Page 44 of Night and Day
“Uh-huh.” Izzy wrapped his arm around her, settling into the seat. The swing creaked under his weight, swaying lightly. “Does it also look weird if I don’t kiss you?” The rumble of his voice sent a dangerous shiver through her.
Mia held her breath for a split second half-expecting him to go for it. No. Thank goodness. If they ever kissed, which sounded like a mistake she should carefully avoid, she didn’t want it to happen in the presence of his family. She gently elbowed Izzy in the ribs. “No, I don’t think anyone’s expecting anything from us. They seem quite preoccupied.” She raised her eyebrows, listening to the fragments of wedding conversation drifting across the deck. “How long have they been engaged?”
“A year, maybe.” Izzy had filled her in on his brother’s story earlier, explaining how Mac had fallen in love with the tenant whose rental home he’d been trying to buy and turn into luxury condos. The modest townhouse complex, the current location of their barbecue, now stood in its place, built by Shasa with Mac’s help. “Mac lost a lot of money with that condo deal and he had to start over. He’s been working for a 3D house printing company and they’ve been saving money for the wedding.”
“I’m glad they’ve decided not to spend that much. That sounds smart.”
“You’re not one of those women who’ve always wanted a big, fairy tale wedding?” Izzy asked, a tentative smile playing on his lips.
Mia scoffed. “Seriously? I was considering abusinessproposal because I thought it was the closest thing to a proposal I’m ever going to get.” The words tumbled out of her mouth and her hand flew up as if to stop them in their tracks, too late. She cringed. “I mean, I’m still considering it. It’s a multi-million dollar start-up.”
She sank deeper into the chair, grateful that Izzy couldn’t properly see her face from this angle.
“I couldn’t offer that to anyone.” Izzy’s voice tinged with regret. “But I still think it’s not the same as a marriage proposal. It’s okay to expect more.”
Mia wanted to protest, but he was right. If she’d been truly content with Mikko’s offer, she would have jumped on it straight away, not travelled around the world to postpone the inevitable. It wasn’t supposed to feel like this. Had she really left her stressful job to take on an even more stressful one alongside a man she wasn’t sure she could stomach for that many hours per day?
Before she’d quit her job, she and Mikko had gotten along well enough, spending most nights in his small apartment in Eira, close to the city centre. The historic building with its curved, wide staircases and Art Nouveau wall paintings had been one of the perks of dating Mikko. That and the fact that she’d stayed in tiptop shape, modelling the self-discipline and work ethic he valued above all else. She’d loved the building and her own toned body, possibly more than she’d loved him. But when you worked so many hours of the week, little things that brought joy, like tracing her fingers along the chalky wall as she ascended those stairs at the end of the day, meant a lot.
She’d learned Mikko’s quirks and gotten pretty good at navigating them, avoiding the obvious conflicts. If she closed every cereal box immediately after use and frequented the gym, they were good. But going into business with him would change the dynamic again. She wouldn’t have her own life and career to disappear into. She’d be there at his side, dealing with all the frustrations she’d only been hearing about second-hand as he complained about his day before bedtime.
Mikko could get moody. If something hadn’t gone well, he’d been grumpy all night, muttering to himself, to her, to his laptop, to the TV... She’d tried to understand, but what if it turned out the world wasn’t against him but he was partly to blame? Mikko needed her in his corner, she’d learned that by now. If she couldn’t support him one hundred percent, the best alternative was absolute silence. Could she manage that? Usually, he whinged about other people acting like muppets in a generic way, but those couple of times that he’d opened up about the details, she’d started to doubt his story, wondering how things might have looked from the other person’s perspective.
If she worked with him, she’d hear the other side of those conflicts. Hell, she’d know the people he talked about! What if she couldn’t keep up her silence-or-full-agreement support system? It wouldn’t be written in her contract, but it might as well have been. Maybe that’s why he was offering her such a sizeable piece of the business. He needed her on his side against the other founding members, and giving up some of his rightful shares created an obligation she could hardly refuse. Mia shook her head, unnerved by the thought. Mikko had his faults, but surely there wasn’t anything that sinister behind his generous offer.
She placed her empty wineglass on the deck and curled up on the swing, pushing with her bare feet to make it sway. The scent of sweet, exotic flowers wafted in the air. The wine was making her head light and unbothered, fading everything else into the background. Whatever was waiting for her in Finland could never reach her here.
Mia didn’t notice Izzy’s eyes on her until he spoke. “May I ask you something?”
She nodded, holding her breath.
Izzy lowered his voice. “Does he love you? Is that why he’s offering... millions?”
Had he read her mind? Mia hugged her knees to her chest, smiling to herself. “I don’t know. This whole experiment...” she lowered her voice. “This fake relationship makes me wonder about my supposedly real one, and the future. That’s why I left Finland, to think this over, so it’s exactly what I should be doing. I only wish it was easier.” She let out an uneven laugh. “I’m used to writing down pros and cons and making decisions based on the available data. That’s easy. But this... this is really hard.”
“Your feelings give you data, it’s just not that easy to read. You’re brave to go on a trip like this. It sounds like you needed some time.”
He angled himself towards her and gave her such an adoring, earnest look that Mia’s insides lurched. Nobody had ever called her brave. She’d considered herself a coward for running away, for not knowing how to answer.
“Thank you,” she whispered back. “It’s been a rough couple of days, but I love this moment, right here. I don’t even care that it’s fake.”
Izzy’s eyes held a faraway look. “I live in imaginary worlds. I don’t even care what’s fake and what’s not, only about how it makes me feel. A good story can touch you as deeply as anything that happens in real life. It’s fiction, but is it fake?”
“I suppose not,” Mia conceded, surprised at how he saw the world. She relaxed against him, letting the physical desire for his touch ebb and flow with easy camaraderie, like the two states couldn’t decide which one got to be on top.
Why did this feel so natural? She’d only just met him. A couple of days earlier, she’d been sitting on the plane, intensely uncomfortable with the close proximity of a businessman whose shoulders encroached into her space. She’d pressed herself against the cold windowsill and pretended to sleep.
“If I’m still here, I’ll go to the wedding with you. But we’ll have to go shopping for another dress.” She smoothed the white cotton of her hem, noting a couple of grease stains.
“You can have my credit card,andmy car,” he whispered into her hair, and she heard the smile in his husky voice.
