The next morning Mia awoke to sound of rain hitting the window. Lifting her head from the pillow she looked outside and couldn't see the sky. Sheets of rain hit the window so hard, it felt like the house was shaking.
"Mia you awake?" She heard a faint knock on her door and mumbled a reply. Drew peaked his head through the door.
"Sorry I didn't mean to wake you. I just wanted to give you these before I forgot." He tentatively pushed the door open and placed candles and a flashlight on the dresser.
"Looks like this storm won't let up until tomorrow so just in case the power goes out later, you've got what you need." Mia sat up in bed rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands.
"Thanks, I guess we're not leaving the house today?" She asked even though she already knew the answer to the question.
"Nope not today. My calls also got cancelled so looks like it's just you and me. Time to keep ourselves entertained." He smiled hopefully at her.
"Cool, okay, um let me get up. Is there coffee?" She needed to pull herself together. Get some semblance of propriety back between them.
"Yep it's ready when you are. Sorry I'll give you some privacy. I'll see you down there." Drew turned and pulled the door shut behind him leaving Mia to look at herself in the larger mirror across from the bed. She took in her hair which was stand up on one side and matted on the other. Her face had a solid pillow imprint and her striped pajamas, the oldest pair she owned gave her the look of an overgrown child. Wonderful.
She climbed out of bed and padded to the bathroom. Throwing her hair up in a pony tail she splashed some water on her face. The reflection back in the mirror looked hallowed. She was tired. She was supposed to be building a new life but in the two days she'd been here she had done little but hang out with Drew. If today was an indoor day she would spend it applying to jobs.
She threw on an old, too thin crewneck sweatshirt from college and headed downstairs. This was the best she could do at 7 am.
"Here she is." Drew greeted her with a large smile and a spatula in hand.
"I hope you like pancakes. Because I have literally nothing else to give you right now." Mia laughed.
"Pancakes sound wonderful. They're the ideal rainy day breakfast." She passed by him to get to the coffee pot noting unintentionally how good he smelled. He smelled like Irish spring, fresh and clean. Taking the alternate route back around the counter in order to avoid temptation to smell him again, she climbed onto one of the high chairs at the island.
"Awake yet?" Drew was chipper, almost too chipper.
"Not even close." She wrapped her hands around her coffee mug.
"Want to do some puzzles today?" Mia laughed into her coffee at his excitement.
"Ha, um sure. Puzzles are your rainy day activity?"
"Yea absolutely. We don't really get snow down here so when a day like this comes along, you have to take advantage of it. Nothing like puzzles in the afternoon to really set the mood." She watched as he expertly flipped a pancake.
"We can definitely do a puzzle. But I need to get some job applications out. It would be a waste of the day if I didn't." He nodded in understanding as he presented a plate of pancakes in front of her.
"Let me know if you need any help. I know a few people around here and DC that could always lend a hand but you strike me as someone who wants to do this on their own and I respect that." He placed his own plate of pancakes down next to her and came to sit down. This close to him she could feel his natural body heat radiating and desperately wanted to move six inches closer. The house felt warm and cozy but Mia had caught a chill. She shivered involuntarily.
"Hang on, you're probably freezing." Drew jumped up from his seat and grabbed a large sweatshirt off the hook near the side door.
"Here you go." He handed her the large fluffy garment. It was navy blue with large white lettering on it.
"GEORGETOWN." She read it aloud before pulling it over her head. She ignored the fact the garment smelled just like him, nostalgia flooding her senses.
"That would be the place." He said between bites.
"I always forget you went there." It was true. She often conceptualized Drew as someone who lived in a hundred different places, never once really having one solid experience. To imagine him as a college student, staying in one place for four years seemed incongruent with his normal personality.
"Yep, I mean I went there but any chance I got to go abroad a did. I think I only spent like three full semesters on campus."
"Where'd you go instead?"
"Literally anywhere I could. London, Dubai, Germany, Brazil. You name it, I tried to get there in those four years."
"What was the rush?" Mia couldn't imagine what it would be like to live in all those places. She had gone abroad in college and since then hadn't been able to afford to travel even for a weekend trip.
"Eh, my dad mainly. He was always working when I was growing up. He used to say that travel gave you a personality so I took that a little too far. I went all over the globe to find myself." Mia found it easy to forget that Drew was a trust fund baby. It was easy for him to travel the globe when he had financial support.
"And did you find yourself?" She didn't mean to make it sound so sarcastic but it came out that way.
