Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Her face grimaced in recognition. “You’re Theo?” she inquired.
“Yes, ma’am. I’m Theo.” My voice was conciliatory and on the brink of cracking.
Mia’s mom shook her head dismissively. “I’m sorry. She doesn’t want to see you.”
As she tried to slam the door in my face, I put my hand up blocking her. Ms. Smith pulled the door open and accused, “Excuse me? Are you challenging me, son?”
I pleaded with her, “No, I’m not. I just want to talk to your daughter please. Just a few minutes.”
Mia’s mom’s eyes narrow into thin infuriated slits. I’d really pissed her off by trying to hold the door open, but it needed to be done. How else was I going to see Mia?
“Mom, what’s going on out here?” Mia said as she walked up behind her mother.
Seeing her face, my anxiety was briefly lifted. I loved her so much. Just seeing her again helped my heartache even if she was not happy to see me.
“What are you doing here, Theo?” she snapped. Putting a calming hand on her mother’s shoulders, she assured her, “I’m going to get rid of him, Mom. Go back inside.”
Mia’s mom walked away, shooting daggers at me.
I stuttered. “I…I…needed to see you.”
Mia crossed her arms with hate in her eyes. “We have nothing to say to each other.
Holding my hands up in surrender, I said, “Please let me explain.”
Mia backed away to shut the door, but I pressed on, “Penny made it up. She ruined everything. She ruined us.”
At those words, Mia stopped and stood in the doorway listening to me.
I took a deep breath. “She took a video of me with someone else taken a long time ago and doctored it.”
Mia crossed her arms defiantly. “Doctored it?” Her face told me that she thought the story was too absurd to believe.
“It’s true! She paid someone to put her face on that other woman’s head.” I paused thinking about all the women I’d slept with. That wasn’t me anymore. All I wanted was Mia. “There are hundreds of sex tapes out there of me. Obviously, you know that, but that’s not something I ever want to do again. You’re all that I need.”
Mia nodded her head slowly. “Right. What about the Board minutes?”
I shook my head in confusion. “The Board minutes?”
“Is it true that you only proposed to me because the Board forced you to?” she shot back.
Mia had thought to confirm her suspicions with the Board minutes? She was sharp. I had to tell her everything. Every single detail. Or she would never believe me and take me back.
“It’s true. They suggested I get married to improve my image.”
Mia’s lips quivered as tears slipped down her face. “I knew it!”
Dropping to my knees, I begged, “It’s not what you think. I didn’t do it because they wanted me to. I asked you to marry me because I love you. I want you regardless of what those assholes think. You’re all that I want!”
Mia held back any more tears from breaking through. “I appreciate your honesty, but…” She shook her head and exhaled sharply. “I need to think things over. This has all been too much. What I need now is time to process.”
I stood and looked her in the eye. There was nothing more I could say to change her mind. She’d have to decide herself. Quickly, I took her face in my hands. Her beautiful face.
I studied every aspect of it just in case it would be my last time to see her in person. Her full kissable lips. Her big brown eyes. Her nose that upturned just a bit.
Pressing my lips to hers, I gave her a fierce passionate kiss. If words couldn’t get her back, maybe a kiss would. I put my whole body and soul into that kiss trying to tell Mia how much I loved her.
When I withdrew, Mia looked at me with such sadness in her eyes. A sob nearly escaped from my throat. That look said good-bye.
I walk away from her house, my legs wobbly and my heart disintegrating. The only woman I’d ever loved slipped right through my fingers. If only I’d been more careful, if only I’d expressed how much I loved her, this would have never happened.
When I turned around to get into my car, Mia was no longer on the porch steps. She was long gone.
24
Mia
Seeing Theo was not only a shock, but painful. I wanted to believe him, but my fear of being hurt again overtook anything else. He looked honesty pitiful groveling at my mom's door, but was that enough proof that he truly loved me?
When I walked back into the house, my mom sat at the kitchen table with worry etched on her face. She gave me a sympathetic look as I sat down at the table not saying a single word.