"....And these are my daughters; Ayano and MeiMei, ladies this is the youngest of them, Mr. Regal, all the way from B-City in B-Country."
" It's a pleasure to meet you both...."
From where Ethan stood, he turned his head at intervals to check on Mia, who kept laughing and chatting heartily. A small smile escaped his lips.
The next time he turned, the ladies were on their feet to greet Mrs Kenato and that's when he noticed the dark blob at her bottom area.
"Shit!" He murmured as he immediately excused himself, and went to her rescue.
---
".... Happy anniversary Mrs Kenato, good evening ladies, I hate to be rude, but I have to whisk Mia away." He smiled at them all.
He held her shoulders and walked behind her, leading her out of the hall in the direction of the restroom.
" Hey! What in God's name are you doing, why would you drag me out of there, I was having fun!" She complained,
"...Um...." He scratched his head nervously,
"Huh?"
" You have....A stain on the back of your dress."
Without a word, she ran off into the nearest restroom and slammed the door behind, the next thing was a loud scream followed by,
"....Oh my goodness! It's so obvious!" She sobbed,
"Are you okay in there." Ethan gently knocked after a brief silence.
"My dress is ruined could this day get any worse.... Everyone knows I'm on my period." She cried,
"If you keep yelling like that then, they'd probably know.... Is there something I can do to help?" He asked,
"No I'm good, I brought an extra tampon....I just need you to take me home."
"I can do that—"
"We don't have to pass the hall do we?"
" No, there's another exit." He replied, just then, the door clicked and the door opened.
"....I'm so sorry," she sniffed. Her mascara was droopy, her hair a bit scattered , it was evident that she had been pulling it.
"....It's fine, let's get you home."
----
Mia strolled out of the bathroom in a white robe while cleaning her hair with a towel. She walked into the room and saw Ethan seated on the couch.
She suddenly paused in her tracks,
"....I thought you went back to the banquet."
".... Um, no.... I was with Noel the whole time.... Besides I didn't really want to be there, but it would have been rude to turn down Mr. Kenato's invitation right?" He smiled,
".... Right." Mia nodded,
"....Um, I got you some pain reliefs, Mrs. Kenato asked one of the ladies to prep some soup for you.... She says it'll help....the cramps."
" Thanks." She smiled as she grabbed a seat and tasted the soup.
"Um....Mia?"
"Mm?"
"....Does it hurt really bad?"
"....Not really, it does get intense on the second day though...."
"....Oh."
" I'm feeling better now in case you're wondering." Mia added,
"....I'm relieved." He smiled,
"Thank you." She told him again.
"....You should sleep on the futon tonight—"
"Don't you need to be in the right state of mind for tomorrow?" She asked sarcastically,
Ethan laughed,
".... Very funny Mia."
"....You should laugh more often.... It's good for you.... Oh I just realized something," she laughed aloud,
"I forgot my coat." She said in between laughs," I can't believe I forgot my coat there, I could have used it to cover my dress." She laughed and Ethan joined in,
"....It totally skipped my mind, but no worries, I'll get it tomorrow."
---
On Thursday morning, Mia woke up to Ethan's voice. There he stood, facing the window, it was quite obvious that he had gotten outside the shower, because his waist was still clad in a towel and beads of water dripped down his back.
He was on a call with George and it seemed like a lengthy one too. So she laid there listening to every bit of what they were talking about, which was mostly about business.
"…Yes, everything has been good here, things are falling into place now…Yes, please do, I'd really appreciate that. Thank you George…Bye for now." He ended the call and turned to the opposite direction, Mia immediately shut her eyes.
"…I know you're awake, Panda, classic shaky eyelashes." He smirked as he stood in front of the futon.
Mia eventually gave up and opened her eyes,
"..W-What are you doing here, don't you have a meeting or something?" She stuttered as her eyes feasted on his body, it was hard not to look at those abs.
Ethan chuckled,
"Everybody deserves a day off...Do you want to touch me so badly? You should stop staring at body like that." He smirked as went and threw on a robe then returned,
"I-I wasn't staring..." she stuttered,
Ethan smirked,
"Off course you weren't... You could just ask if you want to—"
"No! No! No! Stop talking." Mia exclaimed as she shook her head violently,
Ethan chuckled,
"Hey, can I ask you a question?" he asked as he sat on the couch,
"You just did." She laughed,
"I'm asking on a serious note, Mia."
"Oh! What is it?" She questioned with a puzzled look,
"…Um, I know your parents passed, but exactly happened to them? "
"…Why?"
"…Well for the past three days, you've been having nightmares and sleep-talking too…About an accident."
"…Well, Um…They were in an accident, drunk driver," she croaked, "I was…" She paused as her voice trailed off,
"It's fine if you don't want to talk about it." He smiled reassuringly,
"…Would you like some green tea? I bought a packet yesterday. I heard they are…Good for cramps."
Mia chucked,
"It's okay to say "cramps" or "periods" stop making it sound awkward….Ouch! It still hurts a little."
"Well, one green tea coming right up." He replied then walked out of the bedroom.
Few minutes later, the door slid open and Noel ran in,
"Miss Anderson! Miss Anderson!—"
"Shh! Not so loud!" Mia whispered.
"Look, it's snowing!" He said excitedly as he ran in and jumped right on the futon.
"Daddy said you were sick, are you feeling better now?" He asked as he gave her a tight hug that melted Mia's heart,
"Awn Little Man, Yes, I've never felt better, I missed you so much. " She smiled,
"Where's Daddy?"
"Oh he's making some tea."
"Okay, I'm going to go say Hi now." He told her before he left.
Just then, her phone suddenly rang, it was Betty and it was a video call.
"Shit!" She cursed as she got on her feet to find a nice view before answering it.
"Mia!" Betty squealed with excitement once she had picked up,
"Oh my goodness, I thought you had been kidnapped or something…I mean who'd want to kidnap you anyway." She added in a low tone.
"Ha-ha, very funny Betty, how's C-City?" Mia asked instead,
"Well it's fine, how's B-City?" Suddenly she paused and studied the background, "Wait a minute, that doesn't look like B-City, Mia where the heck are you?—"
"Japan." Mia casually replied,
Betty gasped,
"I didn't know you could afford a trip to Japan…Or anywhere!" Mia rolled her eyes and tutted,
"I didn't mean it like that, I meant…How did you end up in Japan?" She chuckled nervously,
"…Um, well," She paused and thought for a while, she never thought of the other part, the part she would lie. Just then, it hit her and she told Betty,
"…My aunt got a new boyfriend."