Mika didn't go to dinner that night. After her shower, one of the helpers told her that dinner was gonna be a little later than usual so she decided to lie down until then. But the mattress made it feel like she was sleeping on a marshmallow upon the clouds. She fell asleep and they decided not to wake her up, but they set aside a plate for her in the fridge with her name on it in case she got hungry in the middle of the night.
It was also the first night that Mika hadn't gotten up to see Isadora during the night because she was knocked out cold from her slumber.
When Mika woke up she felt ridiculously refreshed. She got out of bed and stretched, going into the nursery. Isadora wasn't in her crib, so she opened the main door and heard people downstairs so she knew Adora was most likely with Bose or Ceila.
Mika went back into her room and saw her phone on her dresser. She checked the time and it was nearly 12 in the afternoon. She hadn't slept this late since before Isadora was born. Mika saw that she forgot to charge her phone last night so she found her charger and let it charge while she went into the bathroom.
Mika looked at herself in the mirror and scrunched her face. She looked like a hot mess. Mika crumpled her hair in her hand and started detangling it with her fingers. Mika's hair had grown rapidly since the last haircut Angela gave her. Mika lately just tied it back in a ponytail or messy bun with it barely brushed because honestly, she stopped caring about maintaining her hair.
Mika looked around the luxurious bathroom and then at her appearance. She really didn't have anything she was in a rush to do today, so she could take care of herself. Mika went back out to get her hair care products and started the process of restoring her hair to its once-perfect nature.
)
After Mika was done showering and treating her hair, she looked at herself in the mirror again, wrapped in her towel. Next to the sink counter were her hair hot comb, hair straightener, and a pair of scissors. Mika tried to think back to the last time she straightened her hair. It was definitely over a year ago. Mika got the urge for a change.
When Mika stepped out of the bathroom, her hair was completely transformed, not only was it straight, but layered with curtain bangs. Mika was content with the outcome.
She got dressed and made her way downstairs for breakfast. Mika was excited to Isadora since it's basically been a whole 24 hours since they'd been together with her awake.
)
Ceila and Bose were in the middle of breakfast when they saw Mika. "Wow," Bose said pleased when he saw her hair, "Your hair looks good-great,". Ceila agreed and joked about Mika doing her own hair like that. Mika expressed her thanks and Bose pulled out a chair for her to sit in, next to Adora. "Hi sweet face, I missed you," Mika held her face and gave her a fat kiss on the cheek and then repeated smaller ones. Adora began to overstimulate from the affection and Mika apologized to her.
Breakfast looked delicious. Mika was extra hungry because she didn't eat dinner and then ever more hungry because of the medication she's now on to better her diet. Mika didn't want to seem greedy so she took a small portion of food. However, Bose took another plate, filled it with food, and put it next to her, insisting that it was made in her favor and it'd be rude of her not to consume it all. Mika turned restful and dug into her meal.
The three of them had a light conversation, switching from topic to topic until Ceila left, leaving the two of them alone. "So, what are your plans for today?" Mika asked, taking apart a hashbrown.
Bose took a sip of his apple juice, "I was going to chill here, but Willard called me in. Apparently Owen's dad wants to have a talk with us about the whole situation at the diner,".
Mika tensed at the mention of Owen, "Shit Bose, I hope this doesn't ruin anything for you or Willard's campaign,".
"I doubt it, the DA is such a kiss-ass to the vice mayor. It'll most likely be him apologizing for his son's behavior," Bose explained over Adora's baby babble.
Mika hoped that was the case, all that chaos for a place she no longer even worked at.
"By the way, the nanny should be here in about 10 or 15 minutes or so for Adora," Bose stood up, taking his plate to the sink. "Nanny? Since when did Isadora have a nanny?" Mika asked perplexed. "Since I decided that you needed a mental health day," Bose turned to face her, leaning back against the sink.
"But I was going to spend the day with Isadora, besides I don't know this nanny. How do we know we can trust her?" Mika rebuked. "Mika, you spent every waking moment with Isadora. It's possible that you're around her too much. You need a day where you can just be Mika again," Bose said.
