Chapter 365: Normal

When Mina returned home that evening she had done so via taxi. The normalcy of it further conflicted her, and her resolve was beginning to waiver. If she were wrong, she would be putting herself in danger for no reason. On the other hand, she could just wait until President Lee caught the person on his own, but Mina had been keeping up with the tabloids, and it seemed that the man was more interested in meeting women in bars than anything else.

Even if President Lee kept to his word and let her go, Mina feared that the many people she had offended while in his company would never let her live peacefully. She had come across so many lecherous men and spiteful women in the short three months that had passed that she wondered if the rich held a different standard of moral compass.

Mina knew that a quick end would be her only peace, but in order to make sure that ending was not taken away from her. Mina needed to make sure the 'enemy' was real and for that she needed the help of President Lee.

"What is this?" Emma asked as she pointed to the invitation that Mina had used a magnet to stick to her fridge. The woman had gotten better at speaking to and with Mina.

Mina explained the invitation, what it meant, who it was sent by and then followed up with a question to change the subject. She was aware that James wanted to move into the apartment, and while it would be a weird living arrangement, the prospect of double rent from Emma was great.

"Still not talking to James?" Mina asked more for her own benefit than his.

"I don't trust him anymore. If I quit my job and then he disappears on me again, what do I do?" Mina nodded in agreement, but she also had her two cents to add in.

Emma was not aware, but Mina did not own the apartment she was in until a week ago. Mina had not bought the apartment for herself, but Zane had given it to her as a 'sorry you were kidnapped' gift. Mina did not know if there was such a thing, but the apartment was made legally hers without her knowledge and before she could protest. Even if Mina wanted to give it back, Pan's property laws forbid the sale or transfer of newly acquired property for ninety days.

"Have him pay me one year's rent upfront. I will file it with the local courts and even if I die tomorrow, legally the worst that can happen is the remaining money from future months would be returned to you from the sale of this apartment."

"You wouldn't leave it to your parents?" Emma asked. She had long since gotten used to Mina's dark scenarios that seemed to pop up daily.

"My parents would not survive in Scal. They could only live in the city if I were around to take care of them."

"Is that why you haven't sent for them yet?" Emma did not know much about Mina's family, but she did know from a woman she once worked with that people from rural areas often sent their children to the city for work. Those children would then be expected to send money back home and send for their parents in the future.

Emma was aware of this, but since she had moved in with Mina, she had not heard the woman talk to her parents once, and she wondered if they had an estranged relationship. Jay often told Emma that she believed Mina was hiding things from her past, things she was afraid to be judged on, but Emma believed that Mina was a hurt person.

"You know, I may not talk much, but that makes me a great listener," Emma said, making Mina smirk.

"I don't want my parents to worry about me." What Mina really meant was that she did not want to have more reasons to worry. Even before she met President Lee, anytime she had contacted her parents another issue would arise, and her cousin had not yet ruled her out as a wife. So, Mina avoided going home to visit.

"Are you going?" Emma asked, tactfully changing the conversation she could tell was not one Mina wanted to share in.

"It's for work, so I have to." Emma placed a plate in front of Mina. She waited for Emma to sit and pick up her utensils before beginning to eat. "You've been trying a lot of new recipes lately," Mina added. She could see Emma's face turn red and she knew the woman was feeling shy about the answer. Mina did not need to be psychic to foresee that James would be moving in soon.

----

Mina was still working when Cylus arrived, director Porter was hospitable, while Peter kept a respectful distance, and everyone else just stared at the man wondering why he had come. They did not have to wait long, because Mina was summoned by her boss, who told her she was free to leave early. She narrowed her eyes at Cylus who told her that he wanted to take her dress shopping.

"Why can't I just wear something I already have?" Mina asked and Cylus looked at her as if she should know the answer. "Cylus, I don't have money to waste," Mina reminded, and that seemed to anger him.

"I am starting to believe that you like offending me," Cylus replied and Mina withheld a guilty chuckle, because in truth, she did like to bully him a little. "Also, my grandmother has been asking to see you." Mina's face turned serious.

"Does she still think I am your sister?" Mina asked and Cylus nodded. He opened the passenger side door of his car and Mina got in, no longer afraid to be alone with him. For some reason, even though she knew Cylus' intentions, he had not made her feel uncomfortable in his presence. Thinking about it, neither did Oric.

While Mina was away from her apartment, Oric had sent her several bouquets of flowers, each one with a note that numbered the days he spent 'thinking about her'. Mina and Jay shared a good laugh over how cheesy that was when she first returned. The man had even sent her a single daisy daily while she recovered from the flu, and Emma told her that the flowers were a symbol of 'get well' or 'I care'.

Oric was an extremely handsome man, and Mina's heart did thud inside of her chest anytime he sent her flowers, but she was literally being paid to hold his attention, without intention. Something she had not had to actively do, because he seemed to think her responding to his texts, held some meaning to them.

Like Cylus, he had also freaked out when she started to reply to his texts cryptically. When he called, he also spoke to Terrence, but unlike Cylus, Oric was able to hold a conversation with the man. Mina later came to find out that one of Oric's cousins had a form of autism, and he assumed that the person who went by the moniker twenty-three was the same.

When Mina had last spoken to the man, he said he was still in contact with twenty-three, and she knew this to be true because Terrence told her that he enjoyed speaking with her dumb friend. What Mina did not know was that Twenty-three was only talking to Oric for research purposes. He wanted to mimic the man the way Doctor Witt had insisted Mina was mimicking others.