Page 23 of Spark

The sun was just getting low in the sky as she reached the lofts, her car clock reading 5:50. She hadn’t texted Oliver,realizing as far as she knew he still had the wrong number for her. Guilt gnawed gently in her stomach, but she assuaged it with the memories of his hot and cold behavior. No matter how many times they interacted, something about him made her uneasy. Even now, the thought of sitting alone with him in the café made her uneasy. The café was still open, although most nights it closed early, tony was trying later hours with encouragement from Terry. At the meeting, tony had confided over their spiked teas, Terry had made a deal with tony: stay open later and he would lower the rent for 6 months. If tony didn’t see a rise in profits, they would go back to the status quo of before, with a promise from Terry he wouldn’t jack the price up if tony decided the later hours didn’t go well.

“I mean, lower rent is only like 150 bucks less for 6 months, but who can complain in this economy?” Tony had said, his drink slowly disappearing. Mia’s own had practically melted before she finished it, the liquor inside making up most of the beverage. Still, her mind had been heavily occupied by the realization that Aurelio was most likely involved with the car thefts around. How involved, Mia didn’t know. But there was no way the same car would pop up so many times.

Snapping back to reality, Mia felt the cold metal of the pull door under her fingers, her eyes scanning for Oliver. She found him, standing exactly where he had the day of the meeting last Friday. He was leaning along the wall, his hands wrapped around a phone as he typed and swiped the screen. Pulling the door open, and her resolve, she walked through the door. The gently bell rang, the quiet café turning its various eyes in her direction. Not wanting to meet Oliver’s, she scanned for Tony, his back to her as he showed yet another new girl the ropes. She could hear his voice, soft and light, as he gave her directionsto use the expresso machine. Forced to finally acknowledge the reason she was here; she turned her gaze to Oliver.

He was handsome, Mia could not deny, but it was clear he knew what his physical strengths were. His hair was over his eyes, dangling along his forehead as he smiled his wolfish grin at her. His green eyes shone as he took her in. The wind had picked up as she had walked from the garage to the cafe, she her hair was all over the place. Her makeup was now a whole shift old and light to begin with. Mia shook her head, the idea of worrying about her appearance to meet with Oliver was absurd. She found the resolve again and strode towards him. Even if she didn’t really feel it, she could still project an image of strength while dealing with him. She could feel her dislike and distrust rising as she watched him watch her. He didn’t move, his posture relaxed as she approached a table between them. His eyes trailed her, like a wolf stalking its prey, his eyes flicked from her face to body as she moved. It was unnerving.

The chair made a loud scrape as she pulled it from the table and plopped into it. She gestured to the chair across from her and Oliver made a show of pointing to himself and then looking behind him. She gave a half smile, patience wanning. He stood straight, his posture of someone clearly military, and strode to the table. Mia took the chance to take in the people around them as he made his way over. There were a few people she recognized, an older man that had been in a few times over the last few months. A younger couple sat across from one another, hands clasped together as they spoke in hushed whispers. Another man was in a corner booth, his back to Mia, but the paper he was reading she could see the headline, another string of high-end cars missing as a new ship arrived to port.

Oliver reached the table, his demeanor hard, his smile stiff as he caught her gaze. He looked around as well, his eyes lookingwhere she had, reading the same headline perhaps. His face contoured for a moment before settling back into the grin. He looked at Mia again and sat, his hands coming to rest on the table folded together.

“Hi neighbor.” he said, giving her a wink. Mia couldn’t help it as her eyes rolled. Undeterred, Oliver’s smirk widened, and he leaned back in his chair. “How’s your day, Mia?” He let her name roll out, the syllables seeming to grow as they left his mouth.

“Fine.” She answered, “What did you want to know about the cars?” she asked, hoping to get him on task. It worked, Olivers smile dropped, and he sat straighter.

“Right, so you were at the laundromat a couple blocks over you said?” He pulled up his phone, fingers swiping as his eyes stayed on Mia. Nodding, Mia straightened herself, calling back the memories from those months ago. “I was in the middle of a wash cycle, studying, when I heard the commotion.” She didn’t have to try hard to call the moment back, it seemed seared in her mind. “The first car was a yellow Mustang, a Shelby.” She met Olivers eyes as she said Shelby, seeing his pupils constrict. His face turned redder as his jaw clenched.

“You saw a yellow Shelby Mustang?” his head gave a slight cock as he asked, his jaw so tight the lines of his jaw popped out. She could see the veins of his neck as he waited for her to reply.

“Yeah, it was first.” She recalled the way the cars had sped by, “then a gold and black Lamborghini and two BMW’s.” She watched as Oliver’s eyes darted to his phone, scanning what must be the report. She looked over, straining to see his phone as he swiped quickly. Words flew too quickly for her to catch, but Oliver’s eyes squinted in confusion as he tapped on the phone.

“Mia, when did you see those cars?” he asked, not looking up.

“Oh man, like a month ago.” She said, her voice rising in pitch with the tall tale. “Maybe a little longer, gosh im not entirely sure.” Olivers eyes met hers, giving her a scrutinizing glance.

“Mia, I have a report here from 4 months ago about the cars you just described.” Oliver turned his phone, showing her the screen. There in black in white was a photo of the Mustang speeding down the road, a blur of motion, a second car just behind it and another rounding a corner. She could just make out the shape, but there it was.

“Were the BMW’s blue and red?” Oliver asked, turning the phone back to him. Mia shook her head, her mind had gotten lost thinking about the angle of the picture, what CCTV footage they must have used to get the image.

“Yes.” She replied hesitantly. “Was it that long ago?” she eyed the table, picking at the loose piece of the varnish. “Man, between school and work time has been flying by.” She dared to meet his gaze. Oliver was unreadable, the hard lines of detective showing as she gave soft shrug of her shoulders.

“Well, I appreciate you telling me anyway.” He gave her a polite smile. “Did you happen to notice anything about the cars or the drivers that you can recall?” Mia shook her head and bit her bottom lip. She felt her mind scramble, she was losing this chance to learn more.

“One of the cars was definitely in the lead.” She said, eyes darting to his before settling back on her fingers, drapped in her lap. “Were any of the cars at the sting you had?”

Oliver paused, his face unreadable. He finally took in a breath and smiled.

“Well, the mustang was there, as I mentioned.” Oliver met her gaze, his eyes searching hers. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about the driver of the mustang, would you Mia?” thecorner of his mouth was turned up, her name like a curse on his lips. Mia gave a quick shake of her head but her mind was screaming yes. She knew exactly who had been behind the wheel of the car.

And now, she worried Oliver knew she did.

Chapter Fourteen

Despite the awkward looks and moments of silence, things with Oliver wrapped up quickly. He asked her a few more questions and then said he would be in touch, officially, if he needed any more. He did try to convince her to go out to dinner, but Mia feigned a need to do homework. It wasn’t a total lie; she did need to work on the paper and wrap up her first semester work before deadlines. Oliver slapped a hand over his heart dramatically, and pretended to be wounded as Mia had walked away. She gave a quick wave to Tony, still preoccupied with the new girl to have time to chat.

As she climbed the stairs however, she got a text from tony of three question marks, to which she replied coffee tomorrow? Tony had sent a thumbs up, which she took as a yes. She thought about the meeting with Oliver. Had it been worth the hassle for the info she received? She wasn’t convinced it was but the confirmation on who Aurelio was, what he did, was worth a hundred awkward moments with Oliver. She had some things to think about and the perfect place to do that.

Her loft was quiet, the still of night settling over her corner of the world. Her island screamed to be cleaned, the loose-leaf papers and books scattered about. She sighed, the tubcalling her name as she began to strip. Tossing her clothes in the hamper, Mia turned the faucet on, letting the hot water fill the large tub slowly. She snatched the clip out of her hair, the cascade falling down her shoulders. Placing her glasses on the vanity, she grabbed the six pack she had taken from the fridge and climbed in, her phone on the little bamboo table next to the tub playing some gentle music. Tonight, she needed something to calm her nerves, some easy listening while she soaked. She lathered and rinsed, washing slowly as she let the stress of the day go down the drain. Once the water was cold, she stood and stepped out. As she let her foot hit the floor, she picked up the other. Quick as a flash, her foot slipped on the tile, her hand shooting out to grab something, anything, as she fell. Her head connected with the edge of the tub, her ankle cracking loudly as her foot kicked out and hit the shower wall next to the tub.

Crying out in pain, Mia’s vision swam as she pressed her hands to the floor. Her foot and ankle throbbed, along with her head. She closed her eyes, crying out curse after curse as she slowly sat herself on the toilet.

“Fuck!” she cried as tears ran down her cheek. “Why the fuck not I guess.” She said, lifting her hand to her head. It was already tender, almost in the same spot as when she had hit the island the day she first meet Aurelio. Thinking of that brought thoughts of him, her brain pulling her emotions down further as she sunk into herself and cried. The phone lay on the floor, the bamboo table being turned over in the scuffle. The music had stopped, silence interrupted only by the sounds of Mia’s gentle sobs.

She wallowed for a few moments, her head pounding now. She wiped her eyes, standing slowly. Her ankle was swollen for sure, but she could put some pressure on it. She grabbed her towel and wrapped in carefully around herself and hobbled to the living room. As she passed the mirror, she took in her face.Blurry without her glasses, she could still see the red and purple mark forming.

“Fucking great.” She said and left the bathroom. Her couch greeted her as let herself fall in, gently placing her ankle on the coffee table. She closed her eyes, the world too much as she felt the throb dull slowly in her ankle.

“Well, its not like I need to look good for anyone, right Ghost?’ she grinned and gave a sad chuckle as she spoke her recent nickname for Aurelio. She heard her phone in the bathroom, the ringtone familiar as her eyes drew closed.

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