CHAPTER 2- Never Been Welcomed

MIA’S POV

It is already half past three in the afternoon when Mia wakes up. She pads toward the empty living room and finds that Roman has left her a note.

'Went out for a while. Don't go anywhere. Call if there are problems, 09xxxxxxxx'

How can she go out when she doesn't even have anywhere to go? She doesn’t even own a phone. With nothing else to do, she decides to have a look around his place. It's minimalistic and neat. Something she wouldn't expect a guy to design their place with. There’s nothing remotely interesting either. It looks like the place of someone who's not planning to stay for more than a year.

There must be something around here, she thinks to herself.

Mia begins to check every corner of the cabinets and drawers, knocking on every edge for possible shallow compartments. A girl of her upbringing already knows just where to look for this kind of thing. But when she comes up with nothing, she was about to give up. A row of potted plants by the windowsill suddenly catches her eye. It seems to her that it was trying too hard to look like it is not out of place.

Only one of the plants is filled with cement. Digging around it, she finds nothing. As she plays around with the pot, the top half of it suddenly turns like that of a bottle lid. When she finally removes the fake top, her body goes rigid.

The silver gleam of the handgun winks at Mia from the bottom of the pot.

Keys rattling can be heard through the empty living room. Mia quickly cleans up and throws herself on the couch.

Roman's eyebrows arch as he comes into the room and sees her staring blankly at an empty TV screen.

"Slept well?"

She stands up abruptly.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I just woke up. I'm sure you have a lot to do. I'll be out of your way, I just need to change into my clothes. Uhm, do you know any laundromat here? I'll bring these back to you, I promise," Mia prattles on.

"Are you hungry?" he asks, paying no heed to everything she just said.

"Uhm—"

"Let's have dinner early. I'll wait for you in fifteen minutes."

"Are you sure you're not a cop?"

"No," he confirms, face scrunching up in disgust. "Why?"

As they walk through the streets of the city, Mia notices that a lot of people have been sneaking glances at him. They keep throwing her pitying looks as well.

"People seem intimidated by you," she says carefully but he seems aware of it already.

"I didn't think you'd notice. You seem oblivious last night."

Her head tilts to the side in confusion.

"Oblivious to what?"

"That everyone in that room was looking at you."

He stops before a brightly lit restaurant and gestures towards it.

"Here we are."

They are seated in a corner, away from the watchful gaze of the crowd. She lets him order for her. At this point, she would gladly eat anything. As soon as the food arrives, Mia gobbles it up. Still, the delicious meal is not enough to distract her from the image of the handgun in her mind.

She swallows the last bite of her pasta before delving in for answers.

"So whose room was the one I slept in?" she asks nonchalantly.

"Used to be my friend's," he replies vaguely.

"Where is your friend now?"

"What's that got to do with you?"

"Just making conversation." Mia nervously averts her eyes and sips her glass of iced tea.

She can understand not wanting to be asked about the past. Yet, Mia wonders if she is about to walk into another trap.

ROMAN’S POV

She seems more life-like now compared to last night. All day, Roman has been thinking of his first meeting with her. It still feels like a scene from a dream. A beautiful mysterious girl from a bar coming home with a guy, no questions asked. Undressing in his room out of nowhere…

He wants to see more of her.

"You can use the room for as long as you need," he offers casually.

"No, I can't."

"I just told you, you can."

"It wouldn't be right."

His icy stare shifts to her arms where the scars are now hidden under the delicate material of her long-sleeved dress from last night.

"You came here to start anew, right? You can stay with me until you can get by on your own,” he says gently then adds, "No payment needed."

Her cheeks redden at the insinuation. Roman's dark eyes twinkle with humor. She starts to relax around him. He knows it’s not smart to bring a stranger to his place where guns and dangerous things are lying around but he can’t seem to bring himself to walk away.

"I'll find a job starting tomorrow."

"Take your time," he says, meaning it. He notices her clean plate.

"You want another serving of that?"

She frantically shakes her head but he already signals to the waiter for another order.

"What do you do?" she asks in amusement but he can see in her eyes that she's curious.

He leans back in his seat, his biceps rippling against his grey shirt as he takes a sip of his drink. "I'm in a band."

"Really?"

She sounds so incredulous at the idea that the corner of his lips twitch.

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"Roman!" a high-pitched voice interrupts them. A tall brunette approaches their table.

His tensed muscles slacken when he sees that it's just Ava, the only person he trusts in this God-awful city.

Ava’s eyes immediately go to Mia, eyeing her from head to toe.

"Is this the girl?"

"Obviously," Roman deadpans.

"Wow, I thought you'd have her kicked out by now. Didn't expect you'd have dinner together."

Mia gets up from her seat and offers her hand. "I'm Mia."

Her expression remains unimpressed as it usually does with most people. She reluctantly shakes her hand. "Ava."

"She'll be staying for a while so you should get to know each other. Grab a seat."

Ava’s jaw drops. "What? You're letting her mooch off of you?"

Roman purses his lips. "It hasn't been a day since she stayed in the apartment. What do you mean by mooching off? Plus she's a little thing."

"That's why they're called parasites."

"I'm right here," Mia interjects.

She lets out an exaggerated sigh. "I'm well aware of that."

Clearing his throat, Roman gives Ava a warning look, before turning to Mia. "She's usually charming with her words. I don't know what's gotten into her."

"Are you making excuses for me?"

"Yeah, your personality badly needs it."

MIA’S POV

Mia watches them bicker. It is clear to anyone that they’re not intimately involved. A phone ringing breaks through the awkwardness.

"I got to take this."

Roman abruptly leaves them. The waiter arrives with the chair and a menu for Ava. As she sits down, Mia tries to defend herself.

"I—" she begins but Ava cuts her off.

"Let me get something straight. I don't care for your drama. We are all going through some shit and it sucks that you're in whatever shithole you are in your life but that's your baggage. He has been through enough. Take it somewhere else."

Mia looks down. "I didn't ask for this. He was the one who offered and insisted."

Ava rolls her eyes. "Of course he did. He likes projects. Especially broken people like you. So you have to be the bigger person here.”

They just met but her words pierce through Mia deeply. Ava looks at her like she’s a cockroach she just stamped out but remains scuttling in the corners.

“Do you understand? You have to stay away from him.”