One Wild Night

After Tom had slept off, Lucy remembered that she has promised Mia that they could give Sonia and Bryan a call after dinner, so she quietly got out of bed and picked up her phone.

She moved silently as she walked out of the bedroom, careful not to disturb Tom's sleep since she knew he was feeling pretty exhausted.

Once she got into the hallway, she called Sonia on Whatsapp and waited patiently for her to receive the call.

"Hey! Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Sonia asked the moment the call connected.

"I should. How are you?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Hm. I'm fine. Just that Bryan insists on no phones and stuff. I can't even write. And he is scowling at me right now as I'm talking to you," Sonia said and Lucy sighed.

"I understand. And let him know I apologize for intruding on your personal time. I won't call again after now. But it's about Mia..."

"What happened to Mia?" Sonia asked in alarm as she sat up.

She would have called Mia by now to check on you, just that she submitted her other phone to Bryan and only this one which Lucy and her editor could reach were on.

"Calm down. Nothing happened to her. At least not yet. And hopefully nothing will happen to her. She moved in with us. She wants to talk to Bryan. You know, like tell him everything. Did you tell him about it already?" Lucy asked and Sonia glanced at Bryan who had been staring at her with a worried frown since she mentioned Mia.

"No. Let me ask him if he can talk to her. I will call you back in five," Sonia said before hanging up.

"What happened to Mia?" Bryan asked watching her.

"She moved in with Tom and Lucy," Sonia said and Bryan frowned.

"Why? What for? Did something happen at their apartment? What about Jeff?" He asked, different thoughts running through his head.

"She wants to talk to you. I think she wants to tell you what's going on. I know you said no calls and all, but I think we should call Lucy back so you talk to her," Sonia said and a worried line formed on Bryan's forehead.

"Okay. But why don't we call her instead? Why Lucy?" Bryan asked and Sonia shrugged.

"That way you don't have to turn on your phone or break the law. See how my emergency phone comes in handy?" She asked with a grin and he scowled.

"Call her then," he said and Sonia dialed Lucy's line.

"He will talk to her," Sonia said and Lucy who was already downstairs and standing in front of the guest room knocked on the door.

"Mia, it's Lucy," she announced so that Mia wouldn't be too startled that someone was at her door by that time of the night.

"Lucy?" Mia asked as she opened the door, "Is everything okay?"

"You wanted to talk to Bryan. He is on the phone," Lucy said as she handed the phone to Mia.

"I will be waiting at the dining," Lucy said before walking away to give Mia the much needed privacy.

"Bryan?" Mia called as she returned inside the bedroom and shut the door behind her.

"Yes, Mia. I'm here. What is this I'm hearing about you moving in with Tom? Did something happen between you and Jeff? Why did you leave the apartment?" Bryan asked curiously.

"No. Nothing happened. Everything is fine," Mia rushed to assure him.

"Then why are you there?" Bryan asked while Sonia tried to act like she didn't know what was going on.

"Uhm, I don't know how to explain it. It's sort of complicated and a long story. But I called to let you know that I might not be here when you get back," Mia said and Sonia frowned.

"What are you talking about, Mia? I thought we agreed that you wouldn't run away and you will stay there until we get back?" Sonia asked and Bryan turned to her.

"What are you talking about? Why is she running away? Why did you both have such a conversation in the first place and I know nothing of it?" Bryan asked and Sonia shook her head.

"Let's just talk to Mia first," Sonia said when she realized she had slipped.

"Where are you going, Mia?" Bryan asked with a frown.

"I'm going home with my husband..."

"What husband? When did you get married? Last I remember you didn't even have a boyfriend," Bryan said, completely confused.

"What? Don't tell me he found you!" Sonia said in alarm and once again Bryan turned to her.

"You know what is going on?" Bryan asked with a frown but instead of responding to his question, Sonia rose.

"I think Mia wants to talk to you and I'm distracting you. I will be outside. When you're both done we can talk," Sonia said and excused herself from the room even though she really wanted to know what Mia was thinking and why she would be going home to her husband.

Bryan watched Sonia with a frown as she walked away, and returned his attention back to the phone in his hand when he heard Mia's voice.

"Bryan, I'm sorry I didn't tell you before now. It's not like I directly told anyone anyway. I'm married. I ran away from my abusive husband by faking my death, and now he knows I'm still alive and is coming to get me. I'm at your brother's place because I asked Harry for help..."

"When? How long has all this been going on? Why am I just hearing of it now?" Bryan asked, hurt that Mia had asked Harry for help and not him who was her boss.

Bryan listened as Mia explained everything to him from the moment Harry began to suspect her of hiding something to when she confirmed his suspicions, to Tyler recognizing her and blowing her cover, down to her moving to Tom's place earlier that day.

By the time Mia was done, Bryan was feeling a plethora of emotions. He was shocked and feeling both angry, sad, and disappointed.

