Derek."

I stared at the words until they blurred.

He had my number. He was texting me. He was looking forward to seeing me.

I read it five times. Ten. Was this just polite? Just a dad being nice to his daughter's friend? Or was there something else in those words?

My thumbs moved to type a response. Stopped. Started again. Stopped.

What was I supposed to say?

I set the phone down. Picked it up. Set it down again.

This was fine. Everything was fine. I was going to Colorado, spending Christmas with my best friend, being a normal person who didn't have weird, inappropriate feelings for men old enough that this was wrong.

My phone buzzed again.

Another message.

"Sophie said you're coming. Made my day. See you soon."

Made his day.

I pressed the phone to my chest and closed my eyes.

Two weeks. I could handle two weeks.

I had to.