𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 → 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐦

𝟎𝟐𝟕

"oh jude, what were you thinking son?" denise sighed, shaking her head at jude once again.

at least five minutes had gone by and maya hadn't made her way back yet. everyone had sat down at their tables waiting for dinner to be served while the song 'sweet caroline' played in the background.

jude said nothing. he sat in his chair with his head hung low and his hands clasped between his thighs.

jude's dad put his hand on his shoulder and let out a little chuckle, "jude, mate you've had a howler!"

"yeah thanks for that dad," jude snickered
and rolled his eyes which made mark and denise laugh a bit more.

"oh wait here she comes," denise whispered as she turned her head to smile at maya.

when maya flashed a smile back, she radiated warmth all across the room. although she was probably pretending, it was like nothing had even happened. maya's squint smile was so contagious, that denise and mark couldn't stop themselves from smiling either.

but when maya's gaze shifted onto jude, the corners of her mouth dropped into a frown. to jude's surprise, maya then chose to sit next to denise instead of him.

before the restaurant staff quickly served everyone's food, jude's parents shared some cordial conversations with maya and really hit it off. jude didn't say much at all while the rest discussed things like maya's background, differences between birmingham and manchester and football in general. then after noticing his unusual silence, to help jude out, his parents made an excuse to leave the couple on their own.

"sorry excuse us darling, we're just going to get some other drinks." denise announced which was met with a nod from maya.

maya stood up from her seat to follow the parents to the beverages, but jude grabbed her wrist before she could leave.

"please. maya."

she twisted around to face him. as much as she wanted to scream and leave anyway, she resisted. unwilling to cause a scene, maya had no other choice but to give in. also jude's pleading eyes almost made her feel like the guilty one.

"what is it now," maya growled as she sat down beside him.

"babe i'm sorry, i really am-"

"you can't just call me babe after you mugged me off in front of everyone. besides do you call your other friends 'baby' or is it just me?" maya interrupts him, she doesn't raise her voice at all but her tone captures her rage perfectly.

jude shook his head and reached out to hold both her hands.

after glancing over at the people walking past, maya then said, "look we'll discuss this in private later. let's just enjoy the dinner for now."

jude agreed, he knew she was right and there was no point of fighting back at that point.