Marcus & Mia

by Hannah Meade

  The scary part is, I do not think he is joking.

  Well what the hell am I going to do now? I am supposed to be at Mia's in five minutes and I am stuck up here in my room.

  I can try to sneak out but he will probably check up on me and then proceed to yell at me for sneaking out once I got back. There is only one person who can help me get out of this. I take my phone back out and dial my brother.

  "Jerry? It is Marcus. I need your help."

  Ten minutes later, I am on my way to Mia's, hoping she will forgive me for being late.

  I text her when I am in front of her house to tell her I am here. I sent it ten minutes ago. She hasn't replied and she hasn't come out. Surely she has gotten my text already?

  I am so engrossed in watching Mia's house that I do not notice someone crouching by my passenger side window until it is too late.

  "Marcus!" Mia half-whispers, causing me to jump ten feet in the air and hit my head on the roof of my car.

  "Fuck. What the hell, Mia? A simple 'I am coming' text would not have worked?" I rub my now bruised head while Mia climbs in my car with a huge grin on her face. Wow, she is beautiful when she is relishing in my pain. I could just kiss her right now...

  "Now what fun would that be? Plus, I had to get you back for being ten minutes late. Did you have to relieve yourself before you came to get me or what?"

  "Would you rather me have left it for you to do it or..."

  She whacks me in the arm before I can finish. "Pervert."

  I shrug, glad it is dark in the car and she cannot see how I reacted to her statement. "You started this. I just went with the flow of the conversation."

  I can hear Mia laugh quietly beside me. I want to hear it again as soon as she is done. "So why were you really late?"

  "Family stuff." I hope she does not question it further. "I am sorry I was late. I was not meaning to."

  "It is okay, Marcus. It is not that big of deal. I am just ready to go skinny dipping after our picnic."

  I look over at her. Is she serious? Skinny dipping? Did she not wear anything under her dress?

  She catches me looking. And laughs. "Relax, Fido. I have a bikini on."

  That makes it so much better. Is it suddenly really hot in here? "Yeah. Yeah, I knew that. So, I have a question."

  She smiles and looks away. "Shoot."

  "Do you like pickles?"

  "Is pickles some kind of code word for something?" Her eyebrows wiggle in a suggesting way.

  "Get your mind out of the gutter, Mia. Pickles is code for pickles. I packed a bunch because I hate them and thought maybe you could eat them."

