TWENTY FOUR (Can you stop flirting?!)
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The following morning, a knock on their door woke Ethan up, it was Mrs Kenato.
"Good morning Ma'am." Ethan greeted,
"Oh Mr. Regal, I was hoping it would be your wife…"
"She's still asleep—"
"You both returned quite late yesterday, did you enjoy the tour?"
" Yes and honestly, Ito is a really…Good tour guide." He found himself saying.
"I will let Mr. Kenato know that. The Nakai-san will be here shortly to fold up the futon and serve you breakfast." She grinned,
"Okay Ma'am I'll let Mia know that immediately." He smiled politely.
"Good. Now, the reason I'm here is because I've specially planned something for you and the others of course…. To help you relax. Meet me at lobby with your wife by 10am."
----
"The spa! A couple's massage!" Mia mentally screamed as she walked in with Ethan and came face to face with two massage couches standing next to each other.
They were both led into different dressing rooms and handed a robe. Mia wanted to object, but unfortunately, the therapist didn't understand a thing she said. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to be lying naked next to Ethan and getting a massage.
"I didn't sign up for this, no I didn't." She mumbled as she paced back and forth in the tiny dressing room.
When she finally got into the robe, leaving only her panties on, she became quite nervous,
"I should have come with a bathing suit, it'll be weird to go back and get one, Ethan is your "husband" so what are you so scared of." She rubbed her palms together. She was still in a state of uncertainty when a knock landed on the door, sending her blood pressure above the ceiling.
Finally, she took a deep breath and told herself to just pretend he wasn't there.
When she came out, Ethan was already draped in a white sheet but he was facing the other way, which helped to ease Mia's tension a little. The same sex therapist also helped a lot, it was obvious Mia was very shy, but the therapist was also well trained in the art of draping, so things were a whole lot easier.
The massage began and both laid down there in silence like complete strangers. The silence was becoming long and awkward, considering the fact that they were supposed to be a couple.
Mia knew she had to do something, so she broke it first,
So how did your meeting go yesterday?" She asked without turning to his direction,
"What are you doing?" He asked stiffly,
"Starting a conversation?"
"Mind your own business." He muttered.
Mia chuckled,
"Did that sound funny to you?" He asked,
"No, it's just that I just recalled what Mrs Kenato told me yesterday, while you were away. She pulled me aside and asked if we had an arranged marriage."
Ethan smirked,
"Mr. Kenato asked the same thing."
"Do you now see a need for us to be on the same page?" Mia replied.
Ethan let out an exasperated sigh and the cold silence filled the room once again.
"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Ethan suddenly said out of nowhere. It was obvious to Mia that he had turned to her direction since his voice sounded closer and clearer. Her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
"Sure." She replied without turning.
"…Um, the other night when you said Noel enjoyed stargazing with me, did you really mean that?"
Mia finally turned and faced him, now they were facing each other.
"Off course I did. He told me himself."
Just then, his mushy face lit up and a beautiful smile escaped his lips.
Mia suddenly froze as she stared at him,
"What?" Ethan furrowed his brows.
"This is the first time you've actually smiled at me. You have such…A beautiful smile." She smiled back.
Just then, the smile disappeared and he turned the other way and muttered something under his breath.
"Mia?" He called without turning,
"Mm?"
"After this, would you like to…hang out, just the two of us?"
"Really?" Mia's face lit up,
"Mia, could you be more specific—"
"Yes!"
---
After the spa treatment, Ethan kept to his words. They got dressed and headed out. Outside, a chauffeur driven luxury SUV awaited them. They were just about to leave when Nicholas popped out of nowhere and decided to tag along. He said his wife Suzie wasn't feeling too well so she wanted to rest.
"…I'll just see the town, and then I'll get her some medicine…"
The entire ride was awkwardly silent; Ethan was evidently annoyed by Nicholas's presence. He even made efforts to lighten the mood, but that didn't work. Few minutes into Shibuya, the car suddenly came to a stop. The chauffeur immediately went to check the engine. Nicholas, being fluent in Japanese was able to communicate with the chauffeur to find out the problem.
"…We're going to be here for a while, he says he doesn't know why the car suddenly stopped, but he's called a mechanic." Nicholas told them.
"Right, it's obviously your bad luck." Ethan muttered inaudibly.
