Between 2 Hearts – Episode 33

      Mia received the message that the boss wanted to see her, and she flinched, wondering why she was being summoned. She hadn’t done anything wrong, had she? As she headed to the boss’s office, her mind was occupied with thoughts.

When she arrived at the doorstep, she composed herself and let out a deep sigh. She knocked, and a bell rang, indicating she should come in – that’s what the boss’s PA had told her.

She opened the door and was met with Nathan standing in front of her. She was shocked, but Nathan smiled warmly at her.

“Nat,” she called out, surprised, and reeled backward in shock. She missed her step, but Nathan grabbed her and pulled her closer to himself.

“Running away again?” he smirked, their closeness becoming uncomfortable for her.

“You…you’re the boss?” she sputtered, their eyes glued to each other. Nathan still held onto her tight around her waist, smiling.

“Yes,” he replied, and her gulp was audible.

“Um,” she tried to wiggle out of his arms, but Nathan refused to let go. “Can you let go of me, sir?” she asked.

“No, if I let you go, you’ll run away from me again,” he said.

“I’m not going to,” she said, her eyes avoiding his.

“Really? What assurance do I have?”.

“Um, I promise,” she replied.

“Okay, I can only let you go on two conditions,” he said, his smile still plastered on his face. “One, call me the name you called me before, and secondly, don’t run away from me.”

 “Um, sure. So, can I go now?” She hesitated before agreeing.

“Call my name first,” he said, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

“Sir Nathan,” she said nervously.

 “No, the abbreviation of my name you just called without using the word sir,” 

“N…Nat,”

“Exactly. I’m going to let you go now. You promise you won’t run away,” Nathan said.

 “Okay.” She nodded eagerly. Nathan slowly let go of her.

 “Now….”

But before he could finish his words, Mia rushed out of the office, leaving Nathan surprised and amused. He let out a chuckle.

“Clumsy, you said you wouldn’t run away,” he smiled to himself as he moved to his seat.

Meanwhile, Mia leaned against the door, trying to control her racing heartbeat. She placed her hand on her chest, feeling her face flush with nervousness.

“Geez, he is the boss!” she sighed, composing herself before turning to the door and knocking. The bell rang, and she hesitated for a moment before entering.

Nathan was sitting comfortably in his chair, swinging side to side.

 “You said you weren’t going to run away,” he teased.

 “Um, I’m sorry about that, sir.”she said , her face bowed to the ground.

“It’s okay, I know you enough.” He continued, “Anyway, I heard what you did for the team. I love the idea. Keep it up.”

 “Thank you, sir.”

As she turned to leave, Nathan stopped her. “I didn’t say you should leave. Why are you in such a rush?”

 “I’m sorry, sir.”.She turned to him slowly, her head still bowed.

 “What happened to the Nat you promised to call me?”

 “Um…”

“You can go now, I will…”, he started to say, but before he could finish, Mia quickly excused herself and rushed out again. Nathan scoffed and shook his head, amused by her antics.

  

    Mia returned to her office and fell onto her chair. 

 “I can’t believe he’s the boss,” she said to herself. “Now I understand what Naomi meant when she said there’s fire on the mountain.”

She picked up her phone and dialed Naomi’s number. After a few moments, the call connected.

“Hey, sis, guess what?” they both said in unison.

“You go first, what is it?” Naomi asked from the other end of the line.

“I just found out who my boss is today,”  She said.

“Really? Who?” She asked curiously.

“Nathan, the senator’s son,” Mia replied, and Naomi’s gasp was audible from the other end.

“What?!” 

“Yes, he called me to his office today, and it happened to be him,” Mia explained.

“What’s really going on? Are they playing a prank on us? Did they give us this job?”.

“Seriously, I have no idea,” Mia replied. “I could barely hold my emotions when he held me tight in his arms. What do I do? I don’t want to get involved in his relationship with the princess.”

 “Calm down. Nothing like that will happen. I guess they’re aware we work in their company, that’s why they’re making a fool out of us. We just have to stay calm and not give them a chance to play with our emotions.”

“What do we do then?” She asked, seeking guidance.

“Let’s meet later at the bus station,” She suggested. “There’s a new hideout nearby where we can sit and talk about what to do next.”

“Okay, that sounds better,” She agreed, and they hung up the phone.

____****_____*****

   After work hours, Mia and Naomi arrived at the hideout, a cozy spot they had discovered earlier. They sat down, ordered BBQ sauce and drinks, and began to unwind.

“How did you find this hideout?” Mia asked, taking a piece of food from the sauce.

“I just happened to bump into it while searching for a job,” Naomi replied. “Their sales are cheap and amazing.”

“Yeah, I love the environment here”.

“Do you think they’re playing a prank on us?” Naomi asked.

“I guess so,” She replied. “So, what do we do? Should we confront them about it?”

“Hmm, that would be a good idea,  If they’re the ones who gave us this job, it means there’s a reason for it.”

“What reason?” She asked, “They’re only going to get us in trouble if their fiancées find out we work in their fiancé’s company.”

“I know,”  she said calmly. “We just have to face whatever problem it may be. We’re not after them; we got an interview and got the job. Our aim is to focus and not get attached to them.”

“But what if they try getting attached to us?” She asked, 

“We’ll keep avoiding them,” Naomi replied firmly. “I don’t want to lose my job; it’s hard to find a high-paying job like this one. We’ve got to do all we can to not get close to them.”

“Okay,” Mia agreed, and they both took a gulp from their drinks.

    After hours of drinking and chatting, Mia and Naomi became tipsy, resting their heads on the table and playing with the empty bottle.

“Do you really think it’ll be easy to avoid them?” Naomi asked, her words slightly slurred.

“I don’t know,” Mia replied, smiling drunkenly. “Making eye contact with him alone gives me strange butterflies. And when he holds me in his arms or even smiles at me, it makes me forget my existence.”

“Me too,” Naomi said, her voice filled with longing. “I just wish we could have them to ourselves… but that’s not possible. We just have to keep our distance, even if it hurts. Soon enough, Alex will be fully married to his betrothed. I know it’ll hurt, but I’ll take my chances.”

“I just wish Nathan never agreed to get engaged to Princess Diva, I also wish he was all mine, but unfortunately, it can never be. We’re from different worlds, and our backgrounds say it all. He’s the governor’s son, and his fiancée is a princess. They’re compatible.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever find someone who makes my heart beat like Alex does,” Naomi said sadly. “It’s bad that we can’t always get what we want.”

They let out a deep sigh, and soon, they dozed off, the bar becoming empty except for the two of them sleeping.

The waitress approached to wake them up but was stopped by Alex and Nathan, who had just walked in.

“We’ll take it from here,” Alex said to the waitress.

“Do you know them?” she asked.

“Yes, don’t worry, we’ll take care of it,” Nathan replied.

The waitress nodded, cleared their table, and left. Alex and Nathan stared at the two women, looking tired.

“They’re wasted,” Nathan said, moving to Mia’s side and helping her up into his arms.

Alex did the same with Naomi, and they took their bags, leaving the hideout and heading to their car.

   The two men arrived at their cars and gently placed the ladies on the front seats, buckling them in.

“I’ll take her to her house,” Alex said.

“Um, okay, I won’t take Mia back to the palace,” he replied.

“Where will you take her, then?”

Nathan thought for a moment before a smile spread across his face. “My home.”

“Okay, talk to you tomorrow,” He said, and the two men shook hands, briefly hugging each other’s shoulders before getting into their cars.

With a roar of engines, they zoomed off into the night.

TBC