Can You Hear the Ocean?

Chapter 28

Mia squinted as she awoke in the morning. Light was filtering through the blinds, casting shards of sunlight onto her face. She grumbled and turned over, trying to get back to sleep, but as she did, she was suddenly aware of a warm body beside her. This time, however, it wasn't Julian. Mia's eyes opened more fully to see Leila lying beside her, breathing slowly. Judging by her peaceful form, it was clear she was still deep in sleep.

Mia sat up slowly, the events of the prior night coming back to her in pieces. She glanced down at Leila and suddenly felt guilty. She hadn't meant to worry Leila, and she certainly hadn't meant to make her stay. Thunderstorms had always frightened Mia, ever since she was a child. She hated the darkness and the uncertainty of not knowing when the next thunder cloud would boom. During some powerful storms, the power had even been knocked out. Missouri's storms were the worst of all with the tornadoes, and with no mother to comfort her anymore, Mia's hatred for thunderstorms had worsened in adulthood.

How did she remember I didn't like them? Mia thought to herself as she glanced down at Leila.

Leila was sleeping on top of Mia's bedcovers, her knees resting close to her body. As Mia watched a shiver run through Leila, Mia removed her blanket from her body and draped it over Leila instead. As soon as the blanket touched Leila's body, however, Leila stirred. Mia stiffened and sat back. 

Leila opened her eyes slowly, her gaze immediately becoming transfixed on Mia. She appeared confused, as if she wasn't quite sure why she was there either.

"Good morning," Mia murmured, not sure what else to say.

"Good morning," Leila responded, slowly sitting up. Her voice was tired with sleep. "Are you feeling better?"

Mia glanced away, embarrassed. She'd been acting like a child last night, needing comfort from her roommate of all people.

"Yeah. Sorry. I didn't mean to put you through all that trouble," Mia murmured.

"It's okay," Leila assured her.

"Do you want pancakes? I can make something for breakfast," Mia said.

"Okay. Sure."

While the breakfast conversation was perfectly pleasant, Mia could sense the awkward tension in the room. Neither of them spoke of the night before, and once they had finished eating, Mia quickly cleaned up the kitchen and got ready for work. For once, Mia didn't dread going in to the cafe. Her work shift was distracting enough to help her calm down and recover from the events of the evening prior, and she hoped her evening date with Julian would continue prolonging the distraction.

When her work shift wrapped up late afternoon, Mia got in her car and drove to one of the burger joints in town. Mia greeted Julian with a hug and a kiss, and after they went through the drive-thru, she sat in his car and ate with him, watching the sun set in the distance, although it was masked by some gray clouds rolling across the sky. She sure hoped there wouldn't be another thunderstorm this evening.

"How's your burger?" Julian asked.

"Super tasty," Mia replied. In her rush to get out of the apartment for her work shift, she'd forgotten to pack a lunch and had only had pastries to nibble on during her break. Mia continued biting into her burger, listening to the crinking of paper as Julian bit into his own.

"You know, for not having seen you in a while, you're pretty quiet," Julian remarked.

Mia turned and stared at him. Oh. Now she sensed the annoyance clearly shining through in his facial expressions. She'd failed to notice it before. When they were going through the drive-thru, she had been staring out the window, replaying the events of the evening before.