Shocked by the discovery that Mia wasn't even her real name, but Vanessa. Angry that a monster like Henry Rosewood existed on the same earth as them. Sad that Mia had to go through all of that and live in such fear of someone who was supposed to be her protector. Disappointed that Mia didn't trust him enough to tell him all of this and that he was the last to find out what was going on with his own assistant.

"Why? Why didn't you tell me all this time? I thought we were friends?"

"Friends? We aren't exactly friends. You are my boss," Mia reminded him.

"But we were close," Bryan pointed out.

"Were we?"

"Yes. You scold me and speak to me rudely a lot of the time and I never fired you. All my past assistants were fired for less," Bryan said, annoyed that she didn't think they were close.

"Well, we did become sort of close after Sonia came into the picture, but you are not the type to concern yourself with the personal business of this who work for you, so I couldn't bring my problem to you. I asked Harry for help because he first offered to help. And Harry is the one who brought your brother into the picture," Mia explained and Bryan sighed.

"What can I do to help? I want to help too. Damn it, Mia! I have to," he said and Mia went on to tell him her plan to go back with Henry when he comes to get her.

"Is there no other way? Do you have to go back with him? What's the point of running away all these years if you're going to meekly go back with him? Did you just want to get a taste of freedom and now you are ready to return to the prison?" Bryan asked, not understanding the reason for Mia's decision.

"Sometimes the only way to win is to give the impression that you have failed. I have to stoop to conquer, Bryan. And I have an advantage now that I didn't have three years ago," Mia said and Bryan raised a brow.

"What's that?"

"I have you all in my corner. I had no one three years ago, but now I do, and he doesn't know it. I know Henry Rosewood but he doesn't know me. He knew Vanessa, but he doesn't know anything about Mia. I am confident that things will be different this time. I am playing to win," Mia said and Bryan frowned.

"You never can tell how much he has also changed in the last three years. You shouldn't be so confident that you know what you are getting into," Bryan warned.

"Some things never change, Bryan. I didn't call so you can change my mind. I wanted to let you know I might not be here when you get back and the reason. And to also bid you and Sonia goodbye," Mia said and Bryan scowled.

"Why are you saying goodbye? If you plan to win against your ex-husband, don't you plan to come back here? We will be waiting, so it shouldn't be goodbye," Bryan said and Mia smiled.

"I may not have to work for you when I come back. Working for you has been frustrating," Mia said and Bryan smiled.

"I have enjoyed working with you and I hope you work with me again when you get back. I promise to cause you less headache. I'm sure it will be easier to keep the promise now that I'm married," Bryan said and Mia rolled her eyes.

"If you were married to someone else, I would have believed you, but Sonia is even more crazy than you. Where is Sony? I need to talk to her so I can give the phone back to Lucy. It's pretty late over here and not all of us are honeymooning," Mia said and Bryan chuckled as he rose to go get Sonia.

"So, what if he doesn't come to get you, Mia? Or should I call you Vanessa?" Bryan asked as he walked out of the bedroom.

"No. Vanessa is dead. I'm Mia. And I know he will come," Mia said confidently.

"Babe, Mia wants to talk to you," Bryan said when he saw Sonia pacing at the balcony of their suite.

Sonia quickly took the phone from him, "What's going on, Mia? Why are you going back to him? Did he threaten you?" Sonia asked, worry coloring her voice.

"No. It's my own decision. Thank you, Sonia. Thank you for being a sister I didn't know I needed, and for being a good friend..."

"Don't do that, Mia," Sonia hissed.

"Don't do what?"

"Stop sounding like you are saying goodbye and I'm not going to see you again," Sonia said and Mia sighed.

"I won't be here when you get back..."

"So, you said. I want to know what you plan to do, Mia. Tell me," Sonia said and Mia went on to tell her what she planned.

The writer in Sonia didn't take too long to process the wisdom in her plan, "I think it's a genius idea," Sonia said and Bryan frowned while Mia smiled.

"I guess reading so many crime novels is paying off after all," Mia said and Sonia sighed.

"I'm going to think more on your plan and see a way to make sure it works perfectly, okay? But promise me you will be fine. You know you are my sister," Sonia said, and Mia nodded as tears of gratitude gathered in her eyes.

"I promise," Mia said and Sonia sighed as she hung up.

"Before you get mad and say..."

"I think we should go home," Bryan said, and Sonia frowned.

"Why? You are cutting short our honeymoon because you are mad at me for keeping this away from you? I only knew about it on our wedding day and I didn't know how to bring it up. We said we were going to focus on us and not talk about anything else..."

"Quit rambling. I'm not mad. Disappointed, yes. But not mad. I want us to send her off properly if she is leaving with him. I consider Mia a friend to me, and I know she is a friend to you too. I haven't been a good friend to her, but I want to at least see her off when she leaves. Is that okay?" Bryan asked and Sonia nodded.

"Totally. She needs us too. I would like for us to see her off. We can always go on a vacation some other time, but we don't know when next we might see her," Sonia said and Bryan smiled.

"Relax while I pack our bags."

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