Day 3 (Part 2)
Porter, VA - Population: 299
The two women spent most of the short ride in Maya's speeding car laughing about the five dollar parking ticket they found on the windshield and her fascinating afternoon encounter.
"So, I attended a makeshift funeral earlier this afternoon," Maya said, slipping her sunglasses back on as they turned onto Belcher street. "And honey it was a beautiful mess."
Michonne's mouth fell open as she took in her attire which consisted of a bright red blouse with loose casual jeans with an incredulous glance. "You went dressed like that? I thought you were just going to the store."
"Well, I was on the way to the butcher's, but then I met Daryl at the coffee shop along the way and ended up going to a funeral for his dead pet. It was a possum. He's so persuasive without even knowing it."
Michonne was nearly beyond the point of being surprised by anything anyone in Porter told her anymore, including her mother. She didn't bother with the whys. She pressed her lips together, fighting back laughter as she responded. "Oh...wow. How'd it die?"
Maya snorted rolling her eyes. "Horvath accidentally ran the poor thing over yesterday. He lives across the street from Daryl and the poor animal somehow got in his yard. I would have been home earlier to help you and Rick, but I felt so bad for Daryl. He loved that little guy."
"That sounds terrible." Her brow furrowed as she recognized the familiar name from earlier that morning. "Wait a minute. What's up with this Horvath guy? I've been hearing that name around. Sounds like trouble."
"Oh Dale's just a harmless grump slash town gossiper," Maya said, waving it off as she parked in front of the driveway. "He has something to say about everything and seems to know everybody's damn business. It was a nice get together though. Weird, but nice."
The remainder of the afternoon progressed rapidly once they arrived home. Michonne, not quite as skilled as Maya would have liked, was assigned to chop vegetables and prep the meat before getting shooed out of the kitchen to work on the "sculpture".
Maya insisted on having dinner in the large dining room she never had the opportunity to use. Michonne thought it was a little much, but she helped Maya set up the tablecloth, silverware and the tall silver candelabras on the mahogany table meant to sit six.
"It smells so good in here," Michonne commented once she reentered the kitchen and the rich aroma of her mother's cooking wafted over her, beckoning her closer.
"Always. Plus, I'm making your favorite," Maya sang twirling her wooden spoon as if it were a magic wand.
"You said that last night." Michonne strolled over, peering into the bubbling pot. "Unless you just assume everything you make is my favorite. You won't be wrong though."
"Yep. I know my daughter." She covered the pot, turning to her daughter with a grin. "It's Rick's favorite too, so it all works out." She pointed back to the pot. "This is basically done. I'm just gonna let it simmer and head upstairs to change."
Michonne glanced around the kitchen feeling a little too idle. "Well I'll be down here. You need me to do anything here?"
"Yes," she said, emphatically. "Sit down, relax, and don't touch anything, okay?"
She held up her hands in surrender. "Don't touch anything. That I can do."
Michonne sighed looking at the house that surrounded her. It was so unlike her childhood home. She smiled glancing at the framed candid photograph in the entryway of her and Maya at her college graduation. Her father had taken it.
The photograph was a time machine. She was suddenly back to that damp spring day, with her father calling her name in attempt to get the two women to focus on the camera. Michonne, distracted by her mother's giddiness, had her attention focused elsewhere as Maya chatted animatedly with her hands. They embodied happiness and pride.
The picture stood out, raw and real, from all the others he took that day. The two most important people in her father's life immortalized in their natural fun relaxed state. This was Michonne and Maya as he saw them.
Deciding to follow Maya's orders, Michonne grabbed her phone and went out to the wooden porch swing where she settled down to enjoy the setting sun. She shut her eyes and drew in a deep breath as she enjoyed the quaint tranquility surrounding her.
Out of habit, she checked her cell phone, noticing an alert for a missed call from Andrea. As if her friend knew her gaze was on the screen, the phone let out a shrill noise as it buzzed in her hand.
"Hello my love!"
"So, you're still alive. Nice to hear from you too. I've been trying to call you since Tuesday. What happened? I was about to send out a damn search party." Her long-time friend, Andrea, was never one to mince words.
"My phone service is really crappy out here. I'm going back and forth with one or two bars right now," she said, rising to her feet and stepping off the porch and onto the stone path in the middle of her mother's garden. "I tried to text you when I got here. "
"Yeah, I saw," Andrea responded with a sigh. "How's your mother doing by the way?"
Michonne glanced back as if said woman was within sight behind her. "She's doing alright actually. I might have just missed the worst of it, but she's the same 'ol spunky Maya. You'd never tell she took a fall."
"Well that's a good thing. Tell her I said hey."
