After the short ride, they got to the entrance of Ryan's mansion. Tara opened the door with her handprint and they both went in.

    The house smelt like fresh lavender and peach.

     "I'll tell the boss you're here." Tara said to Mia, leading her to the familiar living room.

     "Thank you." Mia nodded, taking a look around.

    "Is there something you need? Water? Juice?"

   "No, it's okay. I'm fine. Thanks." Mia smiled, before seating on the soft Victorian couch. She watched Tara disappear back to the entry.

     Mia sighed, looking down at her phone. There was a message from Danny

     "Where are you?"

Mia replied back.. "I'll tell you when I get back."

    She had just finished typing when she heard a female voice.

     "Hi there."

    Mia looked up, staring at the very familiar face. Where had she seen this... La-Layla?

    "H-h-h-hi." Mia looked flustered. God! She was even more beautiful in person, photos did no justice.

    Layla smiled... "Are you here to see Ryan?" She asked Mia.

    "Y-yes." Mia stuttered, as she looked out of place.

    "Oh. By the way, I'm Layla." Layla extended her hand out.

   She seemed friendly... "Mia." Mia shook Layla's hand.

    "Jeez, so soft." Layla grinned and Mia found herself blushing. "So are you a friend of Ryan? I don't think we've met before." Layla said to her.

    "We worked together on a project in California recently."

    "Ohhh." Layla nodded... "The resort project."

    "Yes." Mia managed to smile, pulling her hair away from her face.

     "Universe?" Ryan had just entered.

  Mia and Layla turned to Ryan. Mia automatically stood up, without being told. 

   "Babe, I was just talking to your guest." Layla said to him.

    "Hmm." He nodded, looking at Mia. "You didn't tell me you were coming over?"

     "I tried calling." Mia told him. "C-can we talk? It's urgent."

    "Sure." He frowned. "Come on." He jerked his head towards his study.

     Mia glanced at Layla. "Excuse me." She followed Ryan as he led the way.

     They got to the study and Ryan closed the door.

     "Hey, why do you look so... Pale?" He asked moving towards her.

    "I'm fine. Just surprised that's all. I didn't expect to see your girlfriend here. Now I know why you weren't picking my calls, because she was around." Mia said the bitter truth. She knew Ryan had someone else, but she didn't expect him to be taken away so soon.

    "What are you talking about universe?" He pointed to his desk. "My phone's right there, it's been there for sometime now."

     "You didn't go to Mi-Tech? Is it because you wanted to spend time with her? That's why?" Mia asked him.

    Ryan frowned... "Where are these questions coming from? Don't tell me you're jealous?" He smirked at her.

     "Why would I be jealous? She's your girlfriend right, I'm not." Mia knew she was sounding like a bitch. Okay fine, she was jealous.

Ryan chuckled... "Oh universe."

   "She's pretty though." Mia shrugged. She then remembered why she had ran all the way to his house. "We have trouble." She was now serious.

    "What?"

    "What happened in Seattle?" She handed over the envelope to Ryan.

     "What's this?" He asked.

   "Read it yourself."

    Ryan removed the papers from the envelope and read through one at a time. Then he frowned... "We're... We are married?"

    "How is that possible?! What the hell happened?!" Mia whisper-yelled. 

     "Oh shit." Ryan rubbed his forehead. "I thought it was just that pretense game, I didn't think we actually got married."

     "Pretense game? What does it have to do with us married?" She looked confused.

    "We were both drunk at that time. We met with a minister at the courtyard, he ended up binding us together by marriage. We were only playing pretense." Ryan told her.

     "No no no. It can't be, it can't be! I don't want to be married... To you! What should we do now?!" She was on panic mode.

   "Relax. We'd fix this." Ryan said, trying to calm her.

    "How? My mom is gonna kill me for sure." Mia ruffled her hair.

    "Being married to me isn't a bad thing. Wouldn't you wanna marry me if—"

    "Hold that thought mister." She held up her hand, stopping him from talking. "The only solution is getting a divorce this instant, okay? Call up your lawyers so that we can end this sham of a marriage, I need to leave for Italy in four days and—"

     "What?! What do you mean? You're leaving?" Ryan raised a brow at her.

     Mia bit her lip... "Y-yes. I was gonna tell you but not like this."

   "You were trying to run again, weren't you? Mia I can't let you leave, we still need time to work things out between us."

     "There's nothing to work out. What happened back in Seattle was a mistake, it should never had happened." Mia sighed... "The only thing we have to do now is to un-marry. And then I can go back to my normal life and you yours. I'm not gonna come between you and Layla. Everything between us, we're gonna have to forget it." Mia said to him sadly.

     "Forget?" He scoffed... "How do you expect me to forget when I'm in love with you? Speak for yourself. You can't leave, I'll make you stay if I have to." He frowned.

    "Give me my freedom. We get divorced and—

     "No." His voice lacked emotions. He was serious and his face was rigid.

     "There is no NO." Mia rolled her eyes.

     "I don't believe in divorce. I had vowed that the person I marry is till death do us part."

     "But ours is a big mistake! You don't want to be stuck with someone like me forever?" Mia tried to reason with out with him.

