fifty shades of why // cornelius + maya
Toy store. The words had been stuck in Maya’s mind for the past hour, since Cornelius decided to put on yet another blindfold on her and surprise her – as if the trip to New York hadn’t been enough of a surprise already. She was slowly but surely getting used to Cornelius taking her places without as much of a moment’s notice, though New York had almost been the last drop for her seeing as he had practically taken her there against her will. The boy had a tendency to try and turn her entire world upside down whenever he felt like it and Maya had a hard time saying no, despite her better judgement and morals. And because of her inability to say no to Cornelius, she was now blindfolded in a car towards destination unknown with the only hint being ‘toy store’. With Cornelius being as immature as he was, it could’ve easily been something as simple as Toys’R’Us or even FAO Schwarz, except she had a hard time convincing herself that it was.
As the car came to a stop, Maya blindly reached to open the door and slowly but carefully got out to stand on her feet. Without really waiting for Cornelius telling her to take it off, Maya moved a hand up to remove the blindfold. The first thing she noticed was the slightly sketchy neighborhood they were in, her nose scrunching up ever so slightly as she took a step closer to Cornelius, almost scared someone would show up out of nowhere to snatch her purse. But as she took in the sights around her, she realized this was no place for a toy store, at least not the one she’d had in mind. Fixing her eyes on a shop window right in front of them, she frowned as the word ‘sex’ glowed in red neon lights.
“Cornelius.. Did you just bring me to a sex shop?”
Home was a foreign concept to someone like Cornelius, whose life could be packed in a single suitcase and shoved onto the storage unit of a private jet. The semester spent at Westfield Preparatory was, by far, the longest time he’d spent in one place at a time since his grandmother insisted that the entire family be raised under the same roof. Those thoughts were quickly shattered with her prized pearls. He could still remember her expression when she spotted them falling down the endless staircase, piece by piece. Still, New York came pretty damn close. After all, this was the city their family’s legacy truly rose.
Despite where he went and what was going on in his life, he always managed to find himself back in New York one way or another. For that reason, he couldn’t just give Maya the usual tourist attractions. He couldn’t just take her to the Statue of Liberty or Broadway for a show. She needed the authentic New York experience before starstruck with the glitz and glamour. It was from there that the perfect idea formed.
“Isn’t it fantastic,” he answered with a grin, his arms outstretched to embrace the area around them. Admittedly, this neighborhood was not the safest; if he hadn’t chosen to take a cab there, he’d no doubt that his car would have been stolen the instant he turned his back. There was another advantage to having taken a cab: once it was gone, there was no going back. He threw his arm around Maya, leading the duo towards the door. “Come on, we’re here already, we might as well have a look,” he suggested. “We’ll buy you something kinky,” he added with a wink, pushing back the door.
