Several days had passed since that day at the museum but Billy Caspian’s smile still lingered in the back of her mind. His soft, full lips drawing her in no matter how hard she tried to fight it and think about something, anything else.
“How can I feel like this?” she asked herself repeatedly. “I met him once! Yes, there was a spark, but I don’t know anything about him, except that he’s an artistic soul and likes to keep to himself most of the time. It’s crazy for me to be acting like this!” It didn’t matter what she said, though, the feelings were still there, leaving her distracted and confused.
Mira wasn’t given much longer to daydream, real life got in the way and before she knew it she was knee deep in leaky faucets and trying to focus on her career. Between the two, Billy’s gorgeous smile and infectious laugh was reluctantly pushed to the back of her mind.
Her boss was demanding, constantly asking for errands to be run and reports to be read, but Mira welcomed the distraction with open arms and took it as an opportunity to grow in her career, not to mention make more money. She was getting tired of the passersby giving her strange looks as they strolled by her outdoor dwelling.
By the time the weekend rolled around, Mira longed for companionship and that friendly smile came hurtling back to the front of her mind. She found herself dailing the numbers before she realized what she was doing.
“Hello?” his deep, husky voice made her heart skip a beat.
“Oh, hi! Billy? This is Mira, from the Museum! I was just wondering if you had any plans for the day?” she felt like an idiot and wondered if he could hear her voice trembling.
“Well hello, Mira from the Museum. Actually, my day is pretty empty, what did you have in mind?” he sounded like he was smiling, this was not helping her nerves.
“Um, I wanted to check out the fish hatchery up the road. Do you like to fish?”
“I never did it much, but a day in the sun sounds great! Bring me a pole, I’ll meet you in an hour. ‘Bye, Mira from the Museum.” She heard him laughing as he hung up the phone.
“Well, that was easy,” she said to herself. “Deep breaths, Mira, you can do this!”
Billy was at the hatchery when she arrived, scoping out the various fishing holes and looking out of place in his glasses and trendy hat. Her limbs were like Jell-O, trembling uncontrollably. Mira felt like she was 14 again and Billy was Travis Driscoll, picking her up for her first high school dance. She wondered if he had a corsage? No, this wasn’t high school, and Billy wasn’t 14, and she wasn’t going to get left at the dance while Billy ran off with that cheerleader.
“You OK? Something on your mind?” Billy sounded concerned, oh no, not a good start, Mira thought she must look like a loon.
“I’m fine!” she said a little too cheerfully, “Just spaced out for a minute, that’s all. So how have you been? It feels like it’s been ages since we talked.”
Billy opened up to Mira that day. He told her about his childhood, his cop father and his stay-at-home mother, the car accident that took them from him a few years earlier. She felt close to him in those moments, silently sharing his pain. He pried about her life and she resisted the urge to spill all of the details of that tornado that swept away her home, her memories, her whole world.
Billy saw the pain behind her smiling eyes. He knew what it was like, being alone. It suited him well, gave him time to work on his paintings and his music. Mira was different, though, he heard it in her voice, the excitement she had for the conversation, the interest she showed in him. She didn’t enjoy the quietness of an empty house, an empty life.
He grabbed her hands in an attempt to soothe her, to show her she wasn’t alone in her struggle to find happiness. He was afraid she wanted more from him, a relationship he couldn’t give her, not now anyway. Billy was too set in his ways, too independent to handle having someone leaning on him for support. As easy as it would be to fall into a routine with this sweet girl, he didn’t want to hurt her when he got antsy and wanted to break free.
Two weeks had gone by and still no word from Billy. Mira busied herself with work and hobbies, reading in the park with hope that he would walk by and say ‘Hello.’ Had she scared him away? Did she come on too strong? Was he put off by her unwillingness to share her past? Questions of what she did and how it could have been different swirled through her head. Whatever the reason, she knew one thing, she missed him.
One weekday in the park, while Mira was buried in a cheesy romance novel she picked up on sale, she heard a deep voice with a Southern drawl coming from behind.
“Hello there, darlin’. I don’t think I’ve seen you ’round these parts before.” Hunter Cottoneye had a certain Southern charm, not to mention his name suited him well, what with the cammo gear and all.
Ready to forget about Billy, Mira took Hunter’s forwardness as an opportunity to use her romantic charm. She wasn’t shy and she didn’t play hard to get. She flirted and he readily accepted, even returning the slight touch to the arm and lusty looks. She was excited to learn that he was an avid fisherman and loved spending time outdoors. His sun-kissed cheeks were a bright contrast to Billy’s sallow skin and Mira welcomed the change.
It didn’t take long before Hunter accepted an offer to go back to Mira’s place. She did offer to make dinner, and he was feeling peckish.
When the pair made it back to Mira’s place, she made sure to show Hunter she was interested. She understood country boys, she knew the questions to ask and exactly what to say. He was putty in her hands.
Mira was so thrilled to have a man that was actually interested in her that she didn’t notice when he decided to take a nap in her bed, or the way he acted when he woke up.
If she had noticed Hunter talking to himself, maybe she wouldn’t have decided it was a good idea to try and make a move…
…and get rejected. Mira felt devastated. She put herself out there, made herself vulnerable to a man she hardly knew. She was obviously out of her mind, coming on so strong to this guy, who apparently had major issues if he was going to lead her on like that and then let her down. “He must have a screw loose,” she told herself as he left. Little did she know how right she was.
Regardless of Hunter’s mental stability, Mira was feeling dejected and alone, and once again found herself dialing that darn number while tears stung her cheeks.
Billy jumped in his car as soon as he heard her sniffling into the receiver. He hurt her, he knew that, and he had to make amends.
He held her as she cried, whimpering about how she missed her family and cursing the storm that ripped them away from her. The floodgates had opened, it was all or nothing, and in her arms, Billy lost all of the strength he had.
Love the photos. Good job with the angles and stuff.
Rejection hurts. I like Billy better than Hunter anyway. Cute museum guys…they know things