21. Mia
21
MIA
After Theo leaves, I sit in the newly renovated sunroom, staring out at the garden. The newly tinted windows have transformed the space, and it’s hard to believe how different it looks now. It’s a lot like how I’m starting to see Theo. I never thought he would help me, and I certainly never thought he’d be so open and vulnerable.
When he admitted that he was afraid of failure, I just wanted to pull him into my arms and tell him that I felt exactly the same way. I wanted to lay my head on his shoulder and stop thinking about all the worries that are weighing me down.
He’s not just some ambitious man trying to take money from any place he can.
Later that evening, I meet up with my friends at Groovy Grounds. It’s on the sound side of Oak Island, and we started coming here in our freshman year of high school.
It holds a lot of memories.
I can see that my friends are already sitting at a round table in the corner, but I stand in line to order my drink. A perky blonde whose name tag reads Addison smiles at me. “What can I get for you today?”
I realize that I’ve spent my whole time in line thinking about Theo instead of what I’m going to order. The panic in my eyes must show. Addison looks at me pityingly. “If you’re a strong coffee lover, I recommend the minty mocha. It has a Christmas feel to it. If not, our Frappuccino’s are pretty good.”
“Sure, the strawberry Frappuccino is fine. And…do you have something sweet?” I crane my neck around to look at the sweet case as Addison rattles off their names.
“Sure, that blueberry muffin sounds good.” It’s not much of a dinner, but I think I deserve a couple of treats after the day I’ve had.
“I’ll call your name when your order is ready,” Addison says, and I slink over to the table where my friends are sitting. As soon as I sit down, Madison raises an eyebrow. “You look different, Mia. What’s going on?”
I bite my lip, wondering where to start. “Well, Theo helped me with the sunroom today.”
Stella nearly chokes on her drink. “Theo? As in Theo-the-annoying-neighbor turned businessman?”
I can’t stop the silly smile spreading across my face at that remark. “Yes, that Theo. He offered to help, and we spent the entire day working on it together.”
“And?” Aurora prompts, leaning in. “What was it like? What was he like?”
I take a deep breath, trying to put my feelings into words. “It was...surprising. He was really helpful, and we actually got a lot done. We talked about a lot of things, and he opened up about his fears and why he started his business. It was different. He was different. He was more…genuine.”
Madison narrows her eyes. “Are you saying you’re starting to like him?”
I shrug, feeling a bit defensive. “I don’t know. Maybe. He’s not as bad as I thought. There’s more to him than I realized.”
Madison exchanges a worried glance with Stella. “Just be careful, Mia. He’s got a lot riding on that resort, and we don’t want you getting hurt.”
“I actually,” Stella raises a finger like a student in class. “If I may…”
We all turn to her, and she flips her green hair–she must have dyed it since the last time I saw her–over her shoulder. “I spoke to Theo.”
“You what ?”
“What did you say?”
“Well, we talked about you , of course.”
I lean toward Stella, wanting to know every detail. “And?”
Aurora motions for Stella to continue. Zoey lays a hand on my elbow. I hear my name suddenly called from the counter, and I realize my drink is ready.
I give Stella a look that says she better not say anything until I get back. Once I have my drink in hand, I slip into my chair again, taking a sip from the cool drink.
“And?” I say again.
Stella smiles broadly. “I just told him that he better be careful with you. That he shouldn’t break your trust, and he has to decide if this resort thing is more important or if you’re more important.”
Madison slaps her hands over her mouth, and Aurora rolls her eyes. But she’s smiling. I don’t know how I feel about knowing Stella has my back.
“It’s so hard to tell, but…I think he’s trying. I think he really wants to make things right. I think he’s choosing me over expanding his resort.”
“Just promise us you’ll be cautious. We don’t want you getting hurt,” Zoey says, tapping my elbow again.
“I promise, but I think I need to give this a chance. He deserves that much. I mean, the physical chemistry is there. So…”
“Wait. How do you know the physical chemistry is there?” Aurora asks.
