Until Mia (Until Series #1)

Chapter Eighteen

I lost count how many times I talked myself out of coming to work the next morning. I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't just working for me, that I had a little sister I need to take care of as well. I would face Drew and deal with our situation head on. I was the one who stupidly fell in love. Drew didn't ask for my love or my virginity. I gave both to him recklessly and now it was time to deal with the ramifications of my actions.
I step into the kitchen and the genuine smile on Ms. Nancy's face when she sees me is worth coming in today.
"How are you feeling today?" She asks me, making a knot form between my brow in confusion until I remembered I called out pretending to be sick.
"Oh, a lot better, thank you." I say.
"Good." She smiles softly. "Well I told that boy of yours that I'd tell him the second you got in. He's waiting for you in the dining room."
I frown. "If it's okay with you Ms. Nancy I'd like to get straight to work."
Ms. Nancy frowns too but doesn't say anything. "That's fine. If you're ready than I need you to check for any expired food and make a list of the supplies we need to stock up on."
I nod my head. "Okay."
"Mia." The voice I spent all day trying not to think about says my name and I stiffen when I feel him behind me.
I brace myself before turning around to greet him and I still wasn't prepared. He looks good this morning, dressed in a crisp baby blue denim shirt that makes his eyes even brighter.
"Good morning sir." I say to him before turning back to Ms. Nancy. "I'm going to get started." I tell her before walking over to the fridge so I can start from there.
I open the fridge and begin checking the expiration dates, trying my best to ignore him when he comes to stand next to me. "Mia." He's close enough that I can feel the warm radiating off him.
"Yes sir?" I look at him expectantly.
"What's wrong?" He asks, concern written all over his face.
"I'm fine sir."
"Stopping calling me sir." He growls at me.
"Okay Mr. Lyons." Drew narrows his eyes at me and I turn back to the fridge, ready to continue my task. "If that was all, I need to get back to work now Mr. Lyons."
"No that's not fucking all." Drew growls as he slams the fridge shut. "What's wrong with you?" He demands.
"I told you already-nothing. Now move-" I try to open the fridge but he stood in front of it, making that impossible.
"I'm not moving until you tell me what's wrong. Talk to me baby." He pleads and my steady resolve crumbles at the tightness I hear in his voice.
"There's nothing wrong. For a while I forgot what this was but now I remember. I'm just a summer fling. A fun distraction before you go back to your girlfriend. I'm the maid and you're my boss. I just want to forget about everything and go back to how it was before."
He shook his head before gently but firmly taking my hand and lead me out of the kitchen.
"What are you doing?" I question as I let him lead me upstairs.
"There's so much fucking wrong with everything you just said I don't even know where to start, but I'm not letting you get back to work until we get everything clear."
There wasn't anything that needed to be cleared up. I understood perfectly where I stood with him.
"Mr. Lyons it's fine, honestly. You don't have to explain yourself to me." I tell him.
"First off, stop calling me Mr. Lyons and sir. You call me by my name Mia because you're not below me, we're fucking equals. And secondly, there's only one girl I give a shit about and she's standing in this room."
Why is he lying? I saw the way he looked at Casey the other day.
"You don't have to lie Mr. Lyons. I saw you with your girlfriend the other day and it was painfully obvious that that's girl you're supposed to be with. So again, it's fine, I'm fine. Go be with Casey."
Drew looks at me and smiles before he starts to laugh.
What the fuck was so funny?
"Why are you laughing?" I demand, angry that he was finding this hilarious.
"I'm laughing because if you were to just stick around and talk to me you would've known that the only reason Casey and I were together was because we were shooting a music video for Casey's latest single that I'm featured on. I didn't even want to do it but she's still a good friend of mine and Evan was convinced it would help me sell more tickets to my tour. Our fans, even though we're broken up, love seeing us together and besides all that we make good music together. Yesterday was strictly business. Yes, Casey is amazing but she's just a friend. So I don't want to be with her. Not when I have you."
It was a music video. Somehow I miss the cameras and the dozen of other people walking around. Now I feel incredibly stupid for making such a big deal out of nothing. I should've just stayed and wait for Drew to explain.
