Loving Mia

She managed to avoid them for the next two hours because of their extensive meeting. It gave her time to catch up on her work and think about how she was going to handle this delicate situation between them. When it was time for lunch, she didn't wait to ask them to join her; she was out the door before anyone could stop her.

One of the benefits of working in the financial district were that everything was right where you needed it to be. There was a Wal-green on nearly every corner. Bars for having drinks during lunch or hanging out after work were generously spread throughout the streets. However, her favorite, were the restaurants. Every type of restaurant she could think of was within walking distance in the financial district. People never had to drive to eat. Mia loved lunchtime; she found something new every month to try.

The area was so full of life. Street musicians played their saxophones and guitars on the corner. Beautiful classic trolleys rumbled gently up and down the streets packed with tourists. Buses honked their horns at cars to move out of the way. Most of all, Mia loved watching the people that walked around.

The women looked like supermodels dressed fashionably in expensive clothes that she knew cost over hundreds of dollars. The men were well built and handsome as they wore their expensive suits and walked around with confidence and a purpose to their steps.

When Mia had first arrived in San Francisco, all the beautiful, perfect people had intimidated her. There were only a handful of African-Americans walking around, but they were also dressed impeccably. Mia felt she had to dress her best just to blend in with the crowd, which meant she'd spent entire paychecks, at one time, on clothes she couldn't afford.

Aidan and Kale fit perfectly here in the city. They looked just like everyone else. She smiled at the thought and then jumped out of her musings when her cell phone vibrated in her jacket. She knew who it was before answering it; she just didn't know which one was calling her.

"Hello, Mia speaking," she said as sweetly as she could.

"Mia where are you?" Kale asked. He sounded very annoyed.

"I'm on lunch," Mia replied innocently.

"Where are you? You know we don't like you walking around the city by yourself."

"Oh please, what could possibly happen in such a beautiful place?"

"You remember the drunken homeless guy who grabbed your skirt when you passed by and wouldn't let go?" Kale reminded.

Mia frowned. "That happened a long time ago and I haven't seen him since..."

Aidan's voice suddenly appeared on the phone. "Mia, are you avoiding us?"

"Maybe," Mia admitted.

Aidan sighed. "We should have lunch together and talk about this," he reasoned.

"No thanks," Mia said. "I'm going to enjoy my lunch by myself without you two wrecking havoc in my life."

"That's a little extreme..." Aidan said sounding hurt.

"I told you both I wanted to take this slow. What the hell was that back there?"

"I'm sorry, sweetie. We couldn't help ourselves. This is why I didn't want you working here after we confessed our feelings to you. You're one hell of a distraction and every time we're near you, we just want to touch you. We've kept our hands to ourselves for years; you can't expect us to keep our control now that we've opened up to you."

"Yes, I can! If you've waited that long, then you can wait a little longer. This is on my terms remember, not yours?"

"We're not saints, Mia. You can't expect us to be around such a beautiful, sexy woman as yourself and not want to touch you," Kale said.

"You were saints before," Mia said.

"That was before we told you how we felt..." Aidan pointed out. "You know Mia, we already consider you as ours. We're just waiting for you to accept it."

Mia swallowed at the possessiveness in Aidan's tone. It was so unlike him to be so forward. She liked it. "I think Kale is beginning to rub off on you," she joked.

"No Mia, Aidan can be just as aggressive and domineering as I can when he really wants something, in his own way."

Mia nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Kale's voice standing right behind her. He grabbed her hand to keep her from sprinting away. Aidan stood beside him smiling down at her. "Oh my god!" Mia yelled, "I can't get away from you guys."

"Sorry, you're stuck with us," Aidan said still giving her a heart stopping smile. Men, like Aidan - who could look so devilishly handsome from just smiling - should be locked up somewhere.

"I should have walked faster, but noo, I just had to take my time and enjoy the sights," she mumbled as they pulled her along with them.

They ate a Thai restaurant and sat by the window. They knew Mia loved to be able to see what was going on outside as she ate. Aidan sat beside Mia and Kale sat on the opposite side.

"Guys," Mia said after a few minutes of silence with both of them watching her as if she was the most fascinating person in the restaurant. "You ever think this could be just an infatuation? Think about it, I'm different and new from what you guys are usually use to so this could be just a temporary thing."

A frown came across their faces at the same time. They acted so much like twins, even if they didn't look like each other. They certainly didn't seem to like what they heard.