"Yeah." She could tell there was more that Andrea had called to say. "So, Shane and I called things off again. I don't know. Things have been crazy and honestly it's probably for the best."
"Oh Andrea, I'm so sorry." She listened attentively as her friend recounted her catastrophic overseas vacation with her long time boyfriend. The trip commenced with expectations of a grand Parisian proposal and concluded with a shouting match in a hotel lobby followed by a security escort from the premises. Andrea was almost certain the encounter had gone viral by now.
"But anyway, enough about me. Fall for any hot small town men yet?"
She had all but sworn off futile dating months before after ending things with the guy she was seeing. It became apparent that he was more on a quest to find himself rather than focus on an actual relationship and they decided their separate ways, promising to remain friends.
Her mind drifted back to Rick. She didn't know him that well, but there was something there that left her wanting to know more. The ease of conversation, his warm smile and apparent caring nature was a plus in her book. In fact, the way he so easily got along with and charmed her mother was an added bonus.
"Please. I'm not really looking for that sort of thing right now. Relationships are way too hard."
Andrea paused for a while before finally responding in an amused tone. "You did, didn't you? I hear that defensiveness in your voice. Who is he?"
"I'm sure you are," she laughed. "Anyway, I have to go. Maya and I are having dinner with a friend tonight."
"Alright, but I'm waiting to hear everything when you get back."
"Sunday lunch at Clyde's?"
"Twelve thirty sharp. Take a picture of him to show me!"
"Bye Andrea," Michonne said, rolling her eyes as she laughed. They said their goodbyes once again.
As she hung up the phone she heard soft footsteps approaching on the path behind her. She didn't have to turn around to know it was him.
"Hey stranger."
She turned around, looking up straight into his clear blue eyes. "You're here." She wished she would have thought of something better to say in greeting.
"Yeah. Finally. It's been a long day."
"You look tired," she said, taking a step closer to examine him in the low light.
"I am. Just a little."
Andreas words were at the back of her mind. She took a deep, shaky breath in an attempt to calm herself down. No, I'm definitely not looking for that. "How'd that whole killer bee situation go?"
He shrugged, rubbing his index finger against his forehead. "Well the guy didn't die, so that's a big positive. The day wasn't completely disastrous."
She grinned. "Ever the optimist."
"Yeah well maybe spending time with you was a good influence on my day." He was much closer to her now, and she stared into his eyes, feeling the tangible electricity between them. Their bodies are almost touching. It would take less than two steps.
The front door swung open behind them making them both jump at the sound. "You know, I'm thinking we should have dinner on the back patio instead." Maya stood on the porch with a flowing shawl over her shoulders, staring down at the pair with a knowing smile.
"That's a actually great idea," Michonne said dryly. "Not that I've suggested it twenty times or anything."
Maya put her hands on her hips, raising a brow with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. "Just come help me with the food."
~FDP~
"Why on earth did you even think that was a good idea!"
"You don't understand," Maya said, putting down her wine to properly explain the details of how she got her injury. "That kid was a little asshole and I was a rollerblading and a Double Dutch champ when I was a lot younger. That's before your time honey. Well I thought I still had it in me and I did, until I was airborne during the last round. It was worth it though. I regret nothing."
Rick doubled over in laughter at Maya's unapologetic tone. "He was a little asshole though," he told Michonne.
"See? At least Rick understands. I couldn't just let that old lady comment slide."
Michonne shook her head, her mouth turning upwards in a smile. "You're still the same you."
Maya picked up her glass again. "Honey, I'm too old to change. I'm gonna be set in these ways forever."
"Well, no more sidewalk rollerblading challenges okay? For me."
"I may not be changing, but I'm still capable of learning."
"This is so good by the way." Rick moaned as he brought his fork up to his lips for another bite of food. "I don't know how you do it Maya."
"So glad you like it," she smiled. "I can show you how to make it sometime. I'm a piss poor teacher, but I'll try."
They continued eating their meal with conversation quickly flowing with ease. Michonne and Rick were seated side by side with Maya directly across from them. Each time Rick's eyes met Michonne's or their arms or fingers brushed briefly against the other she felt light flutters in her stomach. Her body felt like a live wire and from his expression, he seemed to know exactly what he was doing.
The attraction was definitely mutual.
When they were finally filled to contentment with food and laughter Maya rose to clear the table. "Oh, I can do that Maya," Rick said, standing to help gather the plates. He shooed her into the house, insisting that he would handle the cleanup and Michonne stayed back to help.
"Well, I'm bushed," Maya said. "I think I'll turn in for the night."
