The Forbidden Fruit | TNN | MIA & SIOBHAN

Chapter Five. I See Behind Your Mask

Siobhan opens her eyes and looks to the passenger seat to see Mia sitting there holding a lighter in her hand.

She scoffs and shakes her head.
She doesn't want anything from the red head.

Mia nudges her slightly, still holding the lighter.
"Siobhan, I come in peace. Take the fucking lighter, I think we both need it at this point."

Siobhan at first says nothing, but she takes the lighter from Mia and sparks up before handing it back to allow Mia to light her cigarette.
After taking in a few draws and calming down slightly, she lets out a sigh.

"Where did my life go so fucking wrong Mia? I'm with a man who probably wishes I was dead, everyone hates me. And I'm sitting in my car at 10:00AM to get away from everyone."

Mia tries to reach out to Siobhan to place a hand on her thigh for comfort, only for the blonde to instantly smack her hand away.

"Do not fucking touch me. I'm happy for you to sit here, but don't put your hands on me."
She snaps.

Mia puts both her hands up defensively.
"Woah. Okay, okay.. cool it blondie. Remember when I said to you, you and I have more in common than you think? What if I told you I have been with a man for nearly 20 years through no choice of my own?"

Siobhan raises an eyebrow, from what she seen on the outside the red head and Reece seemed happy, so she's not entirely sure why Mia is telling her this.

She goes on to explain she was only with Reece to keep him on a short leash for his father, Roger hated his son, he also didn't like how close his children were, in his mind the two could and would turn on him at any time, so to avoid this from happening he recruited Mia when she was only 16 years old to control her son and break the siblings apart, in exchange for the whereabouts of her father who ran off with Roger's ex wife when Mia and Reece where only 13 years old.

To Siobhan, it still didn't make sense.
Why did Mia go through all this effort to try find her dad? Although Siobhan herself knew what it was like for a parent to walk out at a young age, her dad also leaving when she was a little girl leaving her with her estranged mother - she wanted to show the red head empathy.
But she couldn't.
It wasn't in her blood to do it.

But she listens to what Mia is telling her.

The red head then lets out a sigh before continuing.

"Do you know what it's like Siobhan? Having to be with a man you don't love? Especially when you're a lesbian. All I've wanted, all my life was to find my person. The one person I could call my own and love the way I have always wanted to love another person, but then again.. you know all too well what it's like to hide behind a mask, don't you?"

Siobhan's eyes widen.
Mia is a lesbian?
She can feel her throat filling up with bile.
She wanted to collapse into the woman's arms and tell her everything, that she was bisexual, that she was being abused, that she was scared.
But instead, Siobhan done what she done best.

She pushed and ran.

"You're gay? It all makes sense now. And what do you mean hiding behind a mask? I'm straight Mia. I have no desire to be close to a woman, infact the thought disgusts me. I think you should leave. Get out of my car."
She stated in a harsh, cold tone.

Mia tries to protest slightly, she knew she had a tendency to get under people's skin, but she knew there was something more deep with Siobhan.

"Siobhan.. I-"

The blonde instantly cuts her off.

"I said... get out of my fucking car, Amelia. You're a disgrace."
She spits.

Mia frowns and flicks her cigarette out the window.

"Fine. But just you remember Shibby, I see right behind that mask of yours. You might fool everyone else, but you don't fool me. And believe me when I say, Roger will find out. He knows everything."
She scoffs and exits the car and makes her way back into the nursery, as Siobhan watches her from her car.

She leans her head back, now she's alone she can stop the tears from flowing down her face.

Why am I like this?
Why can I not just be honest?
She thinks to herself.

She sits in her car for a further 30 minutes before looking in the mirror and fixing her hair and make up so no one questions her on her appearance and she makes sure no one can tell she's been crying.

Once inside, she enters the office and sits back at her computer, both Autumn and Marjorie barely acknowledge her presence, but they give each other a look.

A look that says they know she's been crying.
She tried her best to hide it, but they could still see the glassy look in her eyes.

Marjorie desperately wants to reach out to the blonde, in all the time the two women had worked together, Marjorie had tried to engage and build a friendship with the blonde, but much to her disappointment, Siobhan didn't want to know.

Autumn on the other hand, couldn't stand Siobhan.
As much as she hated her father, she knew Siobhan was only with him for his money, but what she didn't know, is that Siobhan was trapped with her father and she couldn't reach out for help, from anyone.

As Siobhan is deep in her paper work, she barely notices Mia enter the office to talk to Marjorie and Autumn, she pretends not to be paying attention, but she can't stop her gaze slowly making its way over to the red head.

She was so beautiful.
She snaps her self from that thought immediately and goes back to her paper work, before hearing Mia say she was calling it a day and making her way up to head office.

She stands for a few minutes, until Siobhan eventually lifts her head up as the two make eye contact.
Mia shoots Siobhan a flirtatious wink in the blondes direction.

"Shibby."
The says, with a smile then walks out the office to make her way to her car.

The wink sends Siobhan's spine cold and she can't stop herself.
She lets out a sigh at her desk and closes her eyes.

And it doesn't go unnoticed.

Marjorie turns to the blonde and raises an eyebrow.

"Siobhan, what was that all about?"