"Shockingly no. No matter how many places I went to or how much money I spent, I didn't end up finding myself. Had to do it the old school way, good old fashioned therapy and putting down roots." He waved his hand around the kitchen pointing at his roots, this home as his foundation.
"You're lucky you got to travel. After abroad I didn't get to do anything. Too expensive. No rich parents to rely on." She had no idea why she was digging into him. But it had already come out and she regretted it.
"Would it shock you to learn my parents didn't pay for any of it?" She cast a sideways glance at him.
"Yes, yes it would." Drew leaned back into his chair with the ease of someone who knew more than she did.
"When I turned eighteen, my parents made a deal with me. They agreed to pay for college, the flat fee of the tuition. I was responsible for everything else. Books, food, trips, you name it. At first it sucked because I was used to getting everything. But it was the best gift they could have give me. Because after I graduated, I never took another cent from them and honestly I didn't to." Mia felt the shame rise to her cheeks.
"I'm sorry. I absolutely thought you were a trust fund baby." He peaked an eyebrow up at her.
"Oh yea, and where'd you get that information?"
She couldn't tell him it was from Casey. She had simply taken a bit of information and ran with it. She had absolutely no idea if it was even true.
"Um, I don't know. Probably Max or something." He nodded his head in fake understanding. She could tell he didn't believe her.
"Not that I owe you an explanation but for your information, I am indeed a trust fund baby. Except I don't have any access to said trust. In fact, all the money in it skips me completely and is set aside for my future kids' education." He tapped his finger to his forehead. "You can thank my dad for that strategy."
"Wow I mean, that's definitely a power move."
"Ahuh. When I was younger, my aunts and uncles used to allude to it all the time. But they all thought I would inherit his fortune. So I got really cocky around fourteen, maybe fifteen. I fully thought I'd just ride the wave of his success and I'd be set." Drew took another bite of his pancakes.
"But then he got sick. The first round of chemo happened when I was seventeen and everything just kind of fell apart. I mean he could still run the business but the money didn't matter anymore. When my mom told me they would pay for tuition but nothing else I was so fucking grateful he was still alive. It didn't matter to me what they could do for me. If all of the money he made needed to go to his care that was fine by me." Drew took a sip of coffee before continuing. Mia thought about her own dad and his diagnosis and clenched her hands together underneath the counter to fight the tears.
"The funny part, well I guess not like haha funny but more like classic my dad funny, is that when it came back the second time, he knew it before we did. He moved the money around so my mom would never need to worry a day in her life. He set up an entire life fund for her, future care if she needs it, even a monthly allowance for her to go and visit whoever she wants or vice versa. The rest of the money he put into a fund for my future kids and everything else we used for his treatment."
"How long was he in treatment for?"
"The first time, six months followed by two years of remission. The second time, he did three years of chemo and radiation plus a whole bunch of other stuff. He fought it for about five years then. But by the end of it he didn't have anything left in him. He was suffering so much. When he finally passed I was almost relieved."
Mia could understand it. She knew what it was like to watch someone you love suffer and be helpless to do anything.
"How old were you when he died?" Drew shifted in his seat to face her more fully. Her coffee had gone cold. She hadn't even noticed until now.
"He died the day after my twenty-fourth birthday. I met you the week before." Mia's jaw dropped.
"Wait what? Your dad died a week after I met you?" Drew nodded emphatically.
"Yep, that night we went out with Max and Mike, I had to practically be dragged to the bar. I had been at the hospital for nearly two months straight at that point. My mom had called Mike and demanded he get me out into the sunshine for a few days. Give me some time to take a break instead of watching dad shrivel away day after day. So yea, when I met you I was really going through it." He paused processing his own information.
"But it was still a fun night." Mia nodded and resisted the urge to put her hand over his. She desperately wanted to comfort him.
"It was. Drew I had no idea about your dad. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, it's been a while now. How's your dad? Max mentioned he was going through his own treatment. Everything still going okay?" Mia thought about how often she had fantasized him asking her this question. When her dad had gone through treatment she picked up her phone a hundred times to text him, willing him to be the one to provide comfort. Now here she was in his kitchen in the exact scenario she had longed for but this time she didn't feel that desperate energy. She only felt calm.
"He's been good. He just finished his final round and is going in for a scan in a few weeks. It sucks you know? It happened all at once. One day he was fine the next day he was throwing up blood. I kind of feel like I can't remember anything from those months even though it was only a few weeks ago. Everything is kind of mashed together in a blur." Drew nodded encouragingly prompting her along.
"Kind of like your world stops and everyone else's keeps going?"
