FORTY FOUR ( Apology accepted)

"Mia look, I know I really upset you in Japan, I should have at least given you a head start instead of doing things like that, and I know no amount of gifts or cash can fix that, so this is the only option I've got, to make things right. So my apologies, but until you accept my apology, then we're not leaving this spot." He told her firmly, the honking continued as the queue got longer but Ethan didn't seem to care.

"Are you insane! We could get in trouble for this!" Mia found herself saying as she panicked,

"I don't mind—"

"Why do you even care, just drive!" She said almost yelling,

"You haven't accepted my apology yet." He retorted,

Mia anxiously bit her lips as looked behind and saw a driver alight from car, immediately sending a sense of urgency to her, so she quickly turned back to Ethan's whose eyes where fixed on the road and told him,

"Okay! Alright! Fine! Apology accepted! Now drive!"

A triumphant smile appeared on his face as he stepped on the gas and sped off. Mia slumped into the seat and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Hey!" She snapped as she turned to him,

"What kind of stunt is that, it's like taking a woman who can't swim to the ocean and asking her to marry you or jump off your boat." She angrily told him, but all he did was chuckle lightly.

"I'm just glad you've accepted my apology, I had sleepless nights worrying about this." He smiled,

"Really?" Mia asked and Ethan gently nodded.

Her cheeks turned rosy red as she blushed, she was tempted to question him even more, but she quickly reminded herself that he had someone and was probably just being considerate, but then she couldn't stop herself,

"You showed up with your celebrity girlfriend the other day, aren't you worried about getting spotted in public with another person?"

"I do what I want, Mia Anderson."

Glancing at his wristwatch, stepped on the brakes and the turned the car around.

"Wh...What in God's name are you doing?" Mia stuttered,

"Well now that all that has been done, I have a date scheduled with Miss Shao."

"Oh…" Mia replied dryly as she looked the other way, suddenly she turned to him and blurted,

"Are you two timing?!"

Ethan scoffed,

"Two timing? With who? Whatever gave you that idea?"

"I'm sorry…That came out wrong." She murmured,

And after that, the car was filled with a cold awkward silence till he dropped Mia off.

A frustrated Mia returned to her apartment and let out a loud scream,

"Ethan Regal! Stop messing with my head!" Goddamn it!"

And just then, she received a text from him, it read,

"Noel's birthday party's tomorrow, he wants you there."

"You freaking son of a!"

--

On Christmas day, Mia made her way to the Granite Spring Mansion. It was a small indoor party with not a lot of children but a greater number of adults.

As she glanced around at the décor, Noel ran up to her from nowhere and gave her legs a tight hug.

"Miss Anderson! You came!" He exclaimed excitedly,

"Awn…" Mia cooed as she crotched down to his level,

"Off course I did, I wouldn't miss it for the world." She smiled as she ruffled his hair

"… Merry Christmas….And happy birthday Little Man." She smiled as she handed him a small gift bag.

"You got me something, what is it?" He asked curiously.

But before he had the chance to open it, someone suddenly snatched it out of his hands. Mia got on her feet to face them, while Noel turned to see who it was. To their greatest surprise, it was Kimberly Shao.

There she stood in all glory looking like a goddess from the sun, her hair was tied up in a high pony and her stern looking but beautiful face plastered with makeup. Even in her demin jeans skirt, oversized ugly Christmas sweater and knee high boots, she still looked gorgeous.

"Noel, what in God's name are you doing here, your friends are waiting for you." She said in a rather high pitched concerned voice as she casually tossed the gift bag to a passing butler. Turning to Mia, she said,

"You must be the part-time maid from the other day….Aren't you supposed to be serving or cleaning or something." She told her plainly,

"Part time maid?" Mia thought, "He must have told her I was a maid—"

"Excuse me." Kim interrupted,

"In case you're lost, your people are at other side of the kitchen. C'mon." She said as she turned to Noel, she gently nudged his shoulders as they walked away.

As they did, Mia could hear her say,

"…You shouldn't associate yourself with such people, she's just a common maid…Make sure to wash your hands before you touch anything okay?" And that broke Mia into tiny pieces.

She couldn't control her emotions so she ran to the nearest bathroom and stared at the mirror till those painful tears flowed from her eyes.

"…Few years ago, never would I have thought I'd someday be addressed as a maid." She croaked to herself in front of `the mirror.

"…Yesterday was your death anniversary…Today is Leila's…" She chuckled painfully, "And here I am…Playing maid to a selfish jerk!" She snapped as she broke down in tears and stayed

"…I can't do this anymore, I'm so tired." She cried "Mom…Dad I wish you were still here." She sniffed as she cleaned her face and smiled painfully.

"Merry Christmas Mom and Dad….Merry Christmas Leila and happy birthday too."