Once again, Bose was right. Mika didn't even remember who she was when she wasn't being Isadora's mom. It wouldn't hurt to have a free pass today.
"And don't forget, you hired Mayling as a babysitter without telling me so this makes us even. But if it makes you feel better, I did a hefty background check on the nanny and she has a clean slate, Isadora is in good hands," Bose claimed.
Mika looked at Isadora in her high chair, playing with her fingers like she just discovered she had them. Mika laughed to herself thinking that Isadora was sick of her and needed her own time as well. "What the heck, i could use a few hours to get my life together," Mika shrugged, also getting up to put her dishes in the sink.
She and Bose turned to face the sink. "That's cute, you think I'm giving you an option again,". Mika laughed and bumped her shoulder on his arm and he returned it. They held eye contact and Mika quickly looked away when a blush spread across her cheeks. Before Bose went to get the rest of the dishes, he places both his hands on her waist and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Seriously, the hair looks good on you,".
One side of Mika wanted to turn around and kiss him senseless, and another part of her wanted to turn around and slap him because they were supposed to be only friends and friends don't have moments like the ones they were constantly having.
))
After Mika met the nanny and interrogated her for an awfully long time. She was able to let Isadora go. Mika walked around the manor mindlessly looking for something interesting to do. Mika spun around the halls, eyeing the art pieces. She'd seen them loads of times so they didn't spark any interest.
Mika was bored. Which had become a strange feeling to her, she was always doing something. Now she had what seemed like all the time in the world. Mika went into Adora's nursery and started reorganizing stuff, everything was clean and put away but there were some things she preferred to look a certain way. Mika reminisced about the time she sat in this room, painting doves on the grey walls. That was a lifetime ago.
When Mika was done, she went into her room and looked for her laptop. She found it in her suitcases under her clothes. Mika sat on the bed, opened a few new tabs, and started logging into her socials. Mika hadn't used her social media for a long duration and was curious to see what all her outside friends were up to. Whatever new topics and stupid challenges were trending. Mika started scrolling and blankly looked through people's stories, posts, click clocks and twit flashes.
The more she scrolled the more she started to resent the people who she once use to interact with, living their best lives. There was this one girl who was finishing up her summer bridge at Yale University before she attended in the fall. Mika knew her from the fairs. "That's supposed to be me," Mika said to herself.
Mika clicked off her page and a post from her favorite streaming service came up. Mika was thrilled, one of her favorite tv series had been renewed for another season and it had already started airing. Mika stopped keeping track of stuff like that when her life got messy, it became silly and unnecessary for her to even try.
Mika opened up the streaming service and decided to catch up on the last season to refresh her memory before starting the new season. Edith, a helper, offered to bring her snacks while she got comfortable but Mika said it was fine and she'd do it herself. But Edith was resilient.
Mika laid in bed with her laptop rewatching her show. She thought about three years ago when she first discovered the show. She was 15 and her only problem was Raquel choosing Branson over Daniel. It brought Mika comfort knowing that somewhere, she was still 15 inside her fantasy, instead of being 18 seeing that everyone had moved on with their lives while she was frozen in time.
)
By the end of the day, Mika had finished five movies, and three eight-episode shows, caught up on some light reading, and painted her nails. She thought about redecorating the room to fit her like Bose had mentioned but chose against it until further notice. Then when she ran out of things to do, she went down to the kitchen and started baking some buttercream cookies. Surprisingly, Mika didn't mind being alone, the whole day felt very therapeutic.
Mika was expecting a call from her parents asking her where she was, but it never came. Miles called though, and Mika explained to him that she'd be staying with Bose's family from now. Miles apologized for not being there for her and Mika let him know that it was okay, he still had a life of his own and she didn't expect him to always be there to pick up the pieces of their now-broken home, it wouldn't be fair to him.
Isadora came back and Mika was joyful to see her again. The nanny claimed that Isadora was a phenomenally well-behaved baby and she enjoyed their time together. Mika thanked her and then bought Adora to the kitchen to give her some of the softer buttercream cookies she made especially for her. Mika asked Adora about her day and if she had missed her.
