Okay so it's been a long while and I honestly thought this would really just be a one-shot, but here we are.
I also wanted to establish friendships between Matt and Sora as well as Tai and Mimi. I definitely went into more detail with Tai and Mimi.
Also not sure what I am doing with Matt's girlfriend, but this chapter is a feeler to see if you guys are good with me continuing this story so please let me know.
If I do continue, it will be a while before the next chapter because I want a few chapters completed so I can post more regularly.
Anyway, enjoy chapter 2
"Thank you for your hard work," Laura said to her design team, "enjoy the party, get drunk, you deserve it!" She downed her glass of wine and placed it on the tray. Sora raised her glass with the other members of her team and watched as the head designer downed another glass and left the venue.
"I can never tell if she's happy or not," Jenae said, leaning over to Sora. "Her words seem happy, but her actions aren't."
Sora chuckled softly. "I choose to believe her words. Remember what happened to Jerome when he tried to figure her out?"
"Hey, do you want to go to a party with me?" Jenae asked, changing the subject suddenly.
"We are at a party."
"Please, my boyfriend is having a party at his manager's place and I don't like his friends." She pouted at Sora. "I need someone there to help me get through it until I am drunk enough to be able to endure it."
"Just get drunk here," Sora said, "also you should really try being friends with his friends. Getting drunk to 'endure it' is definitely not healthy."
"Are you suggesting I get drunk in front of my co-workers?" she raised a perfectly shaped brow at Sora. "And secondly urgh…"
Sora just laughed, "fine, I will go with you."
"Yay," she grabbed Sora's hand, "let's go!"
"Did you bring your car?" Sora asked. "I took a taxi here, so I don't have mine."
"Nope," Jenae answered. "I told you before I intend to get blackout drunk."
"Taxi it is."
They grabbed the first taxi they came across and Jenae gave the driver the address. When they arrived at her destination, Sora followed Jenae into the rather big house, not a mansion but still rather intimidating. When they stepped through the door, she was greeted with loud music and a lot of people. She felt herself being dragged to where all the drinks were and she immediately grabbed a beer.
Jenae downed her drink and grabbed another and went straight to the make-shift dance floor. Sora followed her and started dancing with Jenae. After a while of dancing, Jenae having reached her goal of getting super drunk, Sora decided she needed fresh air and went outside. She leaned against the fence and took a deep breath.
"Crazy party?" She heard someone ask.
She turned around to see who the voice belonged to. "Matt?" she asked him, wanting confirmation even though she knew who he was.
"Yeah," he said as he casually leaned against the wall. "Happy to see you remember me."
"How could I not." She said with a little laugh. "You and my best friend were eye banging each other the whole night, I felt like I was intruding."
"Like you and Tai were any better." He took a moment before he asked. "How is she?"
"Well, she's living quite the life over there, she decided to stay another two years." She answered, she remembered Mimi telling her she was going to stay longer than she thought, that was close to the end of her first year.
"She must really like it there."
"Yeah," Sora said. "She moved to Rome a few months after her first year and just fell in love with the city."
"Right."
"How's Tai doing?" Sora asked after a beat.
"You know, he's good," Matt responded. "One of the best rookie players over there. I think he might stay a while too."
"Look at them leaving us behind."
"Living their best lives."
"Although, your career seems to have skyrocketed," Sora remarked. "And I am quite successful even if it is behind the scenes."
Matt pushed himself off the wall and walked over to Sora. They stood next to each other in silence.
"So," she asked breaking the silence, "what are you doing here?"
"It's my manager's house." He answered her. "My party."
Realization hit her, "then you're Jenae's boyfriend."
"Guilty."
"Okay, you might want to go back in there because she is drunk as fuck."
"You may be right," he sighed. "She really hates my friends." He walked to the door and then turned back. "We should really get together soon, you can tell me more about your 'success behind the scenes and I can have a friend my girlfriend doesn't hate."
