At the sound of the door slamming against the wall the pair looked up, Hunter's gaze that had been pointed heatedly up at Andrea now locked on Mia's stunned platinum stare and his face dropped.
But Mia didn't even wait a beat before she closed the door behind her just as quickly as she had opened it, and raced back down the stairs. She needed to get out of there right away.
Her emotions were begging to explode but she kept them at bay, however she couldn't hold back the bile that was quickly rising up her throat.
She lunged towards the kitchen sink and threw up.
"Oh my God Mia," she heard the sound of Mac's voice behind her followed by cold fingers gathering her curls at the back of her neck as she coughed into the sink. She groaned and switched on the tap to wash away her sick and rinse her mouth.
"What happened?" Mac moved to stand before her and tilted up her chin when she was done. Her chin wobbled at the concern in his eyes and she couldn't hold back as a few tears slipped down her cheeks,
"Take me home please," she whispered desperately, just as the sound of her name being shouted came from the living room.
Hunter was looking for her and he was the last person she wanted to see just then. Mac also turned at the sound of her name, and without missing a beat grabbed her hand and quickly dragged her out the kitchen and towards the front door easily putting two and two together.
With her free hand Mia had snagged an unopened bottle of tequila from the kitchen counter and turned briefly to catch a flash of Hunter's dirty blonde hair enter the kitchen just as Mac had dragged her out and through the front door.
They made it to Mac's 488 Spider and as they pulled onto the road Mia let every emotion, her anger, betrayal, hurt and even love pour out into a cacophony of tears and swigs of tequila, which Mac remained concerned yet silent throughout, and once he had dropped her off and asked her for the hundredth time if he should stay the night or call Minnie, both to which she said no, she dragged herself dejectedly up to her bedroom and cried herself to sleep.
••••••••••••••••
Saturday morning started with crusty eyes and a mild hangover, followed by a flood of emotional backlash from the previous night.
Mia had left Rose, their housekeeper, with the task of making sure Hunter wasn't let in the house, which Rose received with a confused frown having never heard such a notion before.
Rose also was unaware that she would be the one to deal with delivering the dozens of packaged cupcakes and brownies and flower boxes that Hunter had left at their front door that morning. Mia had locked herself in her room so they remained stacked up by her door.
It was only after the sun ripened to a rich gold, and the city lights began to stand out against the dimming skyline that Mia quietly unlocked her door and peered down at the pile of gifts. It was mostly food, and though Hunter had no expectations that she'd eat any of it, he had wanted her to see the individual "Im sorry's" that had been iced on every dessert and hopefully make her smile even slightly.
She didn't.
Instead she closed the door and flopped back onto her bed with a sigh. She had taken the whole day to come to terms with what she was feeling and now the reality of her life was hitting her.
She now knew that she had feelings for her best friend who she'd known for 15 years. She had also come to terms with the possibility that she had known this for a long time but had subconsciously buried it because, like Ryan and Minnie, she wasn't convinced that Hunter felt that way about her.
Hell, who was she kidding she'd seen him fall for a girl just last year, even though it ended in a disaster of scandals and rumors after a record of just three weeks.
At that moment her stomach growled in indignation, she hadn't eaten anything since the day before and even then she probably threw up all of it last night.
Hesitantly she got up and opened her door again, this time reaching for a box of brownies which she took back to her bed and proceeded to nibble on as she switched her phone back on for the first time in 24 hours. She had 20 messages from Minnie, five from Mac, six from Ry and 46 from Hunter, she didn't have the energy to open them and scanned over other unopened messages from more distant friends and stopped when she saw her mother's name in her inbox, immediately opening the message when she saw "dad" in the preview.
Mum: Your Dad's coming back tomorrow for an exhibition/ cocktail party at the hotel. Your friends are already on the guest list. Order something new to wear. I'll be back tonight x
Mia looked up from her phone screen and frowned. Why couldn't he have told her himself? Would it kill him to take a moment from his busy schedule and call his youngest daughter? She shook her head and scoffed, not letting the emotions settle in before she quickly typed in Miles' name till it appeared in her contacts list. Already making up her mind she typed out her message rapidly.
Mia: Sorry I disappeared last night I needed some time alone. Anyways, my Dad is in town and hosting a party tomorrow night do you want to come as my plus one?
She bit her lip in apprehension, trying to dispel the twinge of guilt that she was officially using him as a distraction now that she knew what her heart really wanted. But the vibration of her phone brought her eyes back down to the screen.
Miles T: I'll be there, can't wait to see you ;)
Mia texted back a quick reply then another reply to her Mum and Minnie before shutting off her phone and opening her Mac, already feeling her sadness being slowly replaced by the exciting prospect of seeing her dad and ordering a new dress that would hopefully knock Miles right off his feet.
YOU ARE READING
Unlocking Desire (18+ only)
Romance(The contents of this story are only suitable for readers over 18, read at your own risk) In Mia Romano's life, everything had to stay normal, because normal was sure, normal could be trusted. That meant her parents hating each other, finishing high...
