After getting their attention, Mia exhaled. "Jeez, that took a lot from me." She said to herself, loud enough for Ryan and Dony to hear her. "Can we do without screaming and yelling at each other? Please? There are kids around. We don't want to attract attention." Mia started to say, calmly.

    Mia faced Ryan. "First of all. Are you crazy?! Why did you do that to the poor kid! What the hell!! You might have broken his nose?!" Mia glared at Ryan. "No matter what, you shouldn't have done that."

   Ryan glared at Mia. "Don't say what you don't know. Don't —"

    "Don't what? Don't interfere? I know it's none of my business, at least keep that temper of yours in check." Mia frowned at him before turning to Dony who was looking at her strangely.

    Mia walked forward, moving to Dony. She tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled. "Hey dear. I'm Mia." She held out her hand for a shake.

   Dony glanced at Mia's hand before receiving it. "H-hi." Dony blinked away her tears.

    "God forbid I agree with what that crazy man did." Mia shook her head in disagreement.

    Dony glanced up at Ryan who was still frowning. She was a bit surprise that Mia could openly say her cousin was crazy. "It's fine." Dony sighed. "I just wanna leave."

"Sure sure." Mia stepped away.

     "Wait in the car." Ryan commanded Dony.

    "Stop being like that." Mia glared at Ryan.

    Dony looked at Mia. "You look familiar." Dony said.

    Mia turned back to Dony. "It's not the first time someone's said that to me. I'm an event planner so I guess it's natural that we might have met at some party." Mia told her.

     "I don't think so." Dony shook her head. "Anyway I need to go." Dony walked out of the office.

   Mia flinged her hair to the side. "I'm leaving too."

   Ryan turned to her sharply. "What? Why?"

    "Because I need a break." Mia walked towards the door.

    He hurried to the door, slamming it shut. "You need a break? From me?"

    "What are you doing? Move away from the door." Mia said to him.

    "Are you gonna go home?" Ryan asked.

    "What do you think?" Mia frowned at him.

    "What about the paintings? Aren't you gonna check them out?"

    "Some other time. I'm exhausted."

    "Could you wait a little longer? I still have—"

     "What's wrong? Admit it, you don't want me to leave." Mia rolled her eyes playfully.

     "I have a few things I wanna settle, then we'll leave together." Ryan said to Mia.

    "You're acting like you can't stay a second without me. What's your problem?" Mia clicked her tongue.

     Ryan sighed, closing in on her... "I'm sorry you had to see me like that earlier. It's just I don't want Dony getting involved with Jacob."

    "Is that an alter ego? You play nice to me and to others, you're mean and brutal."

    "I promise you it's not like that." He placed his hands at the sides of her waist. "It just happened."

    "Let's talk some other time Ryan. Okay?" Mia pulled his hands away. "Keep your hands to yourself mister." Mia smiled. "See you soon. Okay bye." She nodded, pulling him in for a hug.

    "You hugging me, is like telling me you want me." Ryan joked while inhaling her jasmine scent.

    "Pervertito!" Mia pushed him off. (Pervert)

   Ryan chuckled softly... "What's that?"

    "Means pervert." Mia stepped away from Ryan.

   "Hmmm, Pervertito." Ryan nodded.

    "Can I go now?"

   "Can I hug you? Again?" Ryan asked but Mia raised her brow. "You see, we're not gonna see each other as much as we did in California and I'm gonna miss you." He told her plainly.

    "You're weird." Mia sighed. "Okay fine."

   Ryan pulled her, hugging her even tighter. "I don't know when I'm gonna do this again." He lifted her, burying his face in her neck.

    Mia could feel her heart beating faster than usual. She didn't want him letting go. He smelt so good that she wanted to bury her body in his clothes.

    Seconds seeming like minutes, Ryan finally let her go. He noticed her blank stare.

    "Did I do something wrong?" He asked her.

    Mia caught her breath quickly. "No." She slipped from his arms. "It feels weird. No, I feel weird." Mia said to him. She was indeed having the weirdest feeling.

    "How?"

  Mia looked into him eyes. "It's a feeling. I'm not sure."

    "What kind of feeling?" Ryan frowned.

    Mia shook her head as a slight headache throbbed the left part of her head. "Don't worry, it's nothing." She gave him a weak smile. "Can I leave now?"

    Ryan wasn't sure what was going on in her head but he knew she was thinking about something. He nodded, finally allowing her to leave.

   Mia walked out of the office. She massaged her temple, trying to relieve the pain. While hugging Ryan, she had a sense of dëja vu fill her mind, it was like she'd done something like that before.
✴✴✴✴

    "Mia!"

   She heard someone call her name as she stepped out of the building. It was Dony. Dony got out of the car, going to meet Mia.

    "Oh, it's you again." Mia smiled at her.

   "Yeah, it's me." Dony gave a quick smile. "I um, I wanna thank you for what you did back there. I was so scared, I thought he was really gonna kill Jacob."

   "There's no need for a thank you. I can't watch him beating up someone more or less a kid. Is Ryan always like that?" Mia asked her.

