"Hurry it up, Mia! We're going to be late! Heather and Arianna already have a table!" Summer yelled up the stairs.
"Hang on!" I hollered back. I turned my attention back to the problem at hand. I was stuck between two outfits. The door swung open and Summer marched into the room. "Hey!" I said, indignantly, trying to cover myself using a nearby sweatshirt.
"Calm down. I've seen it all before." She said, looking at my choices. "Go with the silver top and denim mini skirt."
"Fine. Now go back downstairs, please." I opened the door and motioned for her to leave. As soon as she was down the stairwell, I put on my outfit and grabbed my clutch with the monogrammed M on it. "Okay, Beau." I said to my yorkie, "See you later cootsie!" I locked the door to our shared condo behind me and slid into the passenger seat of Summer's crimson Mini Cooper. I switched on the radio and began to sing along to the music. "We could've had it all. Rolling in the deep!" I caroled.
"Oh god. Please stop. The torture!" Summer said in mock agony, since we both knew that I had a great singing voice, if I do say so myself. Soon we were pulling into the parking lot of The Lily Valley, our favorite fancy restaurant. I stepped out into the rare cool breeze of midsummer. As we entered the tiled waiting room, something, or rather someone caught my eye. He was cuuute! Short brown hair, with chocolate eyes that twinkled when he smiled. I smiled back.
"Hey, Mia, Summer. Over here!" called a voice. It was Heather, sitting in our favorite booth nestled in the far corner. I plopped down into my usual spot next to Arianna. As Summer sat into her seat, I looked back to the waiting room. He was gone. I turned back around and smiled.
"Anything new happen this week?" I asked, as was tradition.
"Well, I settled into my condo and Arianna came over to help hang up pictures." Heather said, looking at the menu.
"You mean, I hang up pictures while you say 'Up, no, a little to the right, down a bit, there!'" said Arianna, looking up from her phone.
"I have no hand eye coordination. If I did it, I would hammer my thumb." Heather said seriously. At that point our server came to take our order.
"Hello again, ladies." He said.
"Hey, Tucker." We all said, giggling at Tucker's British accent.
"Let me guess. Heather wants the lasagna, no parsley. Arianna is the fettuccini with the sauce on the side. The spaghetti with meatballs goes to Summer and the mushroom ravioli is Mia."
"We really need to get a new restaurant if you can remember all that." Arianna said, laughing.
"You better not. Then I would lose my most valued customers!" Tucker said as he departed for the kitchen.
"Now where were we before Mr. Tucker came in? Oh yes. Ahem, I meant on the dating front, but thank you for the enlightenment." I said, nibbling on a breadstick.
"I met a guy." Heather said under her breath.
"What?!" Summer and I screeched. Heather wasn't the dating type. She usually just focused on her job since college.
"Yeah. His name is Kyle and he's the whole package. Cute, sweet, smart, everything you can imagine." She said, dreamily.
"Eeeee!" we squealed.
"Yeah." said Heather, looking very uncomfortable with all the attention. Trying to turn the spotlight someone else, she asked "So Summer, how is Adam?"
"Oh he's fine, seeing as though I broke up with him two days ago." Summer said, nonchalantly.
"Oh no!" Adrianna and Heather said. I already knew that information because for one Summer and I are splitting the rent on a condo and work together. While Arianna and Heather are splitting the rent on a condo on the other side of town.
"Yeah, he was really possessive." Summer said, taking a sip of her lemon-water.
"Oh look! Our foods here!" I said excitedly as I dug into my mushroom ravioli. For a few minutes there was silence as we ate our dinner.
"So if you broke up with Adam, who are you dating now?" Arianna asked, breaking the silence.
"No one, although I did like the look of that guy that was sitting in the waiting room when I came in." Summer said. My stomach sank. I set down my fork, my appetite gone.
"Are you okay, Mia? You look kind of green." A concerned Heather said, trying to meet my gaze.
"Oh no. Please tell me you didn't like Waiting Room Guy too!" Summer said, worriedly. "If you did, I'll find someone else to ogle over. You know how I am."
"I did like the way his demeanor seemed. He looked laid-back, smart, and a teensy bit romantic." I breathed.
"Says the girl who majored in social psychology." Arianna said. I blushed.
"Everybody done?" asked Heather, putting down her fork. A chorus of yes's answered her as Arianna dug into her purse to pay for the food since it was her week.
"Wanna go to the club house?" I asked as we exited the restaurant into the humid night air.
"Sounds good." Heather said, fanning herself with her clutch. Arianna and Heather piled into Heather's VW Bug while Summer and I got into her car. As we drove through town, the multi-colored lights passed over my face, making me squint. We entered the clubhouses' parking lot and gathered by the door.
"Let's go girls!" Arianna said as she dramatically flew open the glass door. We entered the familiar common room full of TVs and sofas and doors leading to the game room, bathrooms, and the pool room. I sat down on an open couch and Arianna plopped herself in front of a computer. Summer and Heather sat on a sofa across from me.
"Okay, you guys. We need to find a guy for Arianna!" Heather whispered as soon as Arianna was absorbed into her e-mail.
"Yeah. I felt bad talking about how I broke up with Adam and she doesn't even have anyone to break up with." Summer confided.
"Hey." said a voice from behind her. Standing to the back of Summer was a guy. A Summer-likey guy. Trust me. I live with the girl, I know her guy type.
"Hey." she said flirtatiously, turning around and looking him up and down appreciatively. He had blond hair, hazel eyes, and was dressed in a tee and jeans.
"Me and my buddies were wondering if you girls would like to join us for a round of pool?" he asked.
"Sure. I'm Summer." Summer said, standing up. "Come on guys."
"I'll come. I go by the name of Mia." I said, struggling to get off of the squishy sofa.
"I'll stay here with Arianna." Heather said as she moved to sit in the empty computer next to Arianna.
"I'm Jason by the way." he said as he held open the door to the game room. We entered the dimly lit room and were blasted away by the sound of pinball machines clanging, air hockey tables' cluncking, and pool games clinking. "We're over here, in the quiet corner." He said, motioning to the far left corner where another guy was standing in the shadows. As we got to the table, Summer and I gasped. It was Waiting Room Guy! His brown eyes twinkled.
"Girls, this is Miles." Jason said as he went over to the cue rack to grab two for Summer and me.
"Hi."Miles said, grinning. "I saw you earlier."
"I'm Mia. Oh, yeah! You were in the waiting room at The Lily Valley." I said, smiling.
"Hey, man. Where did Riley go? He was here when I left." Jason asked.
"He left because Tanya wanted to go see a movie." Miles said, putting chalk on the end of his cue stick.
"Let's flip to see who starts off." Jason said, pulling a quarter out of his pocket. "I call heads."
"So I guess we want tails." I said in mock sadness. We lost so Summer got ready to go.
"Um, Jason? Could you help me? I've completely blanked on how to hit this." She said innocently.
"Sure." Jason sidled over and stood behind her laying his arms on top of hers. "You just put this hand back here and this hand up here, with your index and middle finger on either side of the stick."
"Wow. You are a really good teacher." She said, giggling. Jason smiled. She took her shot and knocked two balls into the pockets. "Your turn." She said to me as she and Jason sat down on a bench and began to talk.
"Do you want to go or should I?" Miles asked, looking slightly uncomfortable.
"I'll go." I said. I lined up my cue and hit one ball into a pocket.
"Nice." he said, nodding. I blushed.
"I'm terrible at pool." I said, sadly. I looked at Miles underneath my eyelashes.
"On the contrary, I think you can do way better than that." He said, smiling. "Jason! Your turn!" he yelled over the noise. We sat down on the bench were Summer and Jason had previously sat.
"Can I ask you something? Why were you sitting in the waiting room at The Lily? You seemed to be waiting for something. When I came in, you were there, but five minutes later I looked and you were nowhere in the restaurant." I said.
"So you were looking for me?" he asked, playfully.
"You're avoiding the question." I said, embarrassed.
"I was waiting for the pig to finish eating his meatloaf." He said, motioning to Jason.
"Hey! That thing was huge, and tasty. I couldn't leave it." Jason said, defensively. I laughed. Miles joined in, but he wasn't looking at Jason. He was looking at me.
