“Why aren’t you in your crate?” I said to her. She looked at me with her big, round puppy-dog eyes. “I’m a sucker, I would have let you out too.”
I headed down the short hallway. We called our apartment a loft because it had one large room with high, gabled ceilings. The walls that separated the bedrooms and bathroom didn’t reach the ceiling, so essentially we lived in a loft with some walls.
Our bedroom was dark but there was enough light coming from the hallway that I could see Mia curled up under the covers. I went to her side. Once I moved out of the doorway, the light shone on her face. She was sound asleep at seven o’clock. I took a quick shower and slid into bed in my boxers. She stirred and opened her eyes just a crack.
“Hi, baby,” she said. “What time is it?”
“It’s seven fifteen.”
“Oh my gosh. I was just gonna take a little nap. I made croissants,” she mumbled, then yawned with her eyes still closed.
“I had one. They’re delicious.”
She scooted toward me, sank down and then nestled into my chest. We wrapped our arms around each other. She was so warm, like a little oven.
“Do you want me to get up and make dinner?”
“No, I had a long day. I just want to lie here with you,” I said.
“I’ve been exhausted too.”
“Is Jenny making you crazy with the wedding planning?”
“Kind of.” She said it in a way that made me think she didn’t want to put Jenny down. Mia was insanely loyal; she never talked shit about people even though we both knew Jenny was driving her mad.
“She’s not pregnant,” I said.
“I know. It sucks.”
“It will happen for them.” A few seconds later, I laughed to myself, thinking about Tyler in the bar earlier that day.
“What are you laughing about?”
“Today Tyler and I got into a debate over who sings a song. He got everyone in the bar involved.”
She rolled over and tucked herself into me so that I was spooning her. “What song?”
“Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress.”
Through a yawn she said, “Oh that’s the Hollies.”
I laughed quietly and then moments later, I felt her go boneless. She was asleep. I nuzzled my face into her hair, inhaling her sweet, clean scent. “God, I love you,” I whispered.
Saturday morning, with Mia cuddled in my arms, I finally asked her, “What was it that made you come around? When did you know you loved me?”
“I knew the day I met you.” She kissed my chest and then laid her head flat again before she started rambling. “I was stupid, Will. It took me a long time to see that. I wish we could take that year back. My father would still be alive and I would just meet you on a flight somewhere. We would meet and decide right then and there to live the rest of our lives together in some paradise, playing music on a beach. You know?”
“I think everything happens for a reason. All those months getting to know you… Even if we weren’t together, it meant a lot to me. I don’t want to take it back and I don’t think you should want to either. I just meant when did it click in your head?”
“When I saw Lauren.”
“Who’s Lauren?”
“This woman I met in the airport, the same day I met you actually.”
Something rang a bell about what Mia was saying, even though we’d never talked about it. “Wait a minute. I met a Lauren in the airport that day too.”
“You’re kidding?” She sat up in bed and turned toward me. “A dark-haired woman, kind of a mess? With two little boys?”
“Yes, that’s her.”
“Crazy coincidence.”
“Totally. She was probably on our flight but we didn’t notice because we were busy.” I smirked.
She laughed. “You make that sound naughty.”
“Well?”
“Well, anyway, after L.A., after you said I ruined you… I ran into her at Tompkins Square Park.”
The mere mention of Mia breaking my heart in L.A. sent a jolt of terror through my body. “And?”
“And she told me about falling in love with her husband. She said something like you can’t know the future for sure; love is having faith in the other person and yourself. It’s trusting yourself to know who is right for you. Something did click after that. I tried to get a hold of you.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I just needed to be sure that you weren’t…” I swallowed.
“What, Wilbur? That I wasn’t what?” she said with a playful smirk.
I began tickling her, pinching at her sides and behind her knees until she was flat on her back, writhing around. I hovered over her and held her arms braced above her head.
“I needed to make sure you weren’t f**king with my heart again, you little tease.” I ducked my head and ran my tongue up her neck and continued the torture up her cheek and to her forehead.
She squirmed, screaming, “Yuck! Let me go!”
We were laughing hysterically until finally we were cuddled up again, dozing off with the morning light blasting us through the window.
TRACK 4: Bros before Hos
Mia was gone when I woke up again. She’d left me a note saying she was going to a dress fitting with Jenny. I looked at the clock. It was nine forty-five. I got dressed and bolted down to the studio where Frank was already waiting outside.