36. My name is Miriam

"Really?! Thanks a lot. I thought you would reject me." He laughed nervously and raked his fingers through his hair. He was so happy. At least, it was a good sign that she also liked him. If not more, just a little. And he was very much okay.

Miriam kept looking at him. That was the same reaction of Maxwell back then, she thought. Wait, why was everything this guy did reminding her of Maxwell? She sighed.

They exchanged contacts and Maxwell asked.

"I still didn't get your name."

"Oh yeah. I'm..."

"Hey, girlfriend!!" She was interrupted yet again by a tipsy Janet who was staggering towards her. She flang her arms around Miriam's neck and laughed as she put all her weight on Miriam. It was obvious that she was drunk.

"Oh, that's my friend. Looks like we both have a drunk person to care for tonight." Miriam said to Maxwell and they both laughed.

"Anyway, I'll get going now. I'll see you around some other time." Miriam said as she dragged Janet towards her car. It was a good thing she knew how to drive. Else she wouldn't know what to do. She would have definitely taken a taxi or something, but what would she do with Janet's car?

Before they got any further, Maxwell stopped them.

"How are you going to get home? Did you come with a car?"

"Oh, yeah. It's right there." She pointed to the car. "And yes, I can drive."

Maxwell nodded and Miriam turned back and dragged Janet along. She was one hell of a heavy person, despite her slim nature, so she was having a hard time. But soon, she felt Janet's weight become lighter and she wondered why until she saw another arm brush past hers to hold Janet. She turned to the other side and saw Maxwell.

"I saw you struggling. I'll help you get her into the car." Maxwell said and Miriam could only nod. They got to the car and Miriam took the car keys from Janet's sling bag and unlocked it. They put her at the back seat and shut the door.

"Thanks for your help."

"Aish, don't mention. It's an even. You helped me earlier, remember?"

Miriam just laughed.

"Okay so I'll be going now." She smiled and turned around, walking to the driver's side, "And by the way, my name is Miriam." She got into the car and it soon sped off, leaving a dumbfounded Maxwell rooted to his spot.

Maxwell only blinked when his eyes began to sting. His mouth was left hanging. He was struck by the news like a bolt of lightning.

What??

She... she was called... Miriam??

Wait!! Was he just hallucinating? Did he hear clearly? Was it real?? Is it...

Different questions kept coming in and going out of his mind. But one thing kept ringing.

She was called Miriam!

A smile finally found it's way and crept onto his face. That's right. Now he understood.

Everything about this lady one way or the other related to the Miriam he knew. And now she just said she was called Miriam. Was that why he was attracted to her? Wait, he didn't know her name before he got attracted to her. Or was it her innocent aura? Or her familiar scent? He just couldn't tell.

He happily hopped into his car. He took a deep breath and released it heavily. He knew this lady was special. And he was very happy they had at least advanced from strangers to friends. He would find out more about her with time.

He started the ignition after wearing his seat belt, and that was when he heard a groan from the back seat. He turned and saw Lois. He pinched the space between his brows and laughed. He had completely forgotten about her.

"Lois?"

"Hmm?" She groaned her reply and she struggled to keep her eyes open to see who it was, "Maxwell? Are we home already? Why does it feel so hot in here?" She whined as she kept fidgeting in the seat. Maxwell quickly turned on the A.C. in the car and that seemed to have calmed her down after some few minutes.

"Just how much did you drink?" Maxwell mumbled worriedly as he hit the road and headed to Lois' apartment.

...

It was another brand new day, and, thank goodness it was Saturday, Miriam got the chance to sleep a little bit more. She still had the restaurant to work at, so she wasn't that free. Just that, instead of waking up early to prepare for a 7am lecture, she was supposed to be at the restaurant by 9am, so she had some few hours to rest more during weekends.

She got up around 7am and started with her daily routine. She brushed her teeth and washed her face. She quickly cleaned her room and the hall and dusted around a bit before proceeding to make breakfast. She heard some shuffling sounds in Janet's room when she was walking past her door and presumed she may be awake so she knocked.

"Jane, are you awake?" She asked and turned the door knob. It was unlocked, so she slightly pushed the door to peek.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm awake. I'm actually..."

"You're dressed up? Where are you going?" Miriam was surprised to see Janet all dressed up in a maroon gown that stopped at her knee. She had no shoes on, but she had a huge bail of dresses on her bed and she was busy turning herself in the mirror, checking herself out in the dress she was wearing. She stepped into the room with a questioning gaze.

"I'm not going anywhere today. I actually have a blind date tomorrow. One of those arranged dates. My parents actually called me this morning to tell me." Janet said in one breath, her eyes not leaving her reflection in the mirror.

Miriam frowned.

"A blind date." She more like stated rather than asked. She heard it clearly, she just needed an affirmation.

"Yup!" Janet replied rather enthusiastically and turned to her. "Does this look good on me?"

"Umm...yeahhh?" Miriam replied with a sceptical look. Wait, why was she so excited about a blind date? As far as she could remember, she was never happy going on such dates. She couldn't help but think.

"Wait, you look rather...happy. What's going on?" She couldn't stop herself from asking and sat on the bed, sweeping her gaze on the clothes on the bed before looking back at her face.

"Oh dear. You have no idea. I'm meeting this handsome heir. The son of the Holmes family." She beamed and dropped the dress she was holding on the bed and faced Miriam. "And you should see him! Oh. My. God!! He is freaking hot!" Janet exaggerated dreamily and cupped her own face with both hands.

"You already met him?"

"Not yet. You know, I was beginning to get pissed off when I got to know that was the reason for the call. But my dad sent me his picture and booyyyyy!!!"

"I'm a girl." Miriam corrected and rolled her eyes at her exaggeration.

"I mean it. I've never seen someone as handsome."

Miriam squinted.

"This coming from you sounds rather strange. So you mean he's more handsome than Connor?"

"Oh please. I'm in a good mood right now. And who's that one, again?"

Connor was Janet's ex boyfriend. He was so handsome that even Miriam who didn't like paying attention to guys couldn't help but give it to him. He was like every woman's dream guy. He was also the one that made Miriam detest relationships entirely because of what he did to Janet.

Connor had been in a relationship with one lady, whom he got to know later that she dated him for his looks and money, and also was sleeping with his best friend. Connor was so hurt that after breaking up with that lady, he resorted to playing other girls in an attempt to quench his anger. And Janet was the first victim of his revenge. He made Janet fall head over heels in love with him and dumped her. And as if that was not all, he came back begging, and Janet, being in love, accepted him, only for Connor to break her heart again by intentionally letting himself being caught by her cheating.