"Sounds good," Sora responded and watched him walk into the house. She decided she had enough of this party and headed home. She smiled, it was good seeing Matt again, apparently, that night stayed with him as long as it had with her. She would be sure to mention this to Mimi on their next video call. That thought lead her to wonder if maybe Matt still had feelings for Mimi, they met almost a year ago and it was just one night, but she still thought of her night with Tai so maybe he still thought of his with Mimi. She shook her head as if to shake away the thought. Matt was dating Jenae so surely whatever he felt for Mimi must not have been that strong.
Mimi sat on the floor in front of her sofa. Freshly delivered pizza is ready to be eaten on one side of the coffee table and a glass of wine on the other side. Her laptop opened and she was ready to binge old episodes of Scrubs. Her friends wanted her to come out tonight but she had wanted to do a self-care weekend for so long and since she wasn't working this weekend, she thought this would be the best time for it.
No, I know
I'm no Superman
She sang along to the theme song. She was halfway done with the pizza when she finished her glass of wine and was debating on whether or not she wanted to pour herself another glass when her phone rang. She checked the caller ID if it wasn't Sora, she would not answer, she smiled when she saw it was in fact Sora.
"Hey, beautiful!" She answered the phone excitedly. "How was the show?"
"It was great, everything went according to plan. I woke up early, and read nothing but rave reviews." She went on the explain the whole night from start to finish. She spoke about the weird thanks they got from the head designer and how Jenae dragged her to her boyfriend's house.
"Is this the model everyone is in love with?" Mimi asked picking up the last slice of pizza.
"The very one," Sora confirmed. "Speaking of…" she took a breath. "Her boyfriend happens to be someone we know."
"Oh?" Mimi said nothing else waiting for Sora to tell her and when Sora said nothing Mimi gave up and asked her who it is.
"Matt."
"Matt who?" Mimi asked obliviously.
"You know," Sora stated, "beautiful blue-eyed Matt, lead singer of a band Matt, dude that gave you the best night of your life without even sleeping with you Matt, someone you cou-"
"Okay I get it, you can stop now," Mimi said cutting Sora off a bit of a blush covering her cheeks. "How was he?"
"Good," Sora answered. "It did seem like he didn't want to be at his own party."
"I-" Mimi shook her head. "I don't know how to respond to that."
"You don't have to," Sora said. "What are you up to?"
"Selfcare weekend," Mimi said and Sora nodded.
"So what are the plans for tomorrow?"
"I'm going to sleep late, then I am going to my favorite bistro for lunch, somewhere else for gelato, and then a movie." She smiled at her plan. "I might go to a movie theater or just come back and watch a movie in my pajamas with a face mask."
"Sounds like fun." Sora sighed when she checked the time. "I have to go. Love you!"
"Love you too."
Mimi spend the weekend relaxing and recharging before she headed back to work in a very busy, very tiny kitchen. She spends the next few weeks working, on the phone with her parents and listening to Sora's stories about her recent adventures with Matt. And even though she didn't want to, she was left to wonder what it was. What if she decided to stay that night? She definitely felt a strong attraction to him, but would that have been enough for them to build a future together?
A few months went by and Mimi was sitting in her favorite cafe, drinking an iced something and a piece of cake. She loved this cafe because it was small and always empty, she often wondered how it stayed in business. But she was glad it did. She was working on her laptop, and when someone sat down in front of her, she looked up and raised her brow at the person.
"You look familiar." The man said sitting in front of her.
She looked up irritated, she came here for alone time, not to get hit on by some random guy. She took a deep breath ready to send him to hell. When she really looked at him.
"That wild and crazy hair seems very familiar to me," Mimi said with a smile. "Have you ever played beer pong?"
"Only when I win," Tai answered. She laughed a little. "What are you doing on this side of the world?"
"Furthering my education," Mimi said taking a sip of her drink. "How's your…" she took a moment "sport going?"
"My 'sport' is going well.' Tai laughed out his response.
"I really am not one for sports." She said unapologetically. "Never cared for it."
