[chapter fourteen]
Disclaimer: If you've heard of
them, I don't own them. Everything else is mine, so no stealing, pretty please.
;-)
**
Chad sat at his kitchen table, absently biting a nail and watching the clock.
12:22.
No Mia.
What the hell? He had said noon, right? She heard him say that. So where the hell was she?
He stood to go to the phone, then reconsidered. He didn't want to go all stalker-y. Maybe something came up. Maybe she had a rush job to handle.
He'd call her this afternoon, just to make sure she was okay.
Absently, he picked at his food, remembered the night before and wondering where Mia was at that moment.
**
"Hello?" Mia asked, not recognizing the phone number on her cell phone's caller ID.
"Mia? Hi, it's Chad." She melted at the sound of his deep voice and almost tripped over her own two feet as she walked towards her car.
"Hi." She said shortly, suddenly remembering her thoughts from the night before.
"Where were you for lunch? I was kinda worried." Chad asked.
"Chad." Mia said, straightening her shoulders with resolve. "Let's not do this, okay?"
"Do what?" He asked, his voice filled with confusion. "Eat?"
"No…" She said, pressing two fingers to her throbbing temple. "This. This whole scene. Let's not."
"But last night, we…"
"Last night was last night. You got what you wanted, okay? It was just…" Mia almost choked on the word. "…just fucking, okay?"
"What?!" Chad's voice rose an octave with that one word. "What are you talking about?!"
"I know what this was about, so let's just leave it." Mia said. "Okay?"
"No, I don't know what this is about." Chad argued. "Why're you doing this? What's going on? Mia? Talk to me!"
Mia tried to keep her voice even. "You got what you wanted, okay. What more do you want from me?" She asked, disconnecting the call quickly as tears began to fall, blurring her vision and making her gasp for air as she felt a sob rise in her throat.
Chad stared at the phone, the tone buzzing in his ear. "You." He whispered to the empty office. "I want you, Mia."
**
"You look like hell." Jimmie said cheerfully, pulling up a chair beside Chad.
"Thanks." Chad muttered, thumbing through hundreds of pages of notes.
"What happened, man? You've been in asshole mode all day." Jimmie asked, not unkindly.
"Bad day." Chad said shortly.
"How come?"
"Jesus, Jimmie, can't you leave me alone?!" Chad demanded, snapping his gaze to meet Jimmie's.
Jimmie said nothing as he stared at his best friend.
Chad sighed deeply, then looked back at his notes. "I had a late night."
"Because…" Jimmie prompted.
"Mia was over."
Jimmie whooped and clapped Chad on the back. "That's great, man! I knew you guys would get together eventually. Well, I didn't know, but Faye told me you would."
"Yeah, well." Chad said.
"But…" Jimmie tried again.
"MiablewmeoffforlunchandhatesmenowandIdon'twanttotalkaboutit." Chad said quickly. "Okay?"
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Damn. How come?"
"If I knew that, would I be sitting here with you or over at my place with her?" Chad demanded angrily. "Leave me alone, Jimmie. Please."
Jimmie nodded and stood up, resting a hand on Chad's shoulder for a moment. "It'll work out, man. Don't worry about it. She's crazy about you."
"How do you know?" Chad asked softly.
"Well, I don't, but Faye told me." Jimmie said, blushing. "I'm here if you need me."
"Thanks, man."