“I feel like I’m cheating,” she whispered.
“Then we’ll wait,” he assured her their breathing thick and heavy as they continued the movement of their hands in a sensual dance of tangled fingers.
When she looked into his eyes, she saw an intensity in his emotions that made her feel more wanted than she ever had before.
A loud banging on her front door stole their attention, causing them to release each other guiltily. “That’s them,” she said, jumping up from the couch and rushing towards the front door.
The moment she opened it, the first thing Josh and Louise could say was, “She’s not you!”
Chapter Twenty
“That’s everything we know so far,” Cayd said, after telling Josh and Louise all of the information the PI had gathered.
So far, all they knew was that Mia and Natalie were adopted separately, with Natalie being sent to a wealthy family in Sydney and Mia to her own middle-class family in Melbourne.
“So why do you think she’s here?” Louise asked, her voice filled with worry and confusion.
“I would say she originally came here to meet Mia,” Cayd offered. “It stands to reason, that perhaps she was watching Mia, waiting for the right time to introduce herself and then for whatever reason, she decided to insinuate herself into Mia’s relationship.”
“So do you think she’s dangerous? Like ‘Single White Female’ stuff?” Josh asked wide-eyed, his face the picture of seriousness.
“I don’t think she’s quite that bad,” started Cayd. “You see, she’s only focused on Eric. She hasn’t tried to take over Mia’s friendships or career. I’d think that she’s somehow convinced herself that Eric belongs with her and not Mia.” As he proposed his theory he couldn’t help but notice the way Mia’s cheeks flushed and her eyes dropped whenever his gaze met hers.
“So what are we going to do then? Do we confront her? Do we call the police? What do we do?” Louise asked.
“I actually have a great idea about that,” Mia told everybody. “First of all, Josh is going to have to talk to Eric - tell him that he needs to come over to my flat with you. Where everyone will be waiting…”
Mia continued to tell everyone her idea as they listened in rapt attention, nodding their heads in agreement and putting their own ideas forward when warranted. Eventually they all came up with a plan that would mean that this could all be dealt with the next night.
“Would you like me to stay?” Cayd asked as everyone was getting ready to call it a night. Each person now understood what their role would be when they confronted Natalie and Eric the next night. “On the couch of course.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said quietly.
Dropping his eyes to the floor, Cayd simply nodded his head, before raising them again to meet hers. “We will need to talk about what’s happening between us Mia. I know now is not the time. But when all of this is sorted – we need to talk.”
Mia’s head nodded without her knowledge. She didn’t know how to handle these new feelings that were swirling around in her body. It wasn’t that long ago that her life had seemed so simple, boring even, but she was content in it and knew what to expect – now, everything was up in the air and she didn’t quite know what to think about it all.
I’ll stay with you, signed Louise, the absence of her speaking a good indicator that she had picked up on what had just passed between Cayd and Mia.
Mia nodded, accepting her friend’s offer, and together they farewelled Josh and Cayd.
“Don’t mess up. I’ll text you tomorrow,” Louise said to Josh as she kissed him goodbye. Mia couldn’t help but release a little sigh. It was so wonderful to see her best friend so comfortable and happy.
“Take care of yourself ok?” Josh said to Mia, hugging her tightly before stepping out of the flat along with Cayd, who nodded once as his eyes met Mia’s while she closed the door.
What was that about? Louise signed the moment the door was closed, her hands flailing wildly as she conveyed her surprise. Are you into your shrink?!
No! He’s not my shrink! Mia replied.
Then what is he?
Shrugging, Mia shook her head to indicate that she didn’t know.
It’s ok to be attracted to someone else you know, Louise told her, still not speaking out loud but mouthing the words.
Raising her hand to her head, Mia signed, I know.
Do you really? I’ve noticed that things haven’t been great between you and Eric for a long time. Maybe this whole mess is really a blessing in disguise. Maybe you’re supposed to be with Cayd. Louise suggested, finger spelling Cayd’s name.
I’m supposed to be in love with Eric, we’ve been together for five years! Do we just throw that all away now?
If it’s not working then, yeah. How do you feel about the fact that he’s been with this Natalie girl – your sister, doesn’t that bother you?
So much. I feel cheated on.
Ok, so let’s say that we confront your twin tomorrow and she just goes away – never to return. If you have the option of returning everything to normal – would you?
Maybe, I was happy then, now I just don’t know, so many things are happening now.
Taking Mia’s hands in hers, Louise looked deep into her eyes, a serious expression on her face. “No you weren’t,” she said out loud. “I have never seen you look at Eric the way you just looked at Cayd. Never.”
“I hardly know him,” Mia pointed out.
Dropping Mia’s hands Louise returned to signing, Your heart seems to know him and your body seems to want to know him.
I’m so confused. Can we drop this please?
Fine. Let’s get some sleep. This will all be over tomorrow and we can deal with this later.
Nodding, Mia hugged her friend and went to the linen press to take out the spare bedding before the two women moved to unfold the couch that converted into a spare bed.
I told you that you weren’t crazy, Louise signed before Mia turned to leave.
I know. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, Mia replied, a wry smile pulling at her lips.
