"Give me a second, let me think," Mikayla said."I'm a patient man," Cael answered playfully from the other end of the line. "Three things I like about you...okay, I'm ready. Ready?""Ready," he answered."Number one, you are the most self aware and self accepting person I've ever met. I keep wondering what I'd do if I were in your shoes. I can't imagine what I'd do if factors I couldn't help about how I look affected my life so much. I think I would crumble.""Well...it wasn't that big a deal. I wasn't interested in interacting with people either.""Even so, there must have been lonely moments." He made a non-committal sound in his throat but she carried on. "I love that you recognize and understand why it was so and despite all of that, you still accept yourself for who you are."He hummed. "That's an interesting view of things. I've never thought of it like that.""Wanna hear the second thing I like about you?" She asked."Shoot," he said."Okay, number two, I love that you're
"Hi," he said cheerfully and opened his arm to her.Mikayla surged into his arms and hugged him. "Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?" She asked."Paying you a visit after work," he answered. "And I came to give you this." He pulled out his hand from behind his back and handed her a single rose."Why, Mr Lautner, are you trying to woo me?" Mikayla asked coyly, raising the rose to her nose and giving it a dainty sniff."Is it working?" He asked."It sure is," she said."Good. That means I'm going to get a favourable response when I ask you this.""I knew it wasn't a good idea to accept gifts. What is it?" She asked with fake suspicion."Would you like to go an a drive with me?""And if I say no?" "Then I'll be stuck here at the hospital. I asked the driver to take my car back while I waited for you," he said."So let's see if I have this right, basically I don't have a choice but to go on this drive with you seeing as you don't have a car and I have to drop you off anyway?"He grinn
Mikayla went to work in a good mood for the second day in a row. She practically floated through her morning routines and the drive to work. She was momentarily shocked when some driver suddenly cut in front of her but she was in such a good mood that she only shook her head. H*ll, she didn't even honk!She'd had so much fun yesterday at the beach with Cael. They'd sat together under the blanket until their clothes got dry enough to wear again.They weren't completely dry but at least they wouldn't drip water on the car seat.Cael called his driver who came to pick him up while she drove back home then they spent a good amount of time on the phone again that night. Everything about them felt brand new and beautiful.They weren't rushing through it or trying to force it. They hadn't even had any serious conversation about what they were or where they were going.There was still time for that. For now, they were just enjoying each other's company.Cael was sweet, thoughtful and kind
Cael whistled as he turned his coffee machine on. Today was his first official date with Mikayla. When he looked back on her initial insistence on having nothing to do with him at all, he was often surprised at how far they'd come in such little time. Something had changed her mind and he didn't know what it was. Whatever it was, he was appreciative of it. It gave him a chance to win her heart.He reached into the cupboard and found the coffee beans where his housekeepers kept it. He found the measuring cup and meticulously measured the right quantity of beans into the machine. Just as he was turning it on, his door bell went off.He frowned and headed to the small screen that would allow him see and communicate with whoever was outside his door. He wasn't expecting anyone today and there were few people who would visit him anyway. He could make a full count on one hand; Armani, Matt or his mother. His father hardly ever visited him, especially not unannounced.He hit a button
Anna walked in the opposite direction to the other end of the room and took a seat across from a man who smiled at her and shook her hand. She didn't look in their direction or notice them staring at her."Why are you hiding?" Cael asked.Mikayla cleared her throat and straightened in her seat. "Just reflex action, I guess. The arguments we had about us," she waved her hands between her and Cael, "were a bit nasty. I just ducked without thinking.""You shouldn't be afraid of being seen by your best friend. I don't know much about your relationship but I'll say it's pretty similar to Armani and I. When we have issues, we sort them out immediately."She sighed. "Trust me, I've tried. She isn't interested in patching things up right now.""Well, since I'm sort of the cause of all of these issues, do you mind if I try talking to her about it?""Oh, no, there's no need. Don't worry about it. Plus I'm not sure she'll listen to you anyway.""Just let me try. It can't hurt to try, right?"
