Crossing Lines

Chapter 6 - Mila

It's Tuesday evening, and I find myself running around my room, trying to gather everything I need for this godforsaken trip. My anxiety is at its peak right now; the thought of not only meeting Hayden, but also having to sit in a stadium with thousands of people makes me all sorts of uncomfortable.

"Mila!" Jasmine's voice startles me, and I chuck the rest of my clothes in the suitcase, but before I can push it shut, her voice echoes through the apartment again. "Mila! Help!"

"What is it?" I rush out to the living room, a laugh escaping my throat when I find Jas sitting on top of her suitcase, whining while she tries to zip it up. "Oh, come on. That again?"

"Don't look at me like that!" I watch how she struggles with the zipper, her knees pushed into the lid. "My camera equipment takes a lot of space and I need to have clothes to wear to the club and for the football game and I—"

"Yeah, yeah." I wave her off. "Just give me some of your clothes, and I'll put them in my case. There's enough space in there."

"Yes! That's why you're my best friend!"

"Because I don't need fifty outfits for two days?"

Jasmine laughs as she throws a bunch of dresses at me, one of them hitting me straight in the face. "You know that's not why, silly. But yes, it is convenient." She giggles before throwing another pair of jeans at me.

"Okay, I'm just gonna put these away, and then we need to get going, Mer said she'd be here soon."

About twenty minutes later, we're squeezed in the back of Mer's car, Jas' suitcase on top of my lap as mine is placed between the two of us. "Why do I have to carry this big-ass suitcase on my lap again?" I ask while shifting in the seat, the weight not really offering a comfortable ride.

"Because Mer's car is shit, and I have to hold her computer stuff."

"Hey!" Mer glares at us through the mirror. "My car isn't shit. The trunk hates me, and before we miss the flight because we can't open it when we need to, I decided to just leave it empty."

I can't help but roll my eyes at her dramatics. "You really should get that lock fixed. I can do that for you, you know."

"You can? Why the hell am I carrying all this shit in the front when we could've just taken care of it?"

"I told you I can help! You just shrugged me off."

Jasmine nods her head before agreeing with me. "That's true!"

"Yeah, well, I thought it'd fix itself."

"Because that's what cars do nowadays. They fix themselves."

I smirk at Jasmine's sarcasm while Mer rolls her eyes at us in the mirror, obviously not as amused as I am right now. "Well...who knows?"

"This is a 1997 Honda Civic." I can't stifle my laugh anymore now. "I'm not sure if they included that package back then."

"I swear to God, I'm going to throw you out of the plane, Mimi," Mer threatens, but all three of us end up laughing out loud, right as we pull into the airport parking lot.

The flight is rather uneventful, and a few hours later we arrive in New York. Cuddled in the back of a cab, I watch the twinkling lights outside, enjoying the view of this city by night as I listen to Jas and Mer chatter.

"So, what was this hotel called again?" Jasmine asks before she pops a gum into her mouth.

"The Marshall's Inn, right?" I try to recall the name as the cab stops at a red light, giving me the perfect view of the skyline in the distance. I'm not a fan of the bustling and hectic life of big cities, but the way they turn into pure and utter mystery by night has always fascinated me.

"About that..." Meredith's words bring me out of my reverie, and I turn around, anxiety instantly hitting me like a freight train when I notice the guilty expression on her face.

"You didn't..." I try to sound threatening, but Mer doesn't seem fazed.

"I kind of booked another one because it's closer to the stadium, and it's one of those hotspots for football players and boxers, and I just needed to use the opportunity to try my luck and find someone to interview," she explains, not even trying to hide the excitement in her voice.

I don't even know what to say. I'm pissed as hell already, and this trip hasn't even started.

"Yes! Hottie alert!" Jas seems to like the idea as much as Meredith does, but I simply groan before I close my eyes, my head resting against the expensive leather seat of our cab.

"Mimi, I'm sorry." Mer seems to have noticed I'm not particularly pleased by this turn of events. "I know you asked for that inn, but this one was actually a lot cheaper, and we even have a whirlpool in our room!"

I don't care about a stupid whirlpool! I don't care that it's cheaper, either—but I can't tell her that. She wouldn't understand. And I mean, in the end, it's not like this changes a lot, right?

Well, to me it does, because I like to be prepared in my life. I hate surprises and last-minute adjustments; they give me an unnerving feeling. Change means adaptation, and adaptation comes hand in hand with uncertainty. "Yeah. Okay. It's not like we can do much about it now anyway, right?" I can't help but snap a bit, although neither of the two seems to pick up on it.

"Exactly! And think about all the hotties who'll be there! Oh my God." Jasmine fans her face with her hands.

We arrive at the fancy hotel after midnight, and as soon as we open the door to our suite, I immediately feel a little calmer. I have to admit; it is remarkably pretty. We all have our own bedrooms and a large kitchen, as well as the most magnificent bathroom I've ever seen.

"Wow. I feel like a VIP!"

"Yeah." I hesitate for a moment. "Me too. I feel so out of place."

"You're here with us, so you're definitely not." Meredith suddenly slips her arm around my waist and gives me a quick hug. "Listen, I know this isn't what you imagined and I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I just thought we should treat ourselves a little."

And when she says it like that, I can't even be that mad at her anymore. She knows what I'm like, and I know what she's like. We're polar opposites, and maybe that's why we've been in each other's lives for so long. She challenges me, sometimes a bit too much, maybe. I usually hate it, but I know getting out of my comfort zone is necessary every now and then.

"It's alright. I guess this is something I could get used to."

She seems relieved by my words and shoots me one last smile before we get into our pajamas, leaving the unpacking for tomorrow.

As soon as my head hits the pillow, I feel the exhaustion take over. Anxiety is still scraping against my skull, but I try to fight it off. I still feel so out of place, so foreign in this fancy world. And it surely doesn't help that I'm meeting Hayden tomorrow, either.

My thoughts have been spiraling on having to meet him again, in person. I mean, what should I wear? What would I say? How do I even say hello? Do we hug? Shake hands? Granted, we made out in his car, but that's not a proper standard, I think. "Ugh, maybe I should just cancel."

But then a thought pops into my head. He asked for my hotel, and this morning I texted him the one I thought we'd stay at, not the one Meredith ultimately picked.

"Shit."

I hope he hasn't booked a table yet. That would make things even more awkward.

Hey, sorry if I wake you up with this, but we had a change of plans. We're actually staying at the Cabaleri instead of the inn I told you about. Don't ask why—it wasn't my idea. Sorry about the back-and-forth. Have a good night.

I lie there in bed, hiding beneath my covers as I read over the text conversations we had. The more I read them, the more the embarrassment warms my cheek. How do I end up humiliating myself in front of this man every single time? And now I made him switch his plans around again. God, I wouldn't be surprised if he just canceled on me by now.

And like he knew I was thinking of him, the phone lights up with a new text message. 

I take a deep breath. "Okay, Mila. Here we go."