"She thinks we're infatuated," Kale said slowly, almost mockingly. "Should I tell her what you were doing late last night?"

Mia looked at Aidan curiously.

Aidan's face turned completely red. Mia had never seen him blush so intensely, except one time when he'd done something ultra nice for her for the first time and she'd given him a huge smile and a quick hug before stopping herself.

"It's nothing," Aidan said giving Kale a warning look.

"But she needs to know we're not infatuated and it's the only way I can prove to her that we aren't, in such a short notice."

"She'll know with time..." Aidan growled softly giving a Kale a threatening look.

Mia grinned. "Oh a secret, I have to know! Tell me!" She looked at Kale ignoring the horror on Aidan's face.

Kale took pity on Aidan and laughed. "She's going to find out sooner or later, but I won't tell."

Mia gave Kale a look of disappointment and turned back to Aidan who looked very relieved. "Was it a good thing at least?"

Aidan gave her a tender smile. He picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. His warm lips sent goose bumps down her arm. Luckily, she was wearing long sleeves so he couldn't see how he affected her.

"It was good, very good. Just know that we're not suffering from a temporary case of infatuation, Mia. Our feelings for you are as real as they're going to get. If we could prove it to you right now we would."

There was a knock on the glass. Mia turned around and saw Jasmine waving excitedly at her with a huge smile. A middle age balding white man stood beside her with his arm wrapped around hers. He smiled politely. Jasmine eyes glanced down at Aidan's hand holding Mia's and looked at her in surprise. Mia groaned to herself when Jasmine gestured they were coming in. Mia pulled her hand out of Aidan's.

"Now look what you've started!" She scolded him.

Aidan looked confused. "Was that Jasmine?"

Kale chuckled.

Mia prepared to meet Jasmine and her newest friend as she dragged him to their table. "Hi guys," Jasmine said looking at everyone before turning to smile at her friend. "This is Robert. Robert, this is Mia, Kale, and Aidan. Mia is one my closest friends."

Robert shook everyone's hand and lingered slightly when he shook Mia's hand. Kale and Aidan noticed immediately, so did Mia, although she wasn't sure why she'd sparked an interest in the older man's eyes. The man was with the most beautiful woman Mia had ever known. Why would he be interested in her?

Jasmine; however, didn't seem to notice. She was too busy trying to drag Mia out of her seat to talk to her. "Scoot over, Aidan. Mia and I need to go to the ladies room," she said as she tugged on Mia's hand.

Aidan sighed at her rudeness at reaching over him and stood up reluctantly. He watched as Jasmine pulled Mia away from them before turning back to Robert who laughed and shrugged. "She's something isn't she?" He asked.

"She's something alright," Kale said dryly.

Jasmine pulled Mia into the bathroom. "Okay, girl, spill it. I saw the way Aidan was holding and kissing your hand. You guys are more than friends now, aren't you?"

"No, yes, I don't know. It's complicated," Mia said.

"Did you sleep with Aidan?"

"No..."

"What about Kale?"

"NO!"

"Then what's going on?" Jasmine insisted.

"They want to be in a relationship with me, both of them," Mia said.

Jasmine let out an excited squeal. "I knew it! Well, actually I just thought they wanted to have a threesome with you, but a relationship! That's serious!"

"I know," Mia said, "and very strange, being with one of them is enough, but both of them? I don't know if I can handle it."

"Wait a minute, are you telling me you told them no?" Jasmine looked at Mia as if she'd lost her mind.

"Not exactly, I just told them I wanted to wait and see if I could deal with it. We're taking things slow."

"Okay, Mia, you are stupid. Sorry, but you are. You got two gorgeous rich men that are in love with you and could give you anything you want. What the hell is there to think about?"

"I'm sure you'd jump at the chance to be with them," Mia said.

"Hell, yeah! Get it while the getting is good. Take Robert for instance, he's a marketing manager, looks like your typical business white guy, but his needs are purely sexual. He got this whole fantasy thing about being with a black woman. He gives me everything I want. I give him everything he wants, but the man don't want a serious relationship with me. Do you know how lucky you are?"

"I hate to say this Jasmine, but you sound like a prostitute, don't you think you deserve better? There's nothing wrong with going out there and getting a job to support yourself."

"Whatever, Mia, this is my job, it's how I make a living and believe me, I don't have to work my ass off like you and Joyce to get the good stuff."

