Thanks for the reviews! I'm so happy to hear that most of you like my story. I'm actually working on a new one right now, & hopefully, I'll be able to post it once PB is done. I'm going to give you a sneak peak by the end of the last chapter.
Just4reviews – don't worry, it's all right. Anyways, the dinner which was supposed to be on Saturday was postponed, but I guess you already know that. Sunday will be the housewarming party at Jun's house & Matt & Mimi will go together, with Willis tagging along. Sashimi – I'm glad you like it! Keep R&R! riven – you're pretty awesome, thanks! BetterDeadThanAlone – hehehe! I'm glad you're back!
Chapter Sixteen
By sheer willpower, Mimi managed to finish the Tatsumorus' paperwork before noon. she was on her way downtown to the bank to drop everything off when she found herself in the warehouse district &...on an impulse she couldn't explain...stopped at Matt's office.
She knew that the chances of Matt being there was slim. She'd probably have a better chance of finding him at Jun Motomiya's house, trying frantically to finish up the last-minute work before Sunday's housewarming party. Or he might be out in Mission Hills supervising work on the fancy new kitchen.
But she could still accomplish her purpose. She could leave a message for him with his secretary; that was the most important thing. She could prove to herself once & for all that this crazy sensation wasn't real the very suspicion of being in love with him was uncomfortable, & a bit scary.
Then she could go back to business as usual. She could see him at Jun's party, share birthday cake when the twins turn one, even swap gossip about his girlfriends with Sora…and it wouldn't bother her.
Everything about the warehouse looked just about the same as it had yesterday, when they came in together, each carrying a twin. Nora was at her desk; the lights were off in the conference room; Matt's office was quiet & the door was half-closed. But despite the similarities, Mimi knew right away that Matt wasn't anywhere around. It was too calm. Yesterday there had been sort of crackle in the air, a feeling of excitement. Or had that crackle been inside her, because she had been with him?
"Hello, Nora," she said. "Will you give Matt a message for me?"
"That's what I'm here for," the secretary said dryly. "Sometimes it seems passing along messages is the only thing I do."
Mimi wasn't about to step into the middle of the friendly squabble over Nora's duties. "The dinner we were supposed to go to tomorrow has been postponed. I'll let him know when it's rescheduled, and would you mind if I look at those drawings again? I wanted to make some notes. I wasn't able to yesterday because of the baby."
Without a word, Nora pulled the file from the cabinet & handed it over. As Mimi took it into the conference room, the door of Matt's office opened wider.
Mimi was startled…not only by the movement but by the fact that she was surprised. She had been so certain that he wasn't there…so positive that if he was in the building; she would have felt his presence. But that's good news, she told herself firmly.
It wasn't Matt who came out of the office, however, but a thin-looking blonde in tailored black suit. Her slim-cut slacks & high-heeled boots made her look about seven feet tall. Mimi went on into the conference room.
The blonde said to Nora, "So that's the woman he's been playing house with." It didn't sound like a question & the secretary didn't answer. "Well, at least he's got baby dolls out of his system."
It's just as well that I cancelled that dinner, Mimi thought. She wondered if Matt would even have remembered to go. Mimi jotted down the measurements of the major rooms in Jun Motomiya's house & made rough sketches of the main floor. Then she returned the file to Nora & tucked her notes into her briefcase. Behind her, the office door opened. She glanced over her shoulder.
But even if she wasn't able to see Matt beyond the plate glass, the surge of electricity in her bones would have warned Mimi who was there…Matt. He only kissed her once, for heaven's sake…why on earth was she vibrating just because the man set foot within a hundred yards?
Because you've been fooling yourself. Because you were right the first time. Because you're in love with him. She turned around slowly.
"Mimi, what brings you here? Have you decided to build a new development?"
"No more than you've had a sudden urge to buy a house in the suburbs."
He grinned. "You're right; I'll keep my loft instead. When shall I pick you up?" She must have looked a little blank, for he went on, "For dinner tomorrow."
"Oh…actually, that's the reason why I came. It's been put off till another time." Mimi closed the clasps of her briefcase. "I didn't think you'd mind. Besides, you must have plenty to do to get everything finished at Ms. Motomiya's house."
"Just because she wants every detail finished doesn't mean it'll happen. Hurrying around to complete a job is asking for trouble."
So if he hadn't been rushing off to work at Jun Motomiya's house, what had been his hurry this morning? Three guesses, Mimi, she told herself drearily. He couldn't wait to get away from you, & the babies, & the whole situation. He was tired of playing with baby dolls…playing house.
"That's too bad," he said. "I was looking forward to it."
It was like picking at a scab, but Mimi couldn't stop herself. "To what, the possibility remodeling their house?"
"To the dinner. I liked your friends, Mimi. They seemed like an interesting couple."