"Mmhmm, yep exactly. Like one day I was going into work like normal and the next I have to be out of the office because I need to be in the hospital. Don't get me wrong, his health would always take priority over work but sometimes it feels like I can't catch a fucking break. Just when I'm starting to get into the swing of things, another thing happens. Only this time it was really, really bad. I hated every minute of it." She wiped a stray tear from her eyes.
"Come here." Drew pulled her chair closer to him and wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug. She was surprised when a sob escaped her. It had been so long since she'd expressed any of these emotions that the amount of emotion pouring out of her caught her off guard.
"You're okay. It's okay." He rubbed her back in long slow circles, mumbling words of positivity into her hair. Outside of the cocoon of his arms, she heard the continued sounds of rain hitting the windows and remembered where she was. She was sobbing in Drew Connor's kitchen, in his arms, about her dad who has cancer. Not the morning she had intended.
"Thanks, I'm okay." She mumbled as she pulled away from him. She noted the damp spot on his shoulder she had left and tried in vain to brush it off with her fingertips.
"Don't worry about it. Happens all the time." Drew gave her disarmingly genuine smile that left her stunned. She swiped quickly at the bottom of her eyes before taking a deep breath in.
"Right, time to get on with my day." Mia pushed herself away from the counter and stood up. If Drew noticed a significant shift in her energy, he didn't say anything.
"What's on the agenda?" He began gathering their dishes and heading for the sink.
"I'm going to go hole up in my room for a few hours. Nose to the grind stone and all that."
"Ah right yes. I absolutely asked you a question you already answered this morning."
Mia giggled. "It's all good. I'll reemerge sometime around lunch." Drew rubbed his hands together.
"Wonderful, we're having tomato soup and grilled cheese." His joy was intoxicating.
"You are literally a child." She threw out playfully as she began walking backwards out of the kitchen. He beamed back at her with a double-wide grin.
"I know, isn't it great?"
---
After five hours of combing through Indeed and ZipRecruiter, Mia couldn't ignore her rumbling stomach anymore. Still wearing his Georgetown sweatshirt she followed the smell of fresh grilled cheeses back to the kitchen.
"Perfect timing. It's puzzle time." She glanced over at the kitchen table. Drew had set up two Panera worthy lunches along with a puzzle box.
"Did you get everything done?" He asked as he carried a steaming bowl of soup over to her seat. She curled her legs under her as she sat at the kitchen table. This nook was cozier than she imagined. Drew had started a fire and it crackled nearby as she glanced out the windows at the water soaked backyard. She felt safe and comforted as she looked through the blurry, rain streaked glass. She pulled her attention back to his question as he placed the bowl in front of her.
"I did. I managed to send out over fifty apps which was good. But I was running on fumes by the end of it.
"Lucky for you, I provide sustenance which you will need specifically to complete this puzzle." Mia glanced down at the box.
"It's 1000 pieces! We're not going to finish it." Drew acquiesced.
"No, probably not. But it will keep us occupied."
They dug in eagerly to their lunches, chatting and catching up about mundane topics in life. Over the course of a few hours, Mia learned that Drew hated mac and cheese. Loved pasta and cheese separately but couldn't stand the texture of the powdered cheese in the easy to make packets. Something about a camp trauma.
She also learned he knew how to ski but preferred snowboarding. He had gotten his MBA from UPenn but never used it. He spoke at least three languages and was working on learning ASL. He also happened to be very good at the New York Times Crossword but failed miserably at the Wordle on a daily basis.
She gathered these facts and cherished them. She had never gotten to know Drew. Their relationship had always been fraught with anger, fighting and resentment spurred from miscommunication. Come to think of it, she couldn't remember having a normal conversation with him ever. But something about today felt magical and she didn't want to break the spell.
Around three pm, well into their puzzling adventure the lights began to flicker then suddenly everything was dark.
Mia could barely see in front of her.
"Don't move. They should come back on soon." Outside a crack of lightening illuminated the house casting Drew in a soft glow as he spoke.
"And if they don't?" Mia wasn't afraid of the dark but she didn't love the idea of not having light. It was too intimate. She was here with Drew. If they didn't have light or power, who knows what would happen.
"If they don't, we huddle by the fire like in the olden days and tell each other ghost stories until they come back on."
"I'm serious."
"So am I. But I'm going to go check the breaker. If they don't work when I come back, I'm making martinis and we're following camping protocol."
"What the hell is that?"
"Camping protocol, which you would know if you were a girl scout, is what you do when you have nothing to entertain yourself by ways of technology. So you sit around a fire, get yourself something to eat and drink, and then shoot the shit until it's time for bed. Sound good?"