The sweet warmth of embarrassment creeps over at me as I meet Drew's gaze ready to apologize.
"I'm so sor-" Then his lips were on mines, swallowing the rest of my apology. My lips part under pressure and our tongues meet. I instinctively melt into him, letting him control the kiss as he explored and reacquainted himself with every corner of my mouth.
"Don't doubt what I feel for you." He tells me when he pulls away.
"I missed you." I whisper against his chest.
"I missed you too." He presses me closer. "Stay back after work?"
"I can't." I pull out of his grasp.
"I thought you weren't mad at me anymore." Drew says, looking adorably upset like a little boy.
"I'm not," I reassure him. "It's just that Layla is back and there's this fair in town that we go to every year and I promised I'd take her tonight."
"Do you think your sister would mind me tagging along?" He surprises me by asking.
"Of course not. But you do know she's more or less gonna attack you when she sees you right?" I ask knowing there was no way Layla would be able to control herself when they were face to face.
He laughs. "She's a fan. I'm sure she'll be star struck at first but then she'll see I'm just a normal guy."
"Okay." I agree. "I can't wait to see her face when she sees you."
After work Drew takes me home so I can shower, change, and pick up Layla. When I walked inside our room Layla is sitting on her bed, one leg propped up while the other dangled over the ground, her head low as she stared at something intensely on her phone. The second I walk in she lifts her head and smiles.
"Hey! How was work?" She puts her phone away and gives me her full attention.
"Interesting." I answer, which earns me a raised eyebrow from my sister.  I just shake my head in response. I'm really excited to see how she's going to react when she sees Drew.
"Are we still going to the fair?" She asks, anxiously. When you're fourteen without a job or a car, your options for the day was pretty limited. I knew she hated staying inside all day doing nothing but watching TV or videos on her phone. Layla was the active one, which is why I knew that summer camp was the best for her. She wouldn't have to stay home all the time and be miserable.
     "Yeah," I nod my head. "Just let me take a quick shower and change then we'll go." I tell her.
     "Don't take forever."
     "I won't!" I shout over my shoulder before shutting the door behind me of the bathroom.
     I walk out fifteen minutes later. I quickly towel dry my body before slipping on a new panty and bra that actually matched for once. I wanted to be comfortable but I also wanted to look good for Drew so I wore a black crop top, the tiniest shorts I own so that I was exposing more leg than I usually do, and match my top with a pair of black gladiator sandals that wrapped around my calves. There's no time to straighten my hair so I leave it in its natural curly state.
     "I thought I told you not to take forever." Layla scolds me when I walk out the bathroom the second time as soon as I'm done putting on my make-up.
     "Sue me." I reply before tucking my makeup bag underneath my bed.
     "So is there a reason why you're trying to look good?" She questions, I can feel her eyes watching me as I finish put the finishing touches for tonight.
     "Maybe."
     "Are you finally going to get yourself a boyfriend?"
     "What?"
     "Don't think I don't notice that you never go out on any dates or talk about any guys." She continues.
     "So I'm not boy crazy... is that a problem?"
     "Yes... especially because I know it's because of me."
     I pause applying lotion to my legs to look at her.
     "Don't think I don't know the reason you never go out is because of me and mom."
     "What are you talking about? I go out." I argue.
     "Going to the grocery store to make sure I have Lucky Charms for breakfast or going to school isn't going out." She corrects me.
     "It's called being an introvert."
     "It's called putting your life on hold because you're stuck babysitting."
     "Where is all this coming from?" I wonder. "I've never complained before."
     "And that's the problem. You would be happy to put your life on hold as long as I was happy." Layla frowns.
     "Of course I would. You're my baby sister Layla. I love you and I want you to have the life I didn't have growing up."
     "And I don't want you to stop living yours."
     "I'm not... Not anymore at least." I confess. "I met someone and he's great... perfect even. And he makes me want to live life again. It's scary to say out loud but... I think I love him Layla."
     I'm surprised I admitted that to Layla, especially since I'm still trying to figure out what it was that I'm feeling for Drew. It was deeper than like, much deeper, but I don't want to fall completely until I know where he stands. He said things like I was it for him but he never said the three words and to think that this was only one sided scared the shit out of me.