"Looks don't last forever," Mia told her. "You're 24 now, but what are you going to do when you turn 50?"

"I'd be married to a rich guy by then," Jasmine scoffed. "Look, let's not talk about my life, we are discussing yours. Take it from me, girl. Don't mess everything up with those guys. This is a once in a lifetime chance for you to live the good life like me. Hell, I'd do whatever they want because the benefits are sure to be spectacular."

"I'm not going to be with Kale and Aidan for your reasons. Besides, this wasn't how I was raised. I always thought that I'd end up with one man when I came to the city, maybe a nice successful black man. I never thought I'd have two beautiful white men chasing after me."

"You have something against white men?" Jasmine asked.

"No, you know I don't have a problem with an interracial relationship, but my family will, especially my mother. It will be hard enough to take one white man to my hometown, but two of them?"

"Girl, forget your family, who cares? You are states away from them. Who knows, maybe it won't last between the three of you, and then they won't ever have to know."

"Thanks a lot Jasmine," Mia said. Her heart started aching at the thought of losing Kale and Aidan. They had grown to be so much a part of her life that she couldn't imagine what it would be like without them.

Robert grinned at Kale and Aidan as if he was sharing a secret with them. He sat beside Kale. "Okay," he said. "What's the story behind the dark-skinned one?"

"Excuse me?" Aidan asked, not sure if he heard him correctly.

"You know the one name Mia. She's a beauty."

"There is no story," Kale said, his voice slightly deeper with suspicion.

"Oh come on, admit it, you two are probably with her for the same reason I'm with her friend, Jasmine. What else could it be? I tell you what. I'll trade with you. How much do you want for Mia? Don't get me wrong, Jasmine is beautiful, but Mia...now that's a real black woman. She got curves that don't stop and enough meat on her bones for a man to grab and hold on to in bed, and that skin of hers makes my mouth water. How much do you want, name the price, anything."

Mia was on her way from the ladies room with Jasmine when she saw Kale stand up and punch Robert in the face. Robert flew backwards into a waiter causing the poor waiter to spill hot food all over Robert's clothes. Robert screamed in pain. Jasmine gasped and ran towards him.

"What did you do?!" She yelled at Kale who looked like he wanted to punch Robert again.

Aidan held him back, although he looked like he wanted to pummel the man into the floor himself. "Keep your friends away from Mia. Do you understand Jasmine? If I ever hear of one of your "friends" hitting on Mia, they'll end up with more than a black eye." Aidan's voice was cold and deadly. It cut through Mia like a knife and made her shiver. She had never seen him so angry.

"You stay away from her, Jasmine! Mia doesn't need friends like you bringing her down! From now on you are not allowed to see her," Kale roared angrily. His large hands were balled into fists so tightly, his knuckles looked like they were about to tear through his skin.

The manager ran towards them. "Don't worry, we were just leaving," Aidan told him. He took out a couple of hundreds from his wallet and threw it on a table nearby. "Sorry about the mess." They each grabbed Mia's hand and dragged her out of the restaurant leaving Jasmine and her screaming friend behind.

"Guys, slow down!" Mia said trying to keep up with their long strides. She felt so short huddled between the giant angry men. She stopped and jerked her hands free when they didn't ease up. "You want to tell me what that was about?"

"No," Kale said gruffly. He was still seething.

"My gods, is that what people think of us?" Aidan asked in outrage.

"If they do, they better keep it to themselves or there will be a lot of dead bodies in San Francisco," Kale said angrily.

Mia looked from one guy to the next in frustration. "Will someone please tell me what's going on? And Kale, how dare you tell Jasmine she can't see me. Who do you think you are?"

"Your man," Kale said looking at her possessively.

Mia knew there was no reasoning with Kale when he was furious. It was best to leave him alone until he calmed down. She turned to the reasonable one, Aidan. "Will you please tell me why Kale punched Jasmine's friend?"

"It's best you don't know, Mia," Aidan told her. He took her hand and tried to walk with her again.

Mia pulled away from him. "I'm not going anywhere until someone explains to me what's going on!" She put her hands on her hips and glared at both of them.

Kale couldn't help but smile a little. She looked so cute, just like an angry kitten.

Aidan sighed knowing Mia's stubborn streak would win this battle. "Mia, he thought you were a prostitute or a call girl or something, I don't know but, he wanted to trade Jasmine for you, even offered to pay us for you. It was damn insulting."