Mikayla shoved a spoonful of food into her mouth and promptly almost spat it out, struggling to keep from laughing at Anna's latest joke. She swallowed heavily and finally let the laugh loose. "Girl, you're crazy."Anna stuck out her tongue playfully. "Durr!""So you're just not planning to see him again?" She asked.Anna shrugged. "Nah, I just wasn't feeling it. Plus, it didn't feel like it was going anywhere. He just wanted to have sex.""Says the girl who loves to have sex," Mikayla taunted, smiling."I mean, don't get me wrong, I do love sex. Good sex," she clarified. "But I'm kind of at that stage now where I want something serious, you know?" She sighed. "We're getting so old.""We're barely into our thirties. I wouldn't classify us as old," Mikayla disagreed.Anna scoffed. "Easy for you to say. You're all booed up. Moony-eyed with your billionaire boyfriend.""Okay first of all, he's not my boyfriend!"Anna made a disgruntled sound deep in her throat. Mikayla ignored her. "A
Mikayla tittered nervously on the edge of the seat. She was in the reception room of the governor's office for the meeting Cael had set up. As usual, she was too early so she was still waiting on Cael and Anna's arrival.She had thirteen minutes to go before the agreed time and she was already so nervous, she was practically squirming in her seat. The secretary, a nice lady in a pink dress, gave her a questioning look. "Are you okay?" The look said.She smiled at the secretary to show that she was fine and the woman returned to her work. Her legs bobbed rapidly, matching the pace of her heart. At this rate, she could end up passing out."Mikayla," she heard a voice call and looked up to see Cael waving at her. He headed towards her. His path took him across the secretary's side. She said something to him and he said something back to her that had her laughing.Mikayla frowned. All of a sudden, all the nervousness from a moment ago was gone and in it's place was acute jealousy. W
"How are you feeling?" Mikayla asked, smiling at her friend who was adjusting her dress in the car for the millionth time."I feel great!" Anna exclaimed but Mikayla could tell she was lying because of the nervous bobbing of her leg in the seat.Mikayla carefully watched the review and side mirrors as she made a turn."I don't know why you're so nervous," she said. "You never are when you go on dates. Plus you asked for this one."Anna sighed. "I guess I'm getting a little desperate, after all. Plus, I requested for the date weeks ago. I'd completely forgotten about it! I was so shocked when I got your message."Mikayla rolled her eyes. "Come on! You've always fine with going on dates. Dates are your natural habitat. You'll be fine. Go on, say the thing!"Anna smiled and closed her eyes. She started humming lightly. "I am the Queen of dates. Dates are my natural habitat." She repeated it again and again.Mikayla gave her a sidelong look. "Feeling better?""Nope," Anna said sharply.M
Mikayla watched as the maid diligently turned the pot of soup. "I think you should add some more water," she directed."Yes, ma'am," the girl said and went to grab a cup of water from the tap."Mummy! Mummy!" Mikayla looked down at the kid pulling frantically on her cloth. "What is it, Abe?" She asked."Can I turn the soup too?" He asked, giving her a big smile. His adorable face made her smile. She shook her head. He knew exactly what he was doing! The boy was too aware of his own good looks. He thought it could help him get away with anything and get anything he wanted."No, Abe. You can't and you know it," she said."But mummm! I'm a big boy now. I'm seven years old," he argued.He'd only turned seven three days ago and already they'd heard that fact at least a million times. It came up in every argument including when it was his bedtime, when he needed to eat his vegetables and just any other time he could squeeze the argument into."Seven is too young to play around the sto
Mikayla looked at herself in the full length mirror and smiled. 'You look very beautiful,' she thought to herself. 'And I'm so proud of you.'She'd come a very long way from the scared little girl who lived everyday in fear of people finding out her true identity.Now, she was a strong, beautiful woman with a thriving career and an amazing boyfriend.And today, she would be celebrating another incredible milestone in her career at a beautiful ball.What more could a person ask for? Mikayla's heart was filled with gratitude."What's up? Are you ready," Anna asked from behind her, coming to stand with her.Mikayla looked at her friend in the mirror. "Yes, I'm ready. You look incredible." Anna wore a long velvet dress with dramatically big sleeves. "Thank you! You look wonderful too," she answered.Mikayla nodded, turning back and forth as she looked at herself in the mirror. "Yes, I do," she said."Oh," Anna's eyes widened. "That is the first time I've ever heard you acknowledge that
"Hello?" Mikayla said tiredly into the phone. "What's up?" "Hi, love," Cael's voice said over the speaker."Oh, hi, Cael! Sorry, I didn't look at the screen when I picked the call!" She was barely keeping her eyes open so she'd simply swiped without looking.Cael chuckled. "That tired, Hun? Well, you're about to come wide awake. I have good news."Mikayla perked up immediately. "Really?" She said, sitting up. "What is it?""Remember that call I got at your house?" He asked."Yes," Mikayla answered. How could she forget? She'd found herself thinking about it from time to time. He'd managed to distract her that night but she'd been wondering about it since then. Especially because Cael seemed to be in a perpetual good mood since the call. He walked around the house whistling. She'd even caught him smiling to himself a few times. The horror!"Well, you remember that meeting we had withr Marcus a while back about expanding the hospital?""How could I forget?" she said."Well, I got
Mikayla stood in front of the door to her beloved home. It'd been two weeks since she last stepped here. During those two weeks, she was staying with Cael at his mansion. She'd finally summoned the courage to come back and pack up Abe's stuff.She took a deep breath and turned the key. Suddenly there was a revving sound behind her. Mikayla turned around to see Cael's cars pulling into her driveway. "What are you doing here?" She asked in surprise."I couldn't let you face this alone. I'm here to help," he answered, walking up to her.She smiled. "But you didn't tell me you were coming! We spoke about me coming here this morning."He smiled back. "I wanted to surprise you," he said. "Are you ready to go in?"Mikayla nodded. "I was just psyching myself up to go in when I heard your car pull in. I guess I just have to rip the band-aid off and get it over with."He nodded. "I'll help you." He opened the door and entered first. Mikayla followed behind him.She looked around her house.