"We should do this again sometime." Miles said, as he held the door open for me. We had finished our game and Summer and Jason went to the movie room to watch "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest", a movie that I had seen about twenty times. After two times, a movie begins to lose its magic and after twenty times you could say all the lines yourself.
"Yeah, I had a blast." I said as we walked down the sidewalk. It had rained so the ground was slippery and it didn't help that I was wearing heels. As we walked underneath a streetlight, I slipped and fell on my butt.
"Here." He said, offering me his hand. I grabbed it and hauled myself up.
"Thanks. I can be a klutz sometimes." I said, brushing off the dirt. We walked the remainder of the way in silence. When we got to my door, I stopped and looked at him. "I'll call you." I said, smiling.
"I'll look forward to it." He said, returning the smile. We hugged and I watched as he trotted down the street back to the clubhouse. I unlocked the door and stepped inside. I flipped on the lights and set my keys on the counter. As I went up to my room, I was surprised at how quiet it was. Normally, the girl's would stay for a sleepover, but Arianna and Heather had left about an hour earlier and Summer was still at the movie. I went to the full length mirror in my bathroom and gave myself a once over. My auburn hair was slightly frizzy from the humidity and my feet ached from walking in heels all night. I changed into my pj's and went to my bed. I flipped the TV on and got underneath the covers. As I watched Everybody Loves Raymond (a show I had a secret obsession with), I started to drift off to sleep.
"So, what are we going to do today?" Summer asked the next morning while we were sitting in the living room played B.S.
"Well, we could go to the beach." I said as I looked for any twos.
"That sounds good. Do you want to invite Heather and Arianna? We kind of ditched them last night." She said, putting down her cards.
"Yeah. I'll call them while you get dressed." I said, picking my iPhone up off the coffee table. I dialed Heather's number and set it up. As soon as Summer was down, I went up to change. I decided to wear my hot pink bikini from OP. I stuffed a towel, sunscreen, a few magazines and my sunglasses into my beach tote. After slipping on my flip flops, I went down stairs and fed Beau. Summer was in the kitchen rifling through drawers. "What are you doing?" I asked as I put away the dog food.
"Looking for my sunglasses. Have you seen them?" she asked.
"Um, yeah. They're in your car." I said.
"Phew. Speaking of cars, are we going to take mine or yours?"
"Mine. We took yours last night." I said, grabbing my keys.
"Okay. Well I have to run down to the clubhouse. I left my car there last night." She said, walking to the door.
"Okay. I'll pick you up." I said, double checking my bag to make sure I had everything. By the time I left the house, Summer was down at the clubhouse. I walked to my banana yellow Porsche and stepped in. Then I stepped out and ran back into the house to grab my perfume. I spritzed it in the car because it still smelled like the lake from when we went there last weekend. I pulled into the parking lot of the clubhouse and Summer got in.
"Mmm. Smells good. Wild Scarlet?" she guessed.
"Correct again. So that's ten for you and eight for me." I said marking it on an imaginary score board. We took turns guessing what the scent of the perfume was. As we cruised down the road to the beach I rolled down the top and let the breeze lift our hair.
"Ahhh." Summer said, as her dark hair flowed out, rippling, behind her. I pulled on my sunglasses and the radio. The sea smell was refreshing after the gasoline of the city. We pulled onto the side of the rode and I fed the meter coins for parking.
"Okay, I called Arianna and she said she and Heather are down by the juice bar with the hammocks." She said, pulling her bag out of the back seat. We walked across the warm, sugary sand of LA toward the juice bar in the distance.
When we arrived, Heather ran up to us and said "We're in the hammocks and have a surprise for you!" I looked at Summer in bewilderment. We walked over to the four hammocks between four palm trees in the formation of a square with a fire pit in the middle. In one hammock sat Arianna with a guy I didn't know. In another, sat another guy I didn't know. Occupying the next one was Jason, and in the last one was MILES! I squealed and ran over to give him a hug.
"Hey. Excited to see me?" he asked, laughing.
"I wasn't expecting to see you. It's nice though. I love your board shorts." I said, looking at the blue and white trunks that hung on his waist below his six pack.
"Let me handle the introductions." Heather said, acting all important. "This is Kyle." She gestured to the guy sitting alone in a hammock.
"Hi, Kyle." We all said, grinning.
"Hey guys." He smiled.
"This is Arianna's friend, Tyler." She said as she pointed to the boy sitting next to Arianna, holding her hand.
"I go by Ty, if you don't mind, Heather." He said exasperated. So it seems that she had been bugging him for at least 10 minutes. I laughed.
"So, what do you guys want to do? Golf course or water?" I asked.
"I kind of wanted to go to the mini golf while it was still day time and play in the water during the sunset hours. It's more romantic." Summer said, looking at Jason.
"I'm good with that. Anybody have any objections?" Arianna asked, looking around. Nobody seemed to have any problems with it so we put our stuff in a cubby in the juice bar and set off for Mr. Putt's Mini Golf.
"I'll get the clubs. Be right back." Kyle said, heading off for the ticket booth. When he came back, he laid the multi-colored clubs on the ground and let everybody go at it. Summer grabbed the pink, Arianna got a hold of the yellow, I had the orange, and the rest just got blue, black, red, and purple.
"Very macho." I said, looking at Miles' purple club.
"Really? I was afraid it would clash with my shorts." He said, grinning. I playfully smacked him on the arm.
"First come, first serve." Summer said, dashing for Hole 1. We all ran after her and the lineup was soon finalized. It went; Summer and Jason, Miles and me, Arianna and Ty, and Heather and Kyle.
"I'm going first this time. You went last night." Miles said, in mock seriousness. I giggled as he missed the hole completely.
"You're about as good at golf as I am at pool." I said, laughing. "But I suck at golf too. Can you help me? I seem to have forgotten how to position my hands."
"Uh-huh." He said, unbelievingly. Yet, he still came up behind me and moved my hands into the right holds. "You're a liar. You know how to do this like the back of your hand." He whispered, his breath tickling my ear. I putted and sunk a hole in one.
"You're right. I do know how to play golf." I said as I strode over to pluck my ball out of the hole. He laughed and sunk his for a par. We moved to the next one and the following one until we were at hole nine. I hit my ball and it didn't quite reach the hole. I stepped aside and let Miles go. His ball bumped mine away from the hole. "Hey!" I said as I walked over to where my ball was now resting. I hit my ball into the hole and then walked over to Miles.
"I'm sorry." he said, grinning.
"I accept your apology, but you must now do something for me to make up for it." I said as I traced his contour lines.
"What would you like?" he said, looking down at me.
"I'll show you." I stretched my arms around his neck and brought my lips to his. We stood there for a moment, locked in a tight embrace. I pulled back. "Wow. You're a good kisser." I said, gazing into his chocolate eyes. They twinkled when he grinned. "I've had a lot of practice." he winked. I rolled my eyes.
"Ahem." A voice said from behind Miles' back. I peered over his shoulder and saw Arianna and Ty looking at me, Arianna was smiling. "Are you guys finishing or just starting?" she asked. I giggled.
"We're finished." Miles said, smiling at me. We got our clubs and balls and moved onto the next hole, shaking with laughter.
About forty-five minutes later, we were all done with our courses and were pulling off our cover-ups in the locker room. I gazed at my friends. Heather was wearing her one piece gold suit that she could pull off of because of her bleach blond hair. Summer was wearing her red polka-dot bikini that went well with her dark hair and tan skin. Arianna had on her black bikini that suited her red hair. I grabbed my towel and headed out onto the sand. Miles was standing in the shade of the palm tree near the hammocks. I threw my towel into a hammock and walked up to him. "Hey." He said, raking his hand through his hair.
"I'll race you to the water." I gestured to where the rest of our friends were splashing in the shallows.
"You're on!" I counted down and we took off, kicking sand up behind us. Our feet hit the water at the same time. Everyone screeched as the salty water hit their faces. We waded farther out and gathered in a circle.
"Anyone up for a game of chicken?" Ty asked, grinning widely. Everyone's hands flew up into the air. "Okay, Miles and Mia against Summer and Jason. 1, 2, 3, GO!"
