Loving Mia

Sunday seemed to be one of the longest days of her life. Mia tried to do everything she could to calm down her nerves. She went to the park and watched people walk their dogs and kids play. She went to the mall and bought a lot of self-help books. She figured she'd need every book she could get about relationships, being in one was hard enough, but two?? Unfortunately for her, there weren't any books about relationships with two men. She did find some on how to date multiple guys without getting caught, but didn't think that's what she needed.

She did not want to tell her friends what the guys had told her. She knew they'd throw a huge "I told you so" in her face. Neither did she want to talk to her mother about this. Being a strict religious Christian woman, her mother would probably have a heart attack if she went to her for advice.

After roaming around aimlessly in sort of daze for four hours, Mia returned home and fixed herself something to eat. She thought about her life and how she ended up in this situation. Right now her mother was very proud of her for being independent and strong. After all, Mia was the only person in their small southern town who had ventured off to California and hadn't looked back. Her mother bragged about how she got a job working for rich white folks and how well she was doing, which of course made everyone in her family despise her. Luckily Mia was an only child. She couldn't imagine being compared to her sisters and brothers over her life. She had a feeling her mother would make them hate her too.

Staying in a small town, which had stopped growing years ago and didn't even have a mall, unless you considered Wal-mart a mall, and getting knocked up and on welfare was not the way Mia had wanted to live her life. Her family had considered it a way of life; Mia felt she had options.

When she finished community college, she wanted to go to a university. Her mother-along with the rest of her family members-thought she'd lost her mind. What would she do at a university? She was a poor little country black girl. She hated it when people doubted her.

Mia had taken out a school loan and took the greyhound bus to Cleveland State University in Cleveland, MS. She had taken classes in business administration. She had studied hard and worked part-time to support herself. When it was time for her to graduate, the only person who showed up was her mother.

Her aunts, uncles and cousins hadn't showed up. Her mother made excuses for them, but Mia knew they were only being spiteful. She had showed them she could succeed on her own without their help. Her mother was proud that she had graduated, but she couldn't understand why Mia didn't marry one of the nice college men she had dated. Mia had tried to tell her she didn't go to college just to get married and be a housewife. What was the point in going?

With her bachelor's degree in Business, Mia thought for sure she'd find a good job somewhere in the south. She was wrong. Three years later after being passed up because of the color of her skin, she found herself working as a cashier to support herself, a cashier at Wal-Mart. She was pissed to say the least. She had went to college, graduated with honors and all she could get was a cashier job? No wonder people didn't succeed in the south, education didn't matter, in fact they acted as if they hated to see an educated black woman.

When she told Joyce how unhappy she was, she had told her to hop on a plane and head to California. At first, Mia hadn't wanted to go, she didn't know anyone in California except Joyce and she hadn't seen Joyce in years.

Then, one of her uncles made a remark about how she had two college degrees and still hadn't done anything with her life during Thanksgiving.

"Look at you," he said in a mocking tone. "All that work for nothing and you still ended up like all the rest of us. Nobody needs a degree to be a cashier, Mia. You thought were too good for everyone and now look at you, in debt and broke." He had humiliated her in front of her entire family and they had laughed at her, except her mother who looked at her in sympathy.

The next week, Mia took a plane to California. Joyce was excited Mia had decided to come and talked to her on the phone for most of the trip. "California isn't racist," Joyce had told her. "They hire you here for your education, not the color of your skin. People here are very open-minded so you don't have to worry about that racist stuff in the south."

Mia's heart was filled with excitement at having a new chance to start over. She moved in with Joyce and immediately started looking for work and once again found herself as a cashier at one of the Wal-mart stores that Joyce managed.

With Joyce being a manager, it wasn't hard for Mia to get hired at Wal-mart, but she was pissed. Joyce, of course, was sensible about it, saying that she needed something to keep money in her pocket until she could find the job she wanted. She suppose she was right, but she was still pissed. Finally, after two months of working part-time as a cashier and going on a lot of interviews that rejected her, Mia learned something that Joyce didn't know about. How could she? After all, Joyce had been born and raised in California.

