Chapter 132: Lunch
Zane narrowed his eyes at Mina, who was standing in front of his friend apologizing for nothing. She had not done anything wrong as far as he was concerned, and although Ian was jealous, there was no reason why she should be apologizing for having a drink with anyone. He wanted to openly say this, but he did not want to get involved if the outcome led to Mina submitting to treatment.
"Are you going to tell me what happened to your arm?" President Lee asked and Mina told him the truth.
"I ran into an old friend, who brought me to Miss Maggie. She accused me of being a pleasure host and refused to let my arm go. This mark was left by her." Mina spoke, as if it were the most normal form of greeting in the world.
"And how did you end up drinking with Cylus?" Zane asked. That was what he really wanted to know.
"Mr. Rue was the one who stopped Miss Maggie from slapping me. Afterward, he said that he was afraid the Lee family would close his bar if he didn't make it up to me." Zane smirked. CEO Rue had used a good and realistic lie.
"What about my sister?" Ian asked.
"I am not sure where she went, when I was trying to get away from Mr. Rue, she had already disappeared. I was afraid to cause trouble again, so I agreed to sit with him. I didn't mean to get drunk; I was just curious about the taste. I probably will not drink again," Mina said.
"And your behavior in the car?"
"My behavior?" Mina questioned. She wasn't aware that she had done anything. "I'm not sure what I did," she admitted.
"Why did you ask the driver to raise the partition?"
"Oh, that. Miss Lisa was drunk, and she was doing embarrassing things. I saw that the driver kept looking in the back, so when I moved to the front, I asked him to give you two some privacy. I didn't know he would make that glass appear." Zane looked at Ian and raised an eyebrow. His friend had failed to mention that part of the story.
----
President Lee listened to Mina speak and felt she was hiding something. She had just denied help by calling it a ruse; now she was standing before him asking him to allow her to seek treatment.
"I still have to go into my office today," he said, "I'll get my sister to find a doctor for you by tomorrow." Mina tried to look satisfied.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" She asked cheerfully, but her tone caused both men to look at each other in concern.
"Mina, did Cylus put you up to this?" Zane asked, and the girl looked worried. "Mina tell me the truth," Zane said.
"Okay, the truth is, I don't want help. I'm just bored. I don't want to sit in this house with nothing to do anymore. After you left, I realized that even if I were just going to therapy, it would be better than watching the clouds through the window," she lied. "Anyway, I'll give you time to think about it," Mina said, and she left the study.
Mina closed the door behind her and ran back to Luna.
"How did it go?" Luna asked. Mina shook her head,
"I think I made things worse," Mina replied.
----
Unable to keep still due to her nerves, Mina wandered into the kitchen.
"Chief!" she called out playfully. The middle-aged female chef glared at her. "Did you get in trouble?" Mina asked. "Are you mad at me?" The woman looked at Mina and forcibly held back her smile. She had three sons and she wondered if she could have raised a girl as friendly and cheerful as the one standing in front of her now.
"Are you here to work or play?" The Chef asked. Wasting no time, Mina used her hips to push the chef to the side.
"Let me take care of this," she said. "I want to show you my skills." For the next few hours, Mina was the head chef. She ordered the kitchen around, mocking Chef Tan, and it helped lighten the heavy mood. No one knew if Mina could really cook, but Miss Ruby had instructed them that Mina was free to do whatever she pleased. They couldn't stop her even if they wanted to. Mina finished cooking just in time for lunch. She removed her apron and gloves and fled the kitchen.
"Wait for me to come back!" she shouted. She wanted to shower and change before she sat to enjoy her creation.
----
Mina took the quickest shower of her life. She threw on a pair of black wide leg pants and a black medium sleeve crop top. She felt a little self-conscious in the outfit, but all the shirts in her closet seemed to be flared or cropped. If the pants had not been so high wasted her stomach would have shown. Ignoring it, Mina ran back down to the kitchen. When she saw the food being plated, she froze.
"You don't need to do this for me," Mina said, and Chef Tan looked at her like she had two heads.
"It's lunch time and we are serving lunch." Mina held the woman's hand and asked her to repeat herself slowly. She felt dumb. "Did you think you were cooking for us?" the woman said, and Mina gasped.
The male chef who had developed a crush on Mina, stood by her side and guided her to the dining room. She was whispering her objection to them serving the food she cooked, but he did not seem too concerned. He pulled out a chair for Mina and forced her to sit. His hand lingered on her shoulder a little too long and Mina gently pushed it away as she continued to complain. All of this was seen by President Lee who had been approaching from the other side of the room. The man, acknowledging rejection, decided to give up. Besides Mina's blatant denial of his affection, he could tell that his boss had a thing for the girl, and she was not worth his livelihood.