    "He's stupid but he's not like that. I know he'd warned me to stay away from Jacob but I didn't think it would come to this." Dony answered sadly.

    "Poor kid. You should talk to your cousin, he needs to understand that violence doesn't solve anything. I'm so ashamed of what he did. I hope he didn't emotionally traumatize you."

   "I am traumatized." Dony found herself opening up to Mia. "What if Jacob doesn't talk to me again? I swear I'm gonna kill Ryan if he doesn't! I wonder why Ryan is so overbearing. I don't want to lose Jacob, I love him." Dony had tears in her eyes.

  Mia gaped at the heartbroken Dony. "Young love huh. Dony sweetheart," Mia used a finger to lift Dony's head. "Love isn't something you think you feel? It's something you're sure you feel."

    "What does that mean?" Dony wiped her tears.

    "Love is not a thought." Mia smiled. "There are still a lot of people you're gonna tell 'I love you' so you have to be sure and not jump into any conclusion that you love someone." Mia noticed the frown on Dony's face. 

         "But if it makes you feel better, it's fun to try out whirlwind romance." Mia grinned. "You don't have to listen to me, I'm just only telling you what I think."

    "Maybe you could talk to my cousin, tell him that he should cut me some slacks and allow me to experience what you call love? He will listen to you."

    Mia chuckled... "What? Me? He'll think I'm stepping away from my boundaries. I'm not in the best position to do that."

     "I swear he won't. He's obsessed with you, I don't think he'll get mad at you. I have never seen anyone insult him openly like the way you did, apart from my sister or his two friends."

   "Wait wait wait, slow down. You said obsessed? He's obsessed with me?" Mia frowned at the foreign news.

     "You should see the ways he adores your pictures. It's everywhere. I knew your face was so familiar, then I remembered where I had seen it. Ryan has an artroom with your face all over, weird part is, each time he draws, it's always your face. Only you. Sometimes I wondered if it was just a figment of his imagination but seeing you here just destroyed that theory." Dony nodded. "You're real."

    Mia listened quietly to the piece of information. After a while, she spoke. "How long has it been going on?" She was as curious as hell. 

    "I'm not sure, maybe months?" Dony affirmed.

    "Months? But Ryan and I only just met a few weeks ago." Mia's eyes widened.

     "Really?"

   "Yes. And we only just became friends."

    "Oh." Dony shrugged.

              "You know he told me that I looked like him mom, so it's possible it's his mom and not me." Mia noted.

     "Probably but I don't think. By chance, do you bear Soph?" Dony asked her.

    "Soph? No. It's the first time I'm hearing a name like that." Mia frowned, biting her lower lip.

   "Is that so?" Dony's phone beep. "Gosh it's my mom." She said looking at her screen before turning back to Mia. "I gotta answer this. It was nice talking to you Mia, I really hope we get to see and talk again." Dony smiled.

    "Yeah. Me too." Mia said, half smiling and half confused.

Dony nodded before taking her leave, leaving Mia with a total blank head.

     What on earth was Dony talking about? There was no way Ryan was obsessed with someone like her? They barely knew each other.
.....................................................

    Mia opened the door to her apartment. Walking in, feeling exhausted, she pulled off her shoes and packed her hair in a high ponytail. From the look of things, Andrew was home, maybe sleeping. She sought to wake him up.

   He would know she was back in the city as Ryan had had her things sent to her apartment.

   She didn't bother to knock as she threw the door open and to her horror, was some blonde chick riding on... Andrew? Her eyes almost popped out as she saw the familiar face of the blonde... Olivia?

   "HOLY SHIT!" Andrew grunted knowing he was close to cumming.

   "Crap!" Mia shut the door quickly mortified.

   Shit!

Double shit!

She wasn't supposed to see that!

Uh-oh!

    Mia decided to relax a bit before having 'the talk' with Andrew. She took a cool shower and waited in her room till she knew Olivia was gone.

    Strolling into the living room, she met Andrew who came face to face with her.

    "What. The. Fuck." She was so going vulgar. She was shocked, confused and clueless. She stared blankly at him.

    He took in a deep breath before talking. "There's a lot to explain." He said calmly.

   "Obviously!" Throwing her hands in the air. "Aren't you supposed to be GAY or something?!" She almost screamed.

   "You're gonna ruin your voice Mimi. First of, I'm totally gay."

  Mia scoffed... "You're out of your mind! You were fucking a goddamn lady Andrew, have you been lying to me? All these time?" Mia was getting pissed.

    "My parents came over." Andrew told her.

   Her face softened a little. "So?" She raised a brow.

     "I lied that there was some lady I was dating, they wanted to meet her."

    "How does Olivia enter the picture?"

     "You know Olivia?" He furrowed his brows.

    "Yeah, I do know the barbie." Mia said, referring to Olivia.

     "It's kind of complicated. We met in a club some days ago, I was as drunk as hell. She was a one night stand. I swear—"

  "Don't swear." Mia interrupted.
 
