I brew myself a cup of chocolate, crawl under the knitted throw and press the play button as the Paramount screen fades away revealing Audrey Hepburn in that iconic outfit, standing outside the Tiffany store.
What was that?
A loud bang coming from outside makes me jump, hundreds of questions whizzing through my head.
Is someone outside?
Did I lock the doors?
Is the alarm on?
Has Ethan come home early?
My heart pounds as I slowly raise myself from the chair, trying to listen for any other signs of movement coming from outside. I peek through the curtains, glancing around but there’s nothing there. Continuing to listen intently, I move quietly over to the front door to check that I locked it earlier and I set the alarm.
I’m not one for watching horror films but I imagine this is what it feels like to be in one as I systematically work my way around the house, checking all the windows and doors before returning to my nest on the sofa and hitting the play button once again.
About halfway into the movie, I hear it again. This time I’m frozen in place and for some reason, I can’t stop myself from chuckling to myself.
“Come on Mia, what’s so funny.” I ask myself out loud as if I’m having some kind of nervous breakdown.
Who lives with a professional fighter and has no idea how to defend them self if they need too? This girl right here. That’s who.
I slide my phone off the table and dial the first number that comes up. A familiar voice will calm me down.
“Mia, is everything okay?” Ethan’s voice cuts through the sound of voices in the background. Wherever he is, it’s busy.
“I’m not sure, I keep hearing banging from outside.” My voice is shaky, and I can tell he’s worried, “I’m probably just overreacting but I got scared and wanted to talk to someone.” I could have called Lexi, but I didn’t. Why?
“Do you want me to come home after the press conference? It’s only drinks after that anyway so it’s not like I need to be here.”
“No, I’ll be fine. I just realised that I have no idea what to do if anything does happen and you’re not here.” I hate that I feel like a need a man to protect me. “When you get back can you teach me a little bit of self-defence?”
“If you want. But in the meantime, make sure the doors are locked and the alarm is on.”
I reply with a mutter, letting him know that it’s taken care of. “Look Mia, they’re calling us to the stage, so I need to go but don’t worry, it’s probably just a fox or something.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
His deep gravelly tone has a soothing effect on me as my heartbeat steadies, it’s a million miles away from the effect he had on me when we first met — although, I may have let his reputation cloud my judgement a tad. “Good luck with the conference, I’ll see you in the morning.”
I press the big red button and put my phone down beside me in case I have to call the emergency services at some point and then I settle down to watch the rest of the film, on high alert.
Ethan has been back a couple of days and true to his word, his evenings have been dedicated to teaching me how to look after myself. After a hot and sweaty training session with him, I am absolutely beat.
I was a little hesitant about learning to fight when I first asked him but it’s actually quite fun hitting the big heavy bags and letting the day’s frustrations out. It is definitely a lot different to yoga though.
Every bone in my body is telling me to crawl into bed and sleep but as I pull my sticky t-shirt over my head I get hit with the most obnoxious stench. The realisation that Ethan has been up close and personal with that smell while we were rolling around on the floor, doing what he calls grappling, fills me with embarrassment.
The grappling is my favourite part of the training so far. Ethan says it’s to help me get out of situations where someone has control over me and I need to get them off me, so we’ve been working on how to shift my body into positions to allow me to kick them off me. It mainly consists of him sprawled on top of me while I writhe around and try to buck him off with my hips.
I’m pretty sure it’s something he’s made up just to tease the heck out of me after that night in the kitchen and if that’s the case, it’s definitely working. Having him pin me down like that should make me feel uncomfortable but for some reason I trust him.
I like having his strong hands on me and feeling his rock-hard muscles against my body. It fills my body with this intense heat that I’ve never felt before.
As my mind continues to drift, my phone pings on the bedside table so I reach over and read the text message from Lexi.
Lexi: U up?
My tired fingers type back slowly, letting her know that I’m just about the jump in the shower and then get my head down. A few seconds after pressing send, three little dots appear, followed by another text.
Lexi: Got rejected from another casting today. Beginning to think acting is not for me!
Those stupid casting agents make me so furious sometimes. I mean, what more could they want. She’s beautiful, smart, funny, maybe a little too sociable and she can actually act. I mean,