  She does not answer. I look over and she is giving me a weird look. "How many are we talking about?"

  ~~~

  "Holy shit, Marcus. Did you really expect me to eat like twenty pickles and a turkey sandwich and potato salad? My stomach is only so big you know."

  I laugh. "Well, I appreciate a girl with an appetite."

  "If I throw up tonight, I am blaming you and your pickles." She takes off her shoes and walks down to the sand.

  I watch her get down to the edge of the ocean before I realize I should probably follow her with our food.

  "Come on, slowpoke. I am getting hungry for those pickles."

  I run down the beach to where she is and spread out the blanket on the sand beneath us. "You called for the pickles?" I hold the basket up and she immediately digs out the pickles and starts eating one.

  A look of pure bliss reaches across her face. "Fuck, these are good. Where did you get these?"

  "A pickle store in Florida."

  She must not believe me, because she is giving me a weird look.

  "No, seriously. I was visiting my family in Orlando and my little sister is a freak about pickles, so naturally we went to a pickle store. Yes, that is an actual store."

  She burst out laughing. "You have got to be kidding me. There is an actual pickle store in Florida? That you went to?"

  "Hey, do not tease. If I had not gone to that store, you would not be eating the best pickle you will ever have in your life. Really, you should be thanking me right now. I am giving you a bite of heaven."

  "Thank you for this bite of heaven, Marcus. I really appreciate it. I am so grateful right now I could kiss you."

  "So could I."

  We held eye contact for what feels like an hour before she turns away from me. "So, I am ready to eat more than just these delicious pickles. You said you had turkey sandwiches?"

  I sigh. So close. If I just lean in a little farther our lips would touch.

  "Marcus?"

  "Hm?" I look over at her.

  "I asked you if I could have a sandwich."

  I snap out of my trance and grab her one. "Yeah, of course."

  She simply nods. And then it is awkward.

  We finish our little picnic, not saying anything to each other the entire time. We barely even look each other in the eye.

  This is definitely not the romantic beach date I had in mind.

  20 minutes later...

  "I AM READY TO GO SWIMMING. LET'S GET THIS WILD NIGHT STARTED. WHOOO."

  You can say Mia is a little drunk. I brought champagne with me and because of the awkward silence throughout the meal, we each snuck little sips here and there. Mia had a few more sips than I did, to say the least.

  I laugh as I tried to hide the bottle away from Mia. "Easy there. It would look bad for me if I took you home drunk tonight."

  She giggles hysterically and starts stripping off her clothes to unearth her bikini. And that bikini is tiny. It is a wonder all her parts fit into it at all. "Like what you see?" She poses seductively at me and then goes back to her giggle fit again.

  I strip down to my swim trunks and run in after Mia, who is already in the water.

  "Come on. It is fun in here." Mia reaches down and laps up the waves so that it splashes up onto her face and hair. She is one step away from going all the way under and being drenched.

  I step in further and catch her before she can fall. She stops.

  "Marcus." She speaks so softly I almost did not catch it.

  I look into her eyes and tell her what I cannot tell her, with my mouth. Then I lean down and press my lips to hers.

  She is shocked at first, almost pulling away, before she leans right back into me and kisses me back. Harder.

  I wind my fingers through her long, beautiful brown hair and pull her to me. I cannot get enough of her. We just are not close enough, no matter how far I pull her to me. She opens her mouth and I let my tongue explore hers. God, she tastes so sweet; like a box of gummy worms you just cannot stop eating. You keep going back in for another one and you still cannot get enough, even when the box is gone.

  I let my mouth leave hers and I trail a thousand kisses down the side of her face. I kiss her at her hairline. I kiss her at the top of her ear, at the bottom of her ear. I kiss her at her gorgeous dimple. I kiss her at her pointed chin. And eventually, I find my way back to her perfect, plump lips.

  We go on like that for a number of minutes, just kissing and exploring each other's mouths. It is perfect. Exactly how I pictured this date going. I am the one to finally pull away before it goes too far.

  Mia sort of stumbles a bit after I pull away, like our kisses are all that kept her standing. "That was...amazing."

  I feel my lips tug up into a wide grin. "I know. I could do that all night. But I should probably take you back home. Are you sober?"

  She nods. "I am now." She finds my hand by my side and links her fingers through mine. A perfect fit. Like it is meant to be.

  I smile and gently pull her with me back to the sand. She rests her head on my shoulder and places little kisses on my shoulder on the way back to the car. "Why does this night have to end?"

  I start the car and wish it is not time to part with her yet. "All good things must come to an end Mia. But next time our date will last longer. I promise." Yeah, I am definitely calling her again.

/>   "And when would that be?"

  I smirk and look over at her. “You are supposed to plan our next date, right?"

  “Ugh, you are right. Why did you have to make me do this? You are annoying.”

  I chuckle. "Do not kid yourself. You love me."

  Mia does not say anything. I look over at her. She is looking at me. "Not yet, Marcus. Not yet."

  I smirk. She is totally falling in love with me. She just does not want to admit it.

  I turn on her street, wishing we were not almost to her house already.

  I glance at the clock. 11:50 p.m.

  We pull up to her house, and I leave the car running. Mia goes to turn it off, but I push her hand away. "It is almost midnight. I want to leave a good impression on your parents."

  She pouts, her perfect bottom lip jetting out. "But.."

  I smile and cut her off. "We have many more days to spend together. Tonight was amazing, but it is time for it to end."

  Before I can say anything more, Mia turns toward me and presses her lips against mine one last time.

  This time is different. She is not half-drunk. This kiss is not full of hunger. It is full of promises. It is full of complete and utter raw emotion. A kiss that you know is meaningful.

  Mia gets out of the car and walks up to her front door. Once she is there, she turns back and wiggles her fingers at me, mouthing "Goodnight" to me.

  I wave back and once she is gone, I let go of the biggest grin I have been holding onto all night. "I am going to marry that girl one day."

  Seven

  "MIA ELIZABETH HATHEWAY."

  I ignore Emily's call and pull the pillow tighter around my ears to block out the noise.

  It does not work.

  "MIA, I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME. GET YOUR ASS UP."

  Knowing I cannot ignore her anymore, I mumble, "Go the fuck away, Emily."

  She does not answer, but I feel a pair of hands grab my legs that are hanging out of the blanket and pull me down to the ground. I fall flat on my face.

  "Ow! What the fuck? I told you to go away." I rub my now bruised head, which does not help with the headache I already have from my hangover, and glare at my best friend.

  "Well, excuse me for wanting to know why you were out so late last night. And why you have a hangover. Oh, my God, did you hang out with Marcus? Oh, my God, did you get drunk with him?" She looks like a little girl in a candy store, so proud that her best friend is growing up.

  "Would you stop yelling? And maybe get me some Advil so I can get through this conversation?"

  Emily rolls her eyes, but she does leave my room.

  I thank all the gods that she finally left. Now I can get a few more minutes of sleep before she comes back to yell at me again.

