Read Online Mia Like Crazy by Nina Cordoba - Free Book Online Page B

later, I changed into my most comforting around-the-house clothing, consisting of a pair of soft, stretchy, pink exercise pants, which fit like a second skin, and a white tank top. I went into my bathroom and washed the streaked makeup off my face. As I did, I wondered how Drew had gotten a fabulous ring so fast, and whether it had anything to do with the early morning visit I thought I’d imagined.
    Then, I sat down on my bed with a legal pad and pen. It was time to reclaim the Mia Medina I knew—the one I had created myself, from nothing. I would approach this situation with logic and good sense, regardless of any lunacy that was taking place around me.
    I knew the first thing I had to do was put the problems down in writing. This proved more difficult than I thought because there was one I didn’t want to face, but I decided to start with the easier ones and work up to it.
    I began making notes: Need money, job, clients. I stopped. These weren’t my real problems at this point.
    I began again: Want to stay here. There, I’d almost put it on paper—no, if I was going to do this right, I had to tell the truth.
    Once more, I started writing: I want to stay here because I want to be with Drew. I don’t know if it’s the one thing that could help me find happiness or the biggest mistake I could ever make. The fact that I would get three million dollars in six months even if it doesn’t work out is no longer important to me (shocking). I think about him constantly. I dream about him. I want to be with him. I just met him and I want this marriage he’s proposing to be the real thing. I may be setting myself up for disaster if I take him up on this. By marrying a convicted felon, I could ruin my professional reputation, which, until now, was all I ever cared about (besides money). I might lose my license for marrying a client. I’m not a risk-taker. I’m not sure I could handle the stress. Absolutely anyone else (except his sister, the Queen of Denial) would tell me to run, not walk out of this place and never look back.
    I realized I had to be my own best friend in this situation and give myself my own advice. Throwing down the pen and pad, I marched over to the closet.
    I yanked the hangers full of clothes out, laid them on the bed, then started grabbing my undergarments from the drawers, flinging them into my suitcase, while repeating a mantra, “I won’t, I won’t, I won’t.”
    I wouldn’t ruin my life over a man the way my mother had. I wouldn’t overcome being abandoned by my father as a little girl, only to take up with this… man, who was devoid of any normal human emotions, who changed from sincere to sarcastic from one word to the next. A man who had no emotions to give, who would break my heart, suck out my soul, and spit it on the ground.
    I wondered when I had become so melodramatic. I knew when. It was the day I walked into this apartment, and when I walked out, I would again be Mia Medina, strong, intelligent—
    There was a light tap on the door. I had just finished tying my shoes. I looked around to make sure all my belongings had been shoved into one bag or the other. Snatching my makeup case from the bathroom, I walked to the bed, and bent over to zip up my luggage. The door opened, and a voice behind me murmured something that sounded like, “Wow.”
    When I turned my head, I saw that Drew’s eyes were locked on the backside of my stretch pants. I straightened up and turned around, and only then did he seem to notice my bags were packed.
    A panic-stricken look crossed his face. I wanted so badly to know if he was distressed at the thought of never seeing me again or at the idea his ninety million was about to run out on him.
    “Where are you going?” he asked.
    “Back to New York.”
    “Why? I’ll pay you more. Name your price.”
    “It’s not about money. I wish it were.”
    I put my purse on my shoulder and grabbed a bag in each hand. He didn’t offer to help. Since I was trying