After a few hours of wearing ourselves out playing multiple water games, we all huddled in our towels, sitting in the hammocks, sipping piña coladas. Miles and I were in one, Jason and Summer were in another, Heather and Kyle, and Arianna and Ty. I sucked the last bit of mine through the straw and stood up, rocking the hammock in doing so. "I'm going to go throw this away." I said, starting toward the dark shape of the trashcan in the distance.
"I'll go with you." Miles said, getting up out of the hammock and walking toward me. He grabbed my hand and we walked across the sand with our hands swinging between us. When we got there I threw my plastic cup into the dark hole and Miles followed in suit. I walked a few steps toward a bench and sat down. As he collapsed next to me, his arm landed on my shoulders. I snuggled closer to his body for warmth and sighed as I stared out across the shimmering water, reflecting the sunset.
"The beach is always the prettiest at sundown." I said, looking up at him.
"I know something that's prettier."
"What?"
"You. Hang on. Is that too sappy?" he frowned.
"It's way too sappy." I said as I turned and brought my mouth to his. He tasted of coconut and pineapple from the piña coladas. We broke apart after a couple of moments and he smiled down at me. "Crap! They're going to be wondering where we are." I sprang up from the bench. We speed walked back to the four palm trees. When we arrived, we collapsed on the sand around the fire pit where everyone else was roasting s'mores.
"What took the two of you so long? Discussing the stock market?" Heather said, looking at me, smiling knowingly.
"Yeah. That IS what we were doing. You know Dow Jones is an amazing opportunity for extra cash?" Miles said, spearing a marshmallow with his stick. I giggled.
"Don't you want a s'more?" Jason asked me.
"Nah. I already got my dessert." I grinned at Miles. Summer raised an eyebrow. After s'mores, we went back to our hammocks and started talking about which flavor of gelato was the best. We are in LA after all, and ice cream is too fattening. "I'm telling you, mint chocolate chip is number one." I said laughing since Kyle's argument was raspberry sorbet.
"I personally think that chocolate is the best. It's a classic."Arianna stated.
"But there's no variation!" Summer argued. "The yummiest kind is most definitely lemon lime." Jason nodded in agreement. Heather looked at her watch and frowned.
"Guys, it's almost 11. We should probably go home now." There was a cluster of movement as everyone struggled to get out of the rope hammocks. I grabbed my stuff and slipped on my flip flops.
"I'll call you" Miles said, grinning down at me. Holy crap, he was tall! He was like 5'9 and I'm 5'3. I stretched on my tip toes to give him a farewell kiss and waved goodbye. I slid into the driver's seat of my car and buckled my seat belt. As Summer buckled in, she turned on the radio and sang along with Kenny Chesney.
"Oh, when the sun goes down, we'll be groovin'. When the sun goes down, we're feelin' all right." She caroled, her eyes sparkling.
"I'm guessing you had fun?" I said, pulling out onto the nearly empty road.
"Oh yeah. Jason is … you know. You've probably seen it with Miles." I smiled. She started to ramble on and on about how "Jason just gets me" and "I think he might be the one". I focused on getting home, since I was afraid that I would fall asleep while driving. When I pulled into the driveway, I just left my stuff in the back seat and unlocked the front door. After fighting to keep Beau down off my knees I clomped up the stairs and flung myself onto the pink and orange bedspread of my wonderful bed. I threw on my pj's and crawled underneath the covers.
The next morning I woke up to the sound of the radio blasting out of my alarm clock. I groaned. Work. I stumbled through putting my clothes on and getting ready. As I went down the stairs in a daze, I heard Summer crashing about in her room, no doubt having slept through her alarm again. I poured a bowl of cheerios into a bowl and diced some bananas. I scarfed down my breakfast and Summer came thundering down the stairs with Beau on her heels. I scooped him up and looked at Summer. "You slept through your alarm again, didn't you?"
"Yeah. I had one too many piña coladas last night. It put me right out!" she said, gulping down orange juice while heating up pancakes from yesterday's breakfast.
"Well, we got to go." I said, feeding Beau and grabbing my purse. She grabbed her keys and purse and locked the door behind her. I slid into the passenger seat and Summer jumped into the driver's seat and pulled out of the driveway. I rolled down the window and was blasted away by the sounds of cars honking and motorcycles roaring by. I quickly re-shut the window and Summer started laughing. "What?" I wondered if I had missed something.
"You forgot how loud the city is and you should have seen the look on your face!" she said, still laughing. I giggled a little too. We arrived at Sugar Sweet Sunshine, the cupcakery where we worked and I stepped out of the car. We entered the bakery for another week of seeing cupcakes and not being able to eat them. Monday passed without any weird happenings, as did Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Friday night, after our shifts were over my cell phone chimed. I tapped the alert on the lock screen and saw Arianna had texted me. So had Miles! I checked Arianna's first.
"Arianna wants to meet up at the Swing Salvation." I read out to Summer.
"That sounds fun. Let's go." She said, walking over to the passenger side of my car.
"Hang on. I want to check something first." She paused, her hand on the door handle. I opened the one from Miles. Happy happy, joy joy! He wanted to meet for dinner! Uh-oh. "Summer?" I asked hesitantly.
"Yeah?"
"Should I go with Miles or you guys?"
"Wait a second. Miles asked you out on a date?" she started to smile. Then it disappeared, replaced by her thinking face as she realized my predicament.
"I know." I chewed my nail, a thing I do when I think.
"I think you should go with Miles."
"Really?" I looked up startled at her decision. She nodded.
"This will be the first time that you guys will be all alone."
"True." I texted Miles back and said I would love to. Five minutes later we had arranged to meet at The Lily Valley at six thirty.
"We gotta get you home! I need to give you a makeover." Summer hastened me into the car. On the way to the condo, Summer filled Arianna in on the change of plans.
"I'm kind of nervous." I admitted while Summer did my hair.
"Nonsense, you have nothing to worry about." She twisted my hair into a French braid. I looked over at the outfit that she had laid out for me. A peach tight fitting shirt paired with my dark blue jeans and silver flats could work with either formal or casual. After she finished up my makeup, it was six fifteen and I had to roll. "Lookin' good." She gave me a thumbs up and an encouraging smile. I arrived at the restaurant at approximately six twenty-seven and he was already there wearing his usual polo and jeans. Man was I glad I didn't wear a dress.
"Hey." I walked up to him and gave him a swift kiss to say "hello". He grinned down at me.
"Shall we?" he opened the door for me.
"Ooh, a gentleman!" I said, giggling.
"I try my best. Table for two please." He added to the hostess.
"Follow me right this way." She said, grabbing two menus and leading us to a secluded corner. I opened the menu and decided to just get a salad. I put the menu down and looked across the table at Miles. He had started a breadstick and was looking at me.
"Let me guess, you want to know about me as a person?" I said, looking at him.
"You would guess correctly. Then I'm going to tell you about me." He said, waggling his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes.
"Let's see, my full name is Mia Olivia Bloom. I have an older sister named Maggie. She married this guy named David Welcrose about two years ago. I have a younger brother, Mike, who goes to college at Penn State. My parents live in Canterbury, Connecticut, which is also where I grew up. My birthday is July 14. I graduated from UCLA about two years ago. Um, I have a Yorkshire terrier named Beau. I like to surf, swim, bike, run, shop and read occasionally. My favorite fruit is cherries. I love mint chocolate chip gelato ice cream. My favorite color is either navy blue or pink. My parents' names are Kim and Mark Bloom. I think that's it." I drew a deep breath and sank back in my chair. Miles stared at me with his mouth open. He caught himself and shut it.
"Okay? My turn now. My full name is Miles Ian Ashburn. I have an older brother, Justin. He lives about a hour south of here. I grew up in Auburn Hills, Michigan. My parents, Jim and Christine, still live there. I have a Bernese Mountain dog named Boomer. My birthday is May 16. I like to run, surf and, as you stated, occasionally read. I also frequent the gym I can bench 150. My favorite fruit is pineapple. I could live off of Oreos. Oh and my favorite color is maroon." He seemed content with his answer and he finished just in time. Our food was set before us and I realized I was starved. I poured ranch dressing on my salad and stabbed a leaf. We ate in silence for a few minutes. "What's your favorite TV Show?" he said, looking up from his food.
