Longing You (Book 4)

chp13

Miranda, Eric, and Lizzy were having a good time together. Much to her surprise, Eric did not ask or nag her about her leaving him, despite the fact that she had seen him look at her with a thoughtful expression on numerous occasions. Miranda desperately wanted to tell him everything, but she was terrified.

She was currently sitting on the couch at Benji's place, completely zoned out, while the others were having a heated discussion about the movie they saw the night before, but it was cut short by the doorbell.

Instead of opening the door, everyone was staring at each other silently, which caused Miranda to huff in frustration and stand up to greet the person behind the door.

"What are you doing here, Eric?" She asked, clearly surprised to see him.

"I just came here to deliver this paper to Austin." He explained himself.

"OK, come on in." She was absolutely dumbfounded.

"Hello, Eric. Sorry for the inconvenience." Austin expressed regret for the inconvenience.

"It's not a problem." He gave him a tight smile, clearly uncomfortable.

"Wait a minute! To my knowledge, the first time you two met was the day when Eric came to drop Miranda home. And he's now handing you papers. I don't understand." Melissa asked both of the guys in a dilemma.

"My firm was facing some legal issues, and my partner Rodney knows him, so we got in touch, and he assisted us in resolving them," Austin explained.

Miranda said to him, "I am glad it's over now."

"Yes, anyway, I should probably go. Have a good night, guys." He was about to leave but was stopped by Melissa.

"Wait a minute, Eric. Why don't you join us? We are having a game night, and we could use another player on the team."

"No, I don't think it's a good idea." He attempted to escape the situation, but God was not on his side.

"Yes, Eric, you should join us. More the merrier." Austin agreed with Melisa's suggestion. Eric looked at Miranda, and when she nodded, he caved.

"All right, then. By the way, this is my girlfriend, Bridget." Austin was the one who introduced him to her.

"Now that everyone has arrived let us form a team. Miranda, Eric, and Melisa, you are one team, and my teammates are Austin and Bridget." Benji informed them.

"Why don't we pick cheats?" Melisa suggested, clearly knowing why Benji picked that team.

"No, I don't want to pick cheats." He said it uncomfortably.

"Just tell me straight up that you don't want me on your team because I will make you lose. After all, I don't have the same IQ as you. You know what, I don't want to play. I will make some coffee." She said it angrily to him.

"Then the teams will be uneven," Benji said, infuriating Melisa.

"How about I assist Melissa? I make fantastic coffee." Eric offers to help, which Miranda greatly appreciates. Eric may be immature, but he knows how to comfort people better than she does.

She mouthed thank you to him, to which he nodded with a smile. Eric then followed Melisa into the kitchen area.

"If you don't mind me asking what it was about?" He asked her.

"It was my stupidity and anger. I know it was uncalled for, but I couldn't help myself. He has to look down on me as if I am stupid and dumb. I understand that having my own fashion boutique isn't the smartest thing to do, but I am not stupid or dumb."

"It is not easy to open your own fashion boutique. You need a lot of skill and creativity, which I am sure Benji lacks." Eric attempted to console her.

"I see why Miranda married you now. You sure have a way with words, even if you don't always use them wisely." Melisa said, and he rolled his eyes.

"What on earth are they doing?" Eric asked her, dumbfounded when he saw the scene in front of him.

Benji, Miranda, Austin, and Bridget were sitting on their knees around the small table, hands behind their backs, ready to dig into the pie in front of them.

"Well, it's one of those days when we all get into a 'girls vs boys' debate," Melisa explained.

They all started eating the pie in their mouths before Eric could comprehend anything. It was both amusing and repulsive at the same time. Miranda and Bridget jumped and gave each other a high-five after five minutes. "Take it, you losers. We won." Miranda exclaimed with glee.

Eric hadn't seen her this happy in a long time.

"Whatever. Can we please change? I feel grossed out." Benji stated. "Come on, Melissa. Help me clean my face." Before she could protest, Benji grabbed her hand and dragged her into helping him out. Even Austin and Bridget went to clean themselves up in another bathroom.

"Well, that was something," Eric said, amused.

"I know I look ridiculous. You don't need to laugh." Miranda crossed her arms, trying to look stern. But that only made him chuckle.

"Come on, let's clean you up." Eric made Miranda follow him to her apartment next door.

He took her to the bathroom, picked up some tissues, and helped her clean her face.

Miranda exclaimed, "Ouch!"

"What happened?" Eric asked her worriedly.

"Something went inside my eyes." She said.

"Calm down." He told her. He made her open her eyes and blew breath into them. It was only later when both of them realized the proximity they were in.

"I will wait outside," Eric said after a few moments of silence.

"Can you give me the towel from the top drawer in my room?" She asked him.

"Sure,"

He went into her room. He checked her dressing table's top drawers, and, thankfully, the towel was beneath the file.

He removed the cloth, causing the file to fall and some paper to fly out of it.

"Everything alright in there? What took you so long?" Miranda entered her room to find Eric holding the file containing a portion of the most shocking truth of her life.

"I, Eric—" But he cut her off.

"Based on your reaction, it appeared that these papers had something to do with you leaving me. Don't worry; I am not going to bother you with it. I think I should go home. By the way, here's your towel. Take care and have a good night." Eric left immediately after saying those words, knowing that if he stayed any longer, he wouldn't be able to handle the curiosity, and everything could go wrong. He couldn't afford that, especially when things were going so well between them.