It's not his fault.
It's not his fault.
She had gone ahead to invite Benjamin that morning after Leo left her room and he had asked if they were going to go there together. She reasoned since she was inviting him over, it only made sense that they went together but Mira had already given her a default answer to that question in case he asked so she had told him she was going to be going early to help organize the place and he could come later while she would wait outside for him.
She had been surprised he had even agreed to it and told her he was going to see her later that night.
Before Mira left that evening, she had wanted to touch up Mia's face but gasped in shock when she got to the table and saw different cosmetics and make up products there.
"You didn't mention he got you all these!" Mira said as she looked at it with wide eyes. She had only known about the phone and thought maybe he bought just a few clothes also.
"Well, you have it there!" Mia said biting her lip down to keep a smile from showing. She was enjoying all these too much than she had planned to.
"Perfect then! Let's touch up your face a bit before I leave. I have to return to James' places. When you are ready to leave, you can just touch up your face a little again. I'll show you what to do. Now come here!" Mira said as she gestured for Mia to come sit down.
Mia went there without complaint and stayed quietly while Mira did one of the things she knew how to do first.
"Sorry friend, but I have no intention of making you look really really pretty. I don't want you outshining me tonight." Mira paused to say with a cheeky grin making Mia laugh.
"Whatever you say boss!"
When Mira was done, Mia admired her face on the mirror and smiled.
It wasn't as professional as the one Mike had done for her the previous day, but it made her look really pretty.
She just had to enjoy tonight and tomorrow, she would be going with the lawyer to go see her mother.
"What are you thinking?" Mira asked looking at Mia's face seriously.
Mia snapped out of her daze and shook her head. "It's nothing."
"Sure? Or you're worried about Leo changing his mind?" She asked.
Mia looked at her quietly. Well, she had also thought about that.
Mira quickly took out her phone and as Mia watched, she dialled Leo's number.
"What are you doing?" Mia asked and stood up to snatch her phone from her but Mira successfully ducked and placed the call on loudspeaker when it connected.
"Hello?" Leo spoke first making Mia's heart skip. She was even more uncomfortable because she didn't know what Mira wanted to say to him.
"Sorry for troubling you, I was wondering if you'd be able to make it back here before 9pm so you can bring Mia to the location but if you can't, no worries. There's a friend of ours who can come and pick her up. The BOY is–"
"I'll come." Leo said before she could complete her sentence making Mira smirk.
"Alright thanks!" She said before disconnecting the call.
"What was that?" Mia asked with a frown. It was difficult for her to always follow the same line of thought as her friends.
"Just a little testdrive. Tonight is going to be fun." She said with a smile before arranging her things to leave.
When she got to her car, the smile on her face completely disappeared as she remembered her parents.
She told herself to just have fun tonight and forget about anything else but she hadn't expected the party to begin like this... with James seeing her stark naked!
She went downstairs stealthily like a thief and couldn't look up for fear of meeting James eyes.
She managed to look at the direction of the door and sighed in relief when she saw Mia at the door picking a tag with a frown on her face. She also saw two people beside her— Leo and Richard.
Even though they were the oldest there, they perfectly fit into the crowd and no one would guess they weren't college students with the simple clothes they wore.
She looked at Mia proudly seeing she wore the outfit she had picked for her. She had chosen a simple white gown and black boot. She had told Mia not to tie her hair and Mia hadn't done so. She had also followed her instructions and touched up her make up a bit.
Mira could not wait to hear how Leo's had reacted when he saw her.
"What are these tags for?" Richard asked Leo who also wondered the same thing as he looked at his tag strangely.
Mia didn't say a word. She could guess what the tags were for and she was beginning to really have a bad feeling about the whole thing.
If she was to kiss someone during the kissing game, who would it be? She had invited Benjamin for chrissake and even if he didn't like her that way, she didn't think it was a wise thing to kiss Leo in front of him...
Wait! Why was she already thinking about kissing Leo instead? She asked herself in alarm before raising her head to look at Leo who was looking down at her with an amused smirk.
Her heart skipped a few beats seeing such look on his face. What was that for? Had he heard her thoughts?
She quickly avoided his gaze and looked towards the stairs to see Mira hurrying down towards her.
Great timing! She thought as she met Mira halfway.
Immediately they met, James appeared from nowhere and also stood in front of them.
Leo who was standing with Richard looked at James with a frown as he remembered how James had made him act like an idiot when he visited Mia.
A pretty girl served them drinks and kept her eyes on Leo but he didn't even spare her a glance as his eyes remained on Mia while Richard was also staring at Mira and wondering why she wasn't looking at his direction.
Speaking about the girls, Mia noticed the awkwardness between James and Mira and looked at them suspiciously.
"You look pretty, Mia." James said forcing out a smile.
James wanted to tell them about Chloe's presence but before he could say a word about it, Mia quickly pulled Mira with her outside, walking past Leo and Richard.
Maybe Mia wasn't very smart in love stuffs, but she was quick to detect weird behaviours. The only problem was, she couldn't interpret such behaviours until someone explained things to her.
"I can't believe she didn't even look at me!" Richard said with a disappointed frown. He had raised his hand to wave at Mira when he saw Mia pulling her towards them, but they had walked past the both of them outside.
Leo chuckled and just decided to look around for a bit, especially at the paintings which caught his fancy. At one end of the sitting room just beside the dining, there was a glass slide door which was opened and he could see a few people there also.
He was curious to see what was there and walked further to peek. The place looked like a mini sitting room and the lights there was dimmer.
"Can you just be quiet?"
He was just about to turn around when he heard the familiar voice and his steps halted as he slowly walked inside to see his younger sister sitting there with a young man!
*********
"What's wrong with you both?" Mia asked Mira immediately the got outside.
"Something is wrong? Nothing is wrong." Mira said trying to smile but it didn't work.
"Something definitely happened between you two. Did you both fight?" Mia asked with a frown. She really wasn't in the mood to start settling fights now.
"No..."
"Then?" Mia pressed.
Mira looked like she was having trouble deciding whether to tell her or not and after a moment's hesitation, she sighed.
"He saw me... NAKED!" She reduced her voice as she said with her face red from embarrassment.
Mia tried to say something but her mouth only formed an 'O' shape while her eyes widened.
"How... did that happen?" She asked in surprise.
"The whole thing is just so silly! I was totally caught offguard." She said and began to pace around as she vented out.
"Was it on purpose?" Mia asked even though she knew James wasn't like that.
"No." Mira shook her head. "It's not his fault. I should have at least locked the bathroom door." She said with a sigh.
"Since you do not blame him, can you both just—"
*Ring Ring*
Mia stopped talking and took out her phone from the small bag she was carrying.
Her heartbeat increased immediately.
"It's Benjamin" She said and raised her phone to show Mira.
"Go on! Take it." Mira urged.
Mia took the call and said a faint "Hello?"
"Uhm.. hey! I just arrived the location. You're here right?" Benjamin asked.