9. Mia
Mia
SOUTH brONX CLASSICAL
Wednesday
“This is surreal,” Lilly agreed.
“No, it’s batshit crazy. That’s what it is,” I whispered.
We were alone in the staffroom, but after my near-miss with Kira at our door yesterday, I didn’t want to chance being overheard.
“What is happening here?” I asked, hoping Lilly had an answer.
“Well, we could look at the facts.” Lilly held up a finger. “One: You didn’t get along with the band over the summer fundraiser. Or Theo.”
A second finger went up. “Two: You ran into him weeks later at the bookstore while trying to buy one of the only available copies of a viral book, and it turned out to be for his daughter.”
A third finger lifted into the air. “Three: He showed up to class on the first day and badmouthed you to our boss.”
Her fourth finger joined the rest. “Four: He showed up last night to volunteer as the set designer and actually saved you from a falling wooden plank.” She wiggled her hand. “Is that everything?”
I nodded. “I run into him three times in a single week, and then he saves me? This isn’t how real life works.”
I had every right to panic at this point. One or two run-ins I could chalk up to coincidence, but three?
“I don’t know a single other person this has happened to,” Lilly agreed.
“So the universe has it in for me, right?”
Lilly gave me a soft, you’re-so-daft look. “We don’t believe in ‘the universe’, Mia.”
I threw out my hands, exasperated. “But what else could it be? This isn’t a normal thing that just happens. Is it?”
She had that cheeky gleam in her eyes as she said, “Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. But if it is the universe, it’s definitely punishing you.”
I knew she was teasing me, but still. “Why, though? What did I do to upset it?”
“Well…” She raised a brow and pretended to look thoughtful. “This started after you teased me about reading romance, so...”
I connected the dots as soon as she said the words, folded my arms, and glared at her. “You think I’m being punished by the universe for teasing you about your horny novels?”
She shrugged, but couldn’t fight her grin. “Maybe.”
“That’s a stretch, don’t you think?”
She was positively gleeful now. “It’s the universe, Mia. It’s all-powerful. If it wanted to throw you into an enemies-to-lovers plot as payback for mocking my favorite genre, what’s to stop it?”
I groaned. “Okay, okay, you win. It isn’t the universe. But then, is this really just happening?”
Lilly shrugged. “I guess it is.”
I collapsed into a chair. “And I’m just supposed to accept it? Theo and I are forced to work together until the play’s done?”
“It won’t be so bad. Theo’s nice enough.”
I shot her a look that could’ve pickled marmalade. “He has the personality of a wet dog’s ass.”
She laughed, then had the audacity to point out, “Oh, come on. You’ve dated worse than him. Remember Walter? He rolled his eyes at everything you said.”
Well, Lilly had a point.
Walter wasn’t great. But it wasn’t exactly easy to find someone who… liked me past a certain point. Either my humor was too sarcastic, too dry, or just too much. Lilly was the only long-term relationship I’d ever managed.
But I didn’t miss dating. Not once I’d discovered the one-hundred-percent success rate of a good vibrator.
Still, I gave her a pout. “He was really good at licking my clit.”
She raised a brow. “And that makes the way he treated you okay?”
“No, but at least I was getting orgasms out of him. What do I get out of Theo? I’m morally obligated not to fuck him.”
“I’m really glad you remembered that.”
I gestured to my forehead. “I’d rather get a bull’s ass tattooed here before sleeping with him.”
She held her breath, then seemed to make a decision as a breathy, “Okay,” escaped from her in a puff of air. “Let’s focus on what we can control here. Your classes are going well?”
My shoulders dropped. I wasn’t sure I was done talking about this, but Lilly was right. I had to focus on what I could control, and that included getting through my days until Theo disappeared from my life.
“Yes. And my program students have their first practice grading at the end of this week.”
Lilly’s brows shot up. “Wow. That’s fast.”
“Well, if we want them to get those spots, we have to treat this seriously.”
“That’s true... You’ll let me know if you have any problems?”
“You mean if I have another Theo sighting?” I drawled. At the look on Lilly’s face, I added, “Fine, yes. Of course I will.”
Not too long later, the bell rang. And wouldn’t you know it? The rest of the week passed by without an issue.
Maybe the whole universe thing was in my head after all.