Chapter 301: Harder to Let Go

After the very awkward interaction between Mina, Cylus and Director Porter, the mood in the room relaxed with the help of Jay and Olivia. Unfortunately, the calm was short lived. When Jessica entered Mina's apartment, the awkwardness returned and only dissipated when Mina started to talk about dinner. She tactfully invited everyone to stay, as to not offend.

Since Mina had not started to cook before her added guests, it was easy for her to accommodate them. She amended her original menu and ended up preparing a stir fry with pieces of shredded chicken. If she had learned anything from being poor, it was how to be creative and how to stretch a meal.

Cylus was surprised to see Olivia helping to prepare whatever it was Mina was cooking. He was not even aware his little cousin knew how to use a knife, but there she was, working comfortably in the kitchen as if it were something she had always done. The oddity drew Cylus' attention to the small changes he had noticed in Olivia.

Thanks to Mina, his little cousin no longer wore skintight clothing. She was not as conservative as the woman she was emulating, but she appeared more refined. Even the way she wore her make-up had changed or maybe she had stopped wearing make-up all together.

Cylus liked the changes, because to him; it made his cousin appear much more beautiful, but he also liked Olivia for who she was. As much as he admired Mina, he did not want his cousin to feel as though she lost out to the woman, because in his honest opinion, it was not true.

"Who are you and what have you done with my cousin?" Cylus whispered to Olivia as she sat next to him at the table. She had just finished helping serve.

"What do you mean?" Olivia whispered back.

"You know you don't have to be like her, right?" Cylus asked. He wanted to drive that into her mind before anything else, but Olivia looked at him confused. "Forget it, just know that you have always been perfect." Olivia finally reacted and Cylus was relieved.

"You don't have to tell me what I already know," she said confidently. The statement made Cylus realize that Olivia was not emulating Mina; she was just growing.

Cylus looked from his cousin to Mina and smiled affectionately. Olivia was twenty-four years in age, and it only took Mina a week to significantly impact her. Cylus could not help but to think of Mina as a mother. He studied her face, and that same feeling of familiarity overtook him. It was more than just a similar face and eye shape to his grandmother, Cylus saw something else in her.

"Don't let it get cold," Olivia said mockingly. She was aware her cousin was staring at Mina, as was Jay, and she wanted to spare him from the embarrassment of having Mina notice. She watched her cousin eat a spoonful of food before he looked back up at her in shock. Olivia winked.

"Mina, did you make this?" Cylus asked. Based on appearance alone, he would not have thought much of the simple dish.

"You were here," Olivia stated with a hint of mockery in her tone.

"I know that, but was it pre-prepared?"

"No," Mina said softly. "I learned to cook from my mother." Cylus did not think it was possible to like a person as much as he liked Mina, and so quickly too, but he did.

----

Alone with Jay, Olivia, and Jessica. Mina literally let her hair down and flopped on her sofa. Somehow, Cylus had convinced her to model using her actual face, and now that the reality of what she had agreed to was settling in, she was worried.

Before she lost the nerve, Mina asked Jay to contact her father, and she spoke to the man at length about what she should expect; the good, the bad, and the ugly. Mr. Eric also asked for CEO Rue's contact information, so he could reach out to the man as Mina's manager.

The word manager reminded Mina that she had volunteered Mr. Eric's services. Not that she had forgotten, but Jay had told her that if her father did not see potential, he would lack motivation. The thought made Mina worry for Karen, who was probably floating around in uncertainty.

Slowly, Mina explained the situation to Mr. Eric, who agreed to 'check' Karen out, but he did not sound enthused. In fact, he sounded annoyed and Mina knew she had overstepped. However, instead of apologizing, she offered the man something she knew he would not refuse.

"I know I put you in a weird position, but if you accept Karen fully, I will audition for any role you ask." Mr. Eric practically shouted 'deal' into the line before he ended the call.

As Mina handed the device back to Jay, she noticed Jessica staring at her with a sorry gaze. Mina knew the woman wanted to say something, but she was afraid to hear it.

Mina excused herself to her bedroom and unsurprisingly, Jessica followed.

"You know you don't have to do that?"

"Do what?"

"Trade yourself for others. It would have been nothing for you to have let things rest the way they were. If he did not want to represent Karen, then you should have just let it be."

----

With Olivia fast asleep, Mina scrolled through the woman's phone and checked on the stocks she wanted to invest in. They were stable, which was good, and Mina planned to help them spike by convincing Oric to buy shares as well.

Even if the endeavor flopped, Mina would have sold her shares by then. She just needed the value of them to go up enough for her to make double when she sold.

Mina had not yet made it back to a Global Transfer, and she would probably not visit the place until she needed to send her parents additional funds. Her only hope was the stocks she had her eye on would not fluctuate too greatly during the wait.

Mina thoroughly cleared the browsing history of Olivia's phone, purged the device's tracking information, and restarted it. She sat it back on the nightstand, where Olivia kept it, and snuggled into bed.

Mina had done a good job with smiling, but she was still miserable, and was constantly working to not let it show. It was getting harder for her to accept death. The more connections Mina made; the harder it was for her to let go.

----

Emma walked into her bedroom and was surprised to find her sister sitting at the edge of the bed staring at her. Jay had been flipping through the pages of a book and Emma's heart leaped when she realized it was her journal.

"Please stop reading," Emma begged.

"Why, you are really good at this. Why not show dad?"

"It's just a hobby, I wouldn't know what to do with it."

"But you wouldn't have to. You have dad and me. We can be your legs; we can support you."

"Jay please stop," Emma said with her hand outstretched. She wanted her journal back and she wanted the conversation to end.

"Okay, I'll drop it, but I wonder how dad would feel knowing his youngest daughter stayed out all night?" Emma's eyes widened; she was being threatened.