   "Sorry." He apologized. "We met again, coincidentally. She seemed nice so I asked her to pretend to be my fake girlfriend, she agreed. I got to show her to my parents and everything went well."

    "Does Olivia know you like men? Did you tell her?"

     "No. Mimi you know I can't tell her just yet."

    "So you're just gonna keep fucking her? What are you, bisexual?" Mia groaned out.

     "No! I, I wanna give it a try. I wanna see if I can be normal." He quoted the air. "I don't want people to judge me because I'm different."

     "I don't judge you and you know it."

     "That's because you're Mimi. You're accommodating. Not everyone is open-minded like you. If you were here when my parents came, you would have seen the look on their faces. For the first time, they were honestly proud of me. They loved Olivia."

    "So what's the plan?" Mia folded her arms over her chest.

    "I was thinking, maybe Olivia and I can make our relationship work. I'll try to work it out." He told her.

    "You don't plan to tell her you're gay, do you?" Mia said dryly.

      "Not sooner."

   "You're crazy." She sighed. "Just don't start a relationship by lying, it'll do you no good." Mia said.

     "There are no lies. I knew you'd understand." Andrew smiled. "God! You don't know how lonely I've been!" Andrew swooped her up in his arms, twirling her around.

    Mia giggled... "You're gonna make me sick!" She was being carried by Andrew.
✴✴✴✴✴

   So many things had happened while Mia was away. Danny had told her that Archu was pregnant and she resigned from Van's Events, Julia had taken Archu's place, Mrs Van was filing for a divorce...

    Mia had asked Julia to help her sort the paintings at the Foundation as she was avoiding Ryan. Lately, she's been dreaming about him and she was getting worried. Mia ignored his calls and messages as she was trying so hard to forget him, once in while, she went out with David but it was nothing serious.
✴✴✴✴
  
     There was a knock on the door one afternoon.

    "I'll get it." Andrew said while walking out of the kitchen.

The knock was heard again...

   Andrew looked into the peephole but it wasn't anyone he was familiar with. He opened the door and a confused face stared at him.
   "Yeah?" Andrew frowned at the dimly familiar man looking him up and down.
   
    Mia sashayed into the living room dressed in an oversize button up. "Who is it Andr—" Mia's tongue seized upon seeing Ryan at the doorway.

    "Am I interrupting something?" Ryan directed his question to Mia.

    "Are you lost dude?" Andrew eyed Ryan.

   Ryan looked back at Andrew. "Are you?"

    Andrew raised a brow. "Excuse me?"

    "Andrew! I know him." Mia stepped in quickly.

    He glanced at Mia. "You know him?"

    "I do. I'll take it from here." Mia smiled at Andrew, pulling him away from the door. She watched Andrew head into the kitchen until he disappeared. Mia turned back to a frowning Ryan.

    "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Mia bit her lip.

    "Are you gonna invite me in or not?" Ryan didn't seem happy at all.

    "Come in." She opened the door, allowing Ryan in.

   He looked around the living room, examining the place. "You refused to pick my calls or reply any of my texts. I was getting worried. But seems to me you're perfectly fine." His eyes landed on her.

    "Well... The... I..." Mia was looking away, trying to come up with an excuse.

  Ryan found himself checking her out. His eyes scanned her legs to her head.

    "Who's that guy?" That was the first question he needed an answer for.

   "You mean Andrew?" Mia asked.

    "I didn't ask for his name." Ryan's face remained rigid.

   "He's my roommate." Mia told him.

    "Why the hell do you have a man as your roommate?!" The idea of having another man look at her was making Ryan angry.

    "I don't think I owe you an explanation. It's none of your business either." Mia glared at him for snapping.

    Ryan scoffed... "How can you be dressed like this when he's around? It's almost see-through." He was only exaggerating. 

    "It's my house you nitwit. I wear what makes me comfortable." Mia continued to glare at him.

   Andrew walked into the living room. "Mimi is everything alright?"

    Mimi? What the hell is that? A toy or what?! Ryan certainly didn't like the nickname.

    "Fine. Everything is fine." Mia assured him before turning back to Ryan. "Let's talk in my room." She led the way.

   Ryan actually like her room. It was had grey walls, very cosy and warm. Her pictures hung on one part of the wall, it was like a gallery.

    "What do you want?" Mia started. "I don't think there's any more reason for us to meet. I had my assistant help me with the paintings and I already gave her a go-ahead. The project will be ready in two days and—"

     "Stop. Can you look at me first?" He said calmly, walking up to her.

    She didn't want any eye contact, as she was already nervous. "Don't you have other things to do? You're a busy man and—"

   "Universe." He placed his hand on her cheek.

  Oh boy. That nickname. She hadn't heard it in five days. She wouldn't admit it to him but she'd missed hearing it. 

   "God no. Please don't seduce me." Mia said to him, before closing her eyes.

    Ryan chuckled lightly. He bent,  inching closer to her, then, placing a light kiss on her lips.

    "Stop." (Kiss)  "Hiding." (Kiss) "From. (Kiss)  "Me." He wrapped his hand around her small body.