" We can't wait that long, who know long it's going to take a mechanic to get here, and besides, we're already here in Tokyo, we could just take a cab—"
"That's a great idea Mia." Nicholas smiled,
"Oh no you don't! I have never been in a cab and I'm not about to get into one right now!" Ethan declared,
Mia nearly laughed,
"You can't be serious, anyway, there's always a first time to everything right?" She smirked as she eventually halted a cab.
After little hesitance, Ethan finally got in and both men seemed really uncomfortable. Mia sat in between them. It felt like they were being squeezed.
The awkward silence continued till Nicholas broke it,
"…By the way Mia, the makeup you're wearing suits you well."
"Oh! You noticed?" She chuckled heartily as she pulled back a strand of hair behind her left ear.
"Yeah and the lipstick you're wearing, perfect choice." He grinned.
"Thank you." Mia blushed brightly,
"Yeah, are you two going on a date?" He suddenly asked,
Mia who was lost for words quickly turned to Ethan to seek a reply,
"Something like that." He said stiffly,
And just like that, the awkward silence crept back in,
"Hey Ethan!" Nicholas suddenly called,
"Do you have any good spots in mind, I know a place or two. You could try that Beer shaped tower in Asakusa, I hear there's a really cool restaurant at the top there—"
"Thank you Neil for your unwanted suggestions, but I think we're perfectly fine."
"…It's Nick as in Nicholas." He gently corrected.
After showing the driver a location on his phone, the trio pulled up in front of an amusement park.
"Oh. Tokyo Dome City Attractions." Mia said dryly, "It's an amusement park." She added,
"…It wasn't an amusement park when I searched online." He mumbled as he checked his phone, he suddenly realized he had shown the driver the wrong photo.
"….I was supposed to come here with Noel." He murmured.
"Well, since we're here now, we might as well check it out." Mia grinned, "Now, don't tell me you've never been to a park, by the way, what do you think about the cab ride—"
"I've been to several parks, Mia. And the taxi was…uncomfortable." He replied in a neutral tone.
"You guys talk like you know nothing about each other, never been a cab, never gone to a park—"
"Let me just stop you right there, I said I've been to SEVERAL parks!" Ethan emphasized,
"And psychology says it takes at least four years to fully know your partner." Mia said,
"Are you a psychologist?" Nicholas asked,
"No?—"
"But haven't you guys been married for like what? six, seven years, your son…He's turning seven soon—
"
"And your point exactly?" Ethan retorted,
"Isn't that enough time to have known these things, hell these are simple things you find out on a date…"
"This guy is starting to get on my nerves." Ethan whispered while gritting his teeth,
"Relax; he's just a really curious man." Mia whispered back,
"Well Mr. Lim, to answer your question, I came from a very prestigious family in…A-City, I only moved to B-City to find something worth my time, find myself and see the world, I wanted to go in a cab, go on adventures, run under the rain, just be a free young woman with no rules and it paid off. Do you know I was 18 when I had my first cab ride? After Ethan and I met, I guess I got kind of carried away, then I got pregnant then we decided to get married, then my father passed so I had to go back to A-City to manage the business for a while till my brother was old enough to manage it, and in between those years, our son grew and there was no time for knowing—"
"Okay, that's enough Mia, I think he gets it." Ethan coldly interrupted,
"I'm really sorry Mia, I…I really didn't mean to impose, if I had known, I wouldn't have stuffs like that, I'm sorry." He apologized,
"It's fine." Mia sniffled as she cleaned fake tears from the corner of her eyes, "They grow up so fast don't they." Mia chuckled,
"We should go in." Ethan said before walking away.
"Hey! An apology would do for bringing us to the wrong place—"
"It wasn't my fault." He replied in a neutral tone.
"Yes, off course. It wasn't." She smirked,
"By the way, where do you get all these wild stories from, movies?" Ethan suddenly asked as Nicholas walked ahead of them,
"Off course!" She smirked, "I'm an actress remember?—"
" A phony actress." He completed.
There were lots of rides to try, from carousel, water slide, sky flower, Ferris wheels to roller coasters.
"Oh! I'd really love to try the carousel." Mia announced,
"What are you, seven?" Ethan snapped as they walked past the busy crowd.
"How about the roller coaster then?" She smirked,
"Aren't scared of dying, those things malfunction all the time." Ethan replied,
"So I'm guessing you're scared of rides—"
"I'm not scared of anything Mia, I'm a grown man remember?!"
"Don't worry Mia, I'll join you on the ride since he's too scared—"
"Hey Nick!—"
"You finally got my name right—"
"Can you stop flirting?"