Mia nodded before realizing he couldn't see her face. "Yea that sounds fine. Go check the breaker. I'll be right here."
She listened as he made his way into the basement using his phone as a flashlight. As he made his way back upstairs she could hear the heavy footsteps of defeat.
"No luck?"
"Unfortunately not. Looks like we're in this for a bit until the storm passes."
"And when will that be?" She didn't mind. It's not like she had a lot of things to do. She was more concerned about how much quality time she was spending with someone who wasn't her boyfriend and who had a girlfriend of his own.
"Not until tomorrow morning. But it's okay, just trust me. I've got you covered."
Mia followed Drew's lead and helped him make a charcuterie board, open a bottle of wine and mix two martinis. They laid it out by the fireplace in the sitting room, each snuggling into their own corner of the couch, wrapped in individual blankets.
After the martini and two glasses of wine, they were each happily buzzed and Mia welcomed the comfortable warmth of feeling relaxed and safe.
"Best thing you ever ate?" Drew tossed out a question. They had been playing this game back and forth for nearly an hour. She was consistently amused by his answers and her own.
"Nathans corndog. No wait. The vanilla bean ice cream from Van Leeuwen. Or my mom's chicken cutlet." Drew laughed and nudged her from his side of the couch.
"You're supposed to pick one."
"I can't. They're all good."
"Hmm, fine it's your turn. What have you got?" Mia pondered it. She could ask him anything that came to mind. There were no rules to his game and she loved it.
"Most impactful moment of your life?" Drew's eyes lit up with the chance to be sentimental.
"The day I met you." Mia rolled her eyes.
"I'm being serious."
"What makes you think I'm not?" He had her there. She caught the breathe in her throat.
"C'mon." She pushed away the thought that he could be serious. He was a chronic flirt. She knew better than to think he cared about her in that way.
"Alright. If it's not the day I met you. I'd say the day my dad died, obviously a given and then I guess the day I found this house." Mia bit her tongue. She couldn't tell him about the dreams could she? If she shared her premonitions with him, surely he would think less of her. But what did she have to lose?
"So about this house..." She began.
"Uh oh. Don't tell me. You hate it. You also think I should move back to the city. I've become the weird guy who lives alone and didn't realize it?"
"No no. I just. I don't want you to think this is strange."
"I feel like if you're saying that it's already weird but go on then, roll the dice." He grabbed the bottle of wine refilling both their glasses.
"Well. I have these dreams. Kind of like visions I guess?" She could tell she was holding his attention and persevered.
"And I had this vision of a house."
"The house you and Max were going to see?"
"Yea, that house. But the thing is. That house is actually this house." She watched confusion settle across his face.
"Like your house. The one we're in. It's actually the house I've been seeing in my visions. All the way down to the windows in your bedroom looking out over the backyard." Drew shifted under his blanket to sit up straighter.
"So you're telling me that you drove all the way to Virginia to find the house in your vision only to find out it's my house?"
"Mmhmm."
"And you had no idea I lived here before that? Like you didn't look me up or anything?"
"Nope, not a clue. I know this sounds so fucking weird."
"Mia this is the most wild thing I've ever heard. What are the odds?"
"Like one in a trillion I imagine." She could see the wheels turning in his head.
"So what do you do now. Now that I live here? Do I like give you the house or something?"
"Oh my god! No absolutely not! This is your home. Jesus I'm not that nuts." She took a large gulp of wine. "I guess I just expand on the vision until I find what I'm supposed to know next. Like the vision led me here, to this town, to this house. So even if this isn't the house I'm meant to live in at least I know the area which is a hell of a lot more information than I had a few months ago."
"And that's why you came down here? Did you even have a realtor or were you just winging it with the universe?"
"Okay it sounds bad when you say it like that. But no I didn't have a realtor. I lied to Max about it because I know how she gets."
"And how is that?"
"She gets all high and mighty like she knows me better or knows what to do better than I do. So I didn't tell her. I was honestly surprised she even agreed to come. She's been hard to reach and also kind of a shitty friend." The last part slipped out.
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that. I don't want to shit on Max. It's not fair to her."
Drew agreed. "From what I've seen, she really cares about you but she's got a lot on her plate. Mike, the baby, the hospital. She's really overwhelmed according to Mike so maybe cut her some slack. I know she always wants what's best for you but I'm sorry she makes you feel like you don't know what that is."
Mia looked down into her glass. He had said everything she desperately wanted to hear and the relief of being seen made her sigh.
"Shit I didn't mean to depress you." She couldn't help but laugh.
