So there Mia was, out for lunch with Andrew. She was tired of fighting it; the universe seemed to want to keep throwing them together, causing her pain and discomfort, so she just let it be. Why bother trying?
They went to a small deli down the street. Mia's head was still in a fog. As she looked at the different meats in front of her, she had no desire to order anything, having lost her appetite. But her stomach gurgling indicated that she needed to consume something.
She mindlessly ordered a pastrami on rye with mustard and some chips, paid for it, and found a table. Andrew followed suit, but when he got to the table, he had around four different items on his tray: a soda, chips, fries, and a salad.
"Hungry now, are we?" Mia remarked.
"Oh, you know, I'm a growing boy." Andrew winked at Mia. She felt her stomach flip. How was she still so affected by this man all these years later?
Andrew then took the fries off his tray and nudged them toward the middle of the table, toward her. He laid out all his food this way, as if everything was to share.
Mia grew up an only child; she had never had to share her food or anything else with anyone. Having someone so blatantly offer half of what was his was odd for her. But what was even odder was how he mindlessly reached over to her plate of chips and grabbed a piece.
Her jaw dropped. Did he really just take something off her plate without even asking? She knew that Andrew was many things, but lacking manners wasn't one of them.
"Excuse me? Did you just take a chip from me?" Mia squeaked out.
Andrew looked up from his food at her, mouth half full. "Yeah—it looked good," he said with a shrug.
"Did you grow up in the jungle? You don't just take food from someone; you at least have to ask first!" Mia scolded.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't grow up in a jungle, but I did grow up with two brothers. You had so much, I just assumed you were gonna share it anyway," he said as he took another bite of his salad.
"That's no excuse. And I didn't get these chips to share. I'm a stress eater, okay?" she said sheepishly.
"Hey, I'm not here to judge, but you don't have to get all shrill and bent out of shape just because I got a single chip." Andrew poked at Mia. That was it; this guy was getting out of hand.
"Look, Andrew, for future reference, not just with me but with anyone you're dining with, don't assume you can just take anything without even bothering to ask," Mia harrumphed and proceeded to tear into her pastrami.
As she was halfway through her sandwich, she noticed that Andrew was staring at her.
"What?!" she snapped.
"I just think you're a little too tense," Andrew said and then shrugged.
"Okay, well thank you for your opinion that no one asked for. If you'll excuse me, I'll finish my lunch at my desk," Mia said as she stood up with her tray.
"No, wait, please. I'm sorry for that. I just meant that—"
"Meant what, Andrew?" she interrupted, her frustration bubbling over. "That you have all the answers? That you know how to fix everything?"
"No, Mia, I just meant that maybe... you don't have to do everything alone," he said softly.
She paused, tray in hand, looking at him. For a moment, she saw something in his eyes that looked like genuine concern. It caught her off guard, and her anger wavered.
"Fine," she said, setting her tray back down. "But if you take another chip without asking, I swear…"
Andrew chuckled. "Got it. No more unauthorized chip theft."
Mia sighed, a reluctant smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.
Surprisingly, they had lunch in peace. Andrew waited for her to finish and didn't attempt to take any more food from her.
Back in the office, Mia and Andrew no longer spoke for the rest of the day. She found his email containing the files he mentioned and lost herself in the research. The more she read about the topic, the more she found herself getting sucked in and intrigued. She had to give it to him; he knew how to sniff out a piece.
"Hey there stranger, you've barely said a word the whole day. We missed you at lunch," Sarah said, coming up to Mia's desk around 5 PM.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Just got really crap news." Mia resignedly told her friend, "I got buddied up with Andrew, and my piece is scrapped—for now."
"Are you kidding me?!" Sarah exclaimed, a worry line forming on her forehead. She immediately hugged Mia. "That sucks, I'm so sorry to hear that, Mia. Can I do anything to make you feel better?"
"Yeah, maybe build a time machine and go back to 8 years ago when I first met Andrew. Tell younger me to avoid him at all costs." Mia said, a tired chuckle escaping her.
"I'll work on that," Sarah, the ever-supportive friend, said. "I'm heading out now, wanna come with?"
"No, you go ahead. I'm reading up on Andrew's piece. We have a meeting tomorrow to align," Mia said as she rolled her eyes.
"Alright, don't stay too late. Text me when you get home!" Sarah said, waving goodbye and walking toward the elevators.
An hour later, Mia was able to extricate herself from her laptop. She looked around the office and saw that almost everyone had gone home. She might as well go too. She packed up her things and sighed. To say that it had been a long day would be an understatement.
As she walked towards the elevators, she saw that they were about to close. "Hold on a minute, please!" she said, running towards the elevator doors. A hand held them open, and when she got in, she saw it had been Andrew. Inside was Janet, who had been on the editorial staff just as long as Mia.
Andrew gave her a smile as she walked in.
"Headed home?" he said.
"Yup. Hi Janet." She kept her words short and clipped.
"Hey Mia! Missed you at lunch. How'd your pitch go, by the way?" Janet asked.
"Oh, you know, not great, but I'll get it next time," Mia replied. She wasn't all that close to Janet, but friendly enough to hang out with her at lunch.
"That's for sure. It's in your blood!" Janet replied. Mia tried to hide her wince at this, triggered at the thought of someone mentioning her family. She didn't hide it all that well. Andrew noticed and furrowed his brows.
"Hi, Janet was it? I'm Andrew. Don't think we've met yet," he said, changing the topic and immediately getting Janet's full attention.
Mia swore she saw a blush creep up Janet's cheeks.
"Oh hi, so good to meet you." Janet said, shaking Andrew's hand.
They finally made it to the ground floor, and Janet said goodbye to the both of them as she exited the building, her eyes lingering on Andrew. All Mia could do was laugh to herself. Janet could have Andrew; she knew what a mess it would be to like him.
"What are you laughing about, princess?" Andrew asked as they walked out of the building's glass doors.
"Nothing. And don't call me princess." Mia replied.
"You headed this way?" Andrew asked, pointing toward the direction Mia was in fact headed toward to get home.
"Yup." She said, unsure why they were still talking.
"You mind having some company walking home?" Andrew asked, all sweet and charming.
"Yes, I do mind," Mia replied, already tired from the day and not bothering with politeness.
"Alright, let's go," Andrew flashed her a smile and walked on, as if he didn't hear her outright rejection.
Mia groaned and reluctantly followed. All she wanted to do was get home and go to bed, and she wasn't willing to take a long route home all because of Andrew. How was she ever supposed to escape him?