"I'm obsessed with Criminal Minds." I admitted.
"Really? Me too. Well not obsessed more like I like to watch it." He stated. Suddenly, an idea struck me, mid chew. I started to frantically gesture with my hands and Miles calmly said, "Mia, swallow and then talk." I gulped.
"Oh my gosh, I just thought of something we should do this weekend!" I said, excitedly.
"What?"
"You, me, Heather, Kyle, Arianna, Ty, Summer, and Jason should all have a sleepover!"
"That could be fun." He said, deep in thought. "Do you know who has the biggest house?"
"I know that out of the four girls, I have the biggest."
"Well, Jason's isn't that big and mine is about fifteen hundred."
"Sounds to me that we should be at my place, then." I said, thinking about how many closets we had at the house. Yummy!
"We should probably have it tomorrow night since having it tonight would be kind of late and on Sunday we have work in the morning." Miles explained. By this time, we were both done with our meals and the check had come. "I'll pay." He reached for his wallet.
"I can pay next time." I said, appreciatively. We stood up and walked out of the restaurant. "Do you want to go to see a movie?"
"Sure. The Movie Corner?"
"Yup." We kissed good-bye (for now) and walked to our cars. Before I started the engine, I texted Summer the ideas for Saturday night. While I was at a red light my cell chimed and I checked the screen. Summer was on board and she had spread the news to Arianna and Heather who, in turn, would tell their boyfriends about it. I smiled to myself, thinking about all the games we could play. Truth-or-dare, Seventh Heaven, Saucy Simon Says, and Spin the Bottle. I pulled into the parking lot of the movie complex and stepped out of my car. Miles was leaning on a pillar near the glass doors. I walked up to him and he opened the door. I was blasted with cool air when I walked into the air conditioned lobby, since outside it was about seventy five degrees.
"What do you want to see?" he asked looking at our choices. I scanned the board.
"I kind of wanted to see the one with the pirates." I said. He looked at me in surprise.
"Really? I would have thought you would want to see the one where the mother is sick and the daughter learns to care about the mother's illness."
"Nah, those are boring. I like action."
"I like how you think." he said, smiling. I giggled.
"I'll head over to the snack bar and get us some candy. What do you want?"
"I think I'll have some jolly ranchers. I'll go get the tickets." He walked toward the growing line by the ticket booth. I got his jolly ranchers and lollipop and met him by Gate two and the doors opened.
"Let's sit in the back!' I raced to the top row and sat dead center. Miles scaled the stairs and plopped down next to me.
"You're a little ball of energy, aren't you?" he said as he ate a cherry jolly rancher.
"You know it!" I licked my cherry lollipop, savoring the sweetness. The movie started and soon the room was filled with cannon blasts and sword clangs. When the scary man with the tentacles coming out of his face came on the screen, I shrieked and scooted closer to Miles, who put his arm around me. After the man was gone, I gazed up at him. He was watching the movie, but when he felt my gaze on him he looked down at me.
"What?"
"This."I tilted my head back and let my hair fall onto his arm. I kissed him and he kissed me back. His fingers traced my spine and sent shivers through my body. After a couple of minutes, we broke apart, breathing hard. "You, my dear Miles, are a very good kisser."
"I've had a lot of practice." He winked. I smacked his arm, teasingly. We snuggled together and soon the movie was over. We stood outside the theater afterwards, coming up with ideas for the party Saturday night. After about ten minutes, I checked the time on my phone.
"It's eleven o'clock. I should be heading home, Summer will be wondering where I am." I said, standing up.
"Ok, well I'll see you tomorrow then." He gave me a kiss and sauntered back to his black Honda element. I went to my car and stepped in. I turned my phone on and saw that I had about twenty texts from Summer, crowding my lock screen. I hurried home. When I opened the door, I was bombarded by two beings. Summer started to rapid-fire questions at me and Beau jumped up and down, trying to reach my arms. I stooped down, picked Beau up and went into the living room. Summer followed me and sat down in a chair across from me, still asking questions.
"HANG ON!" I yelled over the barks and questioning. They both shut up and looked at me. "Okay. Beau baby, shhh." He whimpered but quieted down. I sighed and looked up at Summer. "All right, go." She took a deep breath.
"How was it?" she asked calmly. I filled her in with all of the juicy details and she squealed and oohed in all the right places. When I had finished, I got myself a glass of water, because my throat was dry from all the talking. When I sat back down on the couch, Summer told me all about her evening. About how she and Arianna and Heather ate at the Sing Salvation and then hit the mall. She gave me all the details on how Arianna couldn't decide between boots and high heels and how Heather bought the most gorgeous purse. I was filled in on her trip to Forever 21 and the shirts and skirts she bought. After about twenty minutes of this, I stood up.
"I'm going to bed. Tomorrow we have to go to the store to pick up the stuff for the party." I clomped up the stairs and got into my pj's. As I turned off my alarm clock, I checked my phone for messages. There was one from Miles. It said simply "Nighty night, honey."
The next day, we went to the store and bought wine, bandanas, and decorations. Summer went home to set it up while I went and picked up Heather and Arianna. As they clambered into the backseat, the crammed their overstuffed bags into the passenger seat. "Jeez, over-pack much? It's only one night." I said, gaping at the two about-to-burst bags.
"Mia, Mia, Mia, you have to be prepared. Better safe than sorry, I always say." Heather tutted, checking her makeup in her compact.
"It's not that much. I packed a big plushy blanket in mine." Arianna protested.
"I believe you, I believe you. It's Heather I'm worried about. Are you okay, honey? You seem stressed."
"I am a little. Can I let you guys in on a little secret? This is only my second boy-girl party." She whispered.
"What?!" I said, shocked. Heather always so knowing.
"Yeah. I wasn't that popular when I was a kid." She said, hanging her head.
"Well you're popular now, and you've got a ton of friends, three best friends and a hot boyfriend to prove it." Arianna told her encouragingly. She rubbed Heather's back all the way across town and when we got the condo, Heather grabbed my arm.
"If I need to leave, somehow I will fit the words 'mushrooms and beans' into the conversation, okay?"
"All right. Now can you please let go of my arm? I can't feel anything in my hand and your nails are digging into my skin."
"Oh, sorry."
"And by the way, you are carrying your boulder, not me." I added, gesturing to the bags. I unlocked the door and stepped inside. Summer had really outdone herself this time. She had the cabana lights we had bought strung down the banister of the stairs and bowls of Tostitos, dip, salsa, and potato chips on the coffee table, accompanied by the box of wine and eight wine glasses plus the bottle for Spin the Bottle. Summer herself came rushing down the staircase, dressed in her Aero shorts and Guy Harvey tee.
"Hey guys! Do you like it?"
"It looks amazing, Summer." I said. "Guys, put your bags in Summer's room."
"Why not your room?" she pouted.
"Because, my room has a bigger closet." I winked. She got it. Heather and Arianna pounded up the stairs to stash the boulders. When they came back down, I called Miles and told him that it was time and he could come over with Jason, Ty, and Kyle. Fifteen minutes later the doorbell rang and I ran from the living room, Beau on my heels. "Hey there fellas. Come on in." I gave Miles a peck and ushered the others in.
"It's a nice place you've got here." Jason said, looking around approvingly. I herded them into the living room where they got attacked by squealing girlfriends.
"You can all put your stuff up in Summer's room. It's up the stairs and all the way to the left." I said, pointing to the gym bags each boy was carrying. While they were gone we made sure the pillows were in the right place on the floor and sat down. When they returned, Summer jumped up and started bouncing.
"Wanna play Truth or Dare?" she asked, excitedly.
"Slow down, Energizer Bunny. We're starving." Jason said, grabbing a chip and popping it into his mouth.
"You're the only one that's hungry." Miles said, with his arm around me. I laughed.
"Well, I am a very important human being." Jason stated this as if it were a well known fact. After about five minutes of Jason stuffing his face with chips, he sat back and rubbed his stomach. It was still light out so Kyle suggested that we go swimming in the condo complex's pool. I threw on my bathing suit and soon we were all splashing in the pool, dominating the deep end from the obnoxious teenagers. The sun started to set and we headed back to the condo. I changed into my pajamas consisting of a spaghetti strap tank with the words "Love Pink" on the back and my pink shorts with "Smexy" written across the butt. I slipped on my polka-dot robe and slippers and went downstairs where everyone else was already decked out in their pj's. Miles looked very hot wearing a black undershirt and black athletic pants.