Mia learned that most Californians looked down on black women from the south. In one interview, they had even made fun of the college she'd went to and her accent had either fascinated them or disgusted them. Either way, she didn't get the executive assistant jobs she'd applied for.

Joyce, once again, pointed out she needed a little more experience, even if she did have the degree that was needed, and then showed her the personal assistant ad for Amant Realty. Mia jumped on the job. At least at this job, she'd feel better about having a degree and that's when she'd met Aidan and Kale.

Mia sighed and chewed on a piece of lettuce from the salad she was making. She had her life completely planned out. First, she would be a personal assistant which gave her some starting grounds in the business world, then she'd become an office manager or executive assistant, and then an executive, and perhaps a vice president.

Who knows with all the knowledge she'd gain from working, she could run her own business one day. So why were the two men in her life trying to spoil her dream? They wanted her to stop working so they would take care of her. HA! That was so not going to happen. She had come too far and worked too hard to end up letting any man take care of her.

Mia sat up and snatched up her cell phone. She dialed Aidan's number and yelled at him when he answered it.

"I'm keeping my job dammit! You are not going to fire me and have me living off your money. There's no way I'm going to let you have that much control over me. As a matter of fact, don't you think it's time you promote me to an executive assistant? I've already been doing more than a personal assistant should. What? I was? Then why did you keep saying I was your personal assistant? You liked the way it sounded? Aidan, I swear if you were here I'd...yes I'm threatening you. I want a raise. You heard me a raise! Because this is my life and I feel I should have had a say so in the way things are . You fired me without even asking me if I still wanted to work with you after you told me your intentions. Don't I get to make that decision, not you? I want a raise and the title "executive assistant". Yes, I still want to work for you after everything you said, it doesn't bother me because we're taking things slow remember? Aidan, if you don't do as I asked I'm moving to Los Angeles and look for another job there. Thanks to you guys, I got all the experience I need to move on. No, I'm not trying to blackmail you, I'm damn mad! Fine. Good. Great. See you in the morning!" Mia hung up the phone. Well at least she'd gotten a raise in all of this...

She sat down at a table with her bowl of salad in front of her. Now what to do about her personal feelings to Kale and Aidan, was she in or out? The phone rang. She picked it up.

"Mia, what the hell did you do?" Kale wanted to know. "Aidan is walking around in shock and mumbling incoherently to himself."

"I was negotiating," Mia said.

"Did you threaten to move to Los Angeles if he didn't give you your job back and a raise?"

"Yes, I did," Mia said sweetly.

"Woman..."

"Listen to me tan man and golden boy..."

"What?" Kale asked, stumbling over his words. "What did you just call us?"

"I'm going to make this very clear. We're going to go about our lives- day to day-as if nothing has changed. If something happens then it happens, if not then it doesn't, but you will not put me under this type of stress. I understand your feelings for me and I'm still trying to figure out if this is something I want or not so just let me live my life with what I'm use to."

"Mia, things won't ever be the same between us again since we've told you, but we won't harass you about it. Just don't get angry or shocked if something happens along the way. You might want to pretend nothing's changed, but we can't."

"Okay, Kale, if something "happens" along the way, and only "if" and I happen to end up sleeping with one of you then feel free to fire me, until then, I'm still working."

"Mia, if you end up sleeping with one of us, this charade will be over. You will be ours and we won't let you go."

"How do you know if it'll be good, I could be a very bad lay..." Mia said challenging him. "Then you wouldn't want anything to do with me"

"Let's not kid ourselves Mia. There's a lot of hidden passion between us, you just don't want to accept it. Believe me; it's going to be good. You are the sexiest woman I've ever met, just looking at you gives me a hard on, so even if you lay there and don't do a damn thing, it will still be good for the both of us. You ever heard of multiple orgasms, Mia? It's a continuation of one orgasm after the next without stopping, that's what I'm going to do to you, give you so many orgasms you're going to pass out. I'm going to make you mine over and over all night long until you won't be able to walk the next morning and then we'll see if you're a bad lay or not."

