A Long Way Home

A Night Out

Since that night at Drew's Mia had managed to avoid seeing him at all costs. She had unsuccessfully snuck out of his apartment the next morning after waking up to him sleeping soundly next to her. His face was tucked deeply into the pillow with his arm thrown across the queen bed mere inches from her body. It was a miracle they hadn't woken up spooning. During the night Mia had to fight the urge several times to move closer to him. He was warm and the sound of his breathing calmed her down. The rhythm of it was slow and steady. She desperately wanted to curl into him but that would break all of her own boundaries. He had been respectful of her and kept his distance. She wouldn't break his trust now.

When she had tried to escape, he woke up and cocked his head to one side as she stumbled to pull on her shoes.

"Where are you escaping to Em?" Mia's heart ached with a nickname. It was her first initial. It wasn't exactly like he was being creative but being on this new level of intimacy made her heart race. It wasn't later than 7 am. She technically had nowhere to be so she struggled to come up with a lie.

"I'm hungry. I wanted to get a bagel. I'm just going to go because I have things to do." She watched as an easy smile spread across his face as he propped himself up on one arm. His hair was playfully askew and she had to resist the urge to cross the distance between them and run her hands through it.

"Bagels huh? You gonna bring me back one?" He smirked. He had to be able to tell she was nervous. She was practically ringing her hands behind her back as she bounced from foot to foot.

"I would love to but unfortunately no. I've got to go. Thanks for letting me stay over." She turned quickly, gathering the remains of her stuff off the floor.

"Hey Em, let me know if you find a locksmith open this early. If not you can always come back to bed." She stood stunned in the doorframe between the couch and the bed. Why was he flirting so hard? Was he the type of person that woke up with a sex drive and wanted whoever was available.

Mia murmured something incoherent as she headed towards the front door. She hated that she wanted him. She wanted to turn around and strip everything off, climb into bed and have him right there. But he was unavailable. Emotionally that is. Physically it was pretty unclear where Drew stood. Last night he had made it sound like there was someone but today he was flirting like a freshly single man. The back and forth was making her mildly nauseous.

"Bye, thanks for the hospitality." She yelled over her shoulder as she hauled the front door open. Closing it firmly behind her she breathed a sigh. She couldn't tell if it was relief or disappointment.

Since that morning, Mia had made it her mission to see Drew pretty much never. It wasn't that she didn't want to see him. She didn't trust herself around him. One day he was flirting, the next he wanted nothing to do with her. If he wasn't sure where he stood, she didn't want to be a part of it.

It had been relatively easy not to run into him. Six months had casually slipped by. Mia left a dead end job and started a new one. She had seen Maxine a handful of times and even managed to have dinner with her and Mike once. But outside of that, her social life had shrunk to an incredibly small circle.

It hadn't been intentional at the beginning. After her night with Drew she spent the day fighting to get back into her apartment with a locksmith who was trying to overcharge her. If she paid him in full she'd be eating ramen for the next three months. When she finally made it inside at 4 pm she had sat herself down in front of the TV and said enough is enough. She hated where her life was going. She needed to make more than $15 an hour. She needed health insurance and coworkers who knew her name. She needed to be able to afford rent and be able to feed herself something other than microwavable noodles.