  ~~~

  "Okay. You got your Advil and you got a shower, now spill the beans. I want all the details." She is sitting excitedly in front of me, hands clasped together like she is ready to hear the hot gossip.

  I try to figure out how to shorten the story, but I am just too tired to even care. "So, Marcus called me. Yes, he is the friend I was talking about, and wanted to know if I wanted to go for a picnic at the beach and go for a midnight swim. So, I said yes and he said he would pick me up in ten. Well, he was a little late, but I scared him so bad I was okay with it. We got to the beach and had a picnic. He brought me like twenty pickles to eat because he does not like them, and I about puked after I ate half of them. During our picnic, we almost kissed but I pulled away."

  "YOU WHAT? WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU PULL AWAY?"

  I glare at her. "Would you shut the fuck up and let me tell the story? Save your questions until the end, please." I make sure she keeps her mouth shut before I continue. "Anyway, it was awkward after that, all through our picnic. Well, Marcus brought champagne....and I got a little tipsy. So I stripped down to my bikini and yelled that we should get this party started or something to that affect. As I ran into the water, he caught me before I could fall, and we kissed. It was unlike any kiss I have ever had. It was magical." I smile, remembering exactly how that kiss felt. I did not want it to stop. I was even willing to go further, but he pulled away before I could even suggest it. Someday. Someday I will go that far with him, just not now.

  "Miiiiiaaaaaaaa, you sly dog. Did you kiss him first or did he kiss you first?"

  I blush. "He kissed me first. But I kissed him when we got to my house. So we are even."

  By this point, Emily is squealing. This girl is way too excited about my night. "You are so lucky. I have not felt like you do in a long time." She looks away, embarrassed.

  "What is wrong, Em?"

  She shakes her head and looks me in the eye. "I guess I am just tired of fooling around with random guys. Now that I hear you talk about your magical kiss and night, it makes me want to feel that way. The way your eyes light up when you talk about Marcus makes it so obvious that you are in love. Or that you are very much 'in like' with him. I have only felt that way once, and I miss it."

  I put my arm around her and pull her to me. "You are going to feel that way again. It is not a once-in-a-lifetime thing. When you meet the right guy, that magical feeling will come back. Trust me. I would not worry so much about it. It can come in the most unexpected way. Mine came from a guy I met at a party while I was drunk. You just have to be patient. When it happens, it happens. But if you want that feeling back, your 'friends with benefits' thing needs to stop."

  Emily sniffles and nods; she already knows. "Yeah. Thanks, Mia." She pulls away from me and wipes her eyes. "What am I doing? I am supposed to be annoying the shit out of you by asking you questions about your evening beach date with Marcus. And here I am being all sad and mopey about my own sad love life."

