Chapter 4
I awoke the next morning with a warm fuzzy feeling. I looked over to the empty spot on the couch, where Miguel was sitting last night, and a sleepy little grin crept on my face. I figured it’s better to leave what would’ve been a kiss unsaid. If never bringing it up means Miguel’s cold demeanor towards me changes, then by all means I will take our little secret to my grave. Hell this could even lead to a potential relationship…okay maybe I’m a little delusional, but the fact that he didn’t reject my offer and came over means he’s harboring some type of feelings toward me right? Regardless, the whole week went by without event, although oddly enough, I’d been assigned on more missions with Miguel than normal.
“Okay you’ve gotta be hiding something from me!” Cymbeline teased. We were both free so we decided to hangout at my place. “What are you talking about,” I laughed and she chucked a pillow at me. “Ugh don’t play dumb with me Arabella, you know exactly what I’m talking about! Why you and Mr. Stick in the mud Miguel have been going on so many missions together?” I’m not surprised that Cymbeline caught on quickly. She grabs me by the shoulders and shook me, “C’mon spill the tea,” she whines, drawing out the last word, which elicits a giggle from me, “Alright alright, I’ll tell you if you stop shaking me, but you gotta promise not to say a word of this to ANYONE okay?” Cymbeline nods aggressively and bites her lip in anticipation. I take a deep breath and tell her what happened the other day on Coruscant. She squeals loudly, “Holy sweet mother of Mary! Are you joking?! You’re kidding right? Okay okay okay you’re telling me that Miguel, the Miguel O’Hara, like our boss, was gonna kiss you, and he came over to watch STAR WARS?! Girlypop I think it’s time you consider the possibility that he might like you.” Cymbeline says incredulously and I scoff, “Or maybe he was just being nice.” Cymbeline gives me a look, “Okay first of all if he was being ‘nice’,” she says putting air quotes around the last word, “he wouldn't've been mere inches away from your mouth and secondly, I’ve been apart of this squad for almost 3 maybe 4 years now and I’ve never once seen this man be nice to anyone other than lego Spidey, okay?” I roll my eyes, “Sure okay, let’s say hypothetically he likes me then what?”
“Then you ask him out!” I hug myself and sigh, “Look as much as I would like to consider the possibility of us being in a relationship, we’re from two different dimensions, it probably wouldn’t work out.” Cymbeline groans, “Ugh you’re such a Debbie downer,” she frowned, “But you’re probably right.”
Miguel’s pov
It’s been a few weeks since the events unfolded back on Earth-51602, and ever since then, Arabella and I have been getting closer and closer with every mission. Although…there’s this new recruit, who’s also been getting closer to her, dare I say he has this flirtatious thing going for him. I shouldn’t focus on that right now as Arabella and I had just finished a mission, “Okay, what’s something you’ve never told anyone?” She asks. Lately, after every mission, we’d find a nice place to sit and talk and simply just get to know each other. We’ve already gotten past the simple stuff like; when’s your birthday, favorite color, and all that. “You want the lighthearted one or the dark one?” I admitted. I glanced over to her and noticed she's chewing on her bottom lip, “I want both,” She says gingerly. I hesitated. I…loved Arabella. I wanted her to see all of me, raw and uncut. I want her to know the good, the bad and the ugly. I took a deep breath, “I had found an Earth, where I had a wife and a daughter. I was happy. However, in that universe…I died.” My head dropped in defeat and Arabella put a comforting hand on my leg, “I figured I could just fill in the shoes of the dead me, no harm no foul, right? WellI came to find out not long after,” A shaky breath escaped me, “I fucked up…big time. The world disappeared, so did my daughter…right in my arms. If it weren’t for me being so damn selfish,” I felt a stray tear fall. Arabella gently grabbed the sides of my face and wiped away my tears with her thumbs. I’ll admit, I was a little embarrassed to have her see me cry like this. “ Miguel, to err is human, we all fuck up from time to time,” She presses her forehead against mine, “I don’t blame you for just wanting a little sliver of happiness.” Hearing her comfort me brought butterflies to my stomach and a smile to my face. I gently grabbed her wrists, “Alejandro.” I stated, “What?” Arabella giggled out as she pulled her forehead from mine, “My middle name is Alejandro” I repeated with a smile on my face. “Miguel Alejandro O’Hara, it rolls off the tongue nicely,” She says smiling. Hearing my name come from her lips, was music to my ears. We sat there in comfortable silence for a little, and I enjoyed the feeling of Arabella’s head resting on my shoulder.
When we got back, that new recruit was waiting for Arabella. “Hey hey there’s my favorite girl!” He goes and says and gives Arabella a hug, which brings her to a giggle. It irritated me. This feeling I have…is it jealousy? Regardless, I don’t like the way he acts around her.
Arabella’s pov
I saw Miguel storm off. I wonder what ticked him off? We had such a lovely moment and now he’s upset? “Oh, here, I got somethin for ya darlin” Luke said, his southern accent thick. I hate when he calls me darlin, but I do love gifts. “Oh, what is it?” I say, feigning excitement. “Here ya are,” He says as he hands me…a fake Louis Vuitton bag? I forced a smile, “Gee, thanks Luke. I love it.” I hate it. First he has the audacity to flirt with me, and now he wants to give me a fake louis vuitton bag?! Jeez the nerve of this guy is never ending. Regardless, I take my leave, and go home to reflect about what happened today between me and Miguel.
The next day rolls around and I get a message from Miguel to come to his office. I’ve been to his office many times before, but why am I nervous this time? “Hey Miguel, you summoned me?” I say dramatically. He turns to me, his cheeks twinged pink. “Hey, Arabella I uhm…I have something for you.” Miguel says nervously. He had a little box in his hand. Honestly, I just hope whatever it is he’s about to give me is better than what Luke gave me the other day. He handed me the box and I opened it. My jaw dropped. “Miguel…this is beautiful.” He smiles, “It’s supposed to be Anakin’s kyber crystal. It’s not the real thing but I saw it and I figured you might like it.” I took the necklace out of the box and handed it to him, “Can you put it on?” I asked and he happily obliged. “Oh, there’s something else I wanted to show you.” He says excitedly. It’s nice being the only person to see Miguel showing emotions like this. He opens a portal, “Close your eyes,” he says as he gently grabs my hands, and guides me through. “Can I open them?” I giggled, “Yeah you can,” He muttered and my eyes fluttered open. The scenery took my breath away, “Miguel,” I stuttered out and put a hand on the railing, “This place,”
“It looks like the view from the lake house on Naboo right?” I simply nodded. Words were beyond me at this point. Miguel pulls me towards him by my waist, “Arabella, I brought you here cause I wanted to get something off of my chest.”