The blonde quietly opened the door of Matt's office again, & she was leaning easily against the doorjamb, her arms folded over her chest, her ankles crossed in a pose worthy of a magazine cover. "Hi, Matt." Her voice was much lower & more sultry than when she was talking to Nora. "Aren't you going to introduce me?"
Matt didn't miss a beat. "Ingrid, this is my friend Mimi."
Friend. Mimi went through the motions, smiling & shaking hands.
The blonde showed so many pure white teeth that she looked like a shark. She moved away from the door to stand beside Matt. "I'm sure you won't mind if we don't stay & chat," she murmured to Mimi, "but we have a table reserved for lunch." She let her hand slide slowly & intimately down the inside of his sleeve to rest on his elbow.
Reserved where? Mimi wanted to ask. With some hotel's room service? "Of course I don't mind," she said. "I'm running late myself…I'm on my way to the bank."
"Tell Joe I said hi," Matt said.
"I'll do that. Thanks, Nora."
Mimi's car was parked closer to the door than Matt's SUV, & with an almost automatic gesture he opened the driver's door for her as they passed. "You're acting a bit strange."
"Just tired, I guess." She sat behind the wheel, watching from the corner of her eye as he helped the blonde into the SUV.
Acting a bit strange, was she? Face it head-on, Mimi told herself. It isn't going to help a bit to dodge the truth. Days ago, before she realized what was really happening to her, she invited Matt to be her friend…& he accepted it.
It was just her bad luck that suddenly she wanted to be much more than friends.
Jun Motomiya's house looked like a magazine spread on the night Mimi had first driven Willis Harrison past…the night he lost his mind & fell in love with it. But on the evening of Jun's housewarming party, it looked even better.
There wasn't so much as a leaf out of place, or a blade of grass at the wrong angle. The entire lot glowed; every shrub on the property must have been wired with soft spotlights. Mimi noticed that the bulbs had a faint pink cast which made the house look slightly surreal, as if it was floating in a sunset-colored cloud. She made a mental note to remember that trick.
But for now, she knew she had to focus on Willis Harrison. As she parked her car around the corner from the big Mediterranean house, she took a long look at Willis in the passenger seat. "Remember," she prompted, "you're going to a party…that's all. You are not touring the house to decide whether you want to buy it."
He frowned.
Mimi smothered a sigh & tried once again to explain the fine points. "It's perfectly legitimate for me to ask you to escort me to a party," she said. "And if you happen to look around the house & decide you like it, it's perfectly all right for me to call the owner tomorrow, tell her I'm in real estate & ask if she'd like to sell it. But it's not all right for me to take you through a house that the owner doesn't want to show. So don't forget…we're only going to a party."
In hope that you'll hate the house & that will be the end of it, she added. Of course, telling Willis that would probably only make him want it even more.
"The whole idea tonight is just to see whether you're interested or not," she said. "So don't go prying into closets or checking out the size of the medicine cabinets. All that can come later."
He didn't look convince. A tap on the car window beside her made Mimi jump, & she turned to see Matt bending down beside the car. She lowered the window.
"Are coming inside or chickening out?" he asked.
Mimi looked past him. At least there was no blonde, or model, attached to his arm tonight. Not that it would matter if he had brought someone, she told herself. She would behave just the same, whether he was alone or not.
She'd been through all this while she was getting dressed. No more acting a bit strange, as he had put it on Friday. She must…she would…get herself back to normal. Back to the way things had been before that week out of time had changed everything for her.
So she smiled at him & said, "I thought you were bringing the X-ray equipment so we could just sit here in the car & look through the wall. But since you seem to have let me down, I guess we'll have to come in." She slid out of the car, not realizing that Matt had stepped aside barely far enough to let her stand. She was practically toe to toe with him.
The closeness & the light scent of his aftershave made her feel a little bit dizzy, & Mimi had to take a hold of herself. "Willis doesn't seem to quite get the ethics of the situation yet," she said softly.
Matt nodded. "I'll try to intercept if he starts to talk to anyone."
And that will keep both of you busy, Mimi thought, so I can relax a bit.
Throngs of people streamed up the sidewalk toward the house. What Jun called housewarming party looked more like a gathering for a major sporting event, except that everyone was dressed up. Strains of classical music wafted from the open main doorway, where a butler in white tie & tails stood, directing traffic. "The ladies' cloakroom is upstairs to the right," he told Mimi with a tiny bow. "Gentlemen, upstairs to the left."
Which meant that they could get a pretty good glimpse of the entire upper floor, Mimi thought. How very sweet of Jun to arrange it so easily. At the tope of the stairs, she stood on her toes to whisper into Matt's ear. "I'll meet you right back here in ten minutes. Try to make sure Willis doesn't go prying behind closed door, all right?"
When she came back, Matt was lounging at the top of the stairs while Willis was standing where he could get a good look now & then into the guest room the ladies were using.
"He looks like a Peeping Tom," she muttered to Matt. "Come on, let's go downstairs. You know, Jun didn't strike me as the type who would hire a string quartet."
