Page 65 of Elijah
Elijah
aged 28
“You really don’t have to do this,” Sam said as we loaded up my truck with boxes from Mia’s apartment. “If it isn’t what you want, just tell her.”
I stopped what I was doing and glared at him. Of course it was what I wanted, I was moving on. It was time.
“I do want her to move in. I wouldn’t have asked her otherwise,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“You hardly asked her,” he replied, raising an eyebrow.
“Doesn’t matter how it came about, it’s what I want. I love Mia and want her to move in with me.”
Sam let out a long breath, shrugged, and carried on loading the truck and we carried on in silence until Mia appeared five minutes later.
“That’s the last of it,” she said, grinning at me. “All done.”
She wasn’t bringing any furniture with her as her apartment had been rented furnished, so it was only her boxed belongings that we’d had to move. I probably could have done it alone and saved myself a lecture and a morning of knowing looks from Sam, but I hadn’t been sure how much stuff she had – plus my brother owed me a favour.
“Okay,” I said, rubbing my hands together. “Sam and I will go ahead in the truck and we’ll see you back at my…sorry our place.”
Mia giggled and reached up on her tiptoes, kissing me quickly. “I’m so excited. I’ll see you there.”
As we watched her go, I heard Sam take a breath.
“Not a word,” I snapped. “I don’t want to hear it.”
* * *
When we got back to the house, Mia was already there, rolling two suitcases down the driveway, with another bag over her shoulder. I pulled the truck up and jumped out.
“Mia, let me help you with those.”
She turned and shook her head, a huge smile still on her pretty face. “No, it’s fine. I’ll just take these upstairs and then I’ll come and help you unload the boxes.”
“Sam and I will do that,” I replied, reaching her and handing her the door key. “You get unpacked. Where do you want them all?”
She looked over at my truck and then with her head angled to one side, took a moment to think about it.
“What about the garage? Then I can unpack them one at a time, they won’t be clogging up the spare bedroom, and whatever I decide I don’t want or need can stay in the box and either go the tip or charity.”
I nodded. “Sounds like a good idea. There’s nothing in them you need now?”
“Nope. Everything I need on a day to day basis is in these bags. Oh, the two boxes with red labels, can you put those near the front as I’ll want to unpack those first. They’re books and photos.”
“Sure.” I pinched between my eyes, trying to rid the thudding ache.
“That’s brilliant, thank you.”
Her voice was light and airy, and that coupled with the way she was bouncing on her toes, showed me just how exciting this all was for her. She loved me deeply, I knew she did, she’d been the first to say it and said it all the time. I, however, was a little more guarded and hadn’t told her until a month after she’d said the words. It wasn’t that I hadn’t been feeling it, but I’d felt cautious after Amy, even though it had been over four years since she’d gone.
Losing the woman I’d loved since I was seventeen, the woman who I’d thought I’d be spending the rest of my life with, shattered me. It caused me pain so intense that there were times I’d have gladly gone to sleep at night and never woken up. I just couldn’t envisage a life without her, so when Mia came along and I realised I hadn’t thought about Amy for a couple of days, it scared me.
There was no doubt that Mia brought light into my life, but how could I have possibly loved Amy if this petite, dark-haired, pretty woman, with her smiley face and giggle could make me forget so easily. That’s why it was hard to admit that I had fallen in love with Mia, because I wasn’t totally sure that’s what it was. Half of me considered it more gratitude because she’d taken the darkness away, but slowly and surely, I began to trust my feelings and said the three words I knew she was anxious to hear.
“So, it’s the garage then?” Sam asked, as Mia disappeared into the house.
“Yep. Just pile them up at the back. She’s going to unpack them gradually. There are two with red labels, they need to go at the front.”
