mya-rhodes

[mya-rhodes]

Anne Hathaway

[mya-rhodes]

@romanrhodes

Having nerves when coming back home was an odd feeling. It should have been the place that she could have always come back to. The safe haven. Mya wanted it to be that. She needed it. And yet, her gut felt tight and her fingers tingled with anticipation on how her coming home would be received. Her grand idea of just popping up seemed less ideal now that she was pulling in. Maybe he would have preferred a call or a text. Not that the two had exchanged any of those recently.

Getting out of the car, the familiar scent hit her. Just like that she was brought back to those long sunny days, running around until she was forced to come inside. She could almost hear her mother's voice calling her but just as quickly that all too familiar ache settled in. One that never seemed to leave no matter the time. She had just gotten to the steps when the creek of the door caused her eyes to move up. "Hey, Ro." Her greeting was gentle, a small smile to go along with it as if it not had been years since she last saw him.

[mya-rhodes]

Mya Rhodes. 38. Native. Sutherland Park. She/her. Heterosexual. Waitress.

The Cliffnotes:

The youngest of the Rhodes siblings

Previously worked in the music industry

Now works at Rivero's

+ passionate, creative, compassionate

- impulsive, flighty, short-sighted

Unabridged story...

tw: miscarriage, tw: cancer, death

Mya Rhodes had always been the carefree spirit. Wild curls often knotted up as she ran around the family farm. She loved working along her family. Whether at home getting dirt in her fingernails as she played in the gardens that her mother and brother tended to. Or at the diner given the task to fill salt and pepper shakers as she talked to her grandparent's behind the register. Every day was filled with fun for the youngest Rhodes and she never wanted any of that to change.

After her 13th year, it seemed that change was all that life was going to give her. The bright days on the farm darkened as her beautiful mother was quickly being drained away by her cancer diagnosis. It felt like before she could even understand how sick her mother was, she was already leaving them. With her death it seemed that only more would change. Roman left and things were so different at home. Her mom felt like the bridge that connected everything. Things began to feel more separate.

They never had been a perfect family but maybe being forced to grow up by life's cruel events just opened her eyes more to the discord of her life. Her father and brother's fought and her grandparents eventually joined her mother. Her only escape was music. Whether it was to drown out a fight or find peace from her own burdens, Mya would put on her headphones and let herself be taken over by the artist's work. The older she got she knew that she couldn't let her future be in East Havens. She needed something more than to hold on to what was.

Moving to LA was the most terrifying and exciting thing Mya had ever done. The city of dreams was a cut throat world. Everyone wanted connections on a resume that she didn't have. She didn't let that deter her, finding her way into an internship. She knew that all she needed was to get her foot in the door and then she would prove herself. And she did just that.

However hard the other entry level employees worked, she worked harder. She stayed longer. Went the extra mile. Made herself needed and it worked. After eating through her savings a full time job offer came just in time. She found herself working under one of the best producers in the company. He was so naturally gifted. Seeing him work with the artists and technicians was like watching magic happen. He inspired her and reminded her of why she wanted this.

He saw something in Mya, taking her under his wing. The pair ended up spending a lot of time together. Late night in the studio going over tracks. Taking her with him as he scouted out some local talent. For a long time attraction grew but they fought it off, trying to keep things professional. That lasted for a while but then they both caved leading them into a long affair.

They were discreet, allowing them to carry on. They were both so passionate about the music and each other. It wasn't just a hot fling. Mya began to develop deep feelings for him and he reciprocated. The two were in love and it was the most raw beautiful thing she had ever felt. In time they would be together, he promised, but she knew why they couldn't just make it happen. The situation was delicate. They had to think about how it would reflect on work relationships.

So Mya was patient. Waiting for them to have their time. In the meantime she enjoyed what they had and the work. That all would come crashing down as their secret was found out. A little office gossip spread like wildfire. Not only did everyone at work know but so did his wife. Just as she was creating a place for herself as a promising producer that was thrown away and instead she was marked with the Scarlett Letter. Her worth was being questioned. Her skills doubted. HR was brought in and Mya knew that even if they cleared it all up that working there would never be the same.

Quitting her job, it wasn't until after that she had come to realize that she was pregnant. Jobless with a tarnished reputation she didn't even know where she stood with the now father of her child. With everything going on they had agreed to take a step back until things cooled off. Now with the baby inside her that felt like a shorter timeline. Mya had never seen herself as a mom, but there was an unexpected desire to have a family again. One like before everything got destroyed. Before her brother's fought. Before her mom passed. She could see it all with this baby and the father.

What she wanted didn't matter though as life made the decision for her. Mya miscarried. The one light she saw in her future now gone. And was left with a heaviness. She had never told him about the baby and so she decided to not tell him off the loss either. She was completely loss and this city that held so much for her was now just a huge weight of grief. For the love that she had with him that now seemed like a past problem. For the job career she came here for. For the child she wanted to raise. And for herself. Now only feeling a shell of herself.

Needing a sign of what to do next, she had an answer when she stumbled on article with her brother's, Roman, picture on it. Everything pointed to going home. While she had left to escape the past, somehow now it was the past that felt needed to heal.