    "I love you, that's the most important thing." He said to her.

    "How about me? Don't I deserve to feel the same way? Don't you want someone that reciprocates your feelings? Ryan I'm not that girl." Mia knew she liked Ryan. But love? She wasn't there yet.

    Ryan's face softened. "I'm willing to wait."

    "Don't. I don't want to get your hopes up." She licked her lips. Mia walked closer to him, cupping his cheek. "Don't wait." She kissed his cheek.

     He placed his hand over hers. "I'll call up my lawyers. We'll see what we can do." Ryan said reluctantly.

    "Thanks." She removed her hand from his cheek, giving him a hug.

    Ryan hugged her back. He had plans. She wasn't leaving, he was not letting her leave. Ryan was gonna make sure that she doesn't leave, as he had no plans of getting a divorce. This time, he had the upper hand.
✴✴✴✴

    "You're leaving already?" Layla popped out from no where, standing in front of Mia and Ryan.

  Mia nodded with a smile. "Yes."

   "Why don't you join us for dinner? Please." Layla asked nicely.

    "Me? No no! I don't want to intrude or anything." Mia declined, shaking her head.

    "It's fine. Ryan wouldn't mind," she looked at Ryan. "Would you babe?"

    "Not at all." Ryan nodded slowly.

    "Join us Mia. You're the first guest I've seen around here, let me treat you. Please say yes." Layla said to her.

     "For me, it's too early to have dinner. I still have a lot to do anyway." Mia said calmly.

   "Spare sometime, a little time." Layla said to her.

    Mia glanced at Ryan who was only staring at her. "Fine. Thanks for your kind hospitality." She said, looking at Layla.

   "Great!" Layla clapped softly. "This way please." She held out her hand towards the dinning.

    This was gonna be a disaster!!

Ryan sat at the head of the ten seater dinning, Layla was seated at his right while Mia on his left. There were lots of dishes displayed on the table, staring at Mia. Just then Dony and Bee walked in.

     "God, I'm starving! How is it— oh! We have a... Visitor?" Bee said, lookin Mia up and down. "How interesting." Bee took her seat beside Layla.

     "It's you again." Dony pulled out a chair beside Mia. "Good evening." She was polite.

   Mia looked at Dony. "Hey. It's good to see you again." Mia smiled at her.

    "You too."

      "Ryan, you didn't tell us we were gonna have company?" Bee held her spoon in her hand.

     "Bee. Manners, don't forget." Ryan eyed Bee.

    Bee rolled her eyes, before turning to Mia. "Hey. Not seen you around here, you're new right? Cool. I'm Bee. Don't ask for the full. That guy is, (she pointed to Ryan) actually my cousin and that nerdy is my sister, twin sister. It's nice to meet you. Any further question?" Bee said as fast as she could.

    Mia blinked. She didn't see that coming.

    "Bee, behave." Ryan sighed. "Ignore her." He said to Mia.

     Mia managed to smile at Bee. "Quite interesting." She nodded slowly. "Where did you get your nails done? I love your nail polish, it's fabulous." Mia could tell that Bee wanted all the attention. She'd seen teens like her, a hundred of times.

    Bee was taken aback. She was expecting Mia to sneer or something. "You do?" Bee asked as she took a quick look at her newly done nails.

     "Yeah. What's the brand?" Mia smiled.

   "K-kiara sky." Bee looked flustered.

      "Cool." Mia grinned. "It's lovely."

     "But I prefer Gelish or CND Shellac, that's if you know them." Bee flipped her hair backwards.

         "I do! CND Shellac is my style. I have the limited edition with me." Mia quickly went through her purse, bringing out the gel nail polish.

     "Whoa!! Hit me!! There are like ten in the whole world, and you have one of them?!" Bee's eyes widened.

   "Make that two!" Mia shrugged.

   "You have two of them?! Queen Bey, JLo and Ariana Grande each got, I can't believe you got. Not one but two!" Bee blinked hard.

    "Here. You can have this one," Mia passed the gel nail polish, sliding it down the table. "It's all yours."

    Bee picked it up and smiled. "Thanks."

   "Ahem." Ryan coughed to make sure his presence was acknowledged. 

    Mia turned to Ryan, curling back. "Sorry. I shouldn't have done that, I was—"

    "Don't apologize." She looked at Ryan. "I'm keeping it whether you like it or not." Bee smirked at Ryan before turning back to Mia. "Thank you so much. Sorry, I didn't catch the name?"

    "Just call me Mia." Mia smiled

    "Mia. Great." Bee giggled, holding up the gel nail polish. "Silver, my fave color. I'm so going Instagram popular. I mean this is the real deal."

    Layla looked at Bee. "Bee, if you wanted the gel nail polish, I could have gotten you one."

    "It's sold out. There's no way you could have gotten one quickly." Bee turned back to Mia and asked. "How'd you do it?"

    "Let's just say I have my ways. It's a secret." Mia placed a finger over her lips.

    "Well thanks." Bee thanked her.

  "You're welcome." Mia blushed. She noticed that Ryan and Layla were looking at her. "Did I do something... Wrong?" Mia asked them.

