Ice To Meet You

Flowers and thorns Part 1

"Is that what you really want?" I can feel the pain in his voice. He just flew from Chicago and I am kicking him out of his own house.

"He went to Chicago without telling you, be strong Mia. He yelled at you and is having you followed. Stop being a fucking doormat," Inner bitch reminds me.

"Yes," I hang up before he can say anything further.

I need to buy time so that when I do tell Liam about Rachel he is not shocked. I am delaying the inevitable for just a night—I can't ask him for a favor when I am seething with anger. Sometimes he treats me like a puppet and I have to affirm my position as a strong independent woman that takes shit from no one. I go back inside and the conversation Rachel and Salvador were having comes to a screeching halt. Thanks, Liam.

"Are we ready to leave Rachel?" I ask ignoring the tension in the air.

"You can go back to your prince charming in your glass castle and drink tea in your pristine china. I am okay in the slump where I belong," clearly she heard it. Liam has the ability to ruin things without even knowing exactly what he is ruining.

"Maybe you should confide in him Mia, he is having you watched because you can't watch your steps yourself." Inner voice preaches. She needs to shut the fuck up.

I'd rather fall because I was following my heart than fly because I was following his instructions. Life doesn't come with an instruction manual and maybe taking Rachel home is the biggest mistake of my life. Maybe I will regret it and maybe she'll kill me in my sleep or I don't know—and I don't care. Maybe I am taking advantage of Liam's generosity and pushing my boundaries and taking undue liberty but my heart is in the right place. I want to help Rachel turn her life around and any risk is worth taking for the tiniest hope that things will get better for someone like her. She doesn't have a support system that understands her and all her friends have abandoned her.

"Are you helping her out of the kindness of your heart or because you see a part of her in you?" Inner voice asks me and I don't have to answer her.

"Liam doesn't know you, once he does, he'll be kinder than anyone you have ever met. Now let's go before it gets too dark."

It takes me another 10 minutes to convince her. There is a white Mercedes parked outside the building and Wilson gets out of the car as soon as he spots me.

"Hello, Wilson,"

"Hello, Mia. How are you today?" The familiarity I feel with this man is so unlike anything I have ever experienced. He just feels safe and warm and stuck up in that tie that is so fucking tight, I wonder how he is still breathing.

"I am great. How are you? —Oh, and this is my friend Rachel," I introduce them.

She extends her hands and Wilson shakes them, "It's nice to meet you, Rachel," he says.

"I just farted," Rachel says and I look at Wilson awkwardly, holding in my laughter as he opens the door to the car. Oh my— her fart smells deadly and reminds me of the time I had left the chicken out on the counter before spring break for a week in my tiny college dorm. It smells like the aftermath and I rush to the other side of the car and get in.

I look at my phone and there are about 17 missed calls from Liam and not even one from Hannah. Isn't it strange how much you can miss a person and still not want to talk to them ever again? I miss her to pieces and I want to share my day with her. I want to tell her everything about Rachel and—she didn't even call me. It just strings.

Guys are allowed to ghost you, not that Liam has but you know what I am saying? They have a get out of jail card because that's what we've been taught men do since we were young. Best friends aren't supposed to ghost you like this. It just—the pain of not having your best friend give a fuck about you cuts deep.

I am still not sure what I did wrong or why she hasn't been in touch.

Liam texts me, "What is the second thing?"

"Lie to me, just right now because I really need to hear it, please lie to me and tell me you love me," I text back.

I need to know I am loved, especially when the woman I think is my soulmate is ghosting me. I want to be loved with the same intensity and passion as I love people. I am tired of being hard to get, I want to call her up and be needy. I want Liam to love me, for real. Am I hoping for too much or accepting too little?

I don't want to settle for new friends who barely know me and a guy who might one day come to love me. I want to be loved right now.

Rachel farts again and Wilson pulls down the windows. This time I can't help myself from laughing out loud, Rachel joins me and I can hear Wilson chucking too.

Liam doesn't text back and I don't know why or when but I have this unwavering belief that everything will be alright. That Rachel will find a new way of living and Hannah will come crawling back to me and William will one day confess his love for me.

We reach our building and as we enter the house, I request Amy to show Rachel the bathroom. One more fart and my nose hair will burn off. I take off my sneakers and pour myself a glass of water. There is a knock on the door and I walk toward it. I open the door and there is a teenage boy on the door in a blue jumper, "Mia Harriet Dawson?" he asks.

"Yes?"

"This is for you," he says and pulls out a huge white box. I grab the box and for something so big, it is surprisingly light.

Don't I have to sign something? Weird. He just leaves and I shut the door with my leg. Who would send me something?

I place the box on the counter and open the tiny envelope on top of it. It says, "Won't ever lie to you." I open the lid and inside are dozens of flawless, textbook perfect red roses all of the same size elegantly stamped together. The kind of box people on Instagram post stories about—the kind that I have no idea what I've done to earn.

I immediately call him, he doesn't answer and the phone goes to voice mail.

"I love you more than these roses and you know what? I really really—like really love these roses. Miss you," I record for him to hear later.

I help Rachel get settled, give her my favorite pair of sponge bob pajamas and show her around the house. Amy serves us dinner that I skip over—today has been my first day back in real life and I am exhausted. I show Rachel all the ice-creams in the freezer in case she wants dessert and call it a night.

"You are a rich bitch," she comments as I close the refrigerator door.

"My boyfriend is, I can't even afford half the food in the house."

I wish her goodnight, take the roses to my bed and hop on the bed. I chuck my jeans to the floor and pass out.

Somebody is pulling me—something is happening. Stop happening, Mia has to sleep. Again, something is tugging at me and holy fuck, I immediately sit up.

Who—what—when?

My heart rate instantly tranquilities as I see him, on the side of the bed pulling the flowers away from me. I let go of the box that he places on the side, "be gentle with them," I half sleepily order him.

He smirks as he crawls on the bed with just his boxers. He holds me close and for the first time ever, I get to experience just out of the shower Liam. He smells minty and fresh, his hair damp and his skin warm. I lick the water droplets from his neck and he groans. That noise just does something to my body and I squirm, pressing my legs together. He runs his fingers down my torso to my thighs—giving every inch of my body goosebumps. He parts my legs and puts his hand inside my underwear—why don't I shave my body more often?

He plays with the hair on my vagina and well all I can say is I am glad the lights are off or else I would die of mortification. He pushes his finger inside me and swirls it around, oh no... please don't Liam—no.

"Did I interrupt a wet dream?" He asks with a smirk on his goddamn smug face. I squeeze my legs together, blocking his hand from moving and he giggles.

Author's Note 

Are we ready for Liam and Mia to have sex? Is the timing too soon or just perfect?

How stunning are the flowers on the top of the page?