For those who are wondering why I'm asking for Daisuke's last name, it's because his sister, Jun, is in this story…don't worry, coz her character here is not the crazy, obsessed fan that's always chasing Matt…though she can be a bit annoying in here.
Janay, Tierra, & Anarchy and Blood – thanks a lot! You've been a great help! Keep R&R! Dark's Assassin – your name's so wicked! See ya around!
Chapter Four
Mimi pushed the high chairs aside & sat down at the dining room table with her papers. Though she didn't try to memorize the details of every transaction, she learned a long time ago that being able to explain each number, what it meant, & how it was calculated was almost certain to make the closing proceed more smoothly.
She flipped through the document & tried to page back to make a comparison, only to find the first sheet stuck on the table. How on earth, she wondered, had Nikko & Ella managed to spread their lunchtime applesauce on the table without her noticing?
Matt came back inside as she was prying the page loose. "Thanks for moving the seats," Mimi said. "I'm always afraid I won't get them in right."
"I didn't move them, I'll just take your car tonight & we'll swap back in the morning at Warrington. Got a scrap of paper?"
"What? You're taking my car?"
Matt shrugged. "I looked at the back seat & decided it's easier to move my tools than the safety seats. See you at Ms. Motomiya's in the morning." He scrawled an address at a scrap paper, dropped his key on the table, & was gone before she could say anything more.
"Nice guy," Mimi muttered. "He just drives off in my car without even asking whether I mind."
But the longer she thought about it, the more relieved she felt. Matt might be tempted to leave her stranded with two babies, but she was absolutely certain that he would never abandon her while she had possession of is SUV.
Matt caught himself checking his watch again. If Mimi was going to make it downtown on time, she'd better get her cute little tush…and his SUV…into gear. What was holding her up anyway, heavy traffic? Maybe he should have gotten those seats into the back of her car instead of expecting her to drive his. She wasn't used to a big vehicle…he knew that for a fact because he had to fold himself up to fit behind the wheel of her little BMW. After a couple of minutes, he saw his SUV pulling cautiously off the street. About time she showed up. Relieved, he walked down to meet her.
Mimi rolled the window down & leaned out. She was already wearing her standard-issue dark-blue jacket, with her engraved name badge clipped on the lapel. Her hair was in a knot held together with what looked to Matt like chopsticks. The sunlight made it look more auburn than it's usual brown, and the breeze caught a strand & whipped it around her face. She tucked it impatiently behind her ear.
"You're running late," Matt said. "I thought you might have had trouble finding the place."
She looked indignant. "For your information, I know every address in Warrington. I've sold a good number of these houses. In fact, see the one across the street? I've sold that one twice."
Matt couldn't resist asking. "Why? Weren't the first buyers happy with it after all?" He enjoyed watching her sputter for a few moments. "You can park over there, out of the way of the delivery truck." He pointed at a narrow strip of concrete between the garage & a row of ornamental evergreens.
Instead of putting the SUV into gear, she opened the door & slid out. "If you want it out of the way, you park it. Driving your vehicle is like driving a bulldozer. Putting it in a compact space is something I don't even want to think about. Where's my car?"
"On the street, just around the corner & out of the path of the truck."
One of the babies wailed & Mimi looked over her shoulder, biting her lip.
"The other one will start up pretty quick," Matt said. "They probably think since they can't see you at the moment that you've disappeared forever. I'll get them out in a minute & they'll be fine."
"They're a little cranky." She sounded a bit cranky herself, he thought, but the expression in her big auburn eyes was almost pleading. "I finally had to wake them up or I'd never have made it. But there wasn't time to give them a bath, & they didn't want breakfast, so they'll no doubt be hungry in an hour or two."
"Oh, that's just great."
"Hey, I'm not the one who kept them up late last night," Mimi pointed out. "But I've already had to face the music. It's your turn now." She leaned into the SUV.
The tailored khaki skirt she was wearing molded themselves into a trim but nicely rounded bottom. Matt watched with appreciation until she turned around again.
She was holding not a baby, but only her briefcase. "See you in a couple of hours," she said. "Have a good time."
Both babies started to cry. Matt smothered a sigh & opened the back door of the SUV. "Don't worry," he called after Mimi. "I'll make sure they have a nap so when you get back, they'll be wide-awake & ready to entertain you!"
Mimi made a rude gesture with her finger over her shoulder & kept walking. He grinned & unlatched Nikko's safety belt.
