"Happy birthday Nat" Anton said with a wide smile immediately she stepped into the kitchen.
Mia looked at him like he was not in his right state of mind.
"Huh?"
Anton got a bit confused.
"Happy birthday Nat... I mean its your birthday right?"
It then dawned on her.
Nat.
Natasha.
Natasha Donald.
Fake identity.
Oh! But how did he know?
"Yes it is. Thank you sir" she gave a small smile to lighten the atmosphere.
"You know, you look beautiful when you smile"
Mia didn't know how to react to that, so she stayed quiet.
"You don't have to work today because its your birthday"
"But..."
"I'll prepare the food"
"But you're my boss, you pay me to work" she stated
"And I don't want you to work today"
"But..."
"I'm your boss remember"
Mia sighed then succumbed. She was tired of the bickering.
Anton was all smiles as he set the pancakes on the table.
"Birthday breakfast is ready"
Mia watched him with mixed feelings.
'Why was he like this?'
She hated him - or so she thought - but he was so nice and caring to her.
A question fell into her mind;
'Why is he so nice to me when I'm always so cold to him?'
She went through all the time she'd spent there and was sure that she'd been nothing but cold towards him but he never repaid her the same way.
Could it be that he knew why she was here and was trying to please her so she wouldn't kill him?
No, she didn't think so. If he knew, then he might have had her arrested.
But if her thoughts was correct, then he was totally joking, she would not only...
She felt a warm hand on her cheek and snapped back to reality.
"Natasha?" Anton called softly, a flicker of worry in his eyes.
"I called your name repeatedly but you just blanked out and I got scared"
Mia wanted to answer but didn't know what to say; he was too close to her. Anton noticed how uncomfortable she was and withdrew his hand and went to sit down on the chair opposite her.
"This blanking out... thing...is it like a health issue or something? because this isn't the first time its happening"
"Its not a health problem, I was just deep in thought"
"Is there a problem?"
"No"
"I can help" he offered.
"There is no problem sir"
"Okay, if you say so. Then lets get started with this food before it gets cold"
They began eating and Anton defiled the laws of table manners -as usual - as he started a conversation.
"So what do you want to do for your birthday?"
"Be alone"
"Huh?" He asked through the mouthful of pancakes.
"I usually like to stay alone on my birthday. And if I may ask Mr Hugh, why do you want to treat me for my birthday? I'm just your employee" she had it in her head and just had to voice it out.
"You are my employee and you've carried out your job well that's why I'm treating you, and I haven't forgotten how you saved me from Mr Jones' plan"
"Hmmm" Mia nodded not knowing what to say.
"So what do you want to do for your birthday?" He repeated
"Do you want to go shopping?"
"I don't think I want to"
"Do you want a party?"
"No thank you sir"
"You'll have to pick something or I won't stop asking"
"Aren't you going to work today sir?" She asked hopefully.
"No Nat, I'm not. You can't get rid of me easily. I have to give you something to show my appreciation whether you like it or not"
Mia concluded that he was really a stubborn person as she sighed inwardly.
"So what do you want?"
"I'm really out of ideas as to what I want"
"What do you say for a car ride or a helicopter ride?"
"A car ride sounds good to me but do I get to pick the car?"
"Yes"
"Then okay"
***
Mia had always wanted to ride in a BMW but hadn't gotten the chance.
When she had seen it in his garage before she felt like jumping in and taking a death ride but she couldn't.
She opened the door and sat at the driver's seat a beam of satisfaction engulfing her. She was about to get crazy when Anton slipped in, reminding her that she wasn't alone and that she had to be 'not crazy'.
"So where are we going?" Anton asked as he put on his seat belt.
"I don't know, around...?"
"Okay"
She pulled out of the garage, out of the gate and into the road.
Anton looked at the lady beside him with her all black outfit.
He had asked her to dress up a little since its her birthday but...
Mia didn't have any girly clothes, which wasn't a surprise, to her this clothes were a bit feminine.
She was wearing a black baggy leather pants, a black tank top and a leather jacket topped up with a black canvas. Her hair was also let loose.
She put up the GPS reciever and began navigating the road.
Mia started the ride slowly, then sped up; she was feeling the car.
"Hey slow down, I don't want to die now and I don't think you want to"
She looked at him with an unknown expression written on her face.
'What does he think he knows about me?' She thought.
Literally speaking, she would have jumped off a cliff a long time ago but she had one last mission here on earth...
"Did I say something wrong?" He asked bothered by the way she was looking at him.
"I don't think so" she spoke as she reduced the cars speed a little.
"Okay."
"Lest I forget Mr Hugh, you should really improve the security around you. You can't go out without security, you're putting your life at risk" she didn't have the slightest idea why she would suggest such a thing, she had it in mind though but had never wanted to let it out.
