Page 10 of Rough Trip

It was becoming harder for him not to fall for her. He had never wanted her so bad.

Mia felt so alone after the battle with the Omens. The Demons didn’t trust her, and rightfully so. Hamilton was dead and they blamed her. To be fair it wasn’t completely her fault, but she knew they had the right to be angry. If she were completely honest, she was sorry and she wished that she was the one who had died instead.

Everything worked out though. For now. Tyler Sedotal was dead and he deserved it. He was responsible for her suffering and he was stupid enough to attack Grier and Fiona at their house. He had been such a horrible man, trying to claim things that hadn’t belonged to him. He deserved to die. Mia was glad that he had. It finally gave her a reason to leave the Omens; no one wanted her there anyway. She had finally gotten out of one of the biggest mistakes of her life and yet she was still so alone. Soon enough she’d have completely no one. She was sure that if she were kicked out of the Screaming Demons, she would lose Sage too.

The Hell Kats didn’t want her around either. The Hell Kats had stopped talking to her, made her feel like an outcast and yet she wanted to be one of them so badly. While she was still on their good side she had felt so at home with them. They were always nice to her and they involved her in almost everything; she wanted to stay a Hell Kat. She knew she had messed up and messed up badly but she had tried to prove her loyalty, and there was nothing else she could do. She could only hope that they would forgive her. She knew it would take time and she understood that but she needed to belong again. It had been a while since she had last heard from Fiona and so she decided that she had to take care of herself. She felt that the best thing for her to do would be to leave town. She had nothing keeping her here, well, besides Sage, but he had made it clear that nothing would ever happen between them.

She could make it somewhere new, somewhere where no one knew her. That could be the best thing for her. She had nowhere else to turn if she stayed. She had no family, no friends and she had pretty much cut any ties she had. Maybe she could start over, finally become the artist she had always set out to be when she had left home at 16. She could finally get the dream she had always wanted. That could be worth a new beginning, that could be worth leaving everyone and everything behind.

“Sage, hey. It’s me,” she said when he picked up her call on the second ring.

“Hey, what’s going on?” She knew he could already sense something was up in her voice. She had tried to hide it but clearly, she had failed. She had tried to practice her speech before she called him but just hearing his voice had her come undone.

“I need to leave town. I have no one anymore and I have nowhere to go while I stay here. No one wants me around which is understandable but I can’t take it. I need to get out. I feel so alone, it would just make sense for me to leave and start over somewhere else,” she said.

“Calm down,” he said. “Meet me at the bar in 10 minutes so we can talk about this face to face,” he said just before hanging up, not waiting for a reply.

Mia can’t say no. She wanted to see him one last time before she left, she had to say goodbye to him properly after everything he had done for her. He had saved her life one too many times and he deserved a proper goodbye. She just wished she had had the chance to kiss him, she wished she could’ve been something more to him. She could’ve made him happy if he had let her. She knew she had always flirted with him but it had always been more than that to her, she just couldn’t show it. The rejection from him always stung. He clearly didn’t see her as anything more than a friend, she thought.

Mia had taken a seat at the bar patiently waiting for Sage to get there. No one would talk to her but she knew they were all staring at her, discussing among themselves. How she can walk into the bar like that after everything that she’s done’ they’d be saying. She had to leave soon, she could not stand being here any longer. She let her mind wander while she sat there waiting, trying to distract herself from the Screaming Demons and Hell Kats that were talking about her.

She had started to picture a life with Sage, a happy life somewhere far away from this place, away from all the drama that followed her. They could live somewhere out of the city, with two kids playing in the garden while she and Sage sat on their patio watching and laughing. She sighed at the thought. It would’ve been nice if things were different, she thought to herself.

“You don’t have to leave,” Sage said as he came up behind her and joined her at the bar.

He called the bartender over and ordered them a drink each, a whiskey neat for him and a vodka soda for her. He would definitely need a drink if he were to talk Mia out of leaving. He could not bear the thought of her not being around, being her annoying self.

“You’re joking. Of course, I do. No one wants me here, Sage,” she said. “And I honestly don’t blame them. I have literally messed up everything for everyone, especially myself. I’m just bad news,” she admitted. No one could deny that she was telling the truth but Sage had to fight for her to stay. He would’ve fought Grier and now he would have to fight Mia.

The bar was pretty empty so the bartender didn’t waste much time making their drinks and soon their drinks were placed in front of them. Mia took hers and had a few sips, hoping it would calm her down a bit. She felt on edge with the talk of leaving town.

“That’s only because everything is still so fresh, Mia, literally everything just happened and everyone is coming to terms with it. They all need time to come to terms with the role you played in it too. Yes, you may have been working for the Omens but when you think about it, your heart has always been with the Demons. They might not see that right now, but I’m sure they’ll eventually get over the feeling that you are a traitor,” he said as he too took a sip of his drink.

“You can tell by their faces they never will. They hate me,” she said as she hung her head.

“Yes, they’ll hate you, or should I say they’ll dislike you. Hate is a very strong word, but they’ll get over it they just need time. You running away will not help anything, Mia. What good would it do to you or to anyone else?” he asked. Mia took another sip of her drink as she thought about that.

“It would get me out of this situation. Even if it’s a temporary fix at least I won’t be here under everyone’s eyes. They look at me like I’m scum,” she sighed. “I could start a new life somewhere, somewhere where no one knows me and I could finally make the right decisions in life. I could go to art school and learn how to paint properly. I could get a proper job that doesn’t involve any underneath the table dealings of any sort. I told you I’m bad news but I feel like now would be a good time to start fresh.”

They both sat there in silence while they finished their drinks. Sage finished his before her and waited for her to finish as well.

“Come on, let’s go,” Sage demanded as he got up from his seat.

“Where are we going?” Mia asked.

“We’re going to Fiona. She can help you, Mia,” he said as he left money on the bar and led her to Fiona who was in the offices at the bar.

Mia knew Sage had a point, that Fiona could help her, but she couldn’t stop herself from being absolutely terrified of seeing her. Fiona probably hated Mia just as much as everyone else, if not more. Because of Mia, she had lost her best friend; Fiona had every right to hate Mia. Mia had almost lost her family business, she knew that was important to Fiona. Her dad had left it to her when he had passed, and she and Grier had worked hard to make it their own.

In spite of her fear of Fiona, as they walked toward her office, Mia had convinced herself that although she was set on leaving town, she didn’t want to lose her association with the Hell Kats. She still wanted to be one of them - the trouble was how she’d find the words and the courage to say that to Fiona.

“Come in,” Fiona called when Sage knocked on her door.

Sage led the way while Mia trailed in after him like a puppy with its tail between its legs.

She honestly just wanted to turn around and go back out of the door the minute she saw Fiona.

“Ahh, Mia, what can I do for you?” She asked. “Come to get some information?” she joked.