  I laugh, she is so predictable. "Oh, I think you have done that enough. I told you most of everything anyway. Until he calls next, I have nothing more to tell you. Now can we please go get something to eat? I am starving." Right on cue, my stomach growls loudly.

  "How about Olive Garden?"

  I grin. "You know me so well, Em."

  ~~~

  "I will have the Garlic Rosemary Chicken with salad." I smile up at the cute waiter and hand him my menu.

  He grins back at me, showing the most adorable dimples. "Thank you. I will get that right out for you." He simply nods at Emily and walks off to get our food.

  After he leaves, Emily turns toward me with a smile. "What happened to Marcus?"

  "Marcus who?" Then I remember. Marcus. The guy I kissed last night. The guy I almost went all the way with last night. The guy I really like. And here I was flirting with a complete stranger. "Fuck. What am I doing?" I put my head in my hands, embarrassed at what I am doing.

  "Oh, Mia. It is okay to flirt. You are not technically dating Marcus, right?"

  I think back. We never actually said we were dating. So, what is the harm? "No, not technically. I guess. But I like Marcus a lot. I still feel shitty flirting with someone else."

  "Then let me have fun. Stop making flirty eyes and introduce me as single."

  I raise my eyebrows at her eagerness. "I thought you were going to quit all the fooling around and find your soul mate."

  "Who is fooling around? I am just going to talk to him. Nothing more than that."

  I sigh. She will never learn.

  Cute waiter brings our salads at that moment, and before I can talk her out of it, Emily has introduced herself.

  "I am Emily."

  He nods curtly at her before turning his attention back to me. "Would you like cheese on your salad?" He grins that stupid grin at me, and being the loyal friend, I am, I turn him down.

  "No," I snap at him. I look away and pretend to text on my phone to prove my point.

  "I would like cheese on my salad, please."

  Without looking, I can tell Emily is batting her long eyelashes at him; her boy charm. It works every time.

  I can hear him grinding the cheese on the salad before walking away. He does not even say anything
to Emily.

  Emily throws her hands up in the air. "I do not get it. You act uninterested and he still does not give me the time of day. It is time to step up my game."

  I roll my eyes. "Whatever makes you happy." I absentmindedly pick at my salad while Emily goes to 'step up her game'.

  "Mia?"

  I look up to see the one person I actually want to see right now. "Marcus? What are you doing here?" I get up to hug him...just to find out he is not alone. He is with another girl. And she is really pretty.

  Whoa. Am I getting jealous?

  "We are just here to have lunch. How are you feeling?"

  I keep looking back at the girl behind him. She has her arm snaked around Marcus's. Except, she does not seem jealous that Marcus was talking to me. In fact, she looked happy to see me.

  "Um, Mia?"

  I snap back to attention. Marcus had asked me a question. "Uh. I am feeling fine. Yeah. My head still hurts from last night, but I am fine now. Emily actually brought me here to help me feel better."

  At that, the girl pipes up. "What happened last night?"

  My cheeks burn with the realization of what I said. I look to Marcus for help. He knows this girl, so he will know what to say.

  But he looks surprisingly calm. "I took her on a date last night and she got a little....tipsy. So naturally, she had a hangover this morning."

  My mouth falls down to the floor. How can he say that right in front of his date?

  But she just laughs. "You take her on a date and get her drunk? Marcus, I did not think you did that anymore."

  He just grins. "It was not like that. I would never do that to Mia. She did that all on her own."

  I just stand there like a third wheel, watching them talk about me like I am not there. "So, I should get back to my salad.”

  Marcus finally realizes I am still standing there. "Oh, right. Sorry, Mia. I just wanted to say hi. Call you later."

  I give him a tight smile and sit back down, seeing Emily stomping over to our table. I give apologetic smiles to the people around us.

  "You will not believe what just happened."

  "What just happened?"

  Emily lets out a loud huff as she sits down. "Cute waiter guy, or Trent, rejected me. I even gave him my flirty eyes and seductively touched his arm. I was about to lean in for a kiss when he told me he was not interested in desperate girls. Can you believe he said that?"