The Thousand Words We Spoke (A Novella)

Chapter Fifteen

"This isn't your parent's house," Holden said from the passenger seat. "I could probably fit my parent's place in your parents' living room."

The house was hardly that big and downright modest compared to her grandparent's house or Adam's parent's house. "It's not as intimidating as it looks, I promise."

It was three in the morning and it relieved Mia they never replaced the family dog or they'd wake the whole damn house. But it was better than catching a flight first thing in the morning and having to wake his sister at the crack of dawn to take them.

Mia parked the car in front of the garage, popped the trunk, and closed the door quietly behind her. Holden did the same with his door and grabbed both their bags out of the back before shutting the trunk.

It'd been five years since she was in the same city as Adam and probably the same state, and Mia could already feel that shift in energy. She only hoped that the tragedy would allow them to be the people they were to one another when she was young. That any physical contact shared wouldn't be like the last, but one of innocence.

Mia found the key to her parent's house in the masses and turned the lock. Her parents had left just enough light on to show them the way into the house and up to her bedroom. The light in there was already on, as if the house were waiting for her return rather than her parents. Like it had every time before this, the familiarity was like a warm blanket wrapped around her with sweet music playing and a mug of hot cocoa in her hand. Except this time, there was a slight sadness to it. She'd stayed away so long and while it was with a purpose, it made her feel no less guilty of avoiding this part of her past.

"This room is just adorable," Holden commented with a smile.

Mia returned the smile while her eyes looked around at the teenager she once was. The room was full of photos of her and Adam while the ones that once hung in her apartment remained locked away in a box in her spare bedroom. She never found the courage to unpack her shrine, but couldn't bring herself to throw them away either. There were also photos of her childhood friends, most she lost touch with in time, but Adam's stood out the most.

Holden went over to the wall to inspect the photos, looking at her in all the stages of her life. "This guy's a lot older than you," he noticed as his eyes fell on all the ones with her and Adam. "I take it that's the guy everyone's worried about? The one you used to be close to?"

"That's Adam," Mia confirmed. Every time the name passed her lips, there was a familiar tug at her heart.

"Wait, a second..." Holden took another step toward a photograph. "I know this guy. That's Adam Whitman, the photographer. I've met him before."

Mia shook her head, and her body tightened at the words. "No you haven't."

She didn't know why she was arguing with him, since she had no clue whether it was true. But it seemed like an impossible way for her two lives to collide.

"Yeah, I have. About two years ago. The publishing house wanted to use one of his photographs for a book cover. We emailed back and forth for a while about it and when he found out where I was, he agreed to fly over for a meeting. Can't remember what the book was called, but it was an obscure photo he took when he was just starting out. God, what the hell was that book called?"

"So, you used it?" Mia asked. Her head felt like it was about to spin right off.

Holden gave the photo one last closer look, then turned to face her. "Yup. I take it he didn't stop and see you while he was in town?"

She shook her head again, but something told her Adam saw her while he was in town and it was she who didn't see him.

"Huh," was all Holden could come up with to respond with.

"It was probably a really quick trip, and he's a busy guy," Mia explained. But the look on his face told her it wasn't that quick of a trip. There were forms to fill out, and he met with book cover artists. His company likely put him up in a hotel and knew just how long Adam was in town for. "I think I'll take a shower."

                                                                                   ***********

She showered until the water went cold, then took her time drying her hair and getting ready for bed. By the time she left the bathroom, Holden was fast asleep, letting out quiet whistles as he breathed in her childhood bed. She'd had sex with two men over the last five years, but the last time she shared a bed with someone was the Christmas Eve before she left, and Mia couldn't bring herself to slide next to him and succumb to the exhaustion she was sure was fast approaching.

Without a second thought, Mia grabbed her purse and the keys from her dresser and snuck out of the room, down the stairs, and out the front door.

She knew the family as well as her own reflection. Mary, Adam's mother, wouldn't be sleeping in the room she shared with her husband for the last half century. She'd be at Mia's grandparents' house, unable to bring herself to step into her own house without the love of her life to go home to.

William would be in his own bed, sleeping beside his wife as his children slept down the hall across town.

Although she didn't know where Adam's house was, Mia knew he wouldn't be there. With his family's home empty, he'd be suffering his sorrow there. Alone was likely the only time he allowed his poker face to flounder unless he was pushed to the brink.

The time was now four in the morning and the roads were near deserted in the booming city. Mia knew she wouldn't be able to sleep without talking to him, and that wasn't something she wanted to do around others.

She veered into the driveway where a single vehicle parked in front of the garage and saw that some lights to the house were still on.

Mia parked next to him, killed the engine, and walked down the path she'd walked a hundred plus times before. Her fist rose to knock on the door, but paused in the air when Adam opened the front door.

Time had caught up to the man she'd loved with all her being. His hair was no longer peppered with gray, but now had almost taken over with his hairline further back. The lines by his eyes were more prominent, and he now wore glasses.

This was so much heartbreaking that she thought it would be and for the first time in however long, staying away from Adam felt like the worst decision she'd ever made. He wasn't an old man. Adam was in his late forties. Still, their future passed through Mia's mind with a blink of an eye as she imagined seeing him only twice a decade and witnessing the undeniable toll that time would take on them, him, and ultimately her.

She'd allowed too much time to pass and was missing out on his life that would come to an end like his father's had. It was a hard pill to swallow, becoming a stranger in Adam's life.

Yet he didn't look back at her like a stranger, but as a man who needed her more than he was ready to declare aloud. And that look seemed to last forever before he stepped out of the path of the doorway so Mia could enter.