"I guess I should be flattered you even asked," Tai said in response. "I play soccer and it is going well. I just recently signed another contract for three years."
"Good for you, so not going back to Japan any time soon," Mimi said rather than asked.
"Yeah." He looked at her drink. "What is that?"
"I have no idea. I asked the barista for something iced with caramel."
"I see."
Tai went to order a coffee and joined Mimi again. Mimi asked him if he had gone home since being here and he nodded.
"Yeah, got to spend time with my sister and her still unworthy boyfriend," Tai said and Mimi laughed at that. "Gave my mom some of my time, and hung out with Matt a lot." He waited for her to say something and when she didn't he continued. "He is really living that rockstar life now."
"I heard." She took another sip of her drink only to realize there was none left. "He and Sora seem to have developed quite the friendship."
"Well, it did seem like they would be best friends that night we met."
"True, from the two of us, it would seem she would be better friends with you two." She closed her laptop, obviously, she wasn't going to do any more work today. "You know, she is doing quite well in the spotlight, she shares that with Matt, and she loves sports, she shares that with you." She shook her head and laughed. "And I sound like someone very desperate for friends."
Before Tai could say anything, she asked if he wanted to go get ice cream with her. They went to get ice cream and continued talking each subtly and also not so subtly fishing about Matt and Sora. They ended up at Mimi's apartment and she made them dinner. After they ate, they sat on her couch at opposite ends, Mimi sitting cross-legged, her body facing Tai.
He told Mimi about Matt's girlfriend and how he doesn't like her.
"What did the poor girl do?" Mimi asked incredulously. Tai was very passionate in declaring his distaste for her.
"Urgh, she decided all of Matt's friends are unworthy of being his friends." He got up, walked over to Mimi's fridge, and took out a beer and a flavored beer. He pulled his face while looking at it.
"Sure you can have a beer."
"Thanks," he responded making Mimi laugh. "She is just a little too much to deal with and not at all the kind of person I would expect Matt to be with." He opened the flavored beer and handed it to Mimi. "The day I met her, she kept dropping innuendoes" when he saw Mimi raise her brows, he added that it was directed towards Matt.
"I mean Matt is a good-looking man, I would too."
"Yeah," Tai opened his beer, "and towards the end of the trip, she told Matt I was hitting on her the whole time."
"Did you though?"
"What the fuck! No! I wouldn't even touch her to save my life." He finished the beer in one go, Mimi widened her eyes in shock watching that beer go down. "She caused a big fight between Matt and myself, but I think she must have a magic vagina cause she's got him all stupid."
"But you guys sorted it out, right?" Mimi asked, ignoring the magic vagina comment. Tai nodded. He tried to drink more of his finished beer. She held out her beer, "want to try?"
"Nope." He looked at it as if it was the most disgusting thing he has ever seen. "I thought you didn't drink beer."
"The flavored ones are easier to drink," Mimi answered him. "As long as it's cold."
They spend the rest of the night with Mimi attentively listening to Tai's frustration around Matt's girlfriend. That night Tai went home embarrassed at how he unloaded and Mimi felt like they might be really good friends in the future. Their friendship was sealed by him showing up at her door the next night with Chinese food to thank her for letting him blow off steam.
Their friendship helped both grow. Whenever both of them were free they would spend time with each other. With Tai joining Mimi for her self-care days and if Mimi had a day off and it coincided with his games, she would go, bored out of her mind, not understanding anything, but still supporting him and always cheering him on.
When Mimi moved back to Japan, she found an apartment with a big kitchen, so she could experiment and see what she wanted to put on the menu for her restaurant. She had two investors, unsurprisingly her father was one, always in support of his daughter, and shocking her, but also not, Tai was the other.
She didn't want to accept him as an investor in case it didn't work out, she saw it as a risk, but he thought otherwise.
"Princess," he said seriously. "I don't see it that way. I see this as an investment in you." He put his hands on her shoulders and continued. "Besides, I get to live my dream, what's wrong with helping you realize yours?"
