The Lunchtime Special

Chapter 10 - Fortuitous

"You're back in Melbourne?"

"Caught the red-eye this morning," I'm pouring myself a whiskey as I talk to Laila on speakerphone; it's been a long and busy day and I'm looking forward to unwinding. There's no doubt that part of that process will involve thinking about Mia and the past few days. Christ! I've only known her a few days and I'm having trouble keeping her out of my every thought.

"So..." Laila's quiet for a minute but I have a suspicion I know where the conversation is heading. "You and Mia..." Groaning inwardly and running a hand through my hair, I'm thankful at least that she can't see me and I don't have to school my features. "What's going on, Jake?" Not for a second do I contemplate lying or avoiding the question; my baby sister and I are close and we don't keep things from each other, so I tell her about having had three dinners with Mia – without sharing intimate details; we're not that close. Rewarded with silence once again, I wait it out, knowing her reaction will come soon. Sure enough – "Wait, you've met her parents already and cooked her a meal?"

"Yes." There's a definite tone of something in her voice that I can't put my finger on. "What of it?"

"Whoa."

"What? Laila...what'd I do? Is there something wrong with that?" Fuck! What's happened? Have I broken some dating rule that only women seem to know and understand? My hand's running through my hair again, heart threatening to burst out of my chest until she speaks.

"Nothing's wrong. Jeez; panic much, big brother?" Christ! Inhaling deeply, feeling as if I've run a marathon in the last twenty seconds, I swallow a gulp of my drink, thankful for the spread of warmth it brings my numbed limbs.

"Don't do that," I mutter, hearing her chuckling softly in reply. My heartbeat is almost back to normal.

"Sorry, bro. Hey, I've got to go; Will's calling. I'll talk to you later in the week, okay? Love you!"

What? No, I need to know what she meant by 'whoa'... "Laila, wait..." but it's too late; she's rung off. Dammit! Staring at the phone willing her to call back takes a couple of minutes before I realise how pointless that is; I swill the last of my whiskey and look over towards where I'd left the bottle on the counter, considering another. Just as I head over there my phone rings again and I jump at it, a slug of disappointment hitting me when I see it's only Greg, one of our software developers. He's had an idea for the Leichardt job and we talk for nearly an hour as I work my way through another glass of whiskey, knowing this probably could have waited until the morning but thankful for a distraction from my thoughts, no matter how brief. Once the call's over I head to the shower, letting hot water pound over my shoulders and down my back. As soon as I close my eyes visions of Mia appear behind my lids; her little head tilt, her sweet smile, the sassy grin and glance from under long lashes, the way her eyes sparkle when she's teasing. I feel a smile pull at my lips and shut off the water, drying myself perfunctorily before wrapping the towel around my waist and heading for the lounge, picking up my phone as I begin to pace in front of my couch. Text or call? It's almost ten and I know Mia rises early; she also fell asleep on me last night, so I decide to text in case she's already gone to bed.

Jake: Hi. How was your day?

The second I hit the Send button I groan aloud, thinking it's such a lame message and wishing I could take it back. I run a hand through my damp hair, trying to think of something more interesting to say, and am startled when my phone vibrates with an incoming text.

Mia: Good. Busy. How about you?

I smile as I repeat her words to her.

Jake: Good. Busy.