"Already?" Michonne asked incredulously. Her mother had always been a night owl and a late riser. And based on the previous two nights, that hadn't changed since her arrival to Porter.
"I'm an old lady. I go to bed early," Maya lied, stretching her arms above her head. "Plus cooking so much food is exhausting. See you two tomorrow. You'll lock up, won't you baby?"
Michonne eyed her mother suspiciously. "Yeah, Goodnight."
"Night Maya."
Michonne never imagined such palpable sexual tension between two people clearing a table and cleaning dishes was possible. She became so occupied in her own mind, attempting to fully concentrate on her task and not how his presence made her feel that she didn't hear the words he started to speak to her.
"Um...Sorry. What was that?"
"You gonna teach me those stretching exercises tomorrow?"
It took her a beat or two to connect the dots and correctly interpret the question he was posing. "Well I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself again," she retorted.
"That was nothing," he said. "Just know, you're going to be running a lot slower than you're used to tomorrow. I'm definitely going to keep you back. I'll be upfront about that."
She nudged him playfully as she passed him to enter the back door leading to the kitchen. "Oh I know it's going to beginners pace tomorrow. Fully prepared for it."
"Hey, I'm the comedian around here."
The finished quickly in the kitchen, working effortlessly around each other with the conversation, littered with smiles and unspoken attraction, flowing freely. Once they were finished, it was clear neither one wanted the ease of communication to end.
"This...this was nice. I had a great time with you and Maya tonight."
His proximity was static, an electrifying crackling in the air. "Me too." She didn't know what to do with her hands all of a sudden. For what felt like minutes, but was truly a half second, they stood in silence captivated in each other's stare.
"I should probably head out," he finally said, his eyes never leaving hers.
"I'll...uh walk you out. I was just going to sit out there anyway," she said. "You can stay a while if you want."
"I was just going home to an empty house so don't mind if I do."
She led the way out of the kitchen and to the front porch. She listened to the beat of his soft footsteps behind her in perfect synchrony with hers.
"It's so quiet out here," she said, wrapping her arms around her body, as she sat down on the swing. "Does it ever feel strange or are you too used to it."
"Definitely too used to it."
"It's nice though. I hear it's a great stress reliever. Perfect place to get away from the whole corporate setting and just get a clear mind." She was both looking forward to and dreading the pile of upcoming high profile project she and her creative team would undertake once she returned. She was in for a busy few months.
"You must get really busy."
"Not quite like you though," she said, closing her eyes and tipping her head back. "It usually consists of me being confined to my desk in my office building or home office until everything in flawless."
"So you're probably a perfectionist."
"What makes you think that?"
"My clients are the ones that are perfectionists. I just make sure me and my team give them exactly what they want and exceed their expectations in the process."
He listened intently as she spoke, the corners of his mouth turned up. "That's amazing. I'd love to see what you can do."
"If Porter is ever in any need of promotional material..."
"You're the lady for the job," he finished for her. "I never apologized by the way."
"For what?"
"Abandoning our project today," he grinned over at her. "I'm serious about this partnership. I'm starting to fear that Anette might actually win again this year."
"Well depending on how you perform tomorrow, I might forgive you," she said. "Otherwise crushing my mother's dreams will be all on you."
"Me?" He pointed to himself. She could see his smile in the moonlight. "I'm not the award-winning graphic designer. Lower expectations for this guy."
"You said your family used to go all out for this turnip thing. What was that like?"
He chuckled, leaning his head back against the wooden slats of the swing. "That was forever ago. When my brother and I were kids, my mother took that stuff seriously. We used to have these matching family costumes and we'd take part in literally every activity in the festival. Seeing her excitement just takes me back, you know."
"Yeah." The swing moved slowly back and forth. "You have a brother?"
"He lives out of state now," he said. "Never moved back after college. He keeps in touch now and then."
They were silent, rocking steadily on the wooden swing. Their hands were close between them on the bench. If she moved her hand, even slightly, they would be touching. Her fingers moved slightly, brushing against the tips of his and he moved his hand closer, taking hers in his.
Her breath hitched at his touch and a small smile formed on her lips and she turned to look at him. She swallowed, inching closer as she gazed at him, losing herself in his bright eyes. He held her gaze and it consumed her.
One second they were simply holding hands, captivated by the effect they had on each other, then the next their lips joined as if it was the most natural thing in the world. A euphoric frenzy rushed through her as she closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling his soft lips as his mouth moved against hers.
"Wow," he sighed when they finally broke apart. His eyes glimmered like gems in the dim light.
Wow, it was.
Sorry for such a long delay in getting this out. I've been moving and super busy and now I've finally had a chance to sit down and finish this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it! Around three more chapters to go.