"Hello, spy man." I said, plopping down beside him.
"What are you doing wearing your robe?" Heather asked, looking at me.
"If we're going to play Saucy Simon Says, I'm wearin' the robe."
"I call Simon!" Arianna jumped up. We all gathered in a circle around her. To my right was Miles and to my left was Heather. "Okay, Simon says kiss the person to left on the ear." I giggled as I pecked Heather on the ear, while Miles gave me a smooch on mine. "All right, nobody is out. Nibble the person to your right's neck." I didn't move but Kyle tried, so he had to remove a piece of clothing. He chose his shirt, thank god. "Simon says tickle the person to your right." I tickled Miles and I could see that he was trying very hard to suppress his laughter. I didn't giggle because I was wearing my robe and therefore I could not feel anything. "If your name starts with an 'm' give the person to your left a piggyback ride." I wasn't listening and I tried to give Heather a ride. She laughed and pushed me away. I took off my robe and tossed it on to the couch. "Simon says if your birthday is between the month of March let the person to your right put an ice cube down your back and you can't make a sound." I looked over at Summer, whose birthday was March 3 and saw that the person to her right was Jason. This was going to be very entertaining. Jason came from the kitchen holding the ice cube and went up to Summer.
"Ready?" he asked, positioning the cube of ice over the back of her shirt. She gulped and nodded. The ice cube fell and she cringed and bit her tongue to keep from screaming. I fell over laughing, as did Miles and Arianna. Heather and Kyle were supporting each other, both bent over with laughter.
"Okay, moving on." Arianna said as she stood up. "Simon says lick the person to your rights' somewhere. I looked over at Miles and saw that he licked Jason's hand, since he was a dude. I leaned over and licked his cheek. He blushed. "All right, everyone sit down and spread your legs as far apart as you can." Summer started to sit down and Arianna pointed at her and shook her head. Summer grudgingly slipped off her shorts, leaving her to stand in her shirt and underwear that said 'Take my picture' on the butt.
"I-I'm cold." She said. I giggled.
Eventually I won. We took turns taking sips from the wine store. After a bottle was drained, I washed it out and placed it in the middle of our circle. "Oooh, I wanna go first!" Heather spun the bottle. You won't believe this but it landed on Kyle!
"Okay, you guys go right on up to my closet and we'll set the timer. I'll yell 'pickles' when the time is up." I said, walking to my phone and set the timer for seven minutes. They raced up the stairs and disappeared.
The timer rang and I yelled "Pickles!" There was a scuffling sound upstairs and Heather and Kyle emerged at the top of the stairs, looking very disheveled. Summer giggled at the state of Heather's hair, which look like it had been attacked by a bird. They plopped down in the circle and I observed Heather.
"Heather, is that a hickey?" I joked. She turned red. "My turn." I spun the bottle and I beginning to think the game was rigged. It landed on Miles! I grabbed his hand and we pounded up the stairs. Before I turned the corner, I gave Summer the 'go' sign and she hit the start button on my phone. I opened the door to my room and Miles entered, heading toward the closet. I trailed him and he pulled open the door. He stepped in, holding my shoulders and bringing my lips to his.
It seemed like we had just started when I heard "Pickles!" I opened the door and trudged out, trailed by Miles. As I walked down the stairs, giggles rippled throughout the room. I sat down and looked around expectantly.
"Me now!" Arianna spun.
Once we were tired of that game, we moved onto to Truth-or-Dare. "Okay, this one is for Jason." Summer said, looking at him and smiling mischievously. He faked a look of fright. "Truth or Dare?"
"Dare."
"Okay, I dare you to go ten minutes sitting here in only your underwear." She laughed as he stood up and slipped off his shirt and pants. He sat back down, wearing boxers covered with the Dr. Pepper logo.
"My turn now." Ty looked at me. "Mia, truth or dare?"
"Uhh, dare?"
"I dare you to go and put shaving cream in each of the pool chairs." I shrugged and got up off the floor.
"Anybody want to come with me?" Miles sprang up.
"I'll go. I can't have you out there all by yourself, can I? Besides, I need to supervise the creaming of the chairs." I laughed and grabbed a can of shaving cream out of the bathroom. I slipped on my slippers and walked to the door. As we stepped out into the night, I gave Miles the can of shaving cream and took off running.
"Hey! Get your 'lil booty back here!" he ran after me, shaking the cream in the process. I opened the gate to the pool patio and heard it swing shut behind me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him scale the fence and land dexterously on his feet. I grabbed the can and went over to a chair and squirted the lavender cream on it. I went from chair to chair, methodically until every one of the twenty something chairs had at least a little something on it. I tossed the empty can into the trash and walked over to wear Miles was standing, near the gate. He closed the gate behind me and hefted me onto his back. He walked down the hill to the condo as if I wasn't even there. He set me down right before we entered the house and saw that Jason and Summer were missing.
"Where did they go?" I asked Ty.
"Summer had to go change her pajama bottoms because she spilled wine on them and for some reason Jason had to go help her." He rolled his eyes.
"Are we still playing truth or dare, or what?" Miles asked as he sat on a beanbag.
"Nah, we were playing a trick on Heather. Every time she said the word "like", one of us would take a sip of wine." Arianna looked at Heather apologetically. "Sorry."
"It's all right. Next time, somebody clue me in, please." She said looking around. At that moment Jason and Summer came thundering down the stairs, laughing at some unknown joke.
"Did you really need to go with her?" Kyle asked, looking at Jason.
"Well, her shorts looked pretty tight and I thought she might need help getting out of them." Summer giggled and blushed as I lifted an eyebrow at her.
"Okay, anybody have any ideas on what to do now." Miles said, looking around.
"Ooh-ooh, how about charades?" Arianna suggested. Nobody seemed to have a problem with that so we all sat on the sofa. Arianna elected herself to be first. She started to jump up and down and scratch her head.
"This is difficult, but how about an orangutan?" Miles suggested, laughing as she hopped over to him and pushed him off the sofa. She nudged him to the front of the room and took his place on the couch. He started to gesture with his arm waving wildly in front of him and making trumpeting noises.
"Let me guess, a very sexy elephant?" I said between gasps of laughter. He nodded and stood up and went over to where he was standing and pushed him toward the couch.
"Ohh, Miles is just getting pushed away by ladies left and right." Jason hooted. I decided I was going to be a clone trooper from Star Wars and started waving my imaginary light saber around.
"Sushi chef"
"Cowgirl."
"Knight."
"Star Wars dudette." Jason finally said. I motioned for him to come up. I sat where he was sitting and waited for the show to start. He immediately got down on the floor and stuck out his two front teeth, sniffing through is nose.
"Hamster?"
"Rabbit?"
"Guinea Pig!" Ty shouted triumphantly. Jason hopped off the ground and gestured for Ty to go up.
About twenty five minutes later when we had run out of ideas for the game, everyone was dozing off. I stared at the ceiling wondering why this wonderful night had to end. I looked at my sleeping friends and sighed. It was past one in the morning and I had no intention of going to bed anytime soon. I got up, leaving everyone blissfully asleep. I quietly went to my room and opened my laptop. I checked my email to see if my parents or siblings had contacted me. Maggie had! She had recently gotten married. She was twenty six and David was twenty seven. My parents approved of that age gap, thankfully. I opened the mail and gasped. Maggie was pregnant! I checked the date it was sent. About a week ago, so she would not have had her ultrasound yet. I responded in all caps to she would understand my excitement. I didn't expect her to reply at this hour so I logged off. I headed back downstairs and wrapped myself in my sleeping bag. I turned the TV on low and settled in to watch a marathon of CSI, trying to interest myself in something my boyfriend liked. After all, he had watched Raymond with me on Wednesday night. I tried to absorb what was happening in the show and slowly my eye lids began to droop.