Mia blinked in shock. "He wanted me instead of Jasmine?" She couldn't believe it. She was even a little flattered.

"Mia, are you crazy? This is nothing to look flattered over. The guy thought you were a high class prostitute," Kale yelled at her.

A few people stared at them as they passed by. Mia blushed and glared at Kale. "Great, I'm sure he's not the only one thanks to you."

"Let's just go back to the office and have some coffee so we can calm down," Aidan said. Mia nodded and let him put his arm around her shoulder. They walked back to the office, but didn't get a chance to relax like they thought. All three of them ended up being pulled into different directions over different urgent matters.

Mia swore the people in their building could not operate without them for one second on their own. They stayed busy until the end of the day. Mia took a break when she could, but it only lasted for ten minutes. She was glad that business was doing well, but some days could be harsh.

"Mia, are you ready to go?" Kale asked standing in front of her desk. She was busily clicking away on her computer and hadn't noticed him until he spoke. It was after six and she was still working hard.

"I can't, I have to finish these presentations. It got beyond busy today."

"You think we're going to leave you here?" Kale asked.

"You should, I'll be okay," Mia said steadily clicking away on her mouse.

"You know the routine, if you can't finish at the office, you come to our place. We got the exact same programs at home."

"That use to be the routine, not sure if I want to do that anymore," Mia said and looked up at him.

Aidan popped his head into the room. "Everyone ready to go?"

"Mia isn't. She wants to stay here after hours and finish her presentations. She doesn't want to go to our place to work anymore."

Aidan walked into the room. "Why not?"

"I don't know, maybe I'm afraid I'll actually be seduced by the two of you," Mia said.

"She has a point," Kale said with a grin.

Aidan sighed. "Mia, you're still going to hold this morning against us?"

Mia blushed and started typing furiously on her computer. "I wasn't ready for that..."

"Mia, I know we promised we'd take it slow with you, but you have to forgive us if we have our "moments of weaknesses" around you," Aidan walked around the computer and put his hand over hers to stop her from typing.

Kale stood on her other side looking down at her. "It's not like you didn't enjoy it," he said arrogantly.

Once again, Mia found herself caught between them. She pushed her chair back and stood up. "Okay, back up you two!" Her stomach let out a loud growl making her forget what she was about to say. She hadn't had time to finish her lunch due to Kale's riff with Jasmine's latest boyfriend.

Aidan shook his head. "No,no, no...We can't have that. You're coming with us, we're going to feed you and you can get back to work as much as you want at our place."

"But," Mia said as Aidan saved her work on the computer. Kale grabbed her hand and pulled her away from her desk.

"We promise we won't misbehave," Aidan said. "Right, Kale?"

"Speak for yourself," Kale said pulling Mia close to him. He grinned down at her.

Mia pulled away from him. "I'm not going."

"Mia, do I have to pick you up and carry you out of here? You know I will," Kale threatened.

She turned to Aidan for help. He gave her a sympathetic smile. "We'll order your favorite food, whatever you like."

"Oh you are so wrong for that," Mia told him. "You know how much I love to eat."

Aidan smiled. Mia's stomach growled again this time followed by a hunger pain. She rubbed it and looked slightly embarrassed.

"Come on, let's get you fed before you pass out on us," Aidan took her hand and Kale took her other one. They led her out of the deserted office.

"So where do you want to work at, our apartment or house?" Aidan asked as they got into his car. Mia sat beside him. Kale had brought his own car.

"I guess the apartment," Mia said smiling. "It's closer." Mia had no idea why Kale and Aidan wanted to stay at her apartment sometimes when they had a huge three-bedroom luxury apartment on the 20th floor in the midst of the financial district. It had a breathtaking view of the city, especially at night when the city lights were on.

"You love the apartment don't you?" Aidan gave her a knowing grin.

"To tell you the truth, I love both the apartment and the house, but I think you favor the apartment and Kale favors the house."

"True," Aidan said. "I'm a city boy and he's sort of a country boy."

Mia smiled and shook her head. "And I'm the country girl that transformed into a city girl."

"I don't know about that. I still think you're too innocent for city life."

"Oh here we go again," Mia said in exasperation. "I've grown a lot Aidan. I'm not that scared little girl who was afraid of getting run over in the busy streets of the financial district anymore."