     "That's amazing Mia!" Layla exclaims sounding completely sincere and genuinely happy for me. "I have to meet this guy."
     "You will... he's downstairs waiting on us."
     "You mean he's coming with us to the fair?" She questions.
     "Is that okay? You weren't expecting this to be a sister thing right?" I fret. As much as I wanted to spend more time with Drew and was anxious for the two of them to meet, I would cancel if that's what Layla wants.
     "No it's fine." She waves me off. "He can come. If you're saying you think you love this guy then we need to meet... he needs to get my approval."
     "Something tells me you already like this guy." I say with a grin when I see the screensaver of her phone which is a picture of Drew.
     "Come on let's go." She jumps up from her bed. "I'm dying to meet this guy."
     "And I'm dying to see your reaction." I mumble underneath my breath as I follow her out the door.
     We stop at the living room to tell Celine bye. She's watching one of those music video channels but stopped when she saw Layla and me.
     "Going out?"
     "Yeah. The fair. We'll be out late." I tell her.
     "Have fun or whatever." Celine replies before turning her attention back to the TV.
     I roll my eyes but tug Layla with me to the front door without saying another word. Most girls my age wanted their mother to care less and give them space, whereas I just want Celine to care period.
     The two of us head down the stairs and immediately my eyes zoom in on the black Mercedes. It was the only expensive car in the parking lot. Why he continued to think he wouldn't stand out in a car like that in a neighborhood like this was surprising. What was even more surprising was the fact that no one tried stealing it yet.
     "Which car is his?"
     "The big shiny one." I say with a giggle.
     "So he has money?"
     "Just a little bit." We reach the last step the same moment Drew steps out of the car.
     He should really come with a warning label.
Despite seeing how he was dressed before we left his house, I still found myself sucking in a breath when I see him. He dressed in a camouflage jacket underneath a plain white tee, dark jeans, and his signature Timberland boots.
     Drew bite his lip as his eyes roamed over me from head to toe. "You're killing me."
     I grin and blush slightly. "That was the plan."
     He shakes his head. "How am I supposed to be on my best behavior tonight when you look like that?"
     "Maybe I want you to misbehave."
He frowns and shakes his head again before he's pulls me close. "You're gorgeous."
     "Thanks, so are you." I smile before the both of us lean in and kiss. I pull away before either of us can get carried away and turn to face Layla who hadn't said a word the whole time.
     She was still standing, that's good. But her eyes are wide and fixed on Drew in disbelief. She isn't blinking.
     "What did you do to my sister?" I ask Drew with a giggle.
     He chuckles non-commentary before walking up to Layla. "Hey, what's up? I hear you're a big fan." He smiles at her and she finally blinks.
     "You're... You're... Drew... Drew Lyons." She states astounded. "How am I talking to you right now?" She looks between Drew and I.
     "He's the owner of the house I've been cleaning for the summer."
     "How am I just now finding out about this?" Layla shoots daggers at me.
     "Would you have believe me if I told you?" I shoot back.
     "Probably not." She admits before she turns her attention back to Drew. "You're even more sexier in person." She sounds dazed as she stares up him with heart eyes. I can't blame her. But then something behind her eyes snaps and the heart eyes are gone.   It's replaced with a glare. "You made Mia cry."
     I can feel my eyes widen at her confession. I want to strangle my sister for admitting that little information to Drew.
     Drew looks back at me with a raise eyebrow and I shake my head. He wasn't supposed to know. He doesn't say anything but turns his attention back to Layla.
     "I didn't know I did. Thanks for telling me. But I promise to do my best to make sure that never happens again."
     "I'm holding you to that." Layla says seriously.
     "Can we go? A Mercedes can only go unnoticed for so long in this neighborhood and I don't want to be the reason why Drew Lyons gets robbed." I say and Layla agrees.
"Mia told me how this was supposed to be just a you and her thing, I hope you don't mind that I'm crashing it." Drew tells Layla as we file into his car.
Layla shakes her head and the I'm looking at Jesus look appeared in her eyes again. "Are you kidding me? You aren't crashing anything! I live with her-how much more time does she need?"
"Really feeling the love over here." I say sarcastically as I climb into the passenger seat.