    "I didn't think that was necessary," she looked at Ryan. "Right babe?" Layla said.

    "I-I'm sorry. I didn't see any harm, and she liked it." Mia apologized. "Forgive me."

     "Let's eat. Please." Ryan told them.

     Layla smiled, looking at Dony who was already eating. "Do you like it?"

    "I really missed your cooking." Dony said to her.

    Mia tasted the dish. It was an abalone soup. It tasted great! Almost better than hers... Yeah, almost.

      Ten minutes gone, Bee decides to talk.

      "So Mia, are you friends with my cousin or Layla?" Bee asked her.

     Mia side-glanced at Ryan who seemed relaxed and tension free. "Er... Your cousin Ryan."

    "How did you two meet?" Bee asked her.

    "I handled one of his project as an interior designer." Mia licked her lips. She appeared calm.

     "So you're an interior designer." It came out more like a statement from Bee's mouth.

     "No. Event planner."

   "Event planner? How's that possible?" Bee frowned.

     "Enough with the questions." Ryan said to Bee.

    "Chilax, you're not the one answering. Now it makes me wonder, you don't entertain your employees in this house and suddenly it's opened to Mia. Fascinating don't you think?" Bee raised her brow.

     "Don't start." Ryan warned.

   "Yeah, I think she's right. Most of your employees, you have them wait in the guest house. How come this time is different?" Dony seconded to what Bee said.

    Layla looked at Bee... "She's a friend. Just like Alex, David or Natalie." Layla said to them.

      "You don't make friends that easily cuz." Bee said to Ryan.

    "Can we eat in peace?" Ryan glared at Bee.

    Mia was no longer comfortable around all of them, she dropped her spoon. "If you'd excuse me, I'd like to leave. It's been nice having dinner here. I better get going." Mia stood up quickly. "The food was the most delicious, thanks Layla." Mia smiled at Layla. 

    "You're leaving already? We're yet to serve the dessert." Layla frowned.

    "Dessert? God I'm so full. Thanks for having me here. It was great meeting all of you." Mia looked at Ryan who looked displeased.
    "Ryan, I'm leaving. Bye you guys." She walked out.

    "I think I scared her away." Bee frowned.

   "Babe, go check if she's okay." Layla said to Ryan.

   Ryan wiped his mouth with a napkin before standing to leave. Mia was walking as fast as she could when she notice that Ryan was unto her.

    "Hey hey hey," he grabbed her arm, forcing her to face him. "Where are you running off to?"

    "What are you doing? Let go." She whisper-yelled, yanking her arm away from his grip.

   "Explain why you're so in a rush to leave. Was it because of Bee?"

     "Bee? N-no." She tossed her hair back. "I still have a lot to do, so I got to go." She tried moving around Ryan but he stood in her way. "Can you move?"

   "What's wrong?" Ryan frowned at her. "Tell me what I did wrong and I'll fix it. Don't shut me out." He touched her hair.

    "I don't feel comfortable here because I feel guilty. Do you know I can't even look Layla in the eyes because my conscience is eating me up." Mia told him.

      Ryan stepped back... "We didn't do anything wrong did we? As a matter of fact, it's normal for me to touch you." Ryan shrugged his shoulders.

    Mia bit her lip. "Don't say that. What we did was wrong."

    "Wrong?" He narrowed his eyes, leaning closer to her. "I don't see anything wrong when it comes to my... Wife." Ryan smirked. "You're forgetting we're married."

  Mia closed her eyes for a while and then opened them. "Something I almost forgot." She groaned. "Make sure to call your lawyer. God I hate that I like you, dammit!" Mia pushed him away, walking out immediately.

     "At least let me drive you home." Ryan called out to her.

     "No!" She yelled without turning back.
✴✴✴✴

    Mia opened the door to her apartment and she saw Andrew and then David. They were seated. David was holding a guitar while Andrew was sitting at the opposite sofa.

     "Il mio amore, welcome home!" David exclaimed, moving to hug her.

     "David. W-what are you doing here?" Mia was so damn surprised to see him in her house.

     "Surprised I know where you live?" He smiled, flashing the dimples on the both sides of his cheeks. "It wasn't that hard. Men! I've been waiting for you. You know, when I got your address, I wanted to serenade for you but then you weren't home. So, I decided to wait for you, luckily, your roommate is a pretty interesting guy. He kept me company." David said to her.

    Mia smiled, hugging him again. "You're really cheesy. Serenade?" She chuckled.

     "Did you miss me because I did. I tried calling but you never answered. I was afraid that you might have forgotten about me and then—"

     "Shut up." Mia laughed. "I missed you too."

    "You did?" David smiled sheeply. "Then why didn't you call me? I was so worried about you."

    "You're being a drama king now." She patted his shoulders. "I'm standing right in front of you."

    "Why don't you freshen up first, then I'll serenade." David grinned.

     "God, Mia take him! He sings like a demon with hot oil down his throat." Andrew complained. "He sounds like bluh bluuh bluub."

     "Really?" Mia laughed.

   "I do not sound like that humph!" David glared at Andrew.