Mia hung up the phone. Her face was on fire. She was trembling. "Damn you, Kale!" She muttered. How could she have let her feelings for them get to the point where their words affected her so much, she couldn't control her body's response? How dare he talk dirty to her...what type of boss was he? It was good thing he wasn't here, who knows what would have happened. They were dangerous men. Perhaps, she should move to Los Angeles after all.

"We've created a monster," Aidan said after calming himself with a drink. They sat at one of the local bars that night and watched the game on a wide screen TV over their heads.

Kale laughed. "I find Mia extremely sexy when she gets demanding like that, it's like watching a little kitten show its claws."

"Those kitten claws hurt, no matter how cute they are," Aidan said. "She threatened to leave. I was afraid of this happening."

"Mia is not going anywhere," Kale said confidently. "And if she does, we'll go after her."

Aidan shook his head and laughed, "could you see this happening to us our freshman year in college?"

Kale laughed too. "If someone had told our fortunes when we were 19 that we'd fall madly in love with a young black woman from Mississippi, I would have thought they were crazy."

Aidan nodded. "We were from a different world back then. God, can you imagine what our parents will do when we introduce them to Mia?"

"Have a heart attack and die?" Kale asked. He smiled evilly at the thought. "Maybe we should introduce her to them sooner."

"Now Kale, they're still our parents, no matter how intolerable they are of other races."

Kale frowned. "When I think of the things they said around me when I was a kid...they actually had me believing it was the right way to act."

"In their society, it is," Aidan said. "I'm just glad we had enough sense to grow out of that and realize how wrong they were."

Kale nodded. "Well, I suppose we have to get Mia to say yes to our proposal before we introduce her. Unless she agrees to marry us, I'd rather not have them know. They would probably try to pay her off to get rid of her."

Aidan frowned in disgust. "Sounds like something they'd do. The shame, the humiliation, what would our children look like? I can hear our mothers now. I'm so in love with Mia, but I'm not sure what this would do to her judging how she was raised. Do you think her mother would accept us? Kale, do you think we're doing the right thing putting Mia through this?"

"We'll protect her," Kale said.

"But can we protect her from her own insecurities?" Aidan asked.

Kale sighed. "Can we talk about something else, this discussion is depressing."

"I'm glad Mia decided to continue to work for us," Aidan said. "I don't know what we would have done without her. She knows our information more than we do."

"Why the hell did you fire her in the first place?" Kale wanted to know.

"I just didn't want her to think we were one of those bosses who sleep with their secretaries..."

"Technically, when we make her ours, we will fit in that category."

Aidan slapped his forehead. "Ugh, I hate that! It's so cliché'."

Kale laughed. "Well, Mia did say we could fire her again if that happens."

"Hi there," a female voice said behind them. They turned around from the bar to see two attractive ladies watching them in anticipation. One was a golden blonde like Aidan with green eyes and the other had dark brown hair and grey eyes. "We couldn't help but notice you from a far and how alike you are, just like us." The blonde said smiling at Kale.

"Yeah, we were hoping you'd buy us a drink and then maybe have a little fun," the brown hair one smiled at Aidan and licked her lips as she looked him up and down.

Kale and Aidan looked at each other. Any other time, they would have taken the brazen girls up on their offer, but after confessing to Mia their feelings...

"Sorry ladies, we're not available," Kale said.

They pouted and looked at each other. The blonde leaned over and whispered something in the brunette's ear. She looked surprised and then slightly embarrassed. "Oh I'm sorry. We didn't know you two were together! What a shame...you're so gorgeous..."

Kale frowned. Aidan quickly interfered before Kale started to say something rude. "We're not gay if that's what you're saying. We have someone already, a beautiful woman that we both love."

"You both love?" The girls frowned as if trying to make sense of what he said.

"Don't think too hard, you might hurt yourself," Kale said smirking.

"Excuse us ladies, but we were on our way out," Aidan said giving Kale a look to behave as he stood up.

Kale sighed and followed him out. He understood why Aidan left. It always worked in a pattern. They could be in the bar for an hour or more before one girl or two approached them. If she or they happened to be turned down, then another one approached.