Call Mika crazy, but she would swear to you that she and Isadora understood exactly what the other was saying and they could have an actual conversation. Maybe it was just a parent thing because Bose understood her just as well.
Isadora and Mika were watching tv downstairs when Bose came home with Willard. "Hi Mira," Willard said to Mika, his head poking through the door and Bose flopped onto the couch next to them. "It's Mika," Mika corrected. "I know but I like Mira better. But anyways, guess what I got for Isadora?" Willard sang, his head going back outside and Isadora poked her own out, hearing her name.
Mika turned to Bose, "What did he get?". Bose was about to tell her but Willard already revealed it. He came into the housing rolling in a mini small hot pink bedazzled car, big enough to fit Adora.
Isadora enthusiastically started moving around in Mika's lap, almost falling off. "Oh my god it's so cute!," Mika gushed, standing up with Adora in a haste. Mika put Adora in the car as she admired it ." I tried to talk him out of it, but his mind was made up," Bose sighed from the couch. "What? Why?" Mika took her phone out for pictures. "Because first, she gets a car, then she goes off to college, then she starts dating, then she gets married, leaves, and forgets all about me,". Bose dramatically laid his back on the furniture.
Mika scoffed and turned her focus to Isadora. Isadora glowed inside the car, her chubby hands, and she excitedly spoke, wanting to touch everything. Mika loved seeing her this happy, "Over here Isa, smile for Mommy,".
"Next stop, the courtyard," Willard grinned, taking the back of her car and pushing it out of the living room with Adora inside. "Oh look, she skipped her first steps and went straight to the road," Bose lifted his arm like he was reaching out to her. Mika rolled her eyes, "When did you become such a drama queen,". Mika lifted Bose's head and sat on the couch, then Bose rested his head on her lap.
"So, what did you do today?" He smiled up at her. Mika stroked Bose's hair as she gave him a rundown of her day. While talking to him, Bose gave her his full attention and Mika carefully observed his face. She wondered if his dimples had got deeper and if his eyes were softer. But perhaps his eyes were only this soft when he was looking at her.
Bose lifted himself up to sit next to her and told her about his day when she asked. Thankfully, he wasn't in any trouble for what happened with Owen, but Owen sure as hell was. His Dad made him give Bose a five-minute long speech as to how he was in the wrong and how he would be more sensitive towards women's feelings. Bose said he couldn't stop smiling the entire time, it was the highlight of his week. Mika laughed imagining the scene.
"I never said thank you for sticking up for me, and although I didn't show it, I really value how much you care about me Bose," Mika said moving closer to him. Mika watched the genuine smile appear on his lips and he tipped his head back. "You never have to thank me for caring about you," Bose responded.
Miak's eyes shimmered, that sentence affected Mika more than it should have.
In an instant, Mika launched herself at Bose, grasping his lips on hers and he reacted at once, in pleasant surprise. It was their first kiss in what felt like a decade. Bose strongly cuffed her face and Mika tasseled her fingers in his hair.
All of the built-up want they'd had for each other for the last couple of months exploded out of them. They made small spaces between their lips for gasp of air but it was hard to consume any when they refused to have their lips be apart for more than a nanosecond. Bose places his hand on the small of Mika's back and Mika straddled him instinctively, but Bose had already started pushing forwards, lying her down on the couch.
Small moans escaped Mika's mouth and their lips started to swell from the pressure. Mika was lost over the feel of Bose's body weight gently on top of hers.
They obviously forgot where they were because they might as well have discovered a new superpower with how fast they jumped apart when people invaded the room. Ceila came down the stairs holding a golf club at the same time Willard came back in driving Isadora and Edith came from the back door hauling a trash bag.
Their hair was a mess and Mika was heavily breathing. "Isadora! That is the cutest thing I've ever seen," Ceila stopped in front of her car, "Isn't this the cutest?" she turned to Mika and Bose who were still recovering from their intense in-the-moment makeout. "Uh, yeah," Bose blushed. He faced Mika but she was gone, running upstairs already.
"What's with her?" Willard asked. Bose shrugged dramatically, "I don't know, why would you think I know god you guys we're two different people who experience different things," Bose tried to play it cool, then ran out the front door.