Chapter 444: Curfew

Olivia had not come to Mina's home with the intention of chatting. She had come to set up a cover story for herself, but the later it became, the more guilty she felt. Jay's father had come to get her, and Willow's uncle had called her telling her it was too late for an unmarried woman to be out of the house.

Eventually it was just the two of them and it gave Olivia the confidence to tell Mina that she wanted to use her as an excuse. Mina did not seem shocked or surprised, and she looked as though she expected it. She laid out ground rules, telling Olivia that she needed to be back in the apartment by 2AM, and then she gave the woman a spare key.

"I don't agree with sneaking around, but I think I already know why you have to. If Cylus finds out, I will feign ignorance and if you miss curfew more than twice; I am telling." Olivia nodded and wrapped Mina into a hug so tight that it hurt. "Just be careful."

On those words, Olivia dipped out of Mina's apartment and found herself banging down Peter's door. He swung the door open, and Olivia's heart sank when she saw him. He was shirtless, his pants were unbuckled, and something told her that he had been drinking. In her mind, he had come home with another woman, and she found herself apologizing while walking away.

Peter pulled her back into his apartment and kissed her with such force that their teeth clashed with one another. With his forehead pressed against hers, he asked her why she had been ignoring his calls, and Olivia pushed him away.

"Who is here with you?" she asked, and Peter pulled her into his bedroom revealing that he was alone. Embolden, Willow pretended to storm away, and Peter chased her, begging her not to leave. "Do you know how much trouble you almost caused? My cousin's best friend was right there when you decided to paint him a picture of us."

"But you left without a word." Olivia pulled open Peter's closet and showed him her bag.

"I didn't want to wake you, and I didn't respond to you because my cousin blocked your number through the carrier." Peter scooped Olivia into a hug, apologizing. "You've been drinking," she said.

"Stay with me," Peter replied, and from there the relationship between the two would go on to become their shared secret.

----

At exactly 2AM, Mina heard someone walk into her apartment, she tensed, because she was living alone again, and she had not locked the door, but she was greeted by the familiar voice of Olivia who had just come back. The woman went straight into the shower, which Mina appreciated, and then she crawled into bed.

"Thank you," Olivia whispered, and Mina grunted in mock annoyance.

"If you want to thank me, get married." Olivia giggled, and once again she pitied Cylus for choosing Vanya. She had never met anyone as understanding and passive as Mina and she knew that was what Cylus needed. He needed a woman he could lean on, and in Olivia's mind, he had tossed that aside for sex. She hoped that Connor would not be so dumb, but knowing the man, it was just a matter of time.

----

It was morning when Mina awoke to loud knocking. Olivia was tossing and turning in the bed, and Mina did not want to wake the woman. Mina wrapped herself in her robe and went to the door. She could see in the camera that James had set up for her that it was Doctor Witt. Mina flung open the door and the man shoved a coffee at her.

"You just woke up, there are no stressors, time for the IQ test." Mina looked at the man, flabbergasted by his logic.

"I have to work," Mina said and Doctor Witt shrugged.

"I will accompany you. Immediately after work we head back to the facility." Mina knew there was no arguing with the man, so she got ready and left, hoping that she could explain the situation to her boss. There was an event for Karen, and Mina was supposed to be there just in case they needed her.

Mina was surprised that Doctor Witt could drive, but then again, he was relatively normal compared to the other people who worked for the Lee family; a little sadistic, but otherwise human. He analyzed her work environment and tsked in dissatisfaction.

He made small quips and jabs about her being better than an actress, about actresses being idiots, about mouth breathing entertainers and many other colorful insults that Mina made a mental note to use. Like her, Doctor Witt did not curse, because he enjoyed using words that went over a person's head, one of Mina's favorite things to do.

The man was rambling on and on about how terrible everything was when he came to a sudden and abrupt stop. Mina was relieved, but then his hand wrapped around her already injured arm causing her to wince. The man's eyes were fixed in a specific direction, and Mina thought he sensed danger, but the only person in that direction was Karen.

Mina took the opportunity to inform Doctor Witt that the woman he was staring at was one of the mouth breathing useless entertainers he spoke of, but he hushed her. He told her that he was trying to monitor his heart rate and Mina laughed at the man.

"That is called a crush," she teased.

"I know what it's called, but it's been a long time since I have had one." Jeremy seemed annoyed by Mina, which she enjoyed.

Before Mina could even say anything, else Doctor Witt was making his way toward Karen. Mina hung back, not wanting to see the man strike out, but when she heard Karen giggling, her feet began to move of their own accord. As soon as Mina appeared Karen turned to her with a smiling face.

"I didn't know you had a brother," Karen said. "You two have the same speech pattern." For a moment, Mina thought Karen was referring to Cylus, but Jeremy intuitively knew what she meant.

"Mina is not my relative. We are colleagues."

"You're an actor?!" Karen shouted and Jeremy held back his scorn and replaced it with a smile.

"And your answer?" He pressed, making Karen turn red.

"I'm not allowed to date."

"That is good, because I'm asking you to marry me. All we have to do is take a short test, and-"

"Doctor Witt!" Mina shouted. She pulled the man away completely offended that he was suggesting having Karen's IQ tested as a precursor to marriage.

"If you don't want me to bother your 'co-workers' then hurry up!" Mina quickly did what she needed to do, and got the conference started exactly on time.

As expected, some of the entertainment news writers wanted to speak with her, and she was glad she had allowed Jay to pre plan an outfit for her.

Mina sat next to Karen, offering the woman a smile and suddenly questions hit like waves. They were not nice and cute questions like Karen's, they were ugly and jealous words that Mina did not even want to dignify with an answer.

"Some would say it's harder to portray a villain. Do you think that your acting is better than the leads?" Mina shrugged.

"That depends on how you look at it. Could you imagine someone as beautiful as Karen playing a villainess?" Mina's words drew red cheeks from Karen, and a series of aww's from the crowd.

Mina had deflected the question with one of her own and some of them were pissed about it. Back-to-back questions about Rouge and Cylus started being flung at her, but Mina never lost her composure. Whatever drug president Lee had given her was also doing wonders for her nerves.