"Sir." One of his crew was standing right behind him, clipboard in hand. "If you can come around to the site now, we're ready for you to inspect the materials & sign the receipt."
Matt sighed & reached across Nikko to lift Ella out. With a tearstained baby in each arm, he followed his crew around the corner of the house & past a trailer full of tools to the construction site.
At the back of the Mediterranean-style house, a new wing, half as nig as the original main floor, was taking shape. Half a dozen men were already at work, but the instant Matt came around the corner of the house with a baby in each arm, everything stopped while the men gaped at him.
His chief crew grinned. "What's that, boss, a couple of new trainees? Couldn't gat any with experience?"
Matt ignored him & made the rounds of the site, checking the counts & looking over the oak which the delivery men had piled inside the new rooms. One of the delivery man asked, "Do you need the replacements right away, or can we just put them on next week's load?"
"Next week will be fine."
"I'll make sure they get on the truck then. All right, if you'll just sign here…" The man looked uncertainly at Matt & the babies. "I mean…"
The twins probably didn't weight more than twenty pounds each, but their combined weight had left Matt's muscles aching. He thought about handing one of them to the delivery man, but as if she'd read his mind, Ella grumbled & nestled closer. As long as he kept a close eye on them, they'd be as safe on the ground as anywhere.
He squatted down & set them on the lawn. Nikko instantly grabbed a handful of trampled grass & put it in his mouth. Ella yelped, clutched at Matt's jeans, & tried to pull herself up to a standing position.
Matt signed the receipt, folded his copy & stuck it in his shirt pocket, and then he bent to pick up Nikko, who had green saliva trickling down his chin. "Come on, champ, spit it out," he ordered.
"And then we need you to move the SUV out of the driveway so we can get the truck out," the delivery man added.
You can park over there, out of the way of the delivery truck, he told Mimi. But she had refused to move the SUV, & he'd forgotten to. He smothered a groan, picked up the babies & hauled them back around to the front of the house.
The hell with it, he thought. It was only ten in the morning, but he might as well call it a day. He wasn't going to accomplish anything with a twin on each arm, anyway. And since he'd have to buckle them back in again so he could move the SUV, he might as well take them home where they could play in the grass without the risking splinters & stray roofing nails.
Only after he got them both settled in back the seat & slid behind the wheel did he realize that his key wasn't in the ignition switch. In fact, it was nowhere to be found.
As soon as the last papers were signed, Mimi stood up & started to briskly shake hands with the people all around. "What's your hurry, Mimi?" the banker asked. "I thought you & I would have lunch at that new little Country Club Plaza."
"It's much too early for lunch."
"Of course it is," he said gently. "I'll pick you up at the office later."
"Oh…I'm sorry, Joe, but I can't. I have a long list for today." The excuse sounded…and felt…a bit lame, but she didn't feel like explaining the twins & the cruise ship. "I'll call you later in the week," she added & gathered up her briefcase. Joe Jyou didn't look pleased, but he didn't argue.
The new homeowners had stopped on the sidewalk to wait for her, to thank her & invite her for dinner as soon as they got moved in. Mimi smiled vaguely & said she'd be in touch, and she practically ran to her car.
It had been locked while she was in the bank, of course, & the sunshine pouring through the glass had heated the leather of her seat till it was buttery soft & soothingly warm against her back, helping to relax the tension in her muscles. She also noticed that the heat seemed to have activated the scent of leather…and something else. Something clean scented, musky & vaguely familiar. It was Matt's aftershave. She wondered how long that aroma would linger in her car.
At the office, she gave the finished paperwork on the closing to Yolei to be filed, picked up her messages, & looked wearily at the courier package which had finally come full circle back to the office. She'd probably better deliver it in person rather than take a chance on another delay.
"Also, Izzy wants to see you," Yolei added. "He's in his office."
No doubt her fellow salesperson was going to rib her about the Tatsumoru's counteroffer, Mimi thought. Telling Izzy what really happened to sidetrack the courier package would only amuse him more.
Izzy was on the phone, so she started to walk on past his cubicle. But he beckoned her in & waved her to a chair while he ended his call. "It's an important day for, Mimi. I thought perhaps you'd like a hand to figure out strategy for Willis Harrison."
The auto company tycoon. At least it wasn't about the Tatsumorus. Not that Mimi was any happier to be talking to Izzy about Willis Harrison, especially since she couldn't stick around the office long enough today.
