The Reclamation

13

Steve will not take his eyes off of me. If looks could kill, I'd be in the seventh ring of hell right now. Mia's instructions from earlier ring in my head: "If Steve ever gets you alone, keep the conversation light."

I decide that I should say something before he does.

"So, Mr. Reed... how long have you and Daniel been together?" I ask. His eyes don't lighten up in the slightest.

"Twenty years until today."

The way he replies confuses me. I could take it two ways: One, they have been together for twenty years as of now. Or two, they were together for twenty years... and then today happened. I deduce that the latter is more likely from the sharpness of his voice.

Maybe the anger in his eyes is directed at Daniel, and I just happen to be in his line of sight. A girl can hope. But I figure that if this is true, my best course of action would be to never bring up Daniel again for as long as I live... Which feels like it may not be much longer judging by the way Steve is murdering me with his eyes.

"Cool... so Mia was showing me some of your art around the house. It's really amazing." Yeah. Keep buttering him up Vada.

"Thank you," he says dryly. One beat goes by. Two. Three. Fuck, this is painful. I open my mouth in attempt to earn more brownie points, but Steve beats me to it.

"I don't think I like you Vada," Steve says flat-out. My heart sinks to my stomach. What the fuck did I do? I've known this man for two hours tops.

I stutter as I search for what to say, and once again, Steve speaks up. "I'm not sure what it is, but Mia is different around you. And not in a good way. She's been missing a lot of dance lately... ever since you came into the picture, as a matter of fact. And don't think I haven't noticed all the wine missing from the rack. I've only been back in the country for a few hours, and I can already tell that something is fishy. So for now, Vada, consider yourself guilty until proven innocent. Of what, I'm not sure yet. But you'll be the first to know when I find out."

I feel my face drain of all color as my heart beats so fast and hard I'm sure that Steve can hear it. I'm completely at a loss for words. What did I do? Steve thinks Mia is missing dance because of me? He has to know it's because she's been scared to leave the house, right? I'm unable to move, to even blink as Steve continues to bore a hole into my head. I feel like my heart might stop at any moment. Suddenly, a voice comes from behind me and startles my heart back to its normal rhythm.

"Vada, honey, would you mind checking on her? She's in the ladies room, I don't want to walk in," says Daniel. His voice echoes around me, and it takes my brain a minute to register what is happening as I spin around to face him. "Are you alright?" He asks me. Oh shit, I'm taking too long to answer him. My brain moves through molasses as it sends the correct words to my mouth.

"Uh, yeah. Yep. Of course!" I say as my brain finally catches up. My body hasn't gotten the hint yet, though, so when I tell myself to get up and run to the bathroom as fast as my legs can carry me, I practically stumble out of my chair. As I right myself, I catch Steve's eye for a split second, and I could swear he was smiling. I hate that smirk even more than his words.

My body brings me to the bathroom door in a daze and I push it open. I take a deep breath as I tell myself to calm down. I've removed myself from the situation, I'm okay now. My eyes land on Mia who is sitting on the sink with a paper towel in her hand, dabbing off Daniel's wine from a spot on her lap. This pulls me back to reality.

Mia looks up and sees me walk in, but when she realizes it's me, her eyes just drop back to her hands. The paper towel is turning a dark red. Thankfully Mia's dress is navy blue, so the wine is barely showing on the fabric. Still, Mia dabs harshly at the dress as if it were life or death. The cheap paper towel crumbles under the friction, flaking off all over the navy fabric. Mia watches as the paper sticks to the damp dress, which only makes her scrub harder.