Chapter 462: Affluent

With her brother connected to a drip, and Mills and Mina shut in the guest room, Luna saw no reason for her to stay. She thought about going to apologize to Mina for the misunderstanding, but she believed it would make no difference to the woman. Luna was also concerned for Lisa, who was looking more guilty as the hours passed, and she felt as though she needed to find and talk to her cousin again before he had Lisa dealt with.

If Cameron had been the one to down the drink intended for Mina, it was likely to draw attention to him in a way he had been avoiding. He had gone out without properly securing the bar, which meant that anyone could have been snapping photos that may have ended up in the hands of a political opponent. So even though he was not the main target, if Lisa had been the one to spike the drink, then she had potentially committed treason, which was punishable by death.

Luna said good night to Drax and Zane, who were recalling the night's events with wide grins. Zane offered to see Luna home, not trusting the fact that a person had tried to drug someone within their group, and although they were confident Mina was the target, anything was possible. Luna of course agreed, and she asked Drax to make sure her brother stayed in bed.

----

Mills did not think it possible, but she was falling in love with Mina. The woman was beautiful and friendly, something Mills found lacking throughout the country. Even Drax's little sister, who was relatively free spirited, was sort of prudish compared to Mills, and although Mina was conservative in her actions, she was open minded.

There was a knock at Mina's door and Mina quickly laid on the couch pretending to be sad. When Mills opened it, she glared at Drax, pretending to