Can You Hear the Ocean?

Chapter 12

Thankfully, she and Julian were able to move all the furniture in and set up her bedroom in only a few hours. The longer summer day filled Mia's room with an ample amount of sunlight, which saved her and Julian from setting up the lamps until later in the evening, when the sun was starting to set.

"I can handle the decorating tomorrow," Mia told him, though there wasn't much to decorate save for putting up some of her illustrations on the walls.

"You sure?" Julian asked.

"Yeah. I'll be fine," Mia assured him. She leaned forward to kiss him until a faint knock interrupted her from doing so.

"Come in," Mia called, pulling away from Julian.

"Um, I ordered some pizza if you both want any. I know you've been working hard all day. I figured it was the least I could do," Leila explained.

"Ugh, sounds great. I'm starving," Julian complained.

"Thanks, Leila," Mia said.

"And great news," Leila continued as they headed into the kitchen. "I finally got Fuji to come out and eat dinner, so maybe you two can finally meet—" As soon as the words left her mouth, Mia watched the cat dive under the couch and hiss.

"Or maybe not," Leila lamented. "Fine, Fuji. Stay under there if you want." She turned back to the two of them. "Pizza's on the counter. I just got cheese and pepperoni, nothing fancy."

As Mia went to grab a plate that Leila had left near the counter, she realized Leila had bought from the pizza place that Mia had ordered from a few weeks prior.

"Are you going to grab a slice or not?" Julian asked, noticing Mia's hesitation.

"Yeah. Sorry," Mia said, pulling out a few slices out for herself. As she took a seat at the table, Leila shoved a glass of ice water toward her.

"Thanks," Mia said. Julian quickly grabbed the seat next to Mia while Leila sat across from Mia. It felt weird having the three of them sitting at the table together, like Mia's past and future had collided. Mia took a bite of the pizza to distract herself from having these thoughts. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she took the first bite, and then she quickly began to gobble down her meal.

"So where do you work, Julian?" Leila asked.

"Cloud Bar. I've been working there for a few years," he explained with his mouth full of pizza.

"I don't think I've been," Leila recounted.

"You should come. I can get you a drink on the house," he offered.

"I'm not super into bars..."

"I'll bring you one time," Mia interrupted. "After all, that's where I met Julian, so you never know who you might meet!"

Leila looked slightly uncomfortable at Mia's comment, so Mia went back to focusing on her pizza.

"So...you pay for this place yourself?" Julian asked.

Leila nodded. "I work at a PR firm nearby. It took some saving and a couple promotions, but I finally saved up enough to afford a place of my own. Of course, I'm super happy to have you here, Mia! I did kind of miss having roommates."

Mia smiled. "Glad to be here. Thanks again for letting me stay with you for a while."

"Is the room okay?" Leila asked. "I cleaned and everything before you came, but just wanted to make sure..."

"It's fine," Mia assured her.

"There's only one bathroom, but I figure if we alternate cleaning schedules—"