𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐍 , mike schmidt

06. cab

A flashlight was shining in my face as the door to the creepy pizzeria swung open.

"Miles?"

It was definitely Mike.

"Hey Mike. I saw your car in the parking lot and figured I'd say hi."

Mike's face looked a bit worried as he looked at the surroundings outside and inside before holding the door open for me to come in.

"Is everything okay? What are you even doing over here?" he questions, with a genuine look of confusion on his face.

"I was at Harry's, and then I was waiting for my uber which was taking foreverrrr to get here. Oh shit - my uber." I say, quickly ripping my phone from my pocket and seeing the Uber had in fact cancelled on me. "Fuck - he cancelled." I slurred for a second, before rolling my eyes.

"You didn't know it's tough to find an Uber around here after midnight? Most of them head home." he informs me, as he keeps his flashlight on and continues to shine it around the vicinity. 

I shrugged, as I took my first look around the building. I made my way into the main area which was a sad excuse for a children's pizzeria. It even had the creepy Chuck-E-Cheese-like animatronics on the stage.

"This is where you work?" I ask in a very visible condescending tone. When I was drinking, my New York side came to play.

"Well, yeah." Mike responded, staring down at the ground.

"They need a security guard for this place? Who the hell is going to come here?" I questioned, as I continued walking around the room.

"People like to break in here because it's pretty abandoned most of the time."

I nod along to his words as I take everything in.

"Miles, do you want me to call you a cab? There's a cab company that can probably be here in 20 minutes." Mike responds, reaching for his phone.

"No." I respond as I quickly turn around and stare at him. Our eyes met for a second, before he peeled them away.

"Can I at least get you some water?" 

Oh, he knew I was drunk.

"Sure." I respond, as Mike motions for me to follow him. I follow him down a long hallway and we make a left into a backroom.

"Trying to get me alone?" I tease, as Mike looks over at me and doesn't seem to find the joke funny. He closes the door behind him and walks over to grab a plastic cup and fill it up with water from his water bottle. 

"Is this where you stay during your shift?" I question after accepting the water cup and taking a few sips.

Mike nods as he grabs an extra chair from the back of the room and pulls it out for me to sit in. 

I watch him as he sits in the chair surrounded by security cameras. We're facing each other in our chairs, as I silently sip on my water cup. He seemed tense, as if me being there was an inconvenience. 

"I should really call you a cab, it's almost 1:30AM." he responds, looking over at me.

"I said I didn't want to go." 

"I know, but you shouldn't be here."

"Why?"

"I'm working, Miles. I don't need you here if I'm working." he responds in the harshest tone I've heard him use. If I wasn't drunk, I definitely would've taken the hint to get up and leave, but boundaries were always erased when alcohol hit my system.

"I know, but don't you want company? It's so...eerie in here."

"I don't. I mean, I'm fine." he responds, turning around to check the cameras and turning back to look at me sitting there. I could feel him studying me for a second before letting out a sigh and looking back at the cameras. This was a side of him I hadn't seen before. 

"I'm going to call you a cab." Mike says, taking out his phone and seemingly typing in a number.

"No." I say, standing up and walking over to try and take the phone from his hands.

Mike sees me approaching and quickly stands up, towering over my 5'2 self. 

"Miles, you're drunk and you need to go home." he says, with a husky tone as I feel his breath against my face. My eyes roam up to his as he quickly looks away and begins calling the number. 

I surrender and go back to my water cup and chair as I sit there with my arms across my chest.

"He'll be here in 20 minutes." Mike responds, sitting back in his chair and looking over at me. "I'm not making you leave because I want you to go, you just have to." he says, before his phone begins ringing. After a quick call, he looks over at me and rolls his eyes. "The cab company cancelled. They're done for the night." he says, standing up in visible frustration. 

"Oh no." I say with a sarcastic tone in my voice, not realizing what this actually means.

"Listen, I can drive you home after my shift ends at 6AM. But, you need to stay in here. I have a few blankets over there and I can make you a place to sleep." he says, while grabbing blankets from a shelf and lying them on the ground for a makeshift bed. 

I nod at his words as I take myself off the chair and plop down on the blankets he laid out for me. There was a small pillow that I grabbed from the shelf as I laid down. I was getting tired, so I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep. 

After what felt like hours of sleeping, I was woken up by the sound of gasping coming from the other side of the room. It was Mike, but he looked like he was sleeping. Was he having a nightmare?

I stood up and walked over to him as I heard him continuing to gasp and almost mutter in pain.

"Mike?" I say, touching his shoulder softly to see if I could wake him up.