"Hire them, yes. Enjoy them, no."
"Well, maybe you're right." Mimi went to retrieve Willis. "Matt & I are going to circulate lowly through the whole house," she said. "If you follow behind, you can get a good look at everything because we'll be a sort of screen for you. You don't have to talk to anybody, you don't have to think…just look. But stay close, all right?" She laid a hand on his elbow & urged him downstairs.
Before they crossed the main hallway to the big living room, Mimi counted three couples to whom she sold houses in the neighborhood. And Matt had his own crowd of clients & acquaintances to greet.
Matt stopped a waiter with a tray full of champagne glasses. Mimi sipped & chatted & tried not to look at house itself. It was all up to Willis now anyway. Either he'd like it or not. If he did, she'd deal with the complication tomorrow, & probably end up knowing a great deal more about the house. If he didn't like it, there was no point in her looking around, drawing attention to herself.
While Matt was talking to a long-time customer, Mimi let her gaze veer across the room, & she spotted Joe watching her from near the blazing fireplace. "You didn't tell me Joe was going to be here," she said under her breath as soon as Matt's customer had moved off.
"I didn't help make the guest list, princess."
Jun Motomiya herself, wearing a peach taffeta gown & a sort of turban built of feathers, came up just then & gave Matt a playful swat on the wrist with her folded fan. "Don't you look handsome," she said. She leaned around Matt. "And…my goodness…who is this?" She didn't take her eyes off Willis, but she was clearly addressing Mimi. "Your husband? No, you said you didn't have one right now. So what brings this nice man to my party?"
I'm busted, Mimi thought. Being caught crashing the party was bad enough, but if Willis slipped why she brought him along… Worse, Matt's customer had returned with one last question & drew him a few steps away to talk to someone else. So Matt was going to be no help at all. Mimi was strictly on her own.
"Willis is new to Odaiba," Mimi said quickly. "Matt & I knew he'd meet the nicest people here."
Jun was holding out a hand to Willis. He dragged his attention from the frieze which decorated the built-in bookcases & turned his attention to the hostess. Mimi heard Jun take in a breath, & abruptly she remembered the effect when she first met Willis and thought she'd walked into an old-time motion picture.
Mimi felt a tap on her shoulder & turned to see Joe. "Oh…hi, sorry, Joe, but I can't talk right now."
Joe didn't seem to hear her. "I thought you told me there was nobody else."
Mimi was aggravated. Hadn't he been listening that night outside her front door? "No," she corrected. "To be precise, I told you that it wasn't really any of your business whether there was or wasn't."
"Oh, yes, that's right." Joe's gaze flickered across the crowd to Matt, who's now standing several feet away & still talking to the customer. "So that's the guy you've chosen, eh?" He shook his head, but his expression seemed to be confused rather than disapproving. "Odd."
Mimi bit her tongue & told herself not to ask, but she couldn't let the remark pass. "I don't know why you'd assume that, just because we happen to be attending the same party. But even if it was true, what would be so odd about it?"
"That you'd go for him," Joe looked directly at her. "The guy who broke up your engagement."
She couldn't believe she heard him correctly. "Matt didn't break up anything. You're misinformed."
"He was there, wasn't he?"
She was suddenly back in the church, on the day that was supposed to have been her wedding day, facing her fiancé…and seeing Matt behind the pillar. "He saw the fight, if that's what you mean. But he didn't cause it."
"Are you sure of that? And you don't know why he was there?"
Mimi was beginning to feel impatient. "He was there because he was his best friend's best man. Tai was getting married that day too, so of course Matt was at the church. Joe, you're not making sense!"
"He made sure he was there to see the effects of his little prank."
"Prank?"
"Yeah, hiring the call girls for your fiancé's bachelor party…excuse me, exotic dancers."
"Joe, he wasn't even at Michael's bachelor party."
"I didn't say he went, I said he sent the girls. Didn't you ever wonder why they showed up?"
Not exactly, Mimi thought. Michael had always sworn he had no idea where the dancers had come from, or why they appeared at his bachelor party. Mimi assumed that his pals had taken up a collection to pay the bill…with the groom's tacit permission. But to associate Matt with the whole affair was outlandish.
"So you didn't know that, did you?" Joe said shrewdly. "But then I'm sure he wasn't eager to tell you about it, considering what happened."
"Or anyone else, I imagine," Mimi said dryly. "So how do you know all this?"
"Tai told me. He thought it was a great practical joke. A harmless, funny little prank…until it ended by breaking up your wedding." Joe sipped his champagne & added meditatively, "So I guess it's no wonder Matt never bothered to tell you what really happened."
AN: What will happen now that Mimi discovered Matt's secret? He was the reason why Mimi broke off the wedding…and he didn't even tell her! Find out in the next chapter. (only TWO more chapters left people) Don't forget to review!
