As for Just a Reviewer. You make good points. But I can't answer them all, because it's putting the cart before the horse. But as per the Digimon… well, they don't add anything to the story, for one thing. For another, ten years is a long time. Friendships drift, and maybe the people (or Digimon) you relied on as a child aren't as necessary a support base for you as an adult? As for Matt, I won't say too much, but often people are irrational and jump to conclusions when they are hurting.

Dancing Through Life

Two days after she'd gone to meet Matt at his luxury villa, Mimi could still think of little else. He was on her mind as she chopped carrots for dinner, and as she bathed Jamie and he played with his rubber duckie, and as she lay in bed alone, with only the stars to keep her company. He lived in her mind rent-free. And if she was completely honest, she had taken to inventing elaborate fantasy worlds where Matt found Sora in various sexual positions with various members of her tennis club, and commanded her out of the house in a terribly melodramatic fashion. But of course, fantasies were all they were. And it never did anyone any good to dwell on dreams and forget to live.

It was late in the morning, and Jamie was sitting on the pink sofa, humming along with Elmo on the television screen. His little feet bounced up and down, barely reaching over the edge of the seat. He really got on well with Ben, despite Mimi's reservations and cynicism over such a friendship ever happening. Mimi thought it was about time he saw Ben again. After all, friendships need to be nurtured. She should ring Matt and arrange a… play date for them. Her hand moved itself over to the phone, and in a few seconds flat she was hearing the comforting ring-ring… ring-ring in her ear. After five rings, the click at the other end told her that somebody had picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

Mimi almost dropped the phone. It was a female voice. What if Sora was home early? Or worse, if he had some other female caller over. What if she was so unimportant to Matt that he had no qualms about bringing other women over and… having his way with them? Tentatively, her voice wobbling like jelly, she asked,

"Who… who is this?"

"Who is this?" The voice demanded in return, her tone so hard and confident that it scared Mimi half to death. She quailed. Whoever this woman was, she was certainly dominating this conversation. And that wasn't good for Mimi's chances, should she ever have to fight this woman for Matt's affections.

Mimi saw no choice but to answer. "My name is Mimi Tachikawa. I am a… friend of Matt's."

The change in the woman's tone was so swift it was like another person had come on the line. "Oh, Mimi dear! Of course. I'm Pachi, Matt's housekeeper. Matt's told me all about you. He says if you call that I should find him immediately, and that no matter what he's doing, if you're on the phone, it can wait. I hope you'll forgive me for being so rude initially. We get a lot of paparazzi calling here. They're so unscrupulous. I have to answer the phone; otherwise they harangue Matt to within an inch of his life! Terrible business. Anyway, I'll go find him. Hold the line please."

Mimi sunk into a chair, her knees weak from relief. Now that Pachi had explained things, it all made sense. Matt was a rock star. He probably got calls all the time from journalists and rabid fans. Imagine if he took them all… he'd never have a moment's peace. So he had to have his housekeeper man the phones. Of course he wouldn't answer them himself… she'd been silly to expect him to. Mimi paused in her thought. Being a rock star must be hard. Never allowed to leave your home, people calling day and night… for the first time in over three years she felt real sympathy for Matt.

She heard the phone being picked up, and then the soft bass tones of Matt's voice. "Mimi?" He couldn't hide the lift of hope in his voice.

"Yes… it's me. I was just thinking that… well, you know that Jamie and Ben got along so well on Sunday… I was thinking maybe I might bring Jamie around. So they can play. If that's okay with you… and you aren't busy or anything."

Mimi wondered if that sounded as panicked to Matt as it did to her. She couldn't have known that at the other end of the phone line, Matt was letting his head droop forwards to the desk in front of him. He'd spent two days in a tense, nervous state, wondering when she was going to call, or even if she was going to call. He hoped and prayed she would. He had to see her again. But he hadn't wanted to be the one to call her, in case he faced cold hard rejection. He hadn't known what she'd wanted. Maybe she'd just wanted to forget him. But now that she was calling… all his fears dissolved and he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He could barely contain his enthusiasm as he played to her charade.

"Yeah… for sure. That sounds like a great idea. The kids need to… uh… bond. It's good for Ben to have friends his own age. He doesn't meet many. I can't take him to playgroup, exactly. And Sora… is at tennis camp!"

"Yes… so if that's settled… we're in agreement that I should bring Jamie over to play with Ben… when, do you think?"

Mimi couldn't deny that it was awkward, dancing around things like this. It was like trying to pretend that you couldn't see the technicolour elephant that was sitting right in the middle of your living room. But if she was going to be meeting with Matt, excuses were going to be a part of life.

"Well… because I think it's very important that they secure their friendship… how about right now?"

"Okay. Good idea. I'll get Jamie, and be right over. See you soon."

Mimi hung up and took a deep breath. The hard part was over. She slowly released the breath she had been holding and turned her gaze to her son, who was still sitting in front of the television. The end credits were playing for Elmo's World. Perfect.

"Sweetheart," she called. "I have an idea. How about we go and see Ben?"

His little blonde head popped up from the top of the couch. His eyes were shining and a big smile lit up his whole face.

"YES! Mummy, his place is lots of fun! His room is a hundred metres long and he has a million toys!" He paused momentarily. "Can I take my train? He said he wanted to see it."

Mimi mentally breathed a sigh of relief. His enthusiasm was the perfect cover. If he hadn't wanted to go… it didn't bear thinking about. She couldn't argue it with him, so she'd be stuck. No Matt. It surprised her how hard that thought was to accept.

