That was... totally unexpected.
That was... totally unexpected.
"Hmmm. I won't really say we are dating now but we're kind of playing around it."
"Wow! When... how did it happen? You met a lot of girls for over two years and blew them off but you just met this one and in a month, you are already dating? She probably is your soul mate." He said with a broad smile on his face. "I am genuinely happy for you."
Leo smiled a bit before sipping his wine. He remembered he hadn't met Richard for a while and decided to stop by his place on his way back home. He was at Richard's penthouse at one of his father's hotel.
"Did you find out anything from Elijah?" Leo sat up and asked him seriously. Richard's mood changed immediately.
"I'm sorry. You really have to do this alongside Cherry."
Leo sighed deeply. "Why does she keep appearing everywhere?"
"Now that I think about it, you are going to be traveling soon and Cherry is going to be there. Have you told Mia about it?"
Leo shook his head and this time, he didn't just sip from the glass but gulped down everything on the glass.
"I probably should tell her about Cherry right?" He asked in uncertainty.
"Of course! She has to know about it. You are going to be away for two years and your ex girlfriend is going to be there. She needs to know about it." Richard advised. Although he had never been in a real relationship before, he knew how these things happened merely watching movies.
"How are you? Still into Mira?" Leo asked, changing the topic.
It was Richard's turn to sigh. "Well yea, she is a sweet girl. We haven't gone out once though. Our date was canceled the other day and we've not been keeping in touch."
"Remember I told you if you aren't sincere about her, stay away from her. You are my friend and I do not want the girls to take out their anger on me when you offend Mira." He deliberately didn't mention anything about Mira's situation to him since he didn't have the right to.
Richard snickered. "If someone heard you, they would think you are a righteous person."
"Of course, I am." Leo said with a smug smile while Richard shook his head, "Nah, you are a bastard."
*********
It was always one trouble after the other for Mia.
She lay down on her bed inside the room with her eyes on the ceiling.
She could not believe Mr B had said that. Why do most people always like to treat other people poorly because of money?
"I just said he harassed me!" She had yelled at him in disbelief, almost creating a scene at the cafe.
"Look Mia..." He said, drawing closer to her.
"You are a pretty girl. It is normal for guys to be attracted to you and want to kiss you but since he forced you, we are going to talk about this seriously after the competition. For now, you both should put aside your differences and just do this for all of us. Hmm?" He said, trying to convince her.
Mia stood up immediately and walked away from him. She was so tired of the whole thing.
She heard a knock on her door which startled her. Leo was back? How come she hadn't heard the front door open or Tara's welcoming whimpers?
She must have been really lost in thought.
She climbed down from the bed and went to open the door. Leo was standing there. His face formed a frown when he saw how she looked.
"You aren't ready?" He asked seeing she wore a short and tee shirt.
"Ready?" She asked distractedly and remembered they were supposed to go out on a date.
"Oh! I'm so sorry... I was just..."
"What's wrong?" He asked curiously. "You don't look fine. Did something happen?" He asked again when she simply raised both hands to smoothen her hair weakly.
"It's.. just a really fucked up stuff.." She hissed.
"And I believe it's something you are going to share with me?" He asked in a voice which clearly showed he wasn't expecting any answer other than a yes.
Mia hadn't wanted to bother anyone with it, but now she didn't have any choice. She wanted to know if she was being inconsiderate and unreasonable with her demands.
He offered her his hand which she took and followed him to the sitting room. He led her to the couch to sit down before sitting down beside her.
His eyes trailed down a bit to her exposed legs but he quickly looked up at her face. This wasn't a time to get distracted.
Mia began to narrate it all to him and by the time she concluded, she was almost at the verge of tears because she was facing a really serious dilemma.
She didn't want their team to fail and if they failed, it wouldn't just affect her but every member of the team as well as Mr B. On the other hand, she didn't want to dance with Benjamin but now, it seemed dancing with him was her only option especially since Mr B had lent her money when she needed it.
Now, she believed the saying, 'The debtor was a slave to the creditor.' Had Mr B not given her that money, she could have easily pulled out.
Leo saw how devastated she was, so let her lie down on the couch and placed her head on his laps while he slowly ran his hand over her hair.
"You don't have to worry too much about it. Even though there wasn't a written agreement between you and that asshole after he gave you the money, it's still a matter of your integrity and you keeping to your promise, so I can understand how you feel. And that Benjamin guy seems really fishy."
"I thought the same." Mia agreed with a small nod.
"If he doesn't want you to leave, fine. Benjamin just have to leave then."
"How do you intend to do that?" She asked, turning her head in his laps to look at his face curiously.
"You don't have to know. Just trust me." He said with a smile.
Mia smiled at him and nodded obediently. It felt really nice having someone to rely on. Now, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she felt a lot relaxed.
Leo thought it was probably the best time to tell her about Cherry but he just couldn't bring himself to talk about it. Their relationship hadn't properly started yet and he didn't want anything that would make Mia uncomfortable and change her mind. 'Just a little while.' He said in his head.
"My grandmother wants us to dress like angels tomorrow." He said with a short laugh that left Mia confused.
"What's that?" She asked in confusion.
"It means, she wants us both to dress in completely white outfits from head to toe."
"What? Why? I have to dye my hair also?" Mia asked, sitting up to look at him while he laughed.
"I'm not sure she would mind if you decide to go that far though. Grandma is really a weird woman."
Mia was quiet and he could see her mood had changed.
"I'm really nervous." Mia said, chewing her lips.
"You don't have to be. Remember what I said? I'm going to be right beside you." He gave her a reassuring smile that made her relax.
"Thank you." She said before kissing his cheek, taking him aback.
"That was... totally unexpected." He said with a smile which looked like he was shy but Mia doubted it. Leo didn't look like the type to get shy by a mere peck.
"Really?" She asked with a glint in her eyes and rushed to kiss his other cheek which made him grin.
"One more here." He said pointing at his other cheek which Mia wilingly placed a kiss on while he turned the other one.
"Another here..."
Mia giggled and was about to kiss his other cheek when he turned his head so their lips would meet instead. She almost jumped back involuntarily but his hand circled her waist and pulled her closer before taking her lower lip in his mouth to suck on it gently.
His eyes opened briefly to see Mia staring at his face with wide eyes. He almost chuckled. He still didn't know why she was always shocked whenever they kissed.
He used his free hand to cover her eyes and pulled away when he was sure she had closed her eyes. Slowly, she began to relax and parted her lips to let him in.
As he deepened the kiss, his free hand balled beside him. He was tempted to touch her but kept his hand to himself. He didn't want to freak her out by groping her.
Mia reciprocated his kiss and to his surprise, her two hands came to his neck. She wrapped her hands around him and pulled closer until she was sitting on his laps.
It was his turn to open his eyes wide in surprise. As if sensing he was watching her, she opened her eyes. When she saw how wide his eyes were, she slowly pulled away and tried to suppress a laugh but she could not.
He couldn't fathom how she had gone from being shocked to almost taking the lead.