It’s ok, it did sound a bit ridiculous without the proof, Louise admitted.
Hugging again, the two women settled in for the night, neither really managing to sleep much at all. They were about to prove to Eric that the girl he’s been sleeping with, wasn’t his girlfriend. Tomorrow was going to be a day that they would always remember. It would be a day of heartache as truths are told and relationships broken.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Good morning Mia, Eric,” Josh said, nodding at Eric and Natalie as they emerged from Eric’s bedroom the next morning. He was sitting at the breakfast bar in the combined kitchen dining area whilst eating his morning bowl of Nutri-grain.
“Josh,” Eric nodded back cautiously, still a little more than annoyed with Josh over bursting into his room last night. “Did you satisfy your McDonalds craving?”
“Yeah, um, thanks for the cash – I’ll pay you back,” he said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Josh then apologised to both of them for ‘mishearing’ their moans as in invitation to come in.
Natalie rolled her eyes in response, wondering if this Josh guy was actually a bit of a pervert. All the while, thinking that she couldn’t wait until she and Eric moved away. Based on what they had spoken about that morning, they could manage to leave everything behind as early as next week.
For Natalie, that wasn’t really soon enough. If she had her way, they’d be hopping on a plane that day and never looking back. She had this terrible feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong, and the mere thought of losing Eric was enough to cause her to feel as though her heart was breaking. She needed to keep a close eye on Mia until they left. She didn’t want to risk anything going wrong when she was so close to getting everything she wanted.
“What is my bag doing out here?” she asked with narrowed eyes, spotting it sitting on the floor next to the couch in
the lounge room. Immediately, she moved towards it, grabbing it and checking that everything was still there. She felt sure that she had taken it into the room with her last night. She wasn’t stupid enough to leave the one thing that could prove who she really was lying about in a communal living area.
“Mia, relax. No one’s going to go through your stuff – it’s perfectly safe out here,” Eric started, silently worried that the overworked stressed Mia, that forgets their interactions and accuses him of lying, was about to make an appearance. He’d really hoped that she’d stay the happy, loving person that she had become lately. He loved Mia now more than he ever felt possible, and was scared of things returning to the way they were before - when they were together, but apart, living two separate lives, only to ‘see’ each other casually on the weekend. He loved having her around most nights, he loved spending more and more time with her. So much so, that he was seriously willing to give up everything to finally move forward with their relationship and if that meant moving up to Queensland, then he was all for it.
“Hey Eric - I just want to head home to get a change of clothes and a shower and I’ve probably got like, teacher stuff to do too, so I’ll be back tonight? We can start planning?”
Eric pulled her close against his body as he dipped his head to kiss her lightly, an excited grin quirking the edges of his mouth.
“Don’t stay away too long,” he murmured, tapping her playfully on the butt as she turned around.
“Bye Josh,” she called over her shoulder as she exited the townhouse.
Josh did his best not to roll his eyes at the entire exchange. Now that he knew that it was Natalie – it was so obvious that she wasn’t Mia. The only way he could think to explain why he hadn’t figured it out earlier was that none of them even knew Mia was adopted. They all thought she was an only child. So while they all noticed her change in behaviour, it was a bit of a leap for them to think that a twin was even a remote possibility.
“What are you planning?” Josh asked, once he was sure that Natalie was out of earshot.
Turning away to pull a box of cereal out of the cupboard, Eric started to break the news, thankful that he could busy himself with preparing his breakfast so he didn’t have to look Josh in the eye when he told him he was taking off.
“Mia wants us to go to the Goldcoast,” he stated simply, pouring his cornflakes into an oversized bowl.
Raising his eyebrows, Josh watched as Eric selected a banana from the fruit bowl and started to slice it over the top of his cereal with the edge of his spoon.
“What, for a holiday or something?”
Eric’s eyes flitted up to Josh’s momentarily, and Josh understood that it was more than a mere holiday.
“She wants you to move there?” he asked disbelievingly.
Eric cleared his throat and nodded, continuing to busy himself by squeezing honey all over his breakfast before adding the milk.
“When?”
“Ah…” Eric cleared his throat again, suddenly finding it very hard to break the news fully.
“When!?” Josh pushed, feeling slightly annoyed now.
“Next week.”
“Next week? What the fuck Eric?! How the hell am I supposed to pay the rent on this place on my own?” Josh started, his exasperation taking over and causing him to momentarily forget what he was supposed to do today.
“I’m sorry mate, you’ll find someone else and until then – I don’t know, I’ll still pay my half ok? Don’t freak out.”
“Whatever,” Josh responded, shaking his head and taking his cereal bowl over to the sink, dumping the last of it down the garbage disposal. Suddenly he wasn’t hungry enough to finish it anymore. “You know why she wants to go so quickly right?” he asked.
“Because she wants a fresh start. She told me she has a lot of money from her parent’s estate and she wants to go away and live together. I don’t see a problem with that.”
“Oh I see, all of a sudden she has money she’s never told any of us about and she’s willing to throw her job and friends away. Do you really think Mia would walk away from her students? From Louise? They mean the world to her,” Josh stated.