Aidan chuckled. "You've definitely made a life for yourself out here. Kale and I were just talking about how proud we are of you. You've come a long way since the first time we met you. You know your way around this place like the back of your hand. You're independent, strong, and confident at work and outside of it and you've grown quite sassy over the years."

Mia smiled at that.

"And yet, there's still something so innocent about you, so refreshing and unique. You're so different from the women we've dated. You tend to see the world as if for the first time. The way you get excited over the simplest things makes me see the world from a new point of view also. Like when you walk around the financial district, you walk around there hundreds of times and yet it always seems to be a new exciting experience for you. When we go to Presidio Park, you stare at the Golden Gate Bridge in wonder as if you've never seen it before. And, don't get me started about the ocean, how many times have I caught you standing at the glass window at our house in a daze staring at the ocean? I've wanted to walk over and wrap my arms around you and kiss you so many times, I've lost count. You look at the world as if it's the most wonderful creation. You find beauty and happiness in almost everything you do. You never take anything for granted. I love that about you. Kale loves that about you too. Just being around you makes our dull everyday lives feel as if it's worth living."

Mia couldn't believe the words coming from Aidan's mouth. He had described her so beautifully that she felt as if he knew her more than anyone else did. She stared at him in shock, her heart pounding in her chest. She felt herself falling so deeply it made her dizzy. "How did you know that about me? Nobody knows that about me. I mean I could never put into words how I feel or the way I see life, but you've managed to do it. You've managed to describe a secret part of me that everyone's ignored."

"Fools, no one has ever taken the time to really know you, have they? They don't know what they're missing. Well too bad for them because we have you now."

Mia suddenly felt as if she was suffocating in the car. She rolled down the window hoping it would help her breathe. It didn't. "I need to get out the car for a minute," she said urgently.

Aidan glanced at her worriedly. "Mia, are you all right?"

"Stop the car!" She yelled, already unbuckling her seat belt.

Aidan pulled over and parked. Mia flew out of the car and stood on the sidewalk taking deep breaths of air. Aidan walked over and stood in front of her. "Mia! What's wrong baby? Are you sick?"

She looked up at his handsome face full of distraught and began to mumbles words he didn't need to hear, words she didn't want him to hear, but couldn't stop herself. She hated this vulnerable side that only Aidan was capable of bringing out.

Aidan leaned down so he could hear her soft whisper.

"Don't make me fall in love with you..."

He blinked and listened to her again.

"Please don't make me fall in love with you."

He pulled her into his arms holding her close to him. "Mia," he whispered, for some reason his heart broke at hearing her sound so desolate. "What's so bad about loving us?" He asked softly, kissing her forehead tenderly.

"Because I tend to give too much and guys tend to take everything and leave once they've used me for what I'm worth. I hate that about myself, my inability to hold back once I fall in love. It leaves me open and I don't like being hurt. You and Kale could hurt me, so badly."

"Mia, baby, don't think that way. Kale and I would never hurt you. We love you too much. If anything, we're afraid of you hurting us. We know we're asking a lot from you. You're probably going against everything you've been taught, from what I know about your life, but please Mia, don't push us away. We will never leave you, never!" He held her tightly wishing he could absorb her pain inside of him. This was the first time she had ever discussed her love life with him. She had always been so secretive about it.

"Who hurt you? Write down a list of names and I'll make sure to beat the shit out of them," she heard Kale's voice behind her. Kale had been following close behind them when he saw Aidan suddenly pull over and Mia run out the car. He had no idea what was going on, but it scared the hell out of him. He had pulled over quickly and ran to them just in time to hear Mia's confession.

Mia couldn't stop herself from giggling at Kale's outrage. He was always so protective of her. She loved that about him. She could fall so deeply in love with both of them that if they ever did leave her, she'd probably die from heartbreak, which was why she was holding back. 'Take it slow,' she thought to herself. She had to be sure.

She turned to Kale in Aidan's arms and smiled hesitantly at him, "As romantic as it sounds in a "Kale" sort of way, you can't go around beating up every guy that offends me."

"Watch me," Kale said raising an eyebrow.

Mia laughed softly and hugged him. He stared down at her in surprise and wrapped his arms around her, loving the way she felt against his body.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?" he asked, burying his face in her hair and inhaling her sweet scent.

"For being you," Mia said.

Kale raised his head and looked at Aidan. Aidan looked at him and back at Mia. It seemed they had their work cut out for them.