"Okay, darling. Go get it and we'll leave in five minutes."

Mimi was back in the mansion. Jamie was upstairs in Ben's room. Ben had been suitably impressed by Jamie's real working model of a train. As he should be. That train had been a very expensive, imported present. He'd gone to find his own train models, and last Mimi had seen, they'd been making train routes under Ben's bed and through his closet and all around his expansive room. She'd been quite entertained by their simple, happy play, and their theatrical crashing sound effects, and had been content to watch for some time. But then Matt had taken her by the wrist, and suddenly she'd felt like they would be fine on their own for a while.

He'd led her out of the room and into the hallway. He'd slid his hand down into hers. Where his warm, soft skin touched her she felt hot and cold all at once. He turned her to face him. He gazed at her with a quiet, fervent intensity, using his free hand to gently trace her cheekbone. His blue eyes seemed endless as they burned with passion and longing. They locked with hers, and it was electric. They were connected by a bolt of something strong and fiery, and it wasn't about to let them go. This was the way it had always been, all those years ago. Whenever they were together, all else had slipped away. It was like they were magnetically attracted, and nothing could pull them away.

But now, Mimi was scared by it. Sure, she wanted him, but everything was different now. Matt was married to someone… someone other than her, and there were two of his children in a room just down the hall. She broke eye contact, and stared at a patch of carpet.

"So… uh… your housekeeper seems nice." She said, grasping at conversation starters while still staring at the floor.

Matt was frustrated. Just when things were getting back to normal, she had to go and make them all weird and awkward again. But it wouldn't be very gentlemanly to tell her to forget the help and just kiss him, for crying out loud. He couldn't afford to get her offside. Not again. He didn't think he could live through it again.

"Yeah… tough as old boot leather, but a gem. I'd be mobbed by reporters if not for her."

"Where did you meet her?" Mimi's eyes were travelling, touching on everything but his face. She couldn't look at him. She wouldn't risk what would inevitably happen if they locked eyes again. It was bad enough that he still hadn't released her hand. It was like all the nerve endings in her body had been relocated into that one hand, and she could feel every last stroke his thumb made over her palm.

"Sora found her at an agency. Oddly enough, considering she was the one to give her a job, Pachi really doesn't like Sora. Keeps saying she's a bad wife because she's always off at tennis camps. Leaving me locked up alone in my big old house. I try telling her that I like time away from Sora, that it gives me time to write my songs, but she won't hear it."

Despite herself, Mimi found that she was liking the Pachi character more and more by the minute.

"When she answered the phone, I thought she was a lover of yours."

Even as she said it, she was cringing. Stupid thing to say. A little truth can do a lot of damage.

To her great surprise, Matt just chuckled softly. "Mimi dearest, I'm a one woman man." He said lightly.

Well, there went all her chances. Like smoke, they had barely been there to start with. A light layer, hard to see, constantly eluding her. Nothing she could touch or hold or be sure of. Making her afraid to take any kind of plunge. But his declaration had sealed things. If he was a one-woman man, then he belonged to Sora and Sora alone. She'd never find a way in now. In a twisted way, she was glad. Now she didn't have to dive in. Her choice to fiddle around the edges was validated.

But Matt hadn't finished. "For as long as I can remember, my heart has belonged to you. And only you."

That shocked her. Her eyes instinctively flicked to his, to check for the shadows of falsehoods. But whatever Mimi had been expecting, they were crystal clear. She didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to say. The silence enveloped them, but it was not an uncomfortable silence. It was the kind of silence that follows something important, when people are still letting it all settle in and take form in their minds. And suddenly, it all made sense. Everything fell into place, and Mimi didn't know how she could have missed it.

Their lips met in a hungry, frantic kiss. Loose, messy, passionate. Every tension and frustration that had been pent up for over three years was released in one flow of emotion. It was as if dam walls had been lifted, and all that had been hidden and denied for so long was gushing out in this desperate display of affection. Mimi's hands wound themselves in Matt's carefully styled hair, and Matt's were very low on her back, pulling her into him tight and grinding her hips into his.

"We… shouldn't be doing this." Mimi raised a feeble objection, but couldn't stop her mouth raining kisses on his mouth, cheek, forehead, ears. "You're… married."

"Yes…" But Matt couldn't remember why that was a problem. Here, with Mimi in his arms, the reality of his wife and his two children and his everything else seemed to melt to nothing.

Their lips were still locked in a earnest dance, and their hands both began roaming; his under her shirt and hers occasionally slipping tantalisingly into his waistband. Matt groaned, deep in his throat, then broke the contact. He grabbed Mimi by the wrist again and dragged her at a fast jog towards his bedroom. Mimi, light headed and unthinking in ecstasy, ran after him without objection. Matt lay her down on the soft bed with supreme care and affection. Hovering over her, he looked into her eyes and asked the unspeakable question.

Staring into the sapphire depths above her, Mimi no longer saw passion or longing or desperation. All she saw was love. So she smiled, wrapped her arms around him again and pulled him into her.

Pachi is paochi cute, who's been a very dedicated reviewer and I just wanted to thank her somehow

Also, since I was asked, I don't have AIM, but if you want to head to my information page, you'll find my e-mail, and I'm always happy for you to drop me a line, as it were. I'm also currently doing a bit of betaing, so if you me to look at any of your works for grammar/spelling/turn of phrase, I'd be happy to.

Emma's useless facts about nothing in particular

Women blink nearly twice as much as men