The next morning, I awoke to the sound of pans clanging in the kitchen and girls' laughter. I struggled to open my eyes and propped myself up on my elbows. I surveyed the scene in front of me: pillows littering the living room floor, blankets in heaps, pushed away in corners and my friends in the kitchen, apparently attempting to make breakfast. The only other person who was asleep was Jason, who was beginning to stir. I stood up on my feet and padded out to the kitchen. Everyone was huddled around Kyle, who was frying something in a pan.
"What's going on?" I said, groggily, rubbing my eyes to push away the sleepiness.
"So, the sleeping beauty awakens." Miles gave me a hug. His hair was mussed up and he looked as though he had just woken up a little bit earlier. 'Heys' and 'hellos' reverberated through the kitchen as everyone acknowledged my presence.
"What's going on?" I repeated.
"Oh, Ty is teaching us how to make an extra fluffy omelet." Summer explained, getting plates out of the cabinet. I grabbed the glasses and filled them with either orange juice or water. Ty moved an omelet onto each plate and we grabbed one per person. I plopped down on the sofa and dug in. It was the best omelet I had ever tasted.
"Where did you learn to make this? It's incredible!" I gobbled the rest of it down and sighed contently.
"When Ty was in college, he went to Paris to study cooking." Arianna said proudly. We murmured our approval. I went to retrieve a power bar and sat back down. As I munched, Jason asked Ty what else he could make.
"Umm, croque monsieurs, cream puffs, éclairs, and baguettes, to name a few."
"Whoa! Dude, you need to make, like, a French buffet sometime! That would be awesome!" Jason crowed. We all laughed, seeing as though the only person who would really enjoy that was Jason.
"Where does all that food go?" Miles bewilderedly, looking at Jason's flat stomach. Jason shrugged.
"Time to get dressed! I call the shower first!" I said, going up the stairs. I showered and threw on my clothes. As I got ready with my makeup and hair, someone knocked on my bedroom door. "Who is it?"
"It's the pizza delivery man." Miles said. I opened the door and ushered him in. He plopped down on my bed and watched as I finished putting my hair up in a clip. "You know, when you wake up in the morning, you don't look half bad." I laughed and walked over to him.
"I'll take that as a compliment. Here's my thank you." I put my lips against his and knotted my fingers in his hair. He ran his hands up and down my body, sending tingles wherever his fingers touched me. I rolled my tongue around the inside of his mouth. As I pulled back, I brushed my lips across his. He shivered.
"That's the best thank you I've ever gotten." He said, breathlessly. His eyes were liquid and he smelled of my perfume.
"You might want to go shower before the guys see you smelling like pumpkin spice." I giggled.
"Really? I thought it was such a manly scent. But if you insist." He rolled his change of clothes into a ball and opened the door. "Out you go." I gave him one last kiss and rushed downstairs to find the living room cleaned up and the rest of my friends in front of the TV laughing at some old cheesy movie.
"I'm guessing 1954?" I said, looking at the props and actors. Summer pressed the information button on the remote and surprise, surprise. I was right! Everyone stared open mouthed at me except Summer, who knew about my obsession with movies and TV shows. "What? I know my movie trivia." I collapsed on the sofa and grabbed a handful of chips. Soon Miles came down and Jason went up. Then Jason came down and Summer went up. And the pattern continued until everyone was done. Afterwards, we all were scrambling around the house, trying to get everyone's things together. Somehow, socks ended up in the upstairs hallway and pajama bottoms in the kitchen. Within half of an hour everyone had their stuff. We discussed ideas on how to spend the day, seeing as though it was only eleven thirty.
"We could skip lunch and have an early dinner." Kyle suggested, watching Jason eat his was through a bag of baked chips. I saw the logic in that and so did everyone else. I sifted through my mind, thinking about possible restraints for dinner while everyone else mad the itinerary for the day. It was a fight between the mall and a tour through the stars' homes. Summer and I used to go on that when we first moved here to learn about the celebrities. Now when we go on it, we know more about it than the guides do. In fact, one time a guide let us do the narrating!
"How about this? Today we go on the tour and Saturday we can all go to the mall." Miles, always the voice of reason.
"That's a good idea. Besides, you guys just went to the mall two days ago. There's probably nothing new in yet." I said. We all went out to the driveway and decided on who would ride with who. Jason, Summer, Arianna and Ty ended up in Jason's hummer. I was with Miles, Heather, and Kyle in Miles' element. "I call shotgun!" I flung myself onto the leather seat.
"Easy there tiger." Miles chuckled as he strapped in. Heather and Kyle piled into the backseat
"Hey, Mia. Could you turn on the radio?" Heather asked, poking her head between the front seats as soon as Miles had pulled out of the complex.
"Sure." I flicked the switch and the radio came on, full blast. "Ack!" I scrambled to turn the volume dial back to a reasonable level. I looked over at the drivers' seat and saw Miles was shaking with suppressed laughter.
"Sorry. I rode here with the windows down." He explained, while Kyle roared with laughter in the back. Heather smacked him on the arm and stifled his laughter, although he kept the huge grin on his face. We turned into the parking lot for the tour and unloaded. Summer and Jason were at the ticket window and Arianna and Ty were leaning on the hummer. As soon as we approached the hummer, Jason and Summer came rushing over, brandishing eight tickets for the noon tour.
"Let the games begin!" Jason proclaimed, handing out the tickets.
Later that day, we were all seated around a wire table next to a lake, sipping cocktails. We had finished our tour and were enjoying an early dinner when my phone
rang. I shrugged Miles' arm off my shoulder and signaled that I needed to take this. I walked to the rail dividing the patio of the restaurant from the water and pressed answer. "Hello?"
"Hey sis!"
"Mike!" I was surprised. I hadn't heard from him in weeks. He was in college across the country. "What's up?"
"Yeah. Did you hear about Maggie's baby?" he asked, excitedly.
"No. Do they know if it's a boy or a girl?"
"Yeah. They got the results yesterday. It's twins!"
"Oh my god! Boys or girls or what?" I asked, thinking about baby shower gifts.
"Girls. Can you believe this? I'm going to be an uncle! You're going to be an aunt!" My heart skipped a beat. Aunt Mia had a nice ring to it.
"When is the shower?"
"She's sending out e-vites. Listen, I gotta go. I have a big test tomorrow." I said my goodbyes and hung up. I gazed out on the lake, thinking the news. Maggie was going to have twin girls. I've always been jealous of Maggie. She was always the perfect one. The honor roll, awards for community services, the works. We had a good relationship though. I keep my feelings to myself. Still, she had a husband, a house, and twin girls on the way. That's enough to irk a few people. As I was thinking this Miles came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
"Everything okay?" He whispered in my ear.
"Yeah. Come to the table, I want to tell everyone something." I took his hand and we sat back in our chairs.
"Can I have everyone's attention? My girlfriend has some news." Miles nodded for me to start.
"Yes. My sister Maggie is going to have a baby." Summer looked at me in surprise.
"Really? Her and John have only been married a little over a year. What is it?"
"Actually, they're twins. She's going to have twin girls." Squeals went out around the table and guys just smiled, uncomfortable about how to show excitement.
"Well, I propose a toast. To Maggie, good luck with twins and a healthy journey to them." Miles raised his glass and everyone said 'Cheers!'.
It wasn't until ten o'clock did I finally arrive back home. I knew Summer was probably already out for the night, so I set up to my room. I changed into my pj's and collapsed onto my bed. I turned on my phone to see if anyone had tried to contact me within the last few hours. No one had, so I put it on its charger and decided to settle down with a glass of wine and watch my Sunday night routine show. Desperate Housewives is scheduled to be new and I turned the volume up. As I watched a plot unfold, I started to drift off to sleep.
The week went by without any issues or problems. On Friday night I decided to call Miles to see if he would want to go with me somewhere. He sounded stressed as he politely declined, saying he had a job and it was pretty big.
"Summer, what do you want to do now?" I set my phone down on the table, and looked up at her. She was filing her nails and the scritch-scratch was starting to get on my nerves.
"We could stay here and watch something on the TiVo." She suggested, blowing on her nails.
"Should we invite Arianna and Heather?"
"They're both busy. Arianna had this thing out of town and Heather has a date with Kyle." It seemed that Summer and I were alone today.
"What about Jason?" I was struggling to find someone else. Nothing personal against Summer, I just needed people around me.
"Nope, he has to work late on Fridays." She set down her file and looked up at me, her eyes full of concern. "Is something wrong?"
