Forget It

"Hey sweetie!" Mia called out happily at the sight of Taylor standing in the doorway. She couldn't believe she'd seen him for the fourth time this week in the health center. Brushing a few strands of hair out of her eyes, she widened her smile after checking him out.

He's so fantastic.

"Hey yourself," He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. After glancing around the aerobics room, he casually asked, "How's it going?"

"Great! I'm finally done working under Maggie's wing now - my training's over. She let me teach cclass alone today." Indirectly, she answered the question he really wanted to ask her, my whereabouts.

"That's cool. You're going to be an aerobics bimbo just like her?" He glanced around again.

Damn, she must've left already.

"Well, sort of, you goof." Mia swatted playfully at his arm.

"I'm hoping to teach kick-boxing aerobics classes here. It's one of the few gyms in town that doesn't have a class." She referred to the popular aerobics style.

"I'm sure you can handle it. Up for lunch?" He held out his hand to carry her gym bag.

"Taylor," she handed it to him with a knowing look on her face. "I don't eat lunch, remember?"

"Why not? You're thin." That was the one thing about her that really bothered him. As an unnaturally thin person, he often had to eat to avoid loosing too much weight. People who starved themselves were, in his mind, insane.

"Thanks, but that's one of the ways I stay that way. How about I let you buy me something to drink?"

".. I'll meet you outside, ok?" He walked her down the hall, checking the rooms as they walked by.

No Maggie, he thought. Sure, he loved spending time with Mia, but he couldn't deny the tiny spark of excitement that my presence triggered inside of him. Or the feeling of disappointment when he missed a chance to see me. He couldn't deny it, but that didn't mean he couldn't avoid it for the time being. The easiest way to grab my attention seemed to be showing up for Mia.

"Sure, just let me sign out." Mia jogged ahead to the front desk.

"Hey you," she greeted me, resting her hands on the desktop above me. Not able to reply, I looked up from an appointment book and waved my hand at her.

"Mmm-hmm." I repeated into the phone. "I'm fairly sure we don't offer an insurance package here... Yes. No, not any time soon. Yes. Me? No, I never needed one.. No. No.. Not very likely. I don't think so. Mmm-hmm, not a problem. You too, thanks."

"Fruitcake." I rolled my eyes after hanging up the phone. "What's up?"

"Just signing out. I'm going out with Taylor now." She leaned her elbows on the counter.

"I know." I misinterpreted her statement to mean she was now his girlfriend, rather than 'going out' meaning physically leaving the building.

Rub it in, why don't you? Wait, you've been doing that already for the last two months..

"Yup, saw him just five minutes ago. He wanted to take me to lunch, but we both know how I react to that."

"Got'cha." I smiled meekly from my seat.

"So why are you working the desk now?" She glanced at her watch.

"Joe got a craving for some processed meat byproduct or another, I don't know. I said I'd spot the desk for him." Working the desk at lunchtime was one of the most boring jobs. At least I had my homework to keep me company. The extra hour wouldn't hurt my paycheck any either.

"I admire your dedication." She grinned at me.

"Thanks," I started to say when I noticed Taylor walking towards the desk.

"Hey," I casually greeted him when he got within earshot. I pretended to make myself look busy with paperwork.

"Mia, are you ready to go honey?" he asked her sweetly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him slip his hand around her small waist.

"Yup, sorry I was chatting with Maggie here."

"That's ok." I glanced up and caught him looking intently at me. I threw him a weak smile and watched them leave, his arm wrapped protectively around her waist. Shaking my head, I reached over and picked up the phone, remembering a call I needed to make.

"Johnson's auto repair." A rough voice answered.

"Hi, my '92 Celebrity was dropped off this morning, I wanted to know what condition it's in."

"Hold on a sec," he replied. I held the receiver a few inches away from my ear as I heard him yell unto the phone,

"Larry? What's the deal with the bomb?"

Louise is not a bomb.

"We found a couple of cut battery wires, nothing else." He spoke up after a few minutes. "Good thing you brought it in; she wouldn't have run otherwise."

"Thanks.. how much will it cost me?" I couldn't wait to hear the estimate.

"One-twenty-five for the new battery."

"Ok," I sighed.

"Hey, you might've been stranded somewhere. We also sell an excellent security system here."

Didn't you get enough of my money?

"Thanks anyway. I'll stop by later this afternoon to pick it up." I hung up the phone, hoping the whole thing was a cruel joke or a one-time misdemeanor.

What kind of sick individual would do something like that on purpose? I couldn't help but wonder.

And why me? I shook my head of the unnerving thoughts, concentrating on my work again.

"So what are your plans for this week?" Taylor asked Mia at lunch. Well, his lunch and her 'drink break.' The casual cafe they'd stopped at downtown had a pleasant atmosphere.

"Mostly classes. I'm taking this semester off from school." She replied, sticking a straw into her fruit drink.

"What are you studying again?" He kept forgetting.

"Physical therapy." She replied before taking a small sip. "Mmm.. this is really good! Thanks Taylor."

"No problem.. So, how's work?"

"Don't you mean how's Maggie?" She asked crossly.

"What?"

"Don't play dumb Taylor, you always talk about her. Mind if I ask what's the deal?"

"We used to be friends when we were younger.. that's all."

