Complicated You; Sophisticated Me

It was Saturday now, and days had passed by since Dylan and Mika's little argument.

The living room back at Dylan’s house was spacious and well-lit by the morning light as he paced back and forth, biting his lip.

“Dylan?”

He stopped and looked down at the little five year old girl tugging at the hem of his white v-neck shirt. Dylan smiled.

“You’re up early, Nova,” Dylan leveled himself with her. Nova bobbed her head slightly, her pig-tailed brown hair following its movement.

“You look sad,” she said.

“I’m okay,” he smiled reassuringly, and then carried Nova in his arms. “Good girl.”

“Is Heather causing problems for you again?”

Heather.

The mention of her name made him feel uneasy. Nova used to like Heather so much when she still visited Dylan and her, but now it’s like she forgot how good their relationship had been.

I guess I should probably introduce Nova to Mika sometime soon…after we fix our problem, he decided.

Nova’s round, long-lashed gray eyes—the same eyes he had—looked straight at him wonderingly. She’s always been observant, even at such a young age.

“Did Heather make you cry again?”

Dylan’s lips curled into a smile as he shifted Nova to his other arm, and used his free one to pinch her pinkish cheek, “Heather never made me cry, you silly little cutie.”

“Nuh uh,” Nova’s forehead creased. “You cried when she left!”

A slight pang hit him cold. He smiling half-heartedly, “Big bro’s going out for a while, ‘kay?”

He put her down carefully and pinched her cheeks again.

“Where are you going? Are you going to beat bad Heather up?” Nova asked.

Dylan laughed, “No, I’m going to go to Granny Cordelia’s place. Don’t be such a pain to your Nanny okay?”

He kissed his little sister’s forehead before he went out of the house.

~

Gran was reading a book when Dylan arrived.

“She’s out to work,” she said even before he even asked.

She’s working? What kind of work would a girl like her do? he wondered.

“She gets off at one in the afternoon, I think. Maybe you should pick her up.” Gran suggested.

Yeah, maybe I should…

Dylan smiled.

~

During Saturdays like this, Mika usually helped at a nearby daycare. It was a job Granny offered for her to do, since the owner of Bright Toddlers Daycare was her friend. The pay was pretty good—in fact it was more than enough for a student like her.

“Mika, Mika!” A little boy with red hair and pale blue eyes waddled towards her, holding up a paper origami of a swan. “Lookie, I made a swan for you!”

Mika crouched on her knees and leveled herself to him, “Good job, Ethan,” she patted his head.

“It’s for you—” Ethan grinned widely. “—because you were the one who taught me how to make them!”

She glanced at the paper swan that rested on top of Ethan’s small palms, and gracefully took it. She felt a buzzing tingle in her stomach.

She nodded her head slightly and said, “Thank you.”

“Aren’t you going to smile?” he asked, his face slightly crest-fallen when he noticed that Mika’s expression didn’t change.

“Just because I don’t smile doesn’t mean I’m not happy,” Mika reassured him.

Even though she liked children, her barriers were still up and hiding her true feelings. Mika hated herself for that. She hated that she was such a coward, even in front of an innocent little kid.

“Are you sure?” he asked with worried eyes. “Mika always, always looks lonely.”

Mika stood up shortly, holding the swan carefully with her hand and held Ethan’s with her free one, “Let’s go play with the others.”

~

“Mika, thank you for the hardwork,” Ms. Linda, the head teacher, said to her after Mika changed and grabbed her bag. “You’re really a great help as an assistant.”

“It’s no problem, Ms. Linda,” Mika answered. “I liked helping out here anyway.”

“I’ll see you next Saturday, then?”

She nodded.

Mika said her goodbye before she left. She stopped when she saw Ethan sitting on the front porch of the daycare, crying.

She quickly went over to sit next to him.

“Mika…” Ethan began, sobbing.

“What’s wrong?” Mika took a white handkerchief out from her pocket and dabbed it against his little cheeks.

“Mommy won’t come for me—“ he cried, throwing himself at Mika and hugging her. She was startled for a moment, before she awkwardly patted Ethan’s back. “She won’t come for me. Usually she’d be here after school, but now she’s not!”

“She’s probably doing something important. She’ll come soon,” Mika said, trying to calm the poor kid down.

Ethan pulled away from their hug slightly, looking at Mika for reassurance, “Really?”

She nodded briefly, and Ethan felt at ease. Mika dried his tears with her hanky.

“We’ll wait for her, okay?” she said.

