MIA
The smell of turpentine still clung to her fingers.
Mia scrubbed her hands on her black jeans, smearing more paint than removing it. Her sketchbook sat forgotten on the stool beside her, pages curling slightly from the humidity of the studio and the frustrated rage of her strokes. The professor had called her latest project "technically skilled, but emotionally hollow." Which was fine. She was used to being called hollow.
It had just been a long day.
Long enough that she didn't want to go back to her shared apartment and hear Cassie rave about her boyfriend for the third night in a row. Long enough that she needed something stronger than self-reflection or chamomile tea.
She texted Cassie anyway.
Going out. Don't wait up.
Then she grabbed her worn leather jacket, tucked a pencil behind her ear without realizing it, and walked toward the bar on Ninth Street- the one with the peeling red door and no sign out front. The kind of place that didn't ask questions or overcharge.
Tonight, Mia wasn't looking for art. Or clarity. Or love.
She was looking for distraction.
CARTER
Carter had dropped his camera. Literally. Right in the middle of a shoot.
The model had gasped. The stylist had hissed. And his client( some startup designer with too much money and too little patience) had muttered something about "unprofessionalism" before storming off set.
So yeah, today sucked.
He was thirty minutes late to the job, his Uber had smelled like regret and cigarettes, and his agent had called just after the crash to remind him he still hadn't confirmed any gigs for next week.
"Try smiling more," she'd said. "You look…tired lately."
He was tired. Of chasing work. Of shallow shoots and plastic smiles. Of always floating, never landing.
So he'd ended up at a dive bar with a whiskey he hadn't ordered and a tab he planned to regret.
He didn't come for conversation or comfort. Just the quiet numbness that came with losing count of drinks.
He looked at her, the girl who had a pencil in her bun, bright red jacket on a sequin dress, paint stains on her fingers, messy yet charming - without realizing, he went her way and sat beside her.
Startled, Mia turned around to see him, a stranger who is a little wasted but doesn't seem like a creep.
She doesn't enjoy talking to strangers much, but found herself interested in knowing him, and there he is, too lost looking into her eyes, ended up fainting upon her.
She manage to get him out of the bar and made him sit on a bench outside with some help. Not knowing what to do, she looked through his bag - guilty yet can't think of anything else. She found his visiting card for his studio, and texted Cassie for help.
Cassie came there anyway but in a car along with her 'boyfriend'. They both help her get Carter into the car and dropped him at the studio. But When Cassie convincingly asked Mia to just enjoy the rest of the night as they plan to have a spicy night, and she couldn't say no Afterall.
Mia ended up sleeping on the chair after letting Carter sleep on the couch, Its his studio anyways.
What would happen after they both wake up the next day?