[chapter nineteen]
Disclaimer: If you've heard of
them, I don't own them. Everything else is mine, so no stealing, pretty please.
;-)
**
He called in sick.
She called in sick.
And aside from a dishtowel that Chad caught on fire trying to make lunch, he and Mia had spent a perfectly lazy day together.
Chad smiled as he watched Mia, her face glowing in reflection of the flickering images on the television screen. She saw him out of the corner of her eye and turned to meet his gaze.
"Are you watching me, or this movie?" She asked with a grin.
"You." Chad said simply.
"Why?" Mia questioned.
"Because you're just so cute." Chad said with a smile. After a short pause, he spoke again. "Do you think I'm cute?"
"No." Mia said seriously. "I'm just using you for sex."
Chad laughed as he lunged for her, laying her body beneath his. "Oh, you're gonna pay for that."
**
"Okay, I've got you set up with a Intel® Pentium® M processor at 1.3, 1.4 and 1.6 GHz with On-die 1 MB L2 cache, a 32 KB Internal L1 Cache, a 400 MHz external BUS frequency and a Intel® 855PM chipset ." Mia rattled off as Chad lazily watched her click through the web ordering form.
"Ooh. I love it when you talk dirty." Chad grinned.
"Wait til I start telling you about the cable broadband and the programs I'm gonna put on here." Mia teased.
"Mm…talk more computer geek speak."
"Wanna hear about the CPU again?" Mia laughed.
**
Faye answered the phone breathlessly as she dropped her purse by the front door. "Hello?"
"Hi honey, it's me." Jimmie's voice brought a smile to her face as she sat down on the floor.
"Hi baby. What's up?" Faye cooed.
"Can you do me a favor? Chad called in sick - which he never does. Can you run by his place and check on him?"
Faye's brow creased in concern. "Sure. Did he mention not feeling well?"
"No, but then, he's barely talked about anything for weeks. I feel like he's totally closed himself off from me. I don't know what's wrong."
"Lovesick?" Faye asked. "I thought he and Mia had worked things out that night we had dinner, but then…nothing since. I'm guessing they are through and he's just not telling us…"
"Could be. Check on him for me?"
"I'll go over right now." Faye assured him.
**
"Chad? Sweetie, it's Faye." Faye said, pushing open Chad's front door tentatively. "Jimmie said that you…"
Faye trailed off as she wandered into the family room, where Chad and Mia were snuggled together, cozily watching a movie. Her jaw dropped as she registered the two of them together before throwing them both an evil smile.
"Oh. I'm guessing you won't need this Tylenol Cold and Flu. Find a better medicine?" She asked evilly as Chad and Mia disentangled themselves and stood up.
"Uh…" Chad stammered, not sure what to say, his cheeks flushing.
"Right. Okay. I'll just be going." Faye said smoothly but with a broad smile. "Feel better." She said sarcastically.
"Hang on, I'll walk you out." Mia said meekly. "Lemme grab my shoes."
Faye leveled a stare at Chad as she stepped before him. "Tomorrow, Jimmie and I are going to kill you." She said sweetly.
Chad grinned as he stuck his hands in his pocket and rocked on his heels. "Okay." He said happily and Faye laughed.
Moments later, she and Mia were in the driveway - Mia giving Faye a brief rundown of the last few weeks, and her sudden "illness". "We would have told you, but…"
"It's okay. Honestly." Faye said with a smile. "But I'm planning to kick your ass for keeping me in suspense for so long! I've been so worried about you!"
"I know." Mia said, impulsively kissing Faye on the cheek before stepping back with a small shiver from the cold breeze blowing. "I'll call you tomorrow with the full, gory details."
"You better." Faye smiled as she climbed into her car, waving at Chad who had materialized on the front porch.
Faye smiled to herself as she pulled out of the driveway, noticing the scene before her.
Chad had taken his jacket and wrapped Mia inside, her body completely covered by the material, his head resting on the top of her head, their arms around each other. She giggled as Chad dropped a kiss onto Mia's forehead, making Mia smiled up at him adoringly.
They were really too disgustingly
cute.