“Fuck off Josh. Why are you trying to ruin this?”
“Because you’re a fucking idiot - you’re so sexed up right now that you aren’t looking at this properly. You aren’t asking any questions.”
Turning and leaning against the counter to face Josh, Eric folded his arms across his chest and huffed out his breath. “What are you getting at Josh?”
“That’s not Mia, Eric.”
“Yeah? Well who the hell is it?” he shot back.
“Her twin – Natalie.”
“Fuck you Josh, that’s not funny.”
“I’m not joking Eric. Me and Lou looked at her wallet last night. Her name is Natalie Johnson and she’s from Mosman up in Sydney.”
“You’re lying. Mia doesn’t have a sister.”
Josh could see that his friend was getting defensive and didn’t want it to end up in a full blown fist fight – the last time that had happened between them, Josh ended up with a black eye that he couldn’t open for two days. He wasn’t keen on going through that again. So when he spoke, he held up his hands to show that he wasn’t any threat and lowered his voice to come across as calm as he could.
“Will you at least let me prove it you? I wouldn’t lie about something like this mate.”
Closing his eyes briefly, Eric shook his head, his arms still tightly folded across his chest as his face conveyed a look of disbelief and aggravation. “Fine, prove it,” he bit out, glaring at Josh challengingly. “And this had better not be some sort of sick joke Josh or I swear I’ll –”
“It’s not. Ok?” Josh interrupted, he didn’t need to hear the threat. He knew Eric well enough to know he’d cop a punch to the face if he was talking shit about Mia. “Let me make a phone call and then I’ll take you and show you.”
***
“She looks different…” Natalie said to herself as she watched Mia via the link up for the video monitor on her phone. She now wished that she had paid extra for the colour option, or even paid for the online storage so it would record constantly and she could rewind back to see what had happened in her absence.
She could see Mia talking on the phone to someone as she paced around her living area, looking slightly agitated. It was hard to see properly on the small screen but Natalie made a mental note to check Mia’s recent call list when she went in there.
When Mia ended the call and placed her phone on the kitchen bench, Natalie’s heart started to thud loudly in her chest. Something it did every time she saw Mia reach for a coffee cup and switch the kettle on.
She held her breath when she saw Mia spoon coffee and sweetener into her mug. It wouldn’t be long now. From this point Natalie knew she had maybe twenty minutes left to wait before Mia would pass out.
While she waited, Natalie thought about how wonderful it was going to be to move to Queensland and not have to worry about being caught out anymore. She had been planning on telling Eric the truth but the more she thought about it, the more she felt that she couldn’t do it – it could ruin everything, and she loved him. She couldn’t risk losing him.
This time when she entered Mia’s flat, she was planning on taking her license and a few other items to use as her own ID. She still swore that she had taken her bag into Eric’s bedroom last night. So finding it in the lounge room that morning made her realise how easily she could be found out.
Suddenly, Natalie realised what was different about Mia. “Oh shit, she changed her hair!”
Chewing on her lip, she thought about whether she should change hers too, realising that Louise saw Mia on a regular basis and was likely to already know about the change. “Damn it!” Natalie said to herself knowing full well that if she didn’t get the match just right, this could all blow up in her face before she and Eric even booked a plane ticket.
Chapter Twenty-Two
> Mia’s heart thudded wildly in her chest as she sat, slumped over on the couch as if she had passed out. She wondered how long she would have to sit like this before something happened. Normally, she really was asleep – so she had no concept of the time that passed between her unconsciousness and her twin’s appearance.
Just before she had made the coffee she had spoken to Cayd on the phone. He was outside in his car with Louise, keeping an eye on Natalie. Who, he’d said, he could see sitting in her car. He felt fairly sure she had some sort of surveillance happening in Mia’s apartment, for she constantly had her head down as if she was looking at something in her hands.
That had troubled Mia greatly. “What if she saw us all last night? What if she heard the entire plan? We’ll be screwed!” she worried.
“Just continue like we planned ok? Everything will be fine. We’ll be right behind her alright? I won’t let anything happen to you,” he reminded her soothingly.
Nodding even though he couldn’t see her, Mia ended the call then went and made a coffee, exactly as they had planned.
***
Emerging from her car, Natalie quickly checked the street for oncoming traffic before she rushed across the road, practically sprinting up the stair case so she could get into Mia’s flat. She desperately needed to see what she had done with her hair. In her mind this was a complete disaster – the last thing she wanted to do was change her looks, she loved her hair the way it was.
Unlocking the door and stepping inside, Natalie walked directly toward Mia, as she had so many times before now. The flat now familiar to her after spending plenty of time there, familiarising herself with Mia’s things, with her life. She’d gone through photo albums, paperwork, Mia’s email and snail mail – she’d stalked her on facebook, googled her name and discovered everything she possibly could about her electronically.
When Natalie had arrived in Melbourne she had spent almost a full month watching her twin. Of course she could have just walked straight up to Mia and introduced herself, but upon actually seeing her – it all felt so surreal. She had decided, even before she had gone to Melbourne, to observe her twin from afar. To learn about her life and her personality as an outsider before she actually approached her.
Our Hearts Entwined Page 10