"You didn't depress me. It just feels good to get that off my chest. I feel like I spent so many ears trying to figure out what people wanted me to be that it's nice to hear that I actually know what's best for myself. I mean look at me, I followed a freaking vision to the middle of Virginia and found you and found the house. If that's not self-trust I don't know what is."
"Cheers to that." Drew leaned forward and she did the same, trying to clink glasses across the width of the couch. When they were in close proximity, she noticed how handsome he looked in the fire light. He had a soft glow around him and his wavy hair fell into pieces in front of his eyes. He was looking at her like she mattered, like she was someone important.
"Cheers." She held his gaze and fought the temptation to lean forward and kiss him. After clinking, they leaned back and she tried to slow her heart beat.
"We should probably get to bed." He finished the rest of his wine and she did the same. They simultaneously rose from the couch bumping into one another as they folded their respective blankets.
"Sorry, my bad." She had bumped into him and ricocheted off. Drew effortlessly caught her by the waist pulling her back towards him. Without even thinking about it she rose onto her tip toes and leaned into his chest.
"Hi" he whispered the words practically into her open lips.
"Hi" she returned the greeting, luxuriating in the feeling of being weightless in his arms.
"Hi" he said once more. Her heart rate beating out of her chest as his eyes flashed down to her lips.
Mia ignored everything she had ever been taught about waiting for the guy to make the first move and raised her mouth to meet his. She was met with a hungry, yearning sensation that only Drew could make her feel. Tightening his arms around her waist she dug her hands into his shoulders, pulling him more fully into her. She wanted him. She could feel his wanting of her. His lips left her own as he trailed them across her jawline, intertwining his fingers into her hair, giving it a gentle tug.
A moan escaped from her as she clawed at his shirt, willing it to be off of him as soon as possible. Drew ran a finger over her mouth and down her neck as she arced into his wanting. She had craved him for so long, having him now wouldn't be enough. Having him every day of the rest of her life wouldn't be enough.
"God Mia." His hands moved down to her butt, hoisting her up as she easily wrapped her legs around him.
He began to carry her towards the staircase but she protested.
"No. Here. Right here." He obliged carrying her back to the couch and laying her down delicately.
"You have no idea how much I want you." He mumbled into her belly button as he undid the tie of her sweatpants. She ran her hands through his hair and pulled him back up to meet her. She didn't want this to feel like all the other times. She didn't want to be just another thing to him or to any other man. She wanted him to know that this was important.
Drew pressed the entire weight of his body onto hers and she gratefully accepted. She undid his belt buckle and slid his pants and boxers down past his knees. She laughed when he struggled to get them off entirely.
"Come here" She grabbed him in one hand and guided him into her. The ease with which they still fit together wasn't lost on her. Even though they had only been partners a few times, Drew knew how to work her body in such a way that it felt like pure magic. The moment he was inside of her, she forgot what it was like to feel awkward or unsure. With him she felt like she was in full control. She knew she could please him and herself at the same time and the thrill of that potential made her moan with pleasure.
"God, yes, Mia. Fuck, yes please. God" Drew thrust into her again and again, holding her as close to him as possible. She held on happily riding the wave to fulfillment, loving that he whispered these words into her ear for only her to hear.
"I'm going to come." He panted as he picked up speed. Mia herself was about to come and was barely holding it in her.
"Come for me. Please. Right now, come for me baby." She panted right back into him as he began to lose control. Mia dug her fingernails into his back and arched her back as he came inside of her. She released at the same moment, panting his name like a sacred vow over and over again.
Drew rested his head onto her collarbone before raising it to kiss her on the lips.
"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that." Mia couldn't help but laugh.
"My guess is about as long as I've wanted to."
"No way, longer." She rubbed her hips from side to side, conscious that he was still happily inside of her.
"Not possible."
Drew pushed up onto his elbows to face her.
"Mia I've wanted you since the moment I met you. When you pulled Maxine out of that taxi cab and marched me back downstairs. I wanted to press you up against that taxi, kiss you and take you home with me."
Mia wanted to ask why he never held onto her after all the times he had had her but she didn't want to ruin the moment. She kissed him to forgo a response. She didn't trust herself to not make him run away again.
"Come on, let's go to bed." Drew pulled out of her and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. After putting out the fire, he led her upstairs to his bedroom where he gently pushed the blanket off and lowered her onto the bed. This time she couldn't help but think 'what about Casey?' and what the hell was she doing? But his need for her, his desperation overpowered any sane though. She craved him just as much. To jeopardize this moment because of her own sanity seemed too risky. She would deal with the fallout in the morning. She had no choice.