If Only Tonight

Blurry Dividing Lines:
Chapter Forty One: Overcoming Fear

Walking down the hallway to her office Mia saw a shadow leaning against the wall opposite to her office. Racking her brain, she couldn't think of anyone she had scheduled at this time.

She knew Stacie had not set her up with anyone today. Mia had told her to stop, saying it was better if she concentrated on work before meeting someone. Though less than thrilled, Stacie had agreed simply out of guilt. Having had several failed dates, it only made sense for Mia to take a break and regroup.

"Don't worry Mia, I'm not going to let you relax for too long." Were Stacie's parting words. Mia was already dreading what she was planning for the future.

Finally getting close enough to see who it was, Mia frowned. What is he doing here? She thought, feeling aggravated. He was the last person on Earth that she ever wanted to see...and even then she would never willingly want to see him.

"What do you want Roberts?" Mia asked rudely, as she approached him. He leered as he turned to face her.

"Why hello there, beautiful. Don't you think we're past formalities. You know very well that you can call me Jason." He smirked.

Not amused, Mia crossed her arms, she wasn't in the mood to play one of his games; and with Jason it was always a game.

"Why are you here? You know you're not allowed near me." Mia asked, her tone cold.

"Aww, why are you being like that? You're breaking my heart." He said, mockingly, his hands on his chest.

"Not like you actually have one." Mia shot at him.

He was quiet. She hated him being there, watching her silently, as if calculating his next move.

"I just came to see if maybe we could have a truce. Let bygones be bygones, that sort of thing."

Mia looked at him incredulously.

"Are you out of your mind?" She asked, angrily. "No way! Not ever! Now leave before I call Felix." She told him.

For a moment it seemed like he was about to say something to her, it looked like he gave it a second thought, and then walked away.

Taking in a breath of relief as she watched him go, Mia opened her office and closed the door behind her. She wasn't about to take any risks now that Jason Roberts was back on the prowl. Who knew what he was up to?

-----

It was surprising that two days had passed since watching The Vampire Diaries with Mia, but for Matthew time was ticking by slowly. Their next match was taking its sweet time to arrive.

Having just taken a shower after running on the treadmill, he lay down on the couch with a book from Mia's bookshelf. She had quite a selection, he noticed. Having picked out one with an interesting cover, Matthew turned it over in his hand. He had selected Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz. It would be a while before he would be going out with Nathaniel.

Before he could open it to read, the door opened, and in hurried Mia.

"Hey." Matthew greeted her.

"Hi." She replied, hurriedly.

"Something wrong?" He asked, she looked liked she had sprinted all the way from her office.

"No, nothing." Mia answered, taking in a deep breath.

Staring at her, he saw that she was trembling slightly.

"Are you sure?" He pressed.

"Yes! No...I don't know." She said, sounding annoyed. Immediately her expression became apologetic.

"Sorry...it's nothing." She told him, walking over to the spare room.

"Okay." He muttered, not at all believing her.

Mia sighed. She is so predictable, he thought. All he had to do was ask a few questions and then wait for her.

"I saw Jason today." She said, walking over to the opposite couch.

He had not been expecting her to say that. Suddenly sitting up, Matthew didn't feel the book fall out of his lap.

"Jason! What?" Matthew asked, anger flooding him. How could that sorry excuse for a human being come near Mia? He thought, outraged.

"It's okay. Nothing happened." Mia said, trying to play down the incident.

"Nothing happened? With Jason, something always happens! He's not allowed near you. You called Felix right?" Matthew asked, trying to calm down.

Mia didn't look at him.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Matthew said, his hands covering his face. She can be so naive sometimes, He thought.

"Nothing happened!" She insisted.

"If nothing happened, why does it seem as though you ran from your office like a bat out of hell?" He pointed out, his hands falling on to his lap.

"I don't know. Reflex? I forgot Mr. Twenty Questions was here." She told him, sounding as though she felt he was badgering her.

"Well since I am here, tell me what happened." So that I can kick his ass! He added silently.

"Nothing." She insisted. Right, Jason appears and nothing happens, Matthew scoffed at the thought.

"He came to see if maybe I would agree to a truce, and 'let bygones be bygones.'" She made quotations in the air.

"What did you say?" Matthew asked, although he could have guessed her answer.