"Good morning, boss," Nurse Rachel called cheerfully to Mikayla as she came into work that morning."Morning," Mikayla answered quietly and headed into her office.Rachel caught Kim's eyes and raised a brow in a silent question. "What now?"Nurse Kim shook her head and nodded towards the office. "Go do your job," she said.Rachel sighed and went after Mikayla. She met her putting on her coat. "Dr Wall, is everything okay?"Mikayla gave her a tight smile. "Everything is fine, thank you."Rachel raised a brow. Obliviously everything was not fine. But she didn't press the issue. She decided to ask a different question."And how is Abe doing this morning? We've missed him a lot! The night shift nurses were shocked to hear that he'd been discharged. They made me swear to ask you to bring him in one of these days do they can say hello."A lump developed in Mikayla's throat. She swallowed thickly. Her eyes watered. She turned away from Rachel so she wouldn't see. "Abe is no longer with me
After Cael handed Abe over to Michelle, Mikayla fell into a pool of grief. She sat listlessly on the floor for what could have been minutes, hours or seconds. She was completely unaware of Armani's gentle presence, rocking her gently. At some point, Armani left to go home and still she didn't notice.When Cael decided that she'd been on the floor long enough, he picked her up to take her to the bedroom. At that moment, something inside of her snapped. With a snarl, Mikayla launched herself at Cael and began pounding at him.He fell on his butt in surprise. She pounded him with every ounce of strength in her body. She hit every inch of skin she could reach, growling like a wounded animal with each punch. There was so much pent up fury in her head with no exit route. So she pounded it out.Cael took the beating like a champ. He sat rock still and waited for her to finish, pinning her with those black, glittering hawk-like eyes. "How could you! How could you!" Mikayla snarled in
Michelle stood in Cael's doorway, clad in an expensive designer coat that barely reached halfway to her thighs.She also spotted glittering silver shoes that probably cost more than Mikayla's phone!"What the hell are you doing here?" Mikayla exclaimed.Cael heard the sound of her voice and came running to the door, Abe in his arms. "Mum!" Abe squealed as soon as he saw her and reached for her."My sweet boy!" She cooed, taking him from Cael. "Did you miss me? I missed you a lot.""I asked you a question," Mikayla repeated through clenched teeth. "What the hell are you doing here?""Is that any way to talk to your mother?" Michelle chastened and walked into the house, almost shouldering past them. She headed straight to the living room as if the place belonged to her."Do you know how difficult it was to find you?" She demanded, oblivious to the shock and discomfort of the rest of them. She sat comfortably. "I went by your house and there was no one there. It didn't seem like anyo
Armani pressed the doorbell again. The sound caused Mikayla to jump. She self-consciously ran her hand over her hair and body, making sure everything was in place. Armani often had that effect on her. She was always so beautiful, well put together and chic. She made Mikayla feel like a slob.She opened the door and smiled nervously at Armani. "Hi.""Hello," Armani said. "Can I come in?"It strick Mikayla as odd that she was asking her if she could come in. From what she knew, Armnai frequented Cael's house as often as she wanted. They were that close. So why did she feel the need to ask her?"Yes, of course," she answered and stepped back for her.Armani walked in and stood waiting. Mikayla blinked. "Erm...this way." She shut the door and led Armani to the living room. "Cael is asleep right now but I can wake him up if you want..." Armani smiled and shook her head. She sat down. "Don't bother. I didn't come to see him anyway. I came to see you."Mikayla sat down slowly. "To see
Mikayla was embarrassed!She was in the middle of a small crowd that had gathered in front of the hospital to see Abe off. In three days, he'd managed to become the hospital sweetheart. Every time she went to see him in his room, she met at least three hospital staff at a time fawning over him.Meanwhile, Abe basked in the attention he was getting in the hospital. The little celebrity had been showered with so many gifts that there was hardly space left in his room. So much so that he kicked off a fuss when she told him he would be going home today. At least his new friends had come out to bid him goodbye!Right now, he was in the arms of one of the nurses while the other crowded around him. They were waiting for Cael to pull the car around. Sweet Cael! He's been on ground these past three days, taking care of Mikayla and Abe simultaneously.It was Cael who'd brought her change of clothes each day. It was Cael who'd ordered food for her and made sure everything was fine while