"You drank juice"
"You drank juice"
"Didn't you just return?" She asked.
"Yes. But remember the job I told you about this morning? The one with a big time producer?"
When she nodded, he continued. "It pulled through. He has seen most of my works and thinks it's cool. I still need to do a final shooting to show him how good I am and by next month, I'll officially begin working with him." He explained to her. For some reason, he wasn't as excited as he would have normally been.
Mia didn't know what to say. The first time she saw him inside the house with a lady, she had wanted him to drop right there and die. But now, she didn't even want him to leave... who was she going to stay with?
"Wow.. But... can you handle it? Haven't you been working alone the entire time or you have people who work with you?" She asked in a gentle voice.
"Well, I do have a few people who work with me part time. But in this case, Mr Hillary knows the few supporting hands I'll be needing and he's going to provide them." He explained patiently for her to understand.
For the next few minutes, she asked every detail about this new job and he told her all she needed to know. He wasn't really happy she was still very composed. Did it mean she didn't care and would just go on with her life after he left?
"Why are you suddenly curious about me?" Leo asked once she exhausted all her questions,and poured her another glass of juice.
"I don't know." She answered with a shrug. Her face was down the entire time. She thought he sounded so happy when he talked about his job and it somehow made her feel sad.
"It's only normal I know about you since we live together right?"
Leo suddenly remembered something so he asked...
"The party on Friday night.... Didn't go as planned?" He asked even though he already knew the answer.
Mia looked at her glass of wine for a bit and decided to just talk to him.
"It didn't."
"What happened?" He asked curiously.
"Well... seems he has a lot of girls who also liked him. I couldn't kiss the same lips a lot of ladies kissed already. I could literally see their lipsticks on his lip." She said with a sigh.
Leo thought he was a bad person for almost smiling when he heard her. He was secretly glad it hadn't pulled through. He didn't think Ben was the right guy to kiss her. But when he remembered she had kissed his brother instead, he frowned.
"So... the Ben guy... do you still like him?" He asked as he took a gulp from his can of beer.
He didn't want her to know he knew who Ben was and that their families were actually close.
"I guess..." She answered indifferently.
"Why?"
"Why are you asking me?" She asked in a small voice. She was really not in a good mood and didn't feel like talking much.
"I'm just curious..you know... I do not know anything about you and I think it's kind of crazy considering the fact what we've been living together for a while and getting along just fine lately."
"So you are saying you want to know about me?"
"Exactly!" He answered with a firm nod.
Mia looked at the two cans of beer on the table which were now empty. She wondered how he was always able to drink well without getting drunk while she got drunk after a single gulp.
"So.... what do you want to know about me?" She asked finally looking at him.
Leo was glad there had finally moved from the topic about him traveling. Tonight, they just had to focus on something else.
"Your hobby, family, future ambition and most importantly... why you... behave the way you do."
Mia raised a confused brow. "I don't understand."
"I mean... you always act all tough and hard but I can see you are actually a very soft person."
"I am a soft person?" She asked with an amused smile.
"Yea. So I'm curious. What prompted you to start acting this way?" He asked with a serious look on his face this time.
Mia was a very reserved person. She liked to keep to herself a lot but she realised she was very open with Leo.
"Life... I guess." Mia answered honestly.
"Life?" He looked at her curiously.
"Yes.. Life.." She answered again. "Acting tough was all I had." She said with a sad smile.
Leo was quiet. She looked like she was deep in thought and he didn't want to interrupt.
"It was during high school...." Mia started narrating..
"I always got bullied back then. I think it was because I was the smallest and youngest in class. I was intelligent so I skipped a few classes and was in the same class with Mary..." When she noticed the confusion with which he was looking at her, she explained. "Mary is my older sister."
"Oh.." He said with a nod. He knew something else about her now, she had an older sister.
"My classmates liked to tease and bully me a lot and because I was a fragile little girl, I just let them."
"Until one day..." She paused and smiled.
"There was this girl in class. Biggest bully of all. She asked me to leave my seat for her to sit. I didn't know what happened to me that day but I said no."
"I remembered the strange and surprised look she gave to me when I said that. Having more courage, i told her to go sit somewhere else."
A small smile appeared on Leo's face.
"I was really surprised when she left. Like... what the hell? I thought she was going to hit me or something but she left just like that!" Mia exclaimed, making Leo laugh.
"You just have been really excited right?" He asked.
"Oh.. I would have if I hadn't realised she left me because she saw the teacher coming to the class. At that point, I knew I was in trouble and right after classes for the day ended, my guess was right. She approached me with her two friends."
"I had wanted to run away but something stopped me. I decided to put an end to all of it that day."
"And what did you do?" He asked curiously.
"I fought for the very first time."
"I swear I didn't know I had such strength in me but I beat her up till i heard her cry. Her two birds could not do a thing."
Leo whistled and raised his can of beer to cheer for her.
"I felt so proud of myself. Although i was punished at home and in school for it, my joy was greater than whatever punishment I was given."
"I realized then that the only way I can successfully stop everyone from bullying me was to put up that attitude. I became quite terrifying to them and it thrilled me. It was like the case of the bullied becoming the bully."
He watched the small smile on her face and just stared at her
He could vaguely understand what she was talking about.
"I guess I got used to living that way. It's kinda like the only way to face the world to me. I grew up to believe people are always going to look down on me if I do not show them that side of me."
She suddenly stopped talking and lifted her head. "I think I have to sleep now. I have an early class tomorrow." She said as she stood up.
Leo was a bit disappointed. It was just a few minutes to 12 midnight and she was going to bed. What was he supposed to do?
"Alright. I'm glad you shared this with me. It makes me feel like I know you more now."
He said with a smile as he followed her to her room.
"Oh.. I just remembered you didn't answer my first three questions."
"What?" She asked as she turned to face him. She was already standing in front of her door. All she had to do was open and get in.
"Hobby, family.. future ambition." He reminded her.
"Can we talk about it tomorrow?" She asked as she pressed her back to the door. Was he really coming closer or was she imagining things? She asked herself when she noticed the space between them was getting smaller.
"Alright.. Good night."
"Good night." Mia said and waited for him to leave but he didn't.
"What?" She asked curiously.
"What?" He asked back.
"Why aren't you leaving to your room?" She asked.
"I wanted to watch you go in first." He answered.
Mia looked at him for a few seconds before chuckling. "So you think someone is going to probably kidnap me or I'll get hit by a truck?" She asked in amusement.
"There's still Tara..." He reminded her with an equally amused smile.
"Oh.. that's true." She said as she quickly turned to open the door.
"Hmm... Mia.." He called her slowly and waited for her to look at him with those sparkling confused eyes of hers again.
Mia was uncomfortable with the way he was staring at her. It was probably time to leave.
She told herself and quickly opened the door but he startled her by pulling her arm while chuckling.
"I just wanted to tell you you look good even in this terrible outfit." He complimented with a quick grin.
Mia's eyes darted quickly to the side as she tried to pull her hand away from his.
"Why aren't you looking at me?" He asked while cocking his head to the side to look at her face but she kept moving her eyes.
"I..." Mia used her free hand to touch her head. "I... think I... am drunk." She stammered.
"You drank juice Mia." He reminded her with an amused expression on his face.