"No. I will never forgive him." She told him, sounding as though she thought he knew better than to ask that.

"Sorry." Matthew told her. She was sitting too quietly, and it felt as though she was a little angry with him. It wasn't his fault he had to make sure nothing had actually gone on between them. Apart from his own interest in her, he knew Oliver would have his head if anything happened to Mia on his watch.

"Why?" Good question, He thought. Why am I sorry?

"For having to get it out of you." He told her with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood.

It had the right effect; Mia threw a well aimed cushion at him.

"That's for twenty questions, and dropping my book on the ground." She told him before walking to the kitchen.

Why is she so observant? He wondered.

-----

Feeling famished, Mia opened the cupboards. It irked her when someone interrogated her. She knew Matthew was concerned for her well being, but it was still weird when he went into his own kind of 'protective mode'. She was kind of used to seeing Oliver and Nathaniel worry, but Matthew...he had never struck her as the worrying kind until now.

Not finding anything that she felt like eating, Mia walked back to the living room, only to flop on the couch beside Matthew. I should have gone grocery shopping at lunch, she thought, grumpily. The day had not been going her way at all.

"Hungry?" He asked her, looking up from her book.

She had noticed it when she came in, hurried as she was, he was reading her favourite Alex Rider book.

"Yea..."

"Want to go out and grab something to eat? We can take Nathaniel and go see a movie or something." He offered.

It seemed like a good plan, considering how her day had gone it would help take her mind off things...more importantly Jason. Each encounter with that guy left her thoughts wondering about his next move. He was inescapable. Now that there was no date to go on to distract her, hanging out with both Matthew and Nathaniel, sounded like fun.

"Yea, alright. Let's go."

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, there was a knock at the door. She looked over at Matthew in confusion.

"We were already planning to go see a movie. I was going to ask you when you came..." He trailed off, looking sheepish as he answered the door. Mia was amused.

"Are you guys ready?" Nathaniel asked, as he entered. Dressed in blue jeans, red T-shirt, and aviator shades; he looked ready for a night out.

"Yea, I guess." Mia answered, seeing as she was the last one to know about the plan and Matthew looked ready. He had on a black pants and a short sleeved black shirt.

Looking at her own clothes, she was thankful she didn't look scruffy. Her collared checkered shirt, and black skinny jeans would be fine to go out in.

They headed out once both Matthew and Mia put on their jackets and shoes. Mia was annoyed to find herself once again stuck going in Matthew's car. There was no choice when he was around.

It wasn't a long drive to the nearest movie theatre, but the ride felt long with the three of them bickering about what food to eat and what movie to watch.

"Pizza?" Nathaniel suggested.

"Nah..." "I don't think so..." Mia and Matthew rejected, having eaten pizza only a couple of days ago.

"Burgers?" Matthew asked.

"Sure." "No!" Mia and Nathaniel answered.

"So what do you want to eat?" Mia asked Nathaniel, exasperated. They had suggested so many foods that Mia had lost count. Having settled for burgers which she knew she would find at the theatre, she was annoyed to have to wait on Nathaniel.

"I don't know? How about Chinese?"

"Seriously?" Matthew asked him. They argued over what would be closer, as Mia looked out the window. The two of them fought like brothers, had she not known that they were friends, she would have mistaken them for family.

As they drove on arguing, Mia's thoughts wandered back to Jason. Why did he want a truce? She wondered. What does he want?

"Okay, fine. Burgers it is. Sheesh..." Nathaniel said, pulling Mia out of her thoughts, giving up after being brow beaten by Matthew.

"Okay, so are we all agreed to watching 'Limitless'?" Matthew asked, glancing at her through the rear-view, as he parked the car.

"Yea." She and Nathaniel agreed, avoiding further conflict.

Getting out of the car, Mia watched as both footballers put on their sunglasses and hats. Both wearing different baseball caps. Although there was no sun in sight, she knew they were trying to mask their appearances...though may be it was just her...but it wasn't really working.

Holding in any snide remarks and laughter she felt, Mia led the way in to the theatre complex. Getting their tickets, and food, the three of them entered the dark room where their movie would be playing. Finding a group of seats near the back, Matthew led them to their seats. Trying her best to be careful, Mia tripped over her own feet in the dark. Laughter slipped from between her lips, as she grabbed whoever was in front of her to gain balance.

