A few days after the incident in her apartment, Mia and Roman went jogging in his favorite park. It was the weekend, and though Roman didn't know the days of the week, he did know that on this day, his mother didn't leave him.
She jogged up and down the hill with the baby stroller. Then she went by the ducks to watch them.
Roman started cooing much louder than usual and when Mia looked up, Stone was bent down at the stroller. She moves it out of reach.
"Fuck! What are you doing here?" she is nervous and startled. Only because she couldn't get the incident out of her head. Mia had taken great pains to avoid her boss at every turn. Going so far as to temporarily move her things to the bottom of the building. They only communicated through company email. Frankly, she hadn't even seen him since. She missed him.
The thought made her cringe just a little.
"I saw y'all from the hill. I didn't think you'd get all pissy about it." he rolls his eyes and takes a seat on the bench. The warm cocoon returned.
"I'm not being pissy. I just, didn't expect to see you here. You don't live near here at all."
Stone is quiet. "I wanted to see Roman." He admits. "Is that a crime?"
Mia sighs before taking the baby out of the stroller to hand him over. She takes a sip of the special tea from Ms. Laveau. Suddenly her head starts spinning as she looked at Stone.
"I got this tatt when I was about, sixteen. My mom was a teacher before she met my pops and my nana was a songwriter, so I got a book with music notes around it." he shows her a tattoo on his bicep. Book with notes. Mia is sick.
Then he shows another. "I love lions. So. I got a lion with a crown on it. It's also a representation of my father, I always saw him as a king." Lion tattoo.
Mia stands and grabs Roman up. "He needs his nap. Come on, baby. Let's go. Say bye."
Roman is confused and so is Stone. He doesn't say anything but watches her walk away quickly. Something had disturbed her.
That night, Stone tossed and turned as well. Mia's tattoo was at the forefront all night. The outline of her lips on his neck, curve of her hips in his hands. And when he finally released inside of her, yess was squealed. Just how she says it in real life.
It was at that moment, Stone knew. They had to talk. And they had to talk now.
The next day at work, Stone is shocked to find out Mia had called out during the night. He takes it in stride.
At lunch, Stone pulls up at Mia's home. He sits on his car and thinks for a moment. Roman has green eyes, brown skin like himself and his mother, curly hair like him. But GREEN EYES.
Mia opens the door with her purse and a suit on. She flips her hair over her shoulder. Damn, Stone couldn't resist thinking.
"So, this is why you took off today?" he got her attention. Mia jumped. "We gotta talk, shawt."
"We will tomorrow. Right now, I'm already late for my college entrance interview. Excuse me." Her honesty catches him off guard.
"College entrance interview?"
"You said, if I got back in school, I can have the raise. Well, I'm trying to get back in school. But right now, you are in my way." She steps around him again and this time, he lets her go. He went back to the office and does another background check. And sure enough, she has an afternoon interview slot with the University of Denver Education Department.
He also looked at something else. Mia spent almost a month in jail when she was twenty years old on drug charges that were later dropped. And her lawyer was...Bryce Minnelli.
Stone rubbed his temples. How did he miss that?
So, he took off again. This time, to California. It had been a while anyway.
He lands and heads straight for Bryce's office at the Family Headquarters. "Do you remember a Mia Henderson?" he doesn't waste time.
Bryce looks up in confusion then he remembers. One of the rare criminal or drug cases he handled. Of course, he remembered. He pulls the file and reads over it.
"Hello to you too nephew." He smirks. "Yeah I remember Mia Henderson. Interesting case. Valedictorian outta high school, deans list every semester and got caught up, quite literally with the wrong kind of guy. Two am traffic stop and they found cocaine in her purse. I don't know nephew. It just didn't fit her. So I took the case."
"Why wouldn't it fit her?"
"Not an island girl from Sea Island, Carolinas. Nah...she looked like she should've been frying plaintains somewhere. Here on scholarship. But you slangin cocaine? Nah."
"I get your point."
"Yeah! I did what I could to get the charges dropped and whatnot but the school she was attending at the time kicked her outta school anyway. The charges should come off her record January 1st of next year." Bryce rubs his goatee. "Unless..."
"Say no mo unk. I know a man." Stone stands up and leaves.