Most women were intimidated by their good looks and were afraid to approach them at first, but once one was brave enough to do it, it opened up an entire world of bold women coming up to hit on them. Neither of the guys felt like going through a night of determine women.

Mia looked at the clock and stared at the phone. It was 11:00pm. One of the guys always called to check in on her before she went to bed at night. She knew exactly how the ritual started. She'd gotten sick from food poison one night after they'd went out to dinner during a business trip. She didn't show up at work the next day. They had found her lying on the floor unconscious that morning. Every since then, they always called her to make sure she was okay before she went to bed.

Mia smiled to herself as she watched the phone.

There were so many things they had done for her that should have made her realize they saw her as more than a friend. Like the time she had went on her first plane ride with Aidan on a business trip.

She had been scared out of her mind and practically threw up all over Aidan. He hadn't gotten angry at her like she thought. She was so morbidly embarrassed she could have died. Aidan was patient and kind to her. He even helped her to the bathroom to clean up. He let her lean against him during the entire plane ride and held her tightly while she cried on his shoulder which of course made it even worse for her. And, all the time, he kept whispering sweet little things in her ear about how brave she was and how hard he knew this was for her and that he'd keep her safe. Of course she knew if the plane crash, he wouldn't be able to keep her safe, but it was the thought that counted.

When they were in the hotel, he'd stayed in her room and took care of her until she fell asleep before going back to his. It was the first time she started having feelings for Aidan that had happened two years ago.

She remembered the first time she started having feelings for Kale also. Kale had once beaten up a guy on her behalf when he had gotten too rough with Mia at one of their social parties.

He had caught the guy trying to steal a kiss from Mia outside the building. He must have been following her to have known where she'd gone. Mia had to admit she'd been thrilled that someone had acted as if he was attracted to her. Most of the time during their little business social parties, she'd been totally ignored except with Aidan and Kale who she thought only paid her attention because they felt sorry for her.

Since they were her bosses, she thought they felt it was their duty, but this guy who didn't know her at all, seemed genuinely interested in her so she had went with him for what she thought was a little private harmless flirting. It had turned out to be so much more than that.

The guy probably would have had his way with her had Kale not interfered and rescued her. Kale was livid. She had never seen him so furious. She had to stop him from nearly killing the guy. He'd taken her home immediately and then yelled at her for her behavior. She had been so shocked by everything that happened she couldn't even get angry and yell back.

It was the first time Kale had ever held her. After yelling at her about how naive she had been, he'd finally calmed down when he saw the shock and confusion on her face. She must have looked very vulnerable for Kale to break down his defenses and hold her. He'd picked her up and carried her to her couch and held her in his lap.

They had sat there for two hours not saying a word. Kale had stroked her hair, her back and her arms, but that was it. She thought he might have kissed the top of her head, but she wasn't sure.

Aidan had came by wanting to know what happened. Kale had told him he'd tell him later. Aidan had stayed the night also, but had given them their privacy. Every now and then he would come out of his guest bedroom to check on her. His light blue eyes were filled with concern as he watched her.

Mia had finally ended up falling asleep in Kale's lap. She had woke up the next morning in her own bed. The guys had spent the night and Aidan had a long talk with her. It was the first Mia had ever seen Kale act so sweet to her. She had always been a little intimidated by him until then.

The phone rang bringing Mia out of her thoughts. She smiled softly and answered it.

"I hope you've calmed down from this afternoon," Kale said. "Aidan wants to know if it's safe to talk to you."

Mia smiled. Poor Aidan, she rarely went off on him and when she did, he acted so hurt by it. "Yes, I'm feeling much better. I'm not mad anymore," she told him hoping Aidan heard her. She knew he had her on the speakerphone.

"Sorry Mia, I had no idea I'd caused you such distress..." Aidan's voice was soft and tender on the phone. Mia's heart skipped a beat.

"Yeah, well, I got over it," she said trying to sound like she didn't care.

"I'm glad you're still working for us. I really didn't want to fire you," Aidan said.

