begin again [reus]

elf: awkward meetings

MIA

I sat in the park bench, legs crossed underneath me and my notebook on top of my lap. I was trying to write a few songs while organising my schedule and going over some tour dates and venues. I could've easily just done this all at home where I could walk around wearing an oversized t-shirt and where I wouldn't have to put on any make up, but something about being outside in the park made me concentrate more.

It was 6 in the evening, the sun was just going down and it cast a purple glow over the city. The park was empty since it was pretty chilly and all the little kids left the park around an hour ago so it just left me and a few joggers around. 

My 7-week break from tour was ending in another 4 weeks. After this, I'd have to continue my tour in other countries around the world such as the ones in South Africa, Asia and Africa and then I'd finish my tour in London, which I was so excited about.

So far, the tickets have been selling like crazy. I've sold out lots of stadiums and never in my life have I imagined that this would happen. 

I continued flipping through the schedules when I heard a familiar voice. I looked up to see Marco walking several yards in front of me. He was talking to someone, but I couldn't see who he was talking to and I couldn't hear what he was saying. He was pointing at parts of the park and I knew his eyes would land on me sooner or later.

I didn't want to get into an awkward conversation today - not when I was having such a good day. I grabbed my notebook and softly put it into my bag before standing up and quietly walking the other way, hoping he didn't see me.

We haven't talked since the incident after my birthday party and we were sort of avoiding each other. I made excuses every time Anna told me to go out with him in public and I knew he made excuses to Vincent too. 

"Oh my gosh, it's Mia Bauer!" 

I froze in my spot and slowly turned around after a few moments. The girl who screamed it was around 13 years old. She was with her mom and grinning from ear to ear. "Oh my gosh, can you please sign my t-shirt?" she asked me, coming closer to me.

I prayed that Marco and whoever he was with wouldn't hear me. I paid no attention to them and took out a black sharpie from my pencil case and signed the bottom of her white shirt. 

"And can I have a picture?" she asked me. I put a smile on my face and nodded. She walked towards me, wrapping her small arms around me as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. We both smiled at the camera her mother was holding. 

Her mother counted to three and snapped the picture. The girl thanked me and left, bounding up and down with joy. 

I tossed my sharpie back into my backpack and slowly started to walk away when I made eye contact with Marco. He was sitting on a bench several feet away with another girl. The girl was talking, unaware that Marco wasn't looking at her or even listening to her.

I felt a slight pang in my heart. Marco did work fast. 

Shut up, Mia. Stop thinking about it. This is what you wanted, isn't it? You wanted him to move on and leave you alone.

The thought of seeing Marco with another girl slightly ticked me off. No, scratch that. It really ticked me off. Memories of seeing Marco and Daniela plastered on the front page of every magazine on the newsstand. I huffed and brushed back a strand of hair from my face and turned away from him, breaking our eye contact. 

+

I sat down by Anna's marble desk, going over some tour details while she talked to someone on the phone. I've been looking at the same page for about 5 minutes, my eyes going over the same sentence over and over again. I couldn't concentrate on anything but Marco and that girl yesterday. 

I shook the thoughts out of my head and tried - again - to look at the tour merchandise and figure out which one I thought should get made and which one should get cancelled. 

"Anna, I'm hungry. Gonna go get something from the vending machine, okay?" I told her. She nodded, still on the phone with someone. I grabbed my wallet and left Anna's office to walk down the hall to the vending machine. 

I looked at all the snack options. From chocolate bars all the way to mini pretzels. I tilted my head and decided on getting a small bag of pretzels. I grabbed some coins from my wallet and put them in the slot before pressing the number on the keypad.

I watched as the bag of pretzels got pushed out - only for it to get stuck in the springs.

"Oh, crap." I whispered under my breath. I knocked on the glass for a few minutes, shaking the machine as hard as I could. I could've just gotten another bag of pretzels, but the stuck one was the last one. 

I stood there like a crazy person, shaking the machine when someone came up beside me. My eyes widened as I saw Marco standing beside me. He gave the machine one nudge with his knee and the pretzels fell all the way down to the slot. 

Marco reached down and grabbed the bag of pretzels from the machine and handed them to me. 

I looked at him in awe and took the pretzels from him. 

"Thank you." I said, my cheeks heating up. "No problem." he replied. I moved aside and he put a few coins into the machine and picked a bag of chips. He grabbed them and shot me a small smile, flashing his dimples at me.

He turned around to start walking away from me and I followed after him, getting into pace with him. "Who...who was that yesterday?" I asked him.

He looked at me and put a potato chip into his mouth, munching on it. "Just a friend."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Her name's Emily." 

"Oh."

I felt a lump forming in my throat and my heart sinking to the bottom of my stomach. 

This is what you wanted, Mia. Why are you changing your mind about Marco every six seconds?

"So...are you two together?" I asked him, hoping the firmness of my voice concealed how heartbroken I was inside. Marco looked at me, a small smile on his face and shrugged. 

"Not yet." 

Yet. That was the keyword, wasn't it?

MARCO

I glanced at my phone when I saw a text from Emily come in.

EMILY - Done with your meeting? Wanna meet up for some lunch? :) x

I looked away from my phone to Anna who was talking about something and Vincent who was nodding and adding in a side comment every now and then. I glanced at Mia who was listening to them intently. 

I quickly texted a 'sure' back to Emily and stuffed my phone back in my pocket.

"So, do you two understand what you have to do?" Anna asked us. 

I wasn't listening to anything since the beginning of the meeting, but I nodded anyway, hoping Anna didn't say anything important. 

"Okay, meeting's over. Have a good day, guys." Vincent said. I stood up and grabbed my jacket, putting it over me. Mia grabbed her bag and her coat as well and we started walking towards the elevator together.

We got in at the same time and Mia pressed the button for the lobby. We stood in the elevator together, with awkward air surrounding us and elevator music playing. 

Thankfully, the doors opened quickly and the two of us bolted out of the elevator. 

"So, I'll see you soon, okay?" she said, plastering a smile on her face. I nodded slowly, not really understanding what she meant. "Okay..." 

"7, okay?"

"What?" I asked her, but she was already walking away. I shrugged and grabbed my phone, calling Emily to ask her where and when she wanted to have lunch.

//

omg ok the next chapter will be fun :) hehehehe

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