Lingering Kiss

Chapter 27

Mia laid in bed the next morning staring at the ceiling of her old bedroom. She had been awake for the past half hour, different train of thoughts going through her head; most of them focused around one person in particular.

She sighed as she turned her head to her bedside table to check the time. They were due for brunch in half an hour and she hadn't heard any sound coming from Josie's room, which had formerly been a guest room until Josie visited two years and it was made hers. Mia pushed aside the blanket and got out of bed, slipped her feet into her fluffy blue sliders. She padded to Josie's room.

"Josie?" She called as she knocked on her door. "Josie?" She opened the door and frowned when she saw the bed already made up and Josie nowhere in sight.

She closed the door and walked back into her room to get her things before she went into the shower. While she got ready, she came to the conclusion that Josie left early to spend time with Mary and Brie before brunch as she might not be able to see them when she got back to Seattle and got dragged deep in her workload.

Mia wore a light sundress, her hair in a ponytail as she put on little, almost no makeup at all. She wore her brown strappy sandals and grabbed the only sling bag she had left back in Leicester. She glanced in the mirror one last time before she gabbed her phone and slipped it into her bag without checking it.

She arrived at the restaurant a few minutes later, she was late but no one would care.
"I'm here for the Leon-Ashton Alli Brunch." She said to the Maitre d'

"Right this way." The lady smiled at her as she walked ahead of her into the restaurant.

"Thank you." Mia smiled at her as she approached the table. The lady gave her a curt nod before she turned back and left.

Mia made the rest of the way to the large table with what seemed to be all of AFTech's staff, Andre and Izzy's family and friends including Izzy's dance team. Mia walked behind Izzy and bent to whisper into her ear from behind.
"Sorry, I'm late."

Izzy turned back and smiled at her.
"It's fine." She hugged her from her seat. "Fred kept a seat for you."

Mia looked around the table and saw Fred at the other end of the table watching her. Her gaze didn't waver as she walked towards him.
"Hi." She said as he got up from his seat.

Fred smiled that sexy but warm smile he had as he pulled out the seat he had saved for her.

"Thank you." She took her seat and waited for him to take his before she spoke again. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing important." His eyes never left hers.

Mia gave a slow nod before she pulled her gaze away from his and looked around the table searching for a face. She frowned and snapped her gaze back at Fred.
"Where's Josie?"

"She left."

Her frown deepened.
"What do you mean 'she left'?"

"She went back to Seattle at the crack of dawn."

"Why, what happened?"

"O'CE's server crashed."

"Oh."
Whatever that meant, Mia knew it must be serious for Josie to miss brunch with Izzy and Andre before their honeymoon and to leave her behind when they had planned on heading back to the US together.

"Problem?" Fred asked when he saw the flash of worry in her eyes.

"No." She smiled at him.

His eyes scanned every inch of her face.
Did she have any idea how beautiful she was?

"You look really beautiful."

Mia blinked at the intensity in his eyes when he said it. It was honest, bold, and confident.

"I like your dress." He said before she looked away.

"Thanks." She looked down at the cutlery as she fingered them.

"New wardrobe?" He asked.

She looked at him, confused at his interest in her outfit.

"Hmm...yes. I had to change my closet when I got the job at the firm."

"You look amazing."

She smiled.
"Why the interest in my choice of clothing?"

Fred had noticed her as soon as she walked into the restaurant. The way the skirt of the dress swayed around her, the way the bodice fit to her upper body made his jaw clench. He looked deep into her eyes.

"When we met you were two different person; you didn't think you could mix the two sides of yourself."

"I didn't think it would work."

"Well it did, and it's perfect." He said, "All you had to do was try."

Mia's gaze shifted to his fingers as they toyed with the stem of the water glass. Fred's fingers froze when he caught the line of her sight. Mia's gaze found his just a moment after his fingers stopped moving around the stem.

Their eyes held on tight to each other, not letting the other go like their hands were locked around each other, neither of them wanting to let go. Mia blinked and looked away. She reached for her glass of water when she noticed her breathing had gotten shallow.

All you had to do was try.

Fred's last words came to her. Why did it sound like he was referring to more than just her clothing options? Before she could think about it, the noise around the table grew louder as their meal was brought out by a couple of waiters.

She let everything slide for now as she wanted to enjoy this. The company, sitting in a Leicester restaurant again, the food, everything. She wasn't sure when she would get to attend something this mundane or even have the time to attend one. After this, she was heading back to Chicago where her job awaited her.

Just her job, she reminded herself.

She sighed inaudibly.

She had what she wanted and she was getting closer to her dream.

Why did it seem so empty then? Why did it seem like she hadn't achieved anything at all?