Locked In

Chapter 1

•CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO THIS CHAPTER•

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The sound of the doorbell startled Mia, causing her to jump and spill Jingga's food. Frustrated, she set Jingga's food down to where he usually ate and resealed  the food bag before wiping her hands on a kitchen towel and heading towards the door. She very much intended to find out who it was that was ringing her doorbell at such an early hour. 

She open the door and her face instantly lit up. "Lyle, what are you doing here?" she exclaimed. He smiled back at her and embraced her in a tight hug. "I couldn't bear the thought of you being alone at this time," he replied. "How are you doing?" he holds her at arms length to analyse her facial expression, which had dropped ever so slightly from a few moments ago. 

"Oh you know, it's fine. I'm fine. It's been 15 years and of course that doesn't mean I'm not sad about what happened but I can get through the week just fine," she told him. "You really didn't have to come all this way," she told him with a look of gratitude. 

"I know, I know, but it's an excuse for me to come out and see you. I miss hanging out with you, you know?" he said with an innocent smile. She looked at him curiously with squinted eyes, she thought he was trying to make up for not visiting for so long but decided not to make him feel guilty about it. 

"Yea, I've missed you too. And it's not like I made an effort to come visit you either," she replied, realising that she felt just as guilty. 

Lyle lived an hour away and though that sounded like it wasn't very far, neither of them could ever find the time to make plans with their busy lives. Lyle and Mia had gone to high school together and there she found out that he wanted to be a professional photographer. Well, he wasn't actually going to pursue it until Mia told him it wold be ridiculous if he didn't develop a talent as extraordinary as his. She enjoyed looking at his pictures and back in high school she would often follow him around town with her own camera, though she wasn't nearly as good was he was. He had a way of capturing something so insignificant, like a coin or an old fence, in a way that was so mesmerising and inspiring. It was peaceful and it helped them both get away from the pressures they faced at home for a while.  

After that, Lyle eventually convinced his parents, who originally wanted him to become a lawyer, to let him pursue his passion. They took a little time to warm up to the idea but eventually gave in and decided to let him try to fulfil his dream.

Mia, on the other hand, wanted to become a psychiatrist but didn't do as well as she needed to in her senior year. Not well enough to get accepted into any undergraduate medical school at least. So she was forced to take a different pathway- do a science degree and then, hopefully, get accepted into a graduate course. This wasn't what she wanted at first but she wasn't focused in school and was barely keeping her grades up. She realised later on that she wasn't entirely sure if this was what she really wanted and that doing a degree before medicine would help her ensure this was what she wanted without getting tied down for 5 years or having to quit. This way she could branch out into anything if she decided she didn't want to do medicine.

"Well, are we just gonna stand here or you gonna invite me in?" Lyle said, interrupting her thoughts. She smiled and pushed the door open wider, allowing him in. He walked past the kitchen and into the hall, slumping down on the couch and putting his feet up on the coffee table. 

She rolled her eyes before asking, "Raspberry juice?"

He looked back at her and smiled, "You know me too well," he said. 

She poured Lyle a glass of raspberry juice and cleaned up the mess she made earlier upon his arrival. Then she walked to the hall and set the glass down in front of him.