"Oh that's good to know," Mia said wondering why she was feeling shy all of a sudden. She supposed it was because she knew how they really felt about her now.

"So Mia, are you in or out?" Kale wanted to know.

"Didn't I answer your question earlier?" Mia said irritated.

"Not really," Kale said smoothly.

"Okay, let me say this one more time. I want to take things slowly. So, we're go about like we do every day until I'm sure this is what I want."

"So that means you're in?" Kale asked.

"Did you not just hear me?" Mia growled softly.

"Just say yes or no Mia and we'll take it as slow as you want. Stop beating around the bush."

Mia felt like slamming the phone against the wall or better yet against Kale's skull. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay, yes I'm in just to see if I can handle this and we take it very slow meaning I'm not going to be in your bed tomorrow!"

There was silence on the other end of the phone then she heard something like a slap in the background. "I know you two not high fiving each other!" Mia yelled indignantly.

"What makes you think that?" Aidan asked innocently.

She could hear the grin in his voice. She rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"But we are happy that you've decided to give us a chance," Aidan said happily.

"Yeah, well, you know...I'm going to be working closely with you anyway right? Might as well..." Mia had no idea what she was saying. She knew that came out all wrong..."I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm saying," she laughed nervously. "I'm really tired guys. I've had a long day."

"We'll let you get some sleep," Aidan said. "Good night Mia."

"Good night Aidan."

"Good night sexy," Kale said.

"Hey don't start! I told you, we're still acting the same..." Mia pointed out. "It's not like I've actually decided to be your girlfriend, yet. I just want to go out with you and see where it leads."

"Yeah, sure," Kale said. "I'll see you tomorrow." He hung up the phone.

Mia slowly put the phone down. What had she gotten herself into? For a moment, she panicked and started to pick the phone back up and call them and say she couldn't possibly go through with this. She was a nice girl after all. Her mother didn't raise her to consider the possibility of being with two guys at once. It was completely unheard of and very taboo.

Her mother would tell her she was going straight to hell and then keel over and die. She'd never be able to introduce them to her. Nothing could ever become of this, except a doomed affair, and the person who'd probably get hurt the worse from it was herself. And yet, with all the negative thoughts running through her head, she found herself sitting the phone back on the hook and laying down to go to sleep.

"Aidan what are you doing?" Kale asked. He'd gotten up in the middle of the night to get something to drink and found Aidan sitting in the kitchen, drinking a soda, and typing away on his laptop.

"I'm trying to research the perfect names for our children. If it's a girl, Elizabeth would be beautiful, but if it's a boy I was thinking maybe Samuel? What do you think?"

"Don't you think you're jumping ahead of yourself?" Kale asked looking at him like he was crazy. He opened the refrigerator and got a bottle of water.

"I know, I know. I already started making plans for Mia to move in with us and I planned our wedding. We have to figure out which one of us is going to marry her. We can't both marry her."

Kale nearly choked on his water. "Go to bed man. I know you're excited about our little Mia and so am I, but seriously, I didn't expect you to go mental over it. Mia wants to take this slowly remember? We have to respect her wishes in order to keep her around. If you start saying all that stuff to her she'll have every right to think you're crazy and run away."

"I wouldn't tell her, I'm not stupid, but there's nothing wrong with fantasizing that this could be a happily ever after ending..." Aidan said. "You think our kids will have her smile. She has a beautiful smile. It lights up an entire room."

Kale shook his head. He left Aidan alone to obsess over Mia. He couldn't blame him. They had waited so long for Mia to give them a chance. He was rather excited about it himself. It had taken a vast amount of self-control on his part to not go over to her house and bring her home to hold and love along with Aidan.

He remembered holding her in his arms only once when some bastard had nearly raped her outside the building of their social party. Kale didn't want to think what would have happened if he hadn't gotten there in time. He had held Mia all night. She had been so soft, so warm, and fragile in his arms. He had wanted to protect her from the world.

It was the first time he had allowed himself to be free with his feelings for her. Mia belonged to them. If what she needed was time, then she could have all the time in the world, as long as they got to have her in the end.