“We may have kissed…again without you guys watching.” I’m not willing to admit anything else.
Everyone makes their own hoots or whistles or giggles. I hang my head in embarrassment, sure that everyone else in the coffee shop is looking at us.
Finally, the group moves on from me. Madison is talking about the puppy she just got, showing us as many photos as we can handle. “But he’s literally bored out of his mind. That’s why I think starting a surfing school would be great. He could come to the place with me, and he wouldn’t be trapped inside all day. Right now, he’s already chewed up two shoes–not the same pair of course–and a plastic kitchen spoon.”
“Puppies are supposed to chew things up,” Zoey informs her.
“But not this much. Anyway, I already got him a dog walker. She comes during lunch. Her name is Emery, and she loves him. She sends me pictures every day, and he looks like he’s having the best time.”
We all congratulate Madison on her puppy and give her different advice we remember from having dogs over the years, but I mostly stay silent. I’m thinking about what’s going to happen when I see Theo again, when I talk to him about what I’m thinking.
The next day, I decide to talk to Theo. I can’t just hold these thoughts in anymore. I can’t deny the way I feel when I’m around him, and I don’t want to let fear hold me back, even though a little bit of doubt is still floating around.
I find Theo in his office. I feel more comfortable striding into the partially finished resort now.
“Hey, Mia. What’s up?”
“Can we talk?” Nerves hit me, and I suddenly want to back away. “I mean, if you have time. I get it if you’re busy or something.”
Theo rolls up the sheet of paper he was looking at and motions for me to sit down. But I can’t. I just want to rock back and forth. I force myself to stand ramrod straight.
“What’s on your mind, Mia?”
I take a deep breath, gathering my courage. “I’ve been thinking a lot about us, and about everything that’s happened. I know we’ve had our differences, and I know things have been complicated. But I also know I’ve seen a different side of you lately. And I think... I think I want to give this a chance, like what you said yesterday.”
His eyes widen in surprise. “You mean…us? Like, a relationship?”
I feel giddy just admitting it out loud. And seeing the way Theo’s face lights up makes me think this might be the right decision after all. “Yes, I want to try. I want to see where this can go.”
“Mia, I’ve… well, I told you how I feel yesterday, but I think that we could be something if…if we both give it a chance. A real college try.”
“Well, I think we owe ourselves at least that.”
Theo stands up on the other side of his desk, and I know what he’s going to do before he does it. All of me wants him to do it, so I let him.
He steps closer, his eyes locked on mine. “You have no idea how much this means to me. I promise I’ll do everything I can to make this work.”
“I know you will. And I will, too. We’ll be a team.”
Before I can say anything else, Theo closes the distance between us, his lips capturing mine in a kiss. I wrap my arms around his neck and shut out everything else, including the thoughts raging through my mind.
I don’t want to stop kissing Theo. I step closer to him so that our bodies are pressed together. My hips seem to move on their own, rocking slowly back and forth, harder and harder against Theo until I feel him starting to get hard.
I can’t breathe. I can’t remember how to think straight.
Finally, Theo pulls away. He avoids my eyes for a moment. “Well, I think if we don’t want to end up naked in my office, we should probably stop.”
“What’s wrong with being naked in your office?” I ask.
Theo laughs, then clears his throat, looking everywhere but at me. “Well, I guess there’s nothing wrong with it, but the lock hasn’t been installed on the door yet, so…”
I glance at the door and see what he means. “So, we should use self-control.”
Theo finally meets my eyes. “For now, anyway. But not forever. Oh, no. I couldn’t forever.”
I like the promise in his tone. I’m just about to respond when a contractor steps into the office without knocking first or anything. My cheeks grow hot as I think about what he might have seen if we hadn’t stopped ourselves.
Theo switches to business mode and addresses the contractor. I slip back out, knowing we’ll have plenty of time to seal our relationship later.