The following Monday, Mia took two days off, Stone was partly irritated with their formal space. Although nothing had changed, everything had changed. He wanted Mia, flaws and all. But she gave every reason why he shouldn't want her, flaws and all.
He sighs and heads downstairs. He knew where she was. Stone steps off the elevator and he could hear loud laughter from the copy room.
"Then guh! The professor got the nerve to get mad at me when I pointed out the inconsistency in his syllabus. Do I really want this extra money!" Mia laughed loudly again. Stone walks in the room. "Guh let me call you back, this man done found me." Her islander accent is suddenly strong. She hangs up quickly.
"Oh nah, keep going." He teases her. Mia rolls her eyes.
"I know I sent you plenty to work on just a few minutes ago. Bye!" she stands up to push him out the door. Sparks shot up her spine. She immediately takes her hands off him.
"I'm the, as you say, boss here. I do what I want. And right now, I want to talk to you." He turns the chair around and straddles it. His green eyes dancing playfully at her.
"About what?"
"Yo background check... you spent time in jail over drug charges."
"That were dropped, and I moved on with my life." She holds her chin up in defiance.
"But you got kicked out of school. You're from the Carolina islands and yet you came all the way to California for school. Why?" he drilled her. Mia wanted to puff her lips up in anger, but she knew the day would come.
"Because, I don't know..." she twiddles her thumbs. "I wanted to be different than those on my home island. Then I got into a relationship with a bad person. But I didn't think he was bad...or I didn't want him to be bad. And I lost everything. My family disowned me, I lost my scholarship almost immediately and when I got out, I got on at a head start program on a wing and a prayer."
They were mowing through a bag of badly popped popcorn. "Aye, we need some wine!" she bends over in the refrigerator and pulls a bottle out.
"When the fuck-"
"When you become a parent, alcohol will become your best damn friend, my friend. So, tell me, what make Stone, Stone?" she pops the bottle open.
"My mom was a teacher and my dad was the CEO of our Family businesses when they met, or got reacquainted rather. She always stressed education. Which is why I wanted to do something with this dead space." He takes a drink. "My parents originally met at like eighteen and didn't reconnect until they were damn near thirty. I am thirty, me and my other siblings."
"So it's true, you really are a triplet?"
"Yup. Got a sister in Rome right now pursuing sculpting and all types of art shit. Autumn. She's the last of us. Then I have a brother and sister set of twins, they like two years or so younger than us."
"Oh nah, I wouldn't have even gave the twins a chance to get here. Fuck allat, I would've tied my shit after triplets. Tuh!"
"What about you?"
"Let's see, little known fact is, I was in labor with Roman for like a combined, thirty-two hours. And he had colic...it was rough. And now, he likes to fight bedtime so I'm guessing he's getting older. Thinking he runs my house. I told him I was gonna put him out, he rolls his eyes."
Stone rolls his. "He not going nowhere bruh." He pours himself some more. Her phone rings.
"Speaking of the little devil..." she shows him her screen. "Hey! Mommy's baby!" Roman is grinning all in the screen.
"Show ya mama what you did today!" Ms. Laveau coaches him. As if he understood her, the baby lays on his stomach and mimics a pushup. For the grand finale, he rolls over. Roman looks up for his mother's approval and was pleasantly shocked when he saw Stone in the screen instead. He started kicking his legs and babbling, clapping.
"Aww look at the lil dude. I'm so proud of you."
The baby's chest couldn't have been more poked than it was at that moment.
Mia hangs up the phone because it was nap time for him. Stone stands in front of her. Wine aside, Mia needed to feel something. And the constant warmth of the cocoon was driving her there.
Taking a chance, Stone kisses her. They lock eyes. Searching, wondering, hoping...
Stone held one ankle in one hand, rubbing her clit with the other. Heavy strokes and her moans could be heard. Her legs shook for the third time. Her lips parted. Stone kissed her again. Devoured her rather. His body had been searching for hers and there was no way he could back out now.
"Right there...ooh right there." He tapped her G-Spot. In a fit, right before her orgasm, she pulls him closer to her. biting his neck and sucking.
They come together.
And a tingle goes down her spine as she stared at the man. Her boss. But in some weird way, her best friend too.