"No." I said brightly. "It's just us I guess." She smiled, but her eyes didn't. They looked confused. "Well, what do you want to watch?" I tried to get the conversation going out of the rough patch we had fallen into.
"I was flipping through the menu earlier and I saw that movie that we wanted to see but couldn't because it went of theaters…." I grabbed the remote from her and clicked on The Lovely Bones.
"Here, let's watch this." I pushed myself off the couch and went into the kitchen to grab a power bar and two bottles of water.
"Are you on a health kick again?" she asked looking at her water.
"No, I just feel like I need to eat something a little healthier than candy and soda." I nibbled on my bar as the movie progressed. Between moments of extreme horror and mild interest, I got up and checked my phone to see if there were any texts or calls. There was a text from my mom? I didn't know she even knew how to text. I haven't spoken to her in ages so I quickly responded with a classic "What's up mommykins?" I walked back to the living room and collapsed on the couch. A few seconds later, my cell chimed and I saw that Mom had responded saying that her and Dad were coming for a visit next week.
"Summer." I said tentatively. She dragged her eyes from the screen and looked at me questioningly.
"What? Did something bad happen?"
"Not particularly, but I just got a text from my mom and she said that she and my dad are coming to visit next weekend. As in sleeping over Friday, Saturday and leaving Sunday." She paled. My parents weren't the nicest people in the world and they weren't very sensitive either. Summer grew up with extremely affectionate and in-love parents who never fought. One time when my parents were visiting, my dad accidentally dropped my mom's pill box and she blew a gasket. We got calls from the neighbors asking if we could turn our horror movie down.
"I'm sorry but she didn't give me an option." I sighed with defeat. My mother is a very pushy woman.
"We can do this. First things first, we need to clean the guest bedroom. I may or may not have wrestled with Jason on the bed last week." I paused the movie and rolled my eyes as she bounded around the staircase to the normally vacant room. When I walked in, she had already made the bed and was scooping up towels from the littered ground. I went to my bathroom and grabbed my vanilla scented perfume from off my vanity. I spritzed it all around the room and onto the comforter and pillows so it would soak in. After we were done tidying up, we stood back to admire our handiwork.
"Pretty good, considering what it looked like before." Summer walked out of the room with me following in suit. I looked at the clock on the living room wall and blanched. It was still only ten. Ugh.
"Well, I'm going to bed." Summer said good night and headed out of my house, closing the door behind her. I went to my room and opened up my laptop. As I logged onto my Facebook I looked at my buddy list to see who was on. Maggie was! I clicked on her name and typed "Heyy preggo!"
Maggie: I resent being called preggo. I prefer pregnant. It's more official. Besides is someone jealous?
Mia: I laugh at the thought of jealousy. Hahahaha!
Maggie: Well David says hi
Mia: Heyy David! So what's happening with the babies?
Maggie: Working out names. How about Hanna and Brooklyn?
Mia: Peach and Elizabeth
Maggie: Peach?!
Mia: Yeah! What? So movie stars can name their babies Apple and you can't name yours Peach?
Maggie: Um, yeah! I'm not a movie star, thank the lord! That would be way too stressful!
Mia: True. So how is everything?
Maggie: Well we've got the room set up. Heaven knows what this is going to do to our funding for our house.
Mia: I'm positive you'll find some way to do it. How is work? I heard being pregnant with twins can be hard.
Maggie: I'm managing. How are you? Any new guys? Hopefully only one.
Mia: Shut up! That only happened once! And yes, I have met someone. His name is Miles.
Maggie: Good name. What's he like?
Mia: The basic California guy. Hot (: Smart, funny, a lil' flirtatious… the works
Maggie: Is he a good kisser?
Mia: Nosy much?... yeah :D
Maggie: How are the girls?
Mia: Good. Arianna is dating a guy named Ty, Summer is dating Jason, and Heather is with Kyle.
Maggie: Heather's dating?!
Mia: I know! I was shocked too. I guess she's where she wants to be in her job or whatever.
Maggie: Well good for her! I wish I was as lucky!
Mia: Hah. You are happily married to a great guy and expecting. You're the lucky one!
Maggie: True, true. Lol:) wbu. What happened to that other guy u were dating… Jet?
Mia: … um I don't really wanna talk about him rite now…
Maggie: oh… that bad?
Mia: -.-
Maggie: sorry:/
Mia: Hey did you know that mom and dad r coming to visit me next week?
Maggie: what?!
Mia: yeah… they told me earlier today…shocked the fudge outta Summer…lol:)
Maggie: huh… well have fun with that!
Mia: I g2g. I have a big mall day tomorrow. Ttyl!
Maggie: Ttfn, sis!
I logged off and pushed my roll chair away from my desk and flipped on my TV. Listening to the sound of the news, I pulled on my cherry pj's. As I settled in for a night of TV, I looked at my phone on my nightstand. I recalled that last weekend we had made plans to go to the mall tomorrow. Mentally, I made a list on what stores I wanted to go in and what stores the guys would want to avoid. My mind filled with ideas of how tomorrow was going to go, I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning when I woke up, I jumped out of bed. I was going to see Miles today! I took about an hour trying to find the right outfit. Finally I settled on a black shirt, white shorts and ivory flip flops. I fed Beau and texted Summer, reminding her about the plans. I received about five texts back saying what she was wearing and how excited she was. I grabbed my keys and climbed into the black leather seat. As I drove, I thought about the mesmerizing eyes I would soon be seeing. When I pulled into the parking lot, I saw that Heather, Arianna and Summer were sitting on the stone bench outside the mall entrance. I grabbed my Chanel purse and slipping my sunglasses on. I crossed the lot, feeling the individual pebbles slide beneath my feet. I reached their group and was greeted with hugs. I sat on the bench and, as if I was Santa, Heather sat on me.
"Um, hi?" I said, moving my legs around, trying to get her to move. She shrieked but managed to stay on my legs. Eventually I gave up and she sat happily on my thighs.
"Agh! You're cutting off my circulation with your bony self!"
"I is sowy. But you are a very comfortable seat." She bounced, making me to shriek. I looked at Summer who shrugged her shoulders saying that she couldn't do anything. I heard a car approaching and glanced up to see what was happening. I saw Miles' car pulling into a parking space followed by Ty and Jason in Jason's Jeep. The guys climbed out and sauntered over to where we were. Miles stopped and looked at me. I waved and he got a playful twinkle in his eye.
"Aw, you're having girl-on-girl action? For me?" he waggled his eyebrows. I giggled.
"Oh yeah. In your dreams." I struggled to stand up, sending Heather lurching forward into Kyle's' arms. Miles laughed and offered his hand to help me steady myself.
"Thanks." I groaned as I stretched my legs, which tingled from the rush of blood going to them. "Eeek!" I shrieked and almost collapsed onto the concrete. Miles scooped me up before I could hit the pavement.
"You're really light." He shifted his weight. I wiggled my legs.
"Put me down." I said, wriggling in his arms. He just looked at me.
"No, I don't think you can walk just yet. Hey Arianna, can you open the door?" He gestured toward the mall entrance. My eyes widened.
"Oh no! I am not going into the mall in your arms!" I wriggled even more but to no avail. Miles walked through the security sensors and through the Macy's. People stared at us, particularly me. "Miles, put me down now!" I whispered, blushing like crazy.
"Really?" he asked, halting.
"Yes!" I sighed with relief as he put me down. I looked back to see Heather and Arianna and everyone else trailing behind us, giggling non-stop. I glared.
"You couldn't help me?" I asked Jason when they reached us.
"Nah, it was too funny." He winked. They all nodded. I rolled my eyes and flounced back to Miles.
"I'm gonna make you pay for that." I breathed in his ear. He grinned.
"What can you do to me? I'm half a foot taller than you and weigh more." I just smiled.
"Revenge is a bitch." We headed into the mall and when I looked up at him, he looked a little pale. I laughed. I spotted AppleMint, our favorite boutique and motioned to Summer, who nodded excitedly. The guys looked to see what we were heading toward and their faces split into grins. Uh-oh, this can't be good. We entered the pink and green store and Miles, Jason, Ty and Kyle all looked at each other.
