Chapter 148: 'Personal Item'

Ruby shuddered as she looked at the young girl in front of her. She braced herself for an awkward conversation. When they got to Mina's room, she sat on the couch and nervously leaned forward.

"Nan, you told me that I could come to you for anything right?" The old woman tried to recall what exactly she had said, but either she could not remember, or she did not want to. Ruby gestured for Mina to continue speaking. "I kind of need some personal items, and I don't want to ask Luna."

"Shouldn't you ask Ian to get them for you?" Ruby asked.

"No! That is too embarrassing," Mina replied. The old woman sighed. It had been decades since she had touched one of those things, but even then, her husband was always the one to buy them. She knew at her age she should not be embarrassed, and yet she could feel her old face turn red.

"Is there a specific brand you want?"

"Not particularly. Just something that isn't too tight." Ruby shuddered again. She did not need that mental image. She had not seen a naked Ian since he was eight.

"When do you need them?" Ruby asked.

"If all goes well, I will need them as soon as tomorrow evening," Mina said. Miss Ruby nodded and left the room.

Mina was glad to have someone who knew what she needed without being specifically told. With the woman now gone, Mina pulled out something to sleep in and went to bathe. She was exhausted from the day. Therapy had been terrible and more like an argument than anything else. Then there was the thing with Lisa, not to mention the awkwardness of her interactions with President Lee. She pushed a few buttons on the clock in the room and set an alarm for herself. She did not plan to start working out in the morning, but she at least wanted to start waking up at the designated hour.

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Miss Ruby walked into Ian's study and sat down without a word. The woman looked flushed and Ian knew she was angry with him.

"What did I do?" he asked. Not trying to make excuses for himself.

"Why is Mina staying here?" Ruby asked, catching Ian by surprise, but he covered quickly.

"It's the safest place for her to be." Ian knew that his nan was unaware of the truth, but he figured that she at least deserved to know that much.

"Do you like her?" the woman asked, and Ian remained silent for a long time. His nan took his silence as an admission. "I like the girl too, but if you aren't going to take her feelings seriously, don't string her along." Ian's face became pensive.

"Did she say something to you?" He asked. If Mina had given his nan the indication that she liked him, even just a little, he felt like he would have the confidence to drop everything and everyone else.

"She asked me to buy her something personal and she said she needs it as soon as possible. If you are serious about it, why couldn't you buy them yourself?" The old lady huffed and stormed out of his study.

Ian was baffled. What personal items could Mina possibly need? He had all her undergarments, sleepwear and clothing replaced. He had even instructed someone to fully stock her restroom with every feminine hygiene product they could think of. He knew from his trip to her apartment that she preferred citrus smells, so he specifically purchased citrus based soaps and bath oils for the girl. There was literally nothing she could possibly need on such short notice. Ian picked up his phone and called Zane. It was late, but he knew the man was still awake.

"Hello…" Zane answered.

"I have a question," Ian said.

More than twenty minutes into the conversation and both men could not come to a consensus about what personal items a woman could need, other than what Mina had already been provided.

"Did you ask your sister?" Zane questioned. Ian did not want to, but he felt like he had no choice, especially if Mina needed it right away.

Ian stayed on the phone as he walked to his sister's room. She was still awake and talking to someone on her own phone. She ended the call so she could speak to her brother instead. It was rare for him to come find her at this time of night.

"What personal item could a woman need, that she is too embarrassed to ask a man to buy, but is not something that every woman already has?"

"Is this a riddle?" Luna asked.

"It is," Ian replied.

Luna thought for a while. She could only think of one thing, but she was not sure why her brother was asking her that question.

"Ian, I already told you that nothing happened that night," Luna said, thinking that her brother was trying to expose her for something.

Ian contorted his face; he really did not care about his sister's love life and was uninterested in hearing about it.

"Stop being gross," he said. "If you know the answer, tell me. I need it by tomorrow morning." Luna contorted her face as well.

"You're the one being disgusting. How can you ask your little sister about this? Don't you have any friends you could ask?" She said, as she shoved her brother out of the room.

Luna was actually embarrassed. Her brother had indirectly exposed that he and Lisa were planning an intimate night together. She thought that Lisa had asked him to buy what they needed but was too shy to say what it was. She felt grossed out by the thought, and for the sake of her sanity, she hoped they would use a hotel.

Zane, who was listening in on the conversation, suddenly thought of a possible answer.

"Ian, has Mina met anyone recently?" He asked.

"Just the guard I assigned her," he said.

"Do they seem especially close?"

"Not especially, but I'm not sure I'm working with a complete set of facts. Why do you ask?" Ian questioned.

"Do you know if they will be alone anytime soon?"

"They are supposed to start meeting in a few..." Ian cut himself off. He hung up on Zane and defeatedly sat behind his desk. He rubbed his face several times in pure disbelief. He had purposefully chosen the most obnoxious man among his bodyguards with the specific intention of making sure that Mina did not fall for anyone under his employ. Leave it to the girl to actually like the man he thought she would not.

Ian hung his head, it felt like only a few seconds had passed when Ian's nan returned to his study and tossed a small box on his desk before leaving. It was exactly what he assumed.