36 Bri and Mia

~ New York ~

Sunday

10:23 AM

Elizabeth is in a two-bedroom apartment which is shared between her two best friends: Brianna (aka Bri) and Mia.

Brianna and Mia are both 28-year-old (young) women who are enjoying their life.

They met Liz at one youth camp when Liz was 16-year-old and the two of them were 17. Since then, the three of them are good friends.

Brianna has a passion for movie industry, and she holds a degree in videography. She hopes to be a famous producer or a director. Preferably both.

Mia attended with Brianna the New York Film Academy and four years after graduating, Mia is still not sure if she is more interested in screenwriting or acting.

Brianna and Mia travel a lot and have on-off jobs to earn some extra money.

Both of them are coming from prominent families but they still need to keep their expenses within a budget. Living in New York is costly.

About two years ago, the two of them decided to combine their passions together: travel and money… cough-cough… travel and film. They started a travel blog where they share their experiences and they have a YouTube channel as well. Besides income from advertising products, they are selling their merchandise such as t-shirts, mugs and key chains. The money is coming in slowly, but they have hopes that it will pick up so that they can live luxuriously without the need to attend auditions and job interviews.

"So, you ran away from Max?", Mia asked Liz teasingly when Liz finished talking about her troubles that brought her to New York.

Both Brianna and Mia are in-the-know about Liz and her neighbor, Maximilian. Liz told them that he is gay, but her two friends doubt it.

Liz denied: "Not really ran away, more like… I just need a break from him."

"You need a break from a guy who is not your boyfriend? That is… different.", Brianna commented.

"You don't understand, Bri.", Liz sighed. "He is so intense… and he has ways of making me forget that he is swaying the other way."

"What if he is not?", Mia tried for umpteenth time to get Liz to acknowledge that Max's behavior can point toward many things but NOT gay.

Liz gave Mia a warning glare to stop with that topic.

Mia sighed. "Fine… how about you summarize your interaction with him… from the beginning."

"OK.", Liz accepted. "We met when I was on my way to the interview. He was in a car accident and he was unpleasant, but he still didn't expose me and allowed me to hitch a ride with him in the ambulance van during which he mostly flirted with me. After the interview I went to check on him and he was almost polite, but still not leaving a good impression. The next thing I know, he told his family that I am his girlfriend. I made a deal with him to keep the fake-girlfriend charade going for the duration of one lunch in exchange for him not throwing parties in his apartment because by some crazy coincidence I ended up renting an apartment across the hall from his. Since then he was… nice. We spent time together, watched TV. I never watched so much television before… we shared dinners, few times he brought me flowers… and that's it."

"You missed the kiss part.", Brianna reminded Liz.

Liz cleared her throat. "There was one day when we went cycling through Seattle and then we had dinner. And then he kissed me."

"How was the kiss?", Mia asked enthusiastically.

"It was good.", Liz admitted reluctantly. "But no matter how good the kiss was, now I'm thinking how that evening earned me a spot on a notorious website of his hookups and… I'm not sure if I'm more sad or angry."

"Notorious website?", Mia demanded more information while pushing her laptop in front of Liz. Liz didn't mention this before.

Liz didn't take long to find the website for 'Unique hookups of Seattle's greatest playboy'. She tapped the link which showed the photo of the two of them.

Mia and Brianna came closer to see.

"He is handsome.", Brianna mumbled.

"The comments below are… horrid.", Mia frowned.

"I'm sorry, sweetie.", Brianna hugged Liz. Mia joined as well, making it a three-girl hug with Liz trapped in the middle.

"So, what are you going to do?", Brianna asked when they broke out of the hug.

"I don't know. I really don't know." Liz shook her head. "I thought that we are friends, but after this… I am afraid that he only used me. And I hate that."

Brianna frowned and continued checking the website. She was curious to find out more about this Max-neighbor person who caused trouble for her Liz.

"Are you still rejecting the option that he wants to be more than friends with you?", Mia asked Liz and quickly followed up with: "Give me a minute before you blow up. OK? You said that he does not spend time on girls, and that there is no such thing as dating and flowers and stuff… But… Did you ever think: what is he doing with you? The whole week the two of you are having dinners together. It's not going out, but it's not less than a date. And he brings you flowers… and he is nice. Right?"

Liz thought about what Mia said. It is undeniable that Max made an effort to spend time with her and created opportunities for them to be together when there were none. On Friday, she was tired and ready to cancel dinner plans in order to spend the evening by herself, but he said that it's not a problem and he got the food to her place and they watched a movie… two movies actually… and he spent the night next to her without doing anything inappropriate. Like a gentleman. And he came up with an excuse for them to have a lunch together that day… Liz's thoughts were interrupted by Brianna…

"Well, you can scratch that theory…", Brianna said while turning the laptop for Liz and Mia to see. "He had a date last night. Restaurant called Seattle's Breeze, with a dark-haired woman in a red dress."

Brianna snorted and gave Mia a reprimanding look for encouraging thoughts that Max sees Liz as more than a friend. "If he is serious about our Liz, he would keep it in his pants. Right?"

"Oh…", Mia awkwardly said. "Sorry Liz... My romantic mind took over. Maybe I should write a screenplay and get it out of my system."

Liz looked at the photo on the screen and felt a heavy lump in her chest. She was not sure why, but the thought that Max planned a day with her, and then ended up having a dinner with another girl… bothered her. She is the one who left, and there is nothing going on between the two of them. Why is her heart aching again?

Liz sighed while blaming her thoughts for running wild. She should have listened to Olivia from the beginning. If she did, she would not allow Max to get so close.

For a moment, for a brief moment, she thought that to Max, she is special… but she is not. It didn't take him long to find a replacement. That is who she is to him: easily replaceable.

"Look what you did!", Mia scolded Brianna and slammed the laptop shut.

"I'm sorry Liz. I didn't realize that you care for him so much.", Brianna said.

"What makes you think that I care for him?", Liz asked in a shaky voice.

"Silly…", Mia whispered and wiped tears from Liz's cheeks.

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