Illicit Affair -Raghavi

Chapter 20

Miles

I barely step into the kitchen when I hear a knock followed by Mia's voice, "Sam, come out already."

Curious, I follow the sound of her voice to my office corridor.

From inside, Sam shouts back, "Ten minutes!"

Mia rolls her eyes, leaning against the doorframe. "That's what you said ten minutes ago." she mutters, clearly annoyed.

I can't help but notice how cute she looks when she's annoyed. Wait—why am I thinking that?

"What's going on?" I ask, stepping closer.

Mia straightens up the moment she sees me, like she's been caught off guard. "Um...Sam's taking forever in the shower." she explains.

I nod slightly, thinking it over. I hesitate for a moment but then offer, "You could use my shower if you want."

She blinks, and I notice her cheeks flushing slightly. "No, it's fine. I can wait." she replies quickly, probably feeling awkward.

"Seriously, you can. We both know Sam's not coming out anytime soon." I insist, hoping to ease the tension.

She hesitates, then nods. "Okay."

"Fresh towels are in the cabinet under the sink." I add as she starts to leave toward my room.

"Thank you." she says softly before disappearing out of the hallway.

I linger for a second, watching her retreat, then shake my head and return to the kitchen. What was that? I don't know what's been up with me lately, but it's like every time Mia's around, I can't think straight. I need to snap out of it.

Pushing those thoughts aside, I grab a pan and place it on the stove. I figure everyone will be hungry soon, especially since we didn't have dinner last night. As I crack some eggs into a bowl, the sound of footsteps catches my attention.

"Good morning!" Audrey's sleepy voice greets me as she walks into the kitchen.

"Morning!" I reply, whisking the eggs and glancing over at her. She looks like she just rolled out of bed.

"I'm gonna take a shower." she mumbles, yawning as she heads toward the guest bathroom which Sam has occupied from the last thirty minutes.

I smirk. "Good luck getting Sam out of there."

She groans, knowing getting Sam out of the bathroom will be close to impossible.

I laugh softly and turn back to the stove, trying to focus on preparing breakfast, but my mind keeps drifting to how Mia's cheeks flushed —stop. I shake my head, trying to focus on the task at hand. But still I can't stop thinking about the fact that Mia's in my shower right now, probably standing where I stood this morning. I immediately push that thought away, mentally cursing myself. Why the hell is my mind fucking with me?

Just then, Audrey reappears in the kitchen. "I give up." She says with a sign, throwing herself onto one of the stools in front of the island counter.

I smirk at her. "Told you."

"Can I use your bathroom? Please." Audrey says, looking defeated.

"I would've said yes but Mia is already using it." I reply.

She groans, resting her chin on the countertop like she's accepted her fate.

In the meantime, Audrey and I have breakfast.

After about thirty minutes both Sam and Mia are sitting on the stools while Audrey has finally went to shower. I serve both Sam and Mia scrambled eggs and toast with coffee.

After serving them scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee, I start tidying up the kitchen. I overhear their conversation as I wipe down the counter.

"Do you know, back in my country we actually eat toast dipped in tea." Mia explains, biting into a piece of toast.

"Really! Does that taste good?" Sam asks, intrigued.

"Yes." Mia replies casually.

Sam takes a sip of her coffee, then her eyes widen as she looks Mia up and down. "Wait, how are you wearing fresh clothes?" she exclaims, a mix of surprise and confusion in her voice.

And that's when I also realise Mia is wearing different clothes than last night.

"I always carry change of clothes in my bag, mostly when I'm going on long trips." She answers innocently.

"You are weird, Mia." Sam says, still in mild shock.

"Thank You!" Mia replies with a playful grin.

I turn around, facing the opposite direction to hide my smile. Mia's weirdness—it's not really weird at all. If anything, it's... kind of cute. And there I go thinking about her again.

But before I can dwell on that, my phone rings. I glance at the screen—Chloe Harrington is calling.

I quickly grab the phone from the counter and put it to my ear regretfully. Let's just say I don't really want to begin my morning with a conversation with Chloe.

"Hi! Good morning, Miles." Chloe greets cheerfully.

"Hello!" I greet her back with a sharp tone.

"What do you want?" I ask.

"I just called to ask you if you were going to pick me up for our date today." Chloe says, the cheeriness in her tone still intact.

Shit! I totally forgot I had a date planned with her today. My father forcefully pushed me to ask her on a date.

"Tu ne peux pas venir toute seule?" I ask. (Translation: Can't you come by yourself?)

I switched to French on purpose, hoping to keep this from Sam... and Mia.

"Oh! We're speaking French now. Je sais que ton père t'a dit de m'inviter à un rendez-vous, mais maintenant qu'on ne peut plus changer ça, fais au moins semblant." She says, the cheeriness in her tone replaced by annoyance. (Translation: I know your daddy told you to ask me on a date, but now we can't change that, so at least play along.")

"Je viendrai te chercher à sept heures. Pile. Salut!" I say sharply, utterly defeated. (Translation: I'll come pick you up at seven. Sharp. Bye!)

I take a deep breath and sigh.

"Pick who up?" Sam's voice cuts in from behind me.

I turn around in shock.

"How do you know?" I ask Sam.

From what I know, Sam doesn't speak or understand French. Then how does she know? It can't be a wild guess. Audrey, the only person who other than me speaks French in this apartment right now, is still in the bathroom, and I don't see any translator around. So how does Sam know? Unless... Mia can speak French. I glance at her and there it is...guilt, clearly visible in her brown eyes.