Chapter 2.20 – Mia

Cole and Dannie had met for coffee a few times the past couple of weeks. They spent most of their time together talking about their ‘jobs’.  True to her word, she had been working on an outline for a book and would pull it up on her tablet to get his opinion.  He would sometimes tell her about some of the funnier cat and dog incidents.  He had almost forgotten about the pictures.  Plus, Laney had finally stopped calling him.

Cole was getting ready to leave for another full day at work when he received a text. He hoped it was from Dannie. His shoulders fell when he saw the name.

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Cole got off a few minutes early and went to the coffee shop. He sat there sipping his coffee waiting for Mia. It seemed weird to be there without Dannie. He realized he missed her company. They had a lot of fun together.

He heard the quiet ding of the door opening and looked up. Mia. He took a deep breath bracing himself. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know about the pictures anymore. Not knowing was easier than knowing, because he was afraid it was Dannie.

“Hi Cole,” said Mia as she sat down across from him.

“Hey,” was all he could muster in reply. He really wasn’t looking forward to this.

“Why the sad face. I thought you wanted to know who gave you the pictures,” she said, her feelings obviously hurt.

“I guess so,” he said, “What did you find out?”

She perked up. “Well, I asked Jack if he had seen anyone taking pictures. He said he had some pictures he had taken, and that maybe we could see who did it in his pictures. I had some too. I never even thought to look at them. But, well, when I did, it seems pretty clear who took the pictures. Here look.”

She handed him her phone and he flipped through a few pictures. He saw Dannie standing on the edge of the dance floor obviously watching the couples dancing. She had a phone in her hand. In another it looked like she had been holding it up to take a picture.

He was sick. “It was Dannie? She took the pictures? Then put them on my locker?” he mumbled.

Mia reached out and put her hand on his arm. “Yes. I’m really sorry Cole. I know you like her,” she said sympathetically.

Cole could feel the coffee he had been drinking begin to churn in his stomach.

“No, we were just friends is all…” he said on a sigh.

“Is there anything I can do? Maybe we can go hang out at the clubhouse or something. Play some video games. It will help take your mind off everything,” suggested Mia.

Cole needed to get some air. What was wrong with him? Was he that bad of a judge of character? Everyone he seemed to care about wound up hurting him. He started to get up and forgot that Mia was sitting there waiting on an answer, but he also forgot what the question was.

“I’m sorry Mia. What did you say?” he asked.

“Are you okay? I thought you two barely knew each other.”

“Evidently so. I just can’t believe she used me like that. I need some air.”  His mind was racing. Dannie had set him up so that he would break up with Laney as some sort of sick revenge. Was hanging out with him also part of that revenge? Was she enjoying making Ryker see who she was spending time with?

“I’ll go with you,” she said standing up, “because you don’t look so good.”

“No…that’s okay,” he said. He really wanted to be alone.

“I insist. Come on. I’ll walk you to your truck.”

He couldn’t say no. She had been worried about him and found out who took the pictures for him. He sighed. “Okay,” he said robotically, “Let’s go.”

Mia put her hand on his arm and led him out of the coffee shop. He immediately felt better once he got outside.

“Cole, I’m sorry I upset you. I didn’t mean to. I thought it would make you feel better to know who did it. Now it makes me wonder why they broke up in the first place. Maybe she just wants to get back at him.”

“It’s okay. I just thought it would have been Nicky or Kolby, you know, just trying to watch out for me. I never thought…”

“Yes. She comes across as ‘miss sweet and innocent’. Now we know her true colors.”

“I still can’t believe it,” said Cole.

“Well, better to find out now, than after you get involved and get another broken heart. I know about those too,” said Mia sadly.

“Oh yeah. Berto. I’m sorry. Aren’t you with Jack now?”

“No…we are strictly friends,” she said and looked pointedly at Cole, “he’s not my type.”

Cole laughed in spite of himself, Berto and Jack were polar opposites. “And Berto is?”

“Berto was fun, I thought we had something. But I got to know you and Noah through him, so that was a bonus.”

“Well, thanks for being a friend. Here’s my truck. I gotta go.”

“You never answered my question Cole,” said Mia.

“I’m sorry. What question was that?”

“Do you want to hang out at the clubhouse – play foosball or video games to take your mind off things.”

“Oh. Not tonight. I’m afraid I wouldn’t be very good company. Another time – maybe?”

Mia pouted and then hugged him. “Okay. Another time. I’ll call you. Take care of yourself – and your heart.”

Cole watched her walk off. Maybe he had been wrong about her too.

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Cole lay down on his bed to think. He didn’t know if he could forgive Dannie for setting him up. Why didn’t she just come and tell him? The reason he plowed into her that day in the hall was because she was probably standing around the corner watching as the carnage began.

Fuck. He needed to get out of the house. He picked up the phone and called Noah.

“Hey man, I need to get out for a while. You gonna be home?”

“Sure. I’m just got home a bit ago. I need to shower and change. Your old man works me hard.”

“I think it’s the contractor, not my dad!  See you in a minute.”

Cole changed out of his scrubs and ran down the stairs.  He called out to his mom. “I’m going to Noah’s for awhile. See you later.”

“Hey Cole. Wait!” she yelled back.

He stopped and turned to see what his mom wanted.  “We are going to go bowling for Ami’s birthday.  It’s in three weeks.  Don’t make plans because you are going. Why don’t you ask Dannie to go with you? That should be fun. Huh?”

Damn…he would have two hours ago. Now he didn’t know what to say.  “Maybe. Bye.”

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Noah handed Cole a beer and they went outside.  “How’s the job?” asked Cole.

“It’s good, but a lot of hard work. I really like it though. I’m getting along with the guys really well and learning a helleva lot about building houses. But I come home and crash.”

“Look at that six pack. I can tell you are working hard.  I’m going to have to hit the weights again. I stopped after Laney and I broke up.”

“Yeah, you don’t wanna get soft. Chicks like hard bodies,” he said and flexed his chest muscles.

Cole started laughing. “Spare me, please.”

“How’s it going with Dannie? Still just friends?”

Cole’s face fell. “I talked to Mia today. She said Dannie was the one that put the pictures of Laney and Ryker on my locker.”

“No shit? And Mia knows this why?”

“Because I asked her if she knew. She always seems to know what everyone is doing.”

“Are you sure. I mean, I don’t know Dannie that well, but that doesn’t seem like something she would do. Did you ask her?”

“No…why would I do that?”

“Don’t you want to know her side of the story. You two have been chummy lately.”

“What difference would it make. She broke us on purpose. Probably to get back at Ryker.”

“You will never know unless you confront her. Maybe she has a reasonable explanation.”

“Whatever, maybe I will,” said Cole to make him drop it. He would think about it. He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes and let the warm sun and the beer relax him.

The next thing he knew, he was falling forward. “Hey! What was that for?”

“Text Dannie dumb shit. Now. Get it over with so you can move the fuck on.”

“Fine,” said Cole glaring at his friend. He pulled out his phone and texted Dannie.

“Well?” asked Noah.

“Meeting her for ice cream in 15. Have some more beer ready, I’ll probably be back in an hour needing a drink.”

“Bullshit. I bet she’s got a perfectly reasonable explanation.”

Cole rolled his eyes at his friend. “We’ll see.”

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