"I have security Nat, but I don't like feeling choked going everywhere with them so close to me but there are always aware of my location and where I'm headed to, one flash of my name on their device's screen and they'll be where I am in a minute"
"Then why didn't they come to your rescue two days ago?"
"I was unconscious and when I woke up my phone wasn't close by."
"That's the reason I said you should improve your security"
"Do you mean I should get a bodyguard?"
"I don't know"
Mia gripped the wheel tightly seeing the conversation going the wrong way.
If he got a bodyguard, then her plan might become more difficult.
"Robert suggested that a thousand times and since you've also suggested it, I think that it's high time I did, hopefully it won't be as bad as the first two"
"You don't necessarily need to get a bodyguard, just improve your security system, that would do"
"What do you suggest?"
"Well you could have a car or two trailing your movement, a tracker ...."
Anton watched as her mouth moved up and down as she spoke. No doubt this was the first time she spoke this much since he'd met her; it was oddly intriguing.
"I'll talk to my Chief Security Officer about it then"
"Okay"
"Can I open the sun roof?"
"Of course, it's your ride"
She opened it up and a soft breeze poured in, blowing her hair in her face.
Before Mia could react, Anton without thinking leaned forward and tucked her hair behind her ear.
Shocked at his brazenness, Mia turned to look at him, their faces so close to each other. She didn't know how she felt at the moment but she definitely knew that her heart was beating faster than usual.
Anton on the other hand, was mesmerized at how beautiful she looked from up close. He kept staring into her black attractive iris but he saw something unpleasant in them, something like pain, hurt, anger, sorrow, loneliness but he wasn't sure. He felt an urge to touch her face and despite knowing that they might be consequences, he still wanted to try.
As he was about lifting his hand to make a move, a sudden loud sound came from underneath the car which brought them back to reality.
From the sound Mia could guess that a tyre had bursted and she knew it was one on her side.
The car swerved uncontrollably on the road. Mia tried her best to bring the car to a stop whilst staying calm but it kept tossing them around causing Mia's head out hit the car's window glass with a bang.
Anton quickly reached out to her, he held her head and pulled her to his chest.
Taking control of the steering wheel, he tried to get the car in control.
Gradually and patiently, the car slowed down and eventually stopped on the side walk.
Anton breathed in relief; that was really close.
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked as she shifted uncomfortably. She was really uncomfortable with the way they were sitting.
There had been no time to change seats, so she was smooshed on the driver's door side.
"I guess." Truthfully, she thought they wouldn't survive it. "Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine" he said as their eyes locked.
Mia eventually looked away and stepped out of the car, he also did same.
Mia looked at the bursted tyre which was now completely flat on the ground and sighed.
"What do we do now?"
"There should be a spare tyre in the boot" He said as he opened the boot but to his surprise they was no tyre in it.
"Damn it" he cursed and slammed the boot shut.
No doubt this was the first time he used a curse word in a long while and also the first time Mia heard him curse.
"I pay people to keep my cars in order and they isn't a tyre in here" he hit the boot again and leaned back on it.
"What do we do now?" Mia asked unsteadily, this was the first time she saw him angry.
"I'll call my driver and tell him to bring another car"
"Okay" she said looking anywhere but him.
"There's no signal around here" Anton said after a few seconds "Does your phone have a signal?"
"I'm not not with my phone right now. It's in my room"
"Why on earth would you leave your phone behind?" He asked a bit perplexed.
"I just didn't feel like taking it with me"
Anton looked at her in awe, for a 21st century lady, she was weird.
Maybe Robert was right, she is a weirdo.
He looked at their surroundings and saw that they were only surrounded by tall trees on both sides. He sighed.
He made use of this road once in a while. It was rarely used road so it was dead empty at the moment.
At the end of the road was a large shopping mall and also the highway. Trekking that distance would take approximately thirty minutes. He could trek that but wasn't in the mood for exercise right now.
He sighed inwardly.
'We are stuck here' he thought.
'Hey, we are stuck here.... together' he thought and grinned a bit nastily.
"Nat,we have no other choice than to walk down to the highway ahead"
"Okay. How far is it?"
"Its about a thirty minutes walk I guess"
"Alright then, lets head on but what are we going to do about this" she asked referring to the car.
"If we manage to get network reception, I'll call someone to pick it up."
He locked the car and they started the walk.
Two minutes into it, Anton stumbled on his own feet.
"Jesus Christ" he called as he fell down on his chest.
Mia looked at him strangely, making no effort to help him up.
Anton turn around and sat up, he was embarrassed and the way she was looking at him didn't make it any better.
"Would it kill you to lend a hand?" Anton asked slightly annoyed at her attitude.
In response, she stretched her hand towards him to help him up. He held it and pushed himself up.