"It's nice of you to offer to help," she said. "As a matter of fact…"
"Oh, I'm happy to give you my advice," Izzy went on. "It's all in finding the right strategy, Mimi. You know, of course, that men look at houses differently than women do. Women will look at anything & everything which vaguely resembles their needs. They'll make a full-time job of house-hunting, while men want to look at just one place & be done with it."
Ordinarily, Mimi would have objected to the generalization, but today she didn't have any room to maneuver. Izzy might be a sexist jerk at times, but he was a good salesman…and he was in a position to bail her out of a jam.
It's all in finding the right strategy, Mimi, she told herself. "You know, it's funny," she mused, "but I was just thinking about the same thing. The original call came to me because of the ordinary rotation, but I was wondering if Mr. Harrison would rather have a man show him around."
Izzy didn't react at all for a moment. Then he said, sounding wary, "That isn't like you, Mimi. Not grabbing a challenge…and the chance at a big commission."
Mimi tried to look innocent. "I just want to do what's best for the firm. You're right that this is a very important client, & I'd much rather have you make the sale…and get the commission…than for me to fall short & get nothing."
Izzy propped his elbows on the arms of his chair & clasped his hands together. "What's wrong with him, Mimi?" Suspicion dipped his voice.
"Wrong? Nothing's wrong. It's just that I've never met the man. I just thought you could probably read his reactions better than I could. You know, man to man."
Izzy hesitated then smiled slowly. "Well, that's certainly true. All right, I don't have anything better to do this afternoon. Which property were you going to show him first?"
"I haven't decided yet," Mimi said truthfully. She wasn't about to volunteer that she hadn't even started to make a list, much less prioritize it. "And I wouldn't want to cloud you judgment, anyways. Let me know how it goes, all right?" she dug into her briefcase for her car key, & pulled out two. One was hers, the other was Matt's. He was going to kill her.
It was just past noon when Mimi got back to house. The SUV was in the driveway & she breathed a sigh of relief…though he still almost tiptoed into the kitchen, wary fallout.
Matt was washing dishes while the twins played on the floor t his feet, creating a mad symphony with pan lids for cymbals & wooden spoons for drumsticks. He looked up when she came in, but he didn't comment.
Relieved, she set her briefcase on the counter & picked up a towel. "I guess the fact that you're here means you must have a spare key."
"Now I do," Matt said dryly.
Mimi bit her lip. "I'm really sorry. It's my habit not to leave a key in the ignition. Living in the city, driving in all kinds of neighborhood…"
"Oh, don't worry about it. You could have automatically locked the doors with the twins still inside," he said sarcastically as he rinsed the last plastic bowl.
Mimi looked at the pile. Sora had been right…it didn't take long to create a mountain of plate, glass & plastic. "Something tells me this is bad news for the dishwasher."
Matt nodded. "I was hoping I could substitute a new style of motor, but it's just too ancient to find one that will fit."
"Sora's not going to like that."
"It can't be helped. I'm going back to work, Mimi. The babies are all yours."
All yours. That sounded ominous. Was he planning to come back at all? He didn't promise anything beyond this morning… "Look, Matt, I said I'm sorry about the key."
"I know you are. By the way, the babies already had lunch."
"I can see that. I'm just surprised they'll eat spinach, if they won't touch squash."
Matt paused in mid-step. "Spinach?" He sounded as if he'd never heard of it before.
"Yeah." She gestured. "The green stains down the front of Nikko's shirt. I'm not complaining, mind you, but you might try a bib next time." She wanted to ask, Is there going to be a next time?
"Sure, I'll keep that in mind."
She followed him to the door. "Is there anything you'd like for dinner?"
"Dinner?"
"I thought maybe…I guess not." She fumbled for a change of subject. "That's some closet you're building for Ms. Motomiya."
He raised an eyebrow. "You saw it?"
"Of course, what do you think? As soon as I realized I had your key, I went straight back to Warrington to make sure you weren't stranded."
He looked at her for a long moment. "Anything's fine," he said quietly.
"What?"
"I'll eat anything for dinner, as long as it isn't mashed or pureed, or stuffed with spinach." Then he was gone, leaving her leaning against the counter, dishtowel in hand, & smiling.
You're grinning like a fool, she told herself. What was so wonderful about it, anyways? She committed herself to cooking dinner for Matt. Never in her life had she thought of cooking for him.
But at least he was coming back.
AN: Once again, I'd like to thank the people who informed me about Daisuke's last name! Thanks guys! Don't forget to review!
Chapter 5 is coming up! lol
