My Crazy Housemate

It rang in Mia's head till she returned home that evening. She imagined what the money would do for her. If they took first place, then she was going to use her share of the money to pay off two months debt so she could buy enough time to look for Mary to come pay up the rest. Even though she was not happy with her mother, it was the least she could do now.     

The house was made in a way where he would know if the main door was being opened just in case of a break-in. So when he heard the little ring that alerted him that someone was opening his door, his heart skipped a beat and he quickly stood up. He had been waiting for her the entire day and wondered why she was running late. He had even called Chloe to know whether they had late classes and she had told him no.  He had felt it wasn't appropriate calling Mia directly so he hadn't bothered it.     

He left his room and didn't take note of Tara leaving the room with him before he closed the door.      

He was already out of his room when he asked himself why he was coming out. It was now like an habit to him to always come out whenever she returned from classes. He guessed it was probably because he was used to living alone so suddenly hearing the sound of his door opening when he was inside was rather strange to him. Plus he had to be sure it wasn't someone else breaking into his home. Speaking of someone else, he remembered he hadn't changed the passcode for the apartment. He didn't want Cherry entering inside his house again. She had been persistently sending him emails after he blacklisted her number about how she wanted them to discuss. What language did he need to use to tell her he was no longer interested? The whole thing was pissing him off.      

"Hello." Mia greeted with an embarrassed blush and tried to hurry past him but he quickly blocked her way with an amused expression on his face.      

"You can't avoid me for long, you know right?"      

After the fart incident, she had found it difficult to look at his face and it greatly amused him..     

"I... don't understand.. who... who is avoiding you.?" She said in a stutter without meeting his eyes.      

She began to wonder whether being embarrassed made people's heart beat so fast because hers was beating rapidly.     

Leo was so close to her that they both could literally feel each other's body heat.      

Mia heard the faint sound of a whimper before Leo could say something and her eyes widened when she saw Tara in a sitting position while looking at them with her head cocked to the side.      

"Oh my God! What is she doing there?" Mia asked in shock as she moved closer and held him in place to hide her from the dog who wasn't even paying her any attention.      

Leo looked back at Tara who was looking at them curiously and turned to look at Mia who was holding unto his shirt with her body pressed to his.     

"Do you always do this on purpose or you actually don't know what you are doing?" He asked while looking down at her.      

He didn't want to believe that she was always unaffected by their proximity.      

"What are you saying? Send her away... please..."      

He realised she really didn't know what she was doing. Her actions were casual and innocent.     

"Tara feels bad. She wants to know you but you always push her away." He explained in a sad voice and heard another whimper come from Tara.     

"Dogs are scary. They scare me to death." She confessed while looking up into his eyes.      

He was staring right back into her eyes and she finally realised how close they were. He was very close to her, she was holding his shirt, his body was pressed to hers and they were looking into each other's eyes. She suddenly began to feel hot and moved her eyes away. Her heart continued to race and she felt she probably would have an heart attack.      

Leo secretly smiled when he saw her reaction. He perfectly understood what that was. She finally felt it. It wasn't just him after all.      

"You can start by releasing your grip on my shirt." He said in a low throaty voice that made her immediately let him go.      

She was scared of dogs.... She really was. But her will to move away from him was stronger.     

Before Leo could say anything else, she pushed him away and ran past Tara inside her room..     

Leo slowly turned around with a big smile on his face as he winked at Tara. Mia was finally acting like a little girl. An adorable flustered little girl.      

His own heart was beating rapidly.     

At first, he thought he was only attracted to her sexually. But he wasn't really sure anymore since he realized he wasn't thinking about doing that with her at the moment. He liked to see her and watch every of her reactions.      

He squatted to pat Tara on her head. "I brought you here for another reason but.... you are really doing a good job." He said with a smile before going to knock on Mia's door. He didn't wait for her to answer before he informed her,     

"I ordered takeout for dinner. Eat and remember to take your drugs." He said before turning towards his room.     

Mia's back was still pressed to the door as she waited for her breathing to stabilize. She had been startled when she suddenly heard the knock on the door and his voice just outside.      

She was beginning to always feel uncomfortable around him. She closed her eyes to think and the image of his body close to hers filled her mind and she quickly opened her eyes to shake off that image.     

His eyes... those eyes had been staring down at her. She had seen his lips. Those soft lips that had been pressed to hers the other time. The way he looked at her always seemed to make her feel hot. His hair... she wanted to touch it.. she envied his lashes.. so long and dark and whenever he smiled, they fluttered about like a butterfly's wing.     

Her heart began to beat even faster.     

She wasn't that naive. She could vaguely guess what it was all about. She was attracted to him.     

"Mia.. you have to move out as soon as possible." She said to herself in panic.