"Urgh, fine," she said grudgingly, "It's a loan, one I'll pay you back as soon as I can."
"Mimi," he started but she cut him off telling him that it is the only way she will take it. "Fine."
"Good"
"How about we name it TaiMi?" She raised her brow at him and he clarified, "you know Tai and Mimi, TaiMi."
"No."
"Why not?" shocked she wouldn't even consider it.
"Because! When you said it, it sounded like tie me." She looked at him as if was obvious. "People will think it's a BDSM shop and not a place to eat!" She cocked her head to the side, "granted the food will be orgasmic, but that will not be its name."
"Fine!" he smiled at her teasingly, "How about 'Orgasm'?" She threw him with a pillow. "The Giant Cock!"
"Shut Up!"
"No no," he nodded very satisfied with himself. "You should name it 'Hung… ry'! You know you like it."
"Oh my God! I am going to kill you!"
"Nah, you love me too much."
"Exactly! No one would suspect it was me."
Mimi shook her head at the memory. She was so grateful to Tai for his investment in her company, she knew her father would fund the whole thing, but she felt like having him do that would lessen her motivation to succeed. She hopped on the kitchen table and just sat there for a while, taking it in. She's back in Japan with her best friend living a few buildings away, but she couldn't shake the anxiety she felt. Sora's life didn't stand still while she was gone, her life didn't stand still. They both changed, she's sure of it, and having a conversation over the phone is very different from being there in person. There was also the chance that her restaurant would flop and she would have wasted the last five years of her life and should have studied business instead and worked at the family company.
She jumped off the table and walked to her room. Sora had invited her to a party and she could do some dancing and maybe meet someone who could make her forget about the stressful time ahead of her. She took a nice steamy shower and grabbed her favorite pink dress, her leather jacket, and a pair of high-heeled ankle boots. She always felt sexy when wearing them, and tonight she really needed a confidence boost.
Sora looked around to see if Mimi was here yet. Mimi had been back for about a month and they hadn't found the time to meet up with each other. She finally paid attention to the people around her when Jenae waved her hand in front of Sora's face.
"Where'd you go?" Jenae asked as she hooked her hand back into Matt's elbow.
"Sorry," Sora smiled apologetically. "It's just, it's been a while since I last saw Mimi and she seems to be a little… not antisocial, she's better in smaller crowds and this one is huge."
"Mimi's coming?" Matt asked, knowing he would run into her at some point in time, he just thought that would only happen when Tai returns.
Sora nodded her head, "if she doesn't change her mind."
"Who's Mimi?" Jenae asked, looking at Sora.
"She's my best friend." Sora answered and looked at Matt, "and surprisingly close to Tai."
"So if she's Tai's friend, does that mean she's yours too?" she pulled a face, causing Sora to frown and Matt answered as evenly as he could.
"No, I only met her once."
"Oh okay." Jenae said, "Maybe I'll like her."
Matt looked away and spotted Mimi, he chuckled softly and asked Sora if that was her pointing towards the road at the girl staring at the house.
Sora squealed, "Yes" she didn't even tell them she would see them later, she just ran over to Mimi.
Matt watched as Mimi stared at the house. She was so deep in thought that she hadn't even noticed Sora coming up to her. He watched as she took a step to the house, shook her head, and turned back around, but before she could leave Sora got to her and grabbed her hand.
Sora saw Mimi turn around and grabbed her hand, stopping her from leaving.
"Excuse me miss, where do you think you're going?" Sora asked playfully.
"To the place where my anxieties always win."
"But, you enjoy parties."
"I know I do, it's just going to them is always hard." She took a breath. "And then I work myself up into this mess of a person."
"Well then girl, dance it off."
"Excuse me, what?"
"It's what we used to do wasn't it?"
Mimi laughed and said yes, and she allowed Sora to dance with her in the middle of the road. Both girls were laughing and Mimi also hoped a car wouldn't run them over.