"Hey, us guys, we had an idea. What if we picked out some outfits for you all to try on?" Ty asked, glancing at Arianna. Something in my head set off a slight warning signal but I pushed it away.
"Okay? We're all threes." Summer said, grabbing my arm and dragging the girls toward the dressing rooms. I sat on one of the egg shaped chairs in the common area of the dressing room circle. AppleMint had a cool layout. It had chic modern feel to it. The shelves and floors were a shiny white and there were polka dots of pink and green everywhere, splashed on the ceiling, shelves, and floor. In the far right corner was the cash register, where Connie, our favorite salesgirl, tapped in our purchases on the high-tech screen. In the far left corner was the archway leading to the dressing room area. It was a circular shaped room with five doors in the wall. In the middle was a cluster of chairs and sofas where we were sitting.
Heather and Summer sat on one of the couches and Summer laid down on the fainting couch. I pulled out my iPhone and checked my messages. There was a message from my mom, checking to make sure we were still on for next weekend. I replied saying of course. I returned back to my inbox screen and gasped. A number I hadn't thought about for a long time appeared at the top. The message was simple. I hit the home button out of the message app and clicked the lock button. After I slipped the phone back into its compartment in my purse, I thought about what I could do to avoid the message. While I was deep in thought I heard scuffling sounds behind me. I gave my head a quick shake and stored my thoughts away. I turned around to see Miles laden down with about thirty garments. Jason, Ty and Kyle all had similar loads.
"Oh my god!" I jumped up and relieved Miles of half his burden and saw Arianna, Heather and Summer do the same. I led him toward a dressing room and he dropped his load onto the bench.
"There." He said, looking at the pile happily. I set down my bundle and looked at him.
"What," I gestured toward the clothes. "is that?" He just smiled.
"Humor me." He exited the room, closing the door behind him. I turned my attention toward the clothes and shrugged. It couldn't be that bad, could it? I slipped off my pants and blindly grabbed a set of clothes. I put it on without looking to see what it was. Only after I was zipped up did I look in the mirror. I shrieked.
"What the hell?" I heard Summer exclaim. Similar outbursts came from Arianna and Heather's directions. I opened the door and peeked out. Miles took one look at me and broke out into a BIG grin.
"I think you should buy that." I strode over to the mirror behind him, brushing my arm with his. I couldn't get used to it. Black leather mini skirt with chains, silver camisole that barely covered the essentials and black stilettos about six inches high.
"Miles, I look like a stripper." I glanced over my shoulder.
"But you're my stripper." He wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me in the air. I swung my legs so I was sitting on his shoulders like the princess I know I am.
"Summer! Heather! Arianna! Come out, come out wherever you are!" I heard groans and slowly dressing room doors swung open. Arianna came out first. She had a low low cut purple shimmer mini dress with black fishnet stockings and silver wedges. She scurried over to Ty and sat on his lap, attempting to hold her head high. Summer came out next. She was wearing a white see-through top that had an obvious camisole underneath it, black leather shorts and black boots that came up to her knees. Jason whistled with delight.
"I'm you're twelve o'clock." She joked, sitting next to him. Heather came out last and I could see why. A black and pink lacy camisole barely covered her chest, black skin-tight pants and pink five inch high pumps. She posed with her hands in her hair, standing provocatively in front of Kyle. He grabbed her hips and brought her down onto his lap.
"Now that was the sexiest thing I have ever seen." Kyle exclaimed. I laughed and slipped off Miles' shoulders.
"Come on ladies, we have a fashion show to put on." We trooped back into our rooms and continued on with the parade of hooker like clothes.
I actually ended up buying a few outfits, though they weren't as revealing as the ones Miles had originally picked out. I did decide to humor him and bought the black miniskirt ensemble. We split up for a little while after that. The guys headed to Abercrombie and us girls headed to Victoria's Secret. I bought a few unmentionables and some perfume and lotion. Laden down with our purchases we had a rendezvous point at the fountain in the center of the mall.
"I don't know about you guys but I'm starved." Jason said, dropping his bag in the booth and heading over to Sbarro. The rest of us laughed and settled down in the booth. I sat between Miles and Heather.
"Personally, I'm not that hungry. Give me a milkshake and I'm good." I stated, looking over at Chick-fil-A. They had the peppermint chocolate chip milkshakes back. They were my absolute favorite.
"Same. I ate a big breakfast." Miles added, rubbing his flat abdomen. I laughed and ran my hand across his abs. He lifted his eyes and grabbed my hand.
"Right there." He set on his thigh. I giggled and retracted my hand. He faked a sad face. Summer, Jason and Arianna all stared at us.
"What?" I glanced at Miles, who was struggling to keep his face straight.
"Nothing. Nothing at all." Heather said, getting up and heading toward McAllister's. After about ten minutes everyone had gotten their food and were happily eating and chatting. I sipped my milkshake and took in my surroundings. A gaggle of teenage girls were clustered around a guy holding an iPad, an elderly couple sat on a bench looking at the fountain. A group of moms with strollers walked past, smelling of wet wipes and baby powder. As I turned my head back to the table, a familiar face caught my attention from the corner of my eye. I quickly moved my hair to cover my face.
"I'm going to go use the restroom. I'll be right back." I slipped out of the booth and maneuvered my way through the crowd. Hopefully my friends wouldn't be able to see I wasn't headed toward the bathroom at all. I walked over to him and smacked his arm.
"What are you doing here?!" I whispered in his ear.
"I need to talk to you. I'm sorry about what happened. I really am. Why can't you forgive me?" he tried to catch my gaze but I looked at the floor.
"What you did…" I trailed off, the memory too painful to say. He winced. "Anyways, I've moved on. Please just leave me alone." I turned on my heel and started away.
"Mia! Mia, wait!" he laid his hand on my shoulder and turned me back around. "Please just give me another chance. One date. One date and I'll leave you alone."
"I have a boyfriend. I'm not doing the two people thing again. Remember last time? You're lucky I didn't dump you then. You are the reason me and Mark aren't together. Why on earth would I go on a date with you?"
"Just please?" he looked at me with his cerulean eyes and I softened a little.
"Fine," I grumbled. "One date. I'll text you later." He gave me a hug and walked away. I stood there, watching his retreating form until he vanished into the throngs of people. I went to the table and sat down. As I sipped my drink, I caught Miles staring at me. "What?"
"Nothing." He turned his gaze away. Summer glanced at me questioningly and I brushed it off with a hand gesture that meant "I'll tell you later." Ten minutes later, everyone was happy and full. I got up off of Miles' lap and picked my bags up off the floor.`
"Where do you guys want to go to next?" Arianna asked, handing Ty her bags to carry.
"Um, how about we go to the park?" Kyle said, gesturing toward the park in the west wing. I didn't see a problem with that so we headed toward the castle-like structure. I slipped onto a swing and started pumping my legs, gradually going higher and higher. We were all going at different intervals so when Miles was up I was down and when I was up he was down. We kept meeting in the middle and he reached his hand over, tickling my stomach area. As soon as I was at my peak I let go and landed on my feet, gracefully I hope.
"Mia, the stunt woman." He said grinning. I giggled and jumped into his arms.
"Wee." I said as he spun me around. He staggered to a stop and started convulsing with laughter. "You look drunk."
"Nah, if I was drunk, we would not be in a public area." He winked and I got shivers. I scanned the structure to see where everyone else had migrated to. Ty and Arianna were hanging by the monkey bars. Literally, they were hanging upside down and taking pictures upside down. I knew that Arianna's facebook update would be filled with all three hundred pictures they were taking. Heather and Kyle were on the slide, running up it and then collapsing on the other at the end of the slide. I couldn't see Summer and Jason and then I realized that they were still at the swings, being airplanes.
"Hey! Let's go to the spinny thingy over there!" I gestured toward a beige platform. You stand on it and there is a pole which you hold onto while someone spins you around. I hopped on and curled my legs around the center pole. Miles started to spin the top loop, slowly at first and gradually picking up speed. Soon my hair was flying out straight and I was holding the pole like a vice, afraid of what would happen if I let even a slightest bit of lag enter my grip. "Stop! Cease! I'm too dizzy!"
"Are you sure?" he asked adding one last crazy spin in for good measure.