[chapter ten]
Disclaimer: If you've heard of
them, I don't own them. Everything else is mine, so no stealing, pretty please.
;-)
**
"Chad!" Mia says with exasperation. "You gotta stop downloading stuff from the internet!"
Chad looks alarmed, his eyes flying to the computer screen. 'Don't be porn, don't be porn, don't be porn' he silently pleads until he sees a computer game he downloaded months ago pop up on the screen.
"These things are filled with viruses!" Mia explains, tapping away on the keys.
"Sorry, Mia." Chad apologizes like a child with his hand in the cookie jar, making Mia's expression soften.
"It's okay, just be careful." She relents with a small smile.
"Hey…" Chad says, trying to be as casual as possible. "There's a new restaurant on the other side of town. You hungry? We could go grab a bite…" He trails off, his fingers crossed behind his back.
He liked Mia. He wanted to see more of her.
'Wait, that didn't sound right', he thinks to himself, waiting for her answer.
Mia bites her lip shyly. "I…I don't know. I don't think so…maybe some other time."
"How come?"
"I…I have a lot of work to do." Mia explains weakly. "Sorry."
Chad shrugged, trying to be cool. "Sure. Yeah. Another time."
**
"Why didn't you go?" Faye asked, propping her cell phone on her shoulder as she edited her latest copy for Jimmie's website.
"I don't know." Mia said softly. "It's one thing to fix his computer or talk about movies. It's another to go…"
"On a date?" Faye filled in for her.
"Yeah. You know I'm no good at that stuff." Mia said dejectedly.
"You won't get good til you practice." Faye tried.
"Be quiet, Faye." Mia begged softly. "I just…I can't."
"He's a nice guy, Mia. Just remember that." Faye reminded her.
**
"She's cute, man." Chad said with a sigh. "In a little technonerd way. I just…I don't know."
Jimmie nodded, taking a sip of his beer. "You seen her lately?" He asked.
"Nah…but…I've been having computer problems a lot lately…" Chad said with an evil grin.
"Yeah?" Jimmie asked suspiciously, watching Chad inch towards his computer.
"Yeah." Chad said, his eyes meeting Jimmie's as he slowly upended the rest of his beer onto his keyboard.
Jimmie watched with a huge grin as Chad pretended to look shocked and aghast. "Oops. I guess I'll have to call Mia again."
"You're terrible, man."
"Just can't trust me with
these things." Chad said proudly, heading for the telephone.