"Are you sure?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Of course." He threw her an I-know-I'm-cute-so-you-can't-be-mad smile that made her melt.

"Good," she teased flirtatiously, her eyes twinkling. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were more interested in her than me."

"Huh?" Taylor nearly choked on his sandwich. He covered up his surprise by coughing.

"Are you all right?" Mia stood up and pounded the palm of her hand on his back, only to make it worse.

"I'm ok!" he gasped. "Just.. please stop... hitting me."

"Sorry, I was trying to help." She sat back down with a pout on her face.

"Helping is good, smacking me around is not." Taylor couldn't help but smile. "You're awfully cute with that face though."

"Silly," Mia leaned over and wrapped him up in a kiss. She couldn't help but wonder why he'd reacted so violently to her joke.

Unless.. she pushed the thought out of her mind for the moment, but made a mental note to keep a closer eye on him.

"Zac, I need to see you now."

He replayed the urgency of my voice in his mind. Sensing good vibes, he could barely keep his eyes on the road as he drove over to my house.

This is so awesome, finally.. he congratulated himself. The poor guy had no idea of why I'd called him over, but it certainly wasn't to make us 'official,' so to speak.

I watched from our front bay window as the familiar sight of his Jeep in our driveway pulled into view. Curling my knees up to my chest, my heart pained as I saw how happy he looked walking up to the front door, taking a bounce in each step.

Thank God he can't see me from here, I thought. This was going to be a hundred times harder than before.

"Hey," Zac greeted me warmly with a hug after I'd opened the door. Surprised at his outburst of affection, I found myself wrapping my arms casually around his neck in a warm embrace. He held me gently against him for a few seconds, my face buried deep enough into his neck that I could smell the sweet, lingering fragrance of the soap he used. Breaking away as gently as I could, gazing into the honey-colored accents of light in his eyes, I could already feel a twinge in my stomach.

"Hey." It took every ounce of blind happiness in me to force a smile at him "Come on in."

I'd offer to take your coat, but I don't think you'll stay too long after I get the guts to really tell you, I added in my head.

"I think this is the first time I've ever been in your house before Maggie. It's huge," he said, intertwining his fingers with mine.

"Care for the grand tour?" I grinned, sweeping my free arm across the house.

"Sure." I proceeded to show him almost every nook and cranny of the house. The first floor wasn't terribly interesting, other than the sound system we'd recently had installed in the living room. What seemed to interest Zac most was my bedroom on the second floor.

"This is your room?" he asked me, looking around its interior.

"Yup," I brushed past him and flopped stomach-down on the green comforter overlaying my bed. I reached over and propped Brutus, my enormous stuffed alligator given to me as a graduation present, underneath my arms as a pillow. "Why?"

"It doesn't look like a girl's room." He continued to scrutinize it from the doorway, a suspicious look on his face. Ok, so it wasn't adorned from ceiling to carpet in cotton candy pink, but I liked my room. Green and blue, my favorite colors, patterned the carpet. What I lacked in traditional furniture, having only a bed, dresser, and desk, I made up for in mountains of stuffed animals and exercise equipment, such as the treadmill in front of the window overlooking our back yard. Maintaining my weight was a major priority in my life. Don't ask how I became an aerobics instructor feeling this insecure, but I don't like to exercise in front of other people very much.

"Sure doesn't smell like one either." Zac continued, wrinkling his nose.

"Does it stink in here?" I asked, jumping off my bed and walking towards the window.

"Sorry.. aerobics." I said sheepishly, sliding up the window and thinking of the toxic waste mountain of dirty laundry accumulating in the middle of my closet. I directed my thoughts past the window, watching a pair of squirrels chase each other across back yard, smiling as one of them almost got too close to our swimming pool.

"That's ok. The room Tay, Ike, and I used to share was always worse. I just didn't expect the same from a girl." He finally took a tentative step past my door frame.

"Hey! It's not that bad. Even if it was, I'm human. I can't help it that I sweat." I laughed, still gazing out the window.

"I'm only teasing." Zac whispered into my ear as he slipped his hands around my waist. He rested them on top of the leather belt that held up my jeans. I flinched a little, surprised at how close he was.

"Umm.. hi there." I said nervously. Physical intimacy was not my thing.. wonder why?

"Hey yourself." He leaned forwards and kissed my cheek softly.

"Zac, I need to talk to you about something." I turned around and stared at the floor between his feet. Sensing my discomfort, he spoke up:

"It's ok. You don't need to say the actual words if you aren't ready to yet." He traced his fore finger lightly down the line of my jaw until reaching my chin, where he applied more pressure to lift my lips to his. Caught up in the moment, I closed my eyes, reveling in the soft feeling of Zac's lips on mine. It sent tiny shock waves through my veins.. forget fireworks. Looking into his eyes after we broke apart, I saw there was no way I could tell him how I really felt... forget honesty.

The sincerity in his eyes as he examined mine closely made me see him in a new light. I wasn't just an object of infatuation to him, he genuinely cared.

No one's ever felt that way about me.. This is completely different. He loves me. Although he didn't actually say it, I knew it was there, behind the warmness of his brown eyes. As a wave of comfort and reassurance washed over me, I returned his smile and lifted my lips to his again.