{"id":1046,"date":"2012-08-07T06:00:13","date_gmt":"2012-08-07T13:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/?p=1046"},"modified":"2012-08-06T16:31:57","modified_gmt":"2012-08-06T23:31:57","slug":"season-7-episode-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/?p=1046","title":{"rendered":"Season 7, Episode 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The chilly morning sunlight was barely seeping through the curtains as Mia silently zipped her suitcase and gave a final, cursory glance around the room. Aside from the rumpled bed covers it looked exactly the same as when she had arrived only weeks ago: Empty.
\nShe tiptoed out of the room and pulled the door closed behind her as quietly as she could. Carrying her case instead of dragging it so as not to wake the others, she went into the kitchen. The kitchen was at the other end of the house to the bedrooms and she was fairly confident that the others wouldn\u2019t be able to hear her as she made a cup of tea and put some bread in the toaster. She knew that making breakfast was a bit like tempting fate: The longer she spent in the house the more likely Willow or Ana were to wake up and try and stop her.<\/p>\n

Maybe I want them to stop me?<\/em> she thought. Maybe I don\u2019t really want to leave?<\/em><\/p>\n

If she was honest with herself, she didn\u2019t<\/em> want to leave. Not really. She felt like going back to Melbourne was a step in the wrong direction – a step backwards – but the thought of not giving it a go with Johnny was something she knew she\u2019d regret more. She knew she was being a coward, leaving like this, but she didn\u2019t want to deal with Ana\u2019s pointed remarks, Willow\u2019s hurt look. She didn\u2019t want to face the inevitable questions that they would ask.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are you leaving?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not give it some more time?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you talked to Johnny about it?\u201d<\/p>\n

That last one was the kicker. Why haven\u2019t I told Johnny?<\/em><\/p>\n

The nagging doubt that had been her constant companion for the last few weeks intensified: What if he said \u201cDon\u2019t come\u201d?<\/p>\n

Mia sighed, frustrated. \u201cAm I doing the right thing?\u201d she whispered into the tea cup.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the curling steam didn\u2019t provide a definitive answer.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Ana stretched as she walked into the kitchen, rubbing her bleary eyes. She opened the fridge, pulling out her precious supply of coffee beans. Standing near the sink, she ground them and transferred the spoils to a stove-top espresso machine. She frowned when she saw the white envelope sitting on the counter. It was addressed to her and Willow and wasn\u2019t sealed.
\nShe pulled out the letter and started reading.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Security check was done, customs was done. Mia found a seat near her gate, managing to sit still for a grand total of two minutes before she got back up again and started walking aimlessly around the terminal. When she\u2019d passed the same news agency for the third time, she looked at her watch and groaned. She still had hours to kill. The sooner she could be airborne, the better. Once she was on that plane there was no going back, no changing her mind.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u201cWillow!\u201d Ana threw open the door to Willow\u2019s room. \u201cYou have to get up! We have an issue!\u201d<\/p>\n

Willow sat bolt upright in bed, not quite awake. \u201cWhassamatter?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Mia!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMia?\u201d Willow flung the covers off and jumped up. \u201cWhat\u2019s happened to her? Is she OK?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s gone!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGone?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBack to Australia,\u201d Ana said. She thrust the letter towards Willow. \u201cLook.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Mia stared absently through the airport crowds, waiting for her flight to be called. Her heart skipped a beat as she caught a brief glimpse of a faded denim jacket, a guitar case, a sandy mop of hair. She half stood, her mouth dropping open, before the stranger was swallowed back into the throng of people coming and going. Mia sank down, feeling stupid. She\u2019d been doing this for weeks – seeing him in crowds, at bars, as she glanced into coffee shop windows. Of course it wasn\u2019t him. It never was.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to stop her,\u201d Willow said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d said Ana. \u201cSeriously, she couldn\u2019t have picked worse timing, could she?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs she answering her phone?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ana shook her head. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve tried having her paged over the loud speaker at the airport, but no luck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to get to the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow are we going to get in?\u201d Ana said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have tickets anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll buy the cheapest flights I can find,\u201d Willow said, grabbing her purse and flinging on some jeans and a jumper. \u201cCome on, you drive and I\u2019ll book the flights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWait,\u201d Ana called. \u201cWhat are we going to do about\u2026 you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a loud knock on the door. \u201cI guess we\u2019ll deal with that right now,\u201d Willow said.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to welcome aboard all remaining passengers traveling on Qantas flight 482 to Melbourne.\u201d<\/p>\n

The announcement startled Mia out of her daydream. She picked up her bag and made her way to the end of the long line of people, all queuing up to sit in the tin can in the sky for a ridiculous number of hours. She never understood why people always seemed so eager to get on the plane and strap themselves into that little seat. They were going to be there for long enough anyway; why encourage the inevitable? She always waited until the last possible minute to get on.<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome aboard, Ma\u2019am,\u201d an attractive stewardess said as she scanned Mia\u2019s ticket. \u201cEnjoy your flight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMia!\u201d<\/p>\n

She turned. It had been faint but she was certain that she\u2019d heard her name called. She scanned the crowd, but couldn\u2019t see any familiar faces.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything all right Ma\u2019am?\u201d The stewardess looked inquisitively at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cMia!\u201d<\/p>\n

There is was again! She spun around again, this time watching as the crowd parted and Ana and Willow came rushing towards her. There was a third person behind them, jogging at an easy pace. Mia blinked. Faded denim jacket. Sandy hair pushed back from his face. For the second time that morning, her heart skipped a beat.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t get on the plane,\u201d Ana panted, the first to reach Mia.<\/p>\n

Mia barely even noticed her. She was staring behind Ana at Johnny. He drew up level with Mia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d she blurted out.<\/p>\n

\u201cFranco has taken in some new investors in the restaurant who want Medina to go global,\u201d Johnny said. \u201cHe wanted to set up in LA, but I convinced him to go with San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, you\u2019re\u2026 moving here?\u201d Mia said, processing the information.<\/p>\n

“Moved here,” Johnny said, correcting here. “This morning. I was hoping to surprise you at home, but…” He shrugged. \u201cAnd, look, I don\u2019t want to rush you into anything, so I\u2019ll get my own place and\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Mia said quickly. \u201cIt\u2019s not rushing.\u201d She blushed. \u201cWhat I mean is, you can stay with us for a while\u2026 or longer\u2026 if you want to?\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnny grinned. \u201cYeah, I\u2019d like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about\u2026 Cecelia and the baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMia, you\u2019re<\/em> the most important person in my life,\u201d Johnny said, taking her hands. \u201cCecelia finally understands that. I\u2019ll still be in the kids life,\u201d he added, \u201cbut from a distance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mia nodded slowly. Willow and Ana were hanging back a bit, barely able to contain their excitement.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou knew about this?\u201d Mia said to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly recently,\u201d Willow said quickly. \u201cAnd we promised not to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to say, for the record, I wanted to tell you,\u201d said Ana.<\/p>\n

Mia turned to Johnny \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me you were coming?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably for the same reasons you didn\u2019t tell me you were leaving,\u201d Johnny said in a low voice. \u201cWhat if you didn\u2019t want me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want you,\u201d Mia said. \u201cI want you so much it hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnny leaned in and kissed her softly before whispering in her ear. \u201cWell, let\u2019s see about getting you home and taking care of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The chilly morning sunlight was barely seeping through the curtains as Mia silently zipped her suitcase and gave a final, cursory glance around the room. Aside from the rumpled bed covers it looked exactly the same as when she had arrived only weeks ago: Empty. She tiptoed out of the room and pulled the door […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[224],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1046"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1049,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046\/revisions\/1049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}