"Easy there! Are you alright?" Came Nathaniel's friendly voice, he was laughing at her.

"Sorry, I tripped." She told him, as they reached their seats.

Sitting in between the two, Mia turned to Matthew.

"You're not going to wear those in the dark...are you?" She said, pointing to the hat and glasses. In the glow of the theatre, she saw him smirk.

"Does it creep you out?" He asked, taking a gulp from his drink, making no move to take off the gear.

They had gotten burgers, pop corn, soft drinks, and at Mia's insistence M&M's.

"No...it's just that your in the dark...no one is going to see you." She told him.

"You'd be surprised..." Nathaniel muttered from beside her.

"Seriously?" She asked, curiously.

"Once we went to watch a movie at the other end of London, it wasn't even five seconds that Matt had taken off his glasses that a swarm of people surrounded us." He told her.

"They were probably on to us way before they came up to us." Matthew reasoned.

"Don't worry...we take the glasses off once the movie starts." Nathaniel assured her.

As the previews started, Mia unwrapped her food. Her stomach was close to grumbling loudly, and she didn't want either of the guys to hear it.

"So are you coming with us to Bistro Rouge?" Nathaniel asked, in between mouthfuls of his burger.

"Bistro Rouge?" She asked.

"Yea, the annual team dinner with the press. Or as I like to call it, the be-good-or-they'll-screw-you dinner." He told her, with a huge smile.

"I didn't know the team had an annual dinner." She said, puzzled.

"Didn't you get the email?" Matthew asked her.

Thinking over the emails she had gotten from the team, she realized there had been one about a dinner on Friday.

"Yea, but if its annual...how come I'm finding out now? This is my second season here." She asked, as another preview started.

Looking over the two of them, she saw them both squirm.

"What do you know that I don't?" She glared at them.

-----

Why the hell did she always catch the things he would rather she forget? He wondered, wanting to kick Nathaniel for even mentioning the dinner. Here they were, trying to get Mia's mind off certain events...and Nathaniel brought up the dinner. He had planned to tell her, but closer to when they would be going. Like an hour or two before they left.

Why can't Oliver deal with this? He thought, not liking the glare Mia was giving him.

"Look...we kept it from you." Nathaniel told her.

Matthew couldn't believe how badly he and Nathaniel had botched the explanation.

"Why?" She asked, the glow from the screen showing the hurt on her face.

"It's not that we didn't want you to come." Nathaniel said quickly. But Matthew remembered why she might think so...they had been at odds this time last season. Clearly, Mia remembered this, as she looked at him with a pointed look.

Sighing, Matthew decided to take a turn at explaining.

"We didn't tell you because of what happened with Jason." He told her. Stupid, stupid Jason...the one thing I can't seem to get rid of! He thought viciously.

"Felix didn't want you to panic...since it was so soon after what happened. He and Oliver decided it was best if you weren't told about it. None of us went last season." He told her.

In fact, Matthew had forgotten all about it the dinner, right up until Nathaniel mentioned it.

"So are you coming, then?" Nathaniel asked. Matthew fought the urge to kick him.

"Jason's going to be there, isn't he?" She told them.

"You know how to deal with him now...and besides we'll be there too. Even Oliver's coming." Nathaniel reassured her. "It gives you a chance to overcome your fear."

"I'm not afraid of him!" Mia said sharply, as though they had accused her.

This was not how Matthew had been planning for the night to go. She had already been accosted by Jason once today, the last thing he needed was to make her feel as though she needed to prove something and put herself in another situation where she would be in the idiot's presence.

"I know you're not. Nathaniel didn't mean it that way." He told her, trying to reassure her. She was quiet, not looking at either of them but straight at the screen.

"When is it again?" She asked, as the movie credits started.

"Friday." Matthew told her.

"Okay...I'll come." She told them. Matthew could feel a little relief. "And I'm not afraid." Mia reiterated.

"Sorry, I didn't mean too..." Nathaniel murmured, his voice sounding regretful.

Quietly they watched the movie.

He was surprised when Mia turned to face him a few moments later.

"But just so you know, I get to drive my car." She told him, a smirk on her face. We'll see about that, Matthew thought with an inward smile, as she turned her attention back to the movie.