"Thanks" he said almost inaudibly as he began brushing off the dust from his body with his hands.
Mia kept looking at him that same way; strangely.
As Anton lifted his head, his eyes locked with hers and he stared back puzzled.
'She has never been one to look at me, so now what?' Anton thought.
"Is there a problem?"
"Are you a Christian?"
He stared at her intently now, 'where did that come from?'
"Where did that question come from?"
"I'm just curious"
"Well I was one before, but not anymore. What about you?"
"Same" He was somewhat surprised when she said this, because not in his wildest imagination would he have ever imagined that a lady like her was ever a Christian.
"Can I ask why you changed?" Mia asked, her voice laced with curiosity.
"I don't think I want to talk about it. Do you want to talk about yours?"
"I don't also think I want to talk about it"
"Then I guess we're even. Why did you ask in the first place?"
She shrugged a bit.
"Then let's head on" he said as soon as he was done brushing the dirt off his body.
They walked quietly unlike Anton's original plan, each in their own thoughts as to the topic she raised.
Soon enough, they were at the end of the road. They was the large shopping mall that Anton knew was there, it was one which belonged to his late mom.
He looked at his phone and then at Mia, "There's still no signal. How about we go into this mall and see if we could get a signal or at least use any of their phones."
"You go, I'll wait"
"Don't be stubborn on your birthday Nat" Anton urged.
"I don't want to sir"
"You are dearly stubborn" he let out a small laugh after that comment.
Mia felt drawn to him as she watched him laugh. His laughter was attractive.
"Let's go Nat" he held her hand and led her in.
Mia wanted to remove her hand from his but couldn't bring herself to. She wanted to but couldn't and instead of feeling angry about it she felt a certain feeling that she couldn't quite lay her finger on but she knew that this was a new feeling.
"Mr Hugh" the receptionist called with excitement as she quickly rushed from behind the counter and crashed on Anton in a hug.
Anton hugged her back with a hand and held on tightly to Mia with the other.
"Hey Miley, how are you doing?"
"I'm good. It's been a while since we last saw you here, you know?"
"I know and I'm sorry, but I've been very busy"
"Hmmm ...And who is this pretty lady we have here?"
"She's my...new friend" Anton said after much deliberation.
Mia was about to make a correction to the way Anton addressed her but felt a gentle squeeze on her hand. She looked up and saw his pleading eyes, begging her not to say anything.
She wanted to screw all that and just tell her but it felt like her mouth wasn't hers.
That wasn't her concern at the moment.
The feelings...
New but weird emotions just flowing and she couldn't say what it was but she knew one thing for sure, it was not a good feeling.
How could such a feeling be good?
A feeling with constrain, tingle, a frantically beating heart...could that be of any good?
She pulled her hand from his and looked at the receptionist to listen to what she wanted to say.
"New friend huh? I don't believe you because it looks more than that to me but I'll let it pass"
"So what brings you here?" She asked as she went back behind the counter.
"Just a little shopping"
"Okay let me get someone to help you with it"
"No, we're fine"
Mia looked at Miley with a thought in mind, 'who is she?'
"Let's go" Anton said as he led the way into the ladies clothing section.
"Why are we in the ladies section?"
"Why else? It's your birthday so shop all you want"
"I'm sorry sir but I can't accept that. And I thought you wanted to use their phone"
"Well I will, but while we are here, we can at least make it useful"
"I still do not accept your offer sir"
Anton massaged his temples with his fingers, his eyes closed.
This lady was a hell of work. No doubt she was the first of her kind he'd ever seen.
"If you're not going to do it, I'll do it for you"
"Mr Hugh..."
"Make a choice Nat"
She stood deliberating.
"Fine then" Anton said and wanted to start shopping when she said,
"I'll do it myself"
As Mia passed by the clothes she didn't give a second glance at them. They were so not for her.
It was either too short, too tight, too exposing or too feminine.
Her eye caught a complete clothing on a mannequin; it was a black cargo pants, a black extra large shirt with a picture of a lady sitting on a roof and a black baseball cap.
"I want this"
Anton sighed inwardly as he called the help of a saleslady.
She was almost wearing the same thing and she still chose another like it.
She picked another clothing of the same nature and declared to Anton that she done. He didn't make a fuss about it but went to the counter to pay.
While at it, his phone finally got a signal and he placed a call across to his driver. He told him their location and he was on his way already.
The driver informed that he'll be arriving in the next two minutes so Anton bid Miley goodbye, promising to visit often and stepped outside with Mia.
"The weather is a bit friendly, don't you think?"
"I guess it..." She quickly encircled him in a hug and forced her weight to push him down. Just immediately, a bullet flew, narrowly missing her ear and hit the glass revolving door, shattering it.