A few minutes later, a red sedan stopped in front of the daycare’s gate, and out came a beautiful woman who looked like Ethan. It was his mom.

“I’m so sorry, honey,” Ethan’s mom apologized, taking him into her slender arms. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”

Mika stood up, and greeted the woman.

“Thank you for taking care of my baby,” the woman said. “Please excuse us.”

Ethan waved goodbye at her as the woman turned. Mika waved at him back.

She felt a twinge in her chest while she watched Ethan and his mom.

A mom, huh? she thought.

She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed before she sauntered for the road. That was when she saw him.

Dylan.

Dylan was leaning against the brick wall just beside the gate, a plastic of burgers on one hand. He was wearing a brown sleeveless hoodie and denim shorts that fit him really well.

“What are you doing here?” Mika demanded as the images of their previous argument started to play in her head.

“To pick you up, of course,” he grinned, holding up the plastic. “And I’ve brought you some food too.”

Mika felt something like a convulsion in her chest.

No, not this feeling—Mika thought—not in front of him.

“I don’t need you to pick me up,” she hissed coldly. “I’m fine.”

Dylan raised an eyebrow and walked closer to her. “You look pale, though.”

“I’m not. It’s just—“

Dylan took her hand and started to walk.

“Where are you taking me?”

He looked at her over his shoulder and winked, “Some place where we could sit down.”

~

Dylan passed her a warm hamburger wrapped in a plastic. She took it since she hadn’t eaten her lunch yet.

“So you work in a daycare,” Dylan said with his mouth full.

They were sitting at a bench in a little park nearby, the afternoon sun high above the clouds.

The sound of church bells could be heard from afar, and the leaves from the trees that shaded them rustled.

Mika kept her gaze on the laughing children playing with water guns, biting a piece from her food. “Mmhmm,” she said briefly, expression blank.

The pain from before had already disappeared, and all her defenses were up and running again. Dylan was not even the last person she’d show weakness to.

He’s the person I can never show weakness to.

Mika shot him a glance, and the very moment his deep gray eyes met hers, she felt something…different.

I didn’t miss him, she thought firmly.

“I missed you,” Dylan said, rubbing the back of his neck and then looking down at his burger. “I’m…sorry about what I’d said.”

I didn’t miss him…

“I guess I’m really selfish—there’s no denying that one. I didn’t want to…see you with someone else. You guys looked like you were talking about something important,” he continued. “And I felt left out, you know? Like you’d rather talk to him than with me.”

Dylan started playing with his left ear piercing, a small star-shaped silver earring, nervously.

“It’s not like that,” Mika said after several heartbeats. “It’s not like…I’d rather talk to him.”

If this goes on, who knows what I might say.

“He was just asking me about something.”

Mika, shut up! she scolded herself.

“About what?” Dylan inquired.

She sighed and gave in. Fine. She was letting him off this time, just to quiet his questions down.

“He was asking me if Mikayla Trace was my real name, and that’s when you showed up,” she finally blurted.

“But I saw you guys together one afternoon—“

“A bunch of girls were talking crap about me, and it just so happened that Mitch was there and did me a favor.”

Dylan fell silent for a second before he spoke, “Oh…I’m sorry.”

~

I guess I overreacted. Mika didn’t do anything wrong at all, Dylan thought.

“I’m really sorry,” he apologized.

Mika shrugged, “It was your fault—“

Still so blunt as ever.

“—but I guess I did wrong too…I’m…sorry, I guess.”

Dylan’s eyes widened in surprise. Mika was apologizing to him, and this time, her face wasn’t entirely blank like the usual.

There was something…contrite about it.

Mika glowered and mentally threw daggers at him.

“Why do you work there?” he asked just to get rid of the killing intent-filled atmosphere.

“The pay’s good…plus it’s close,” she answered plainly.

He chuckled, “So it’s all about the pay, huh?”

Mika looked distant as she spoke, “Not exactly.”

“Hmm?”

“I like…seeing the smiling faces of children everytime they see their parents coming to pick them up,” she said.

Dylan placed the empty wrapper on his other side and bent closer to Mika.

~

His lips felt soft and warm as they pressed against her cheek.

Mika’s eyes dilated until Dylan withdrew from the kiss. “What was that for?”

Flashing his wide and seductive grin, he said, “I can’t help it when you looked so cute like that. If you had smiled, though, I wouldn’t have only kissed you there.”

Mika sighed.

I didn’t miss him. No way would I miss an idiot like him.

That’s what her mind thought—

But as much as she hated to admit it, something inside of her said otherwise.