Page 77 of Spark

“Where are you!?” David’s voice yelled over the line.

“Sorry, David. Someone broke into my apartment, and I have been dealing with that.”

“Sure, Mia.”

Her mind reeled. “What does that mean?”

“It means you don’t want to work here anymore. You trade all your shifts off to anyone else, and when you do have a shift, you show up late or leave early.”

“David, I haven’t been late in weeks, and I don’t leave early.”

“Don’t think I didn’t watch the security tape of you and that oversized gorilla leave early.”

“What? When?” Mia hadn’t left early since the day Flory said she could. Aurelio always waited for her to be done; he never complained or rushed her.

“Doesn’t matter. I saw it!”

“David, you don’t have to yell at me like this. I can come in. Give me a few minutes—"

“Don’t bother, you’re fired! Your last check will be mailed. Give Mac your uniform since you’re such good friends.” He hung up, and Mia was left stunned.

“Shit.” She let her hand fall, and she rubbed her face, pushing her glasses up. “Shit, shit, SHIT!”

Mia felt the world around her spin, everything she had built was crashing around her. Her heart pounded harder in her chest, panic rising in her throat.

“SHITTTT!!!” Mia screamed once more, and her phone began to ring. She sighed and looked at the screen. Aurelio. Exhaling deeply, she answered.

“What’s wrong, beautiful?”

“Everything.” Tears began to fall. “Everything….”

“I can hear you screaming.”

“What?” Mia glanced around the apartment, eyes scanning the darkening sky. “How?”

“I think everyone around the block heard you cursing.” He chuckled. “Open the window.” The call ended.

Mia walked to the window that connected to the fire escape, which was broken at the bottom. She frequently crossed her fingers that there would never be a fire. The view faced the alley, and as she approached, she saw a remarkably familiar hand wave at her. She slid the window open and leaped into his arms, almost knocking them both over.

“Woah, beautiful.” He wrapped her in his arms. “Easy.”

She took him in from the leather jacket over a white T-shirt to the dark black jeans. He was everything she wanted. Hereached out of the window, with Mia still attached to him, and pulled in his motorcycle helmet. He set it down before walking them carefully over to the bed. Mia wrapped her legs around his torso, keeping her head buried against him. Aurelio sat with her on his lap, gently stroking her back while she wept quietly. He didn’t say a word while she cried, just held her tight, breathing her in while she did the same.

She cried for the loss of her world, the carefully crafted existence she had built around her. She cried for the life she had dreamed of, the hopes she had plastered on her wall. She wept for the girl who had locked herself in here, the girl she had been.

Aurelio wrapped her in his arms, the comfort of him surrounding her as she let it go. The past was the past, but here, together, was the future. She felt the warmth of him, the smell of pine and grease filling her nose as she breathed in the possibility. His hands held her to him, his voice slowly surrounding her as he told her how much he loved her, that everything would be alright now.

Mia’s tears dried after some time; the sun had fully set, and the moon shone brightly in the open window. Slowly, she lifted her head, eyes red and puffy, and sniffling softly. Aurelio glanced at her with a sad smile.

“Better?” he asked after a moment, his hand coming up to caress her face, thumb brushing away the last few tears. Mia nodded, mouth still set in a soft frown.

“I’m sorry.” He placed a kiss on her cheek. “I’m sorry.” He kissed her again, and the gentle kisses warmed Mia’s heart.

“Don’t be.” She said, voice raw from crying. “It just sucks.”

“I know.” He hugged her tight, pressing their bodies together.

She inhaled deeply, letting all of him soak into her lungs. Exhaling, she opened her eyes and met his gaze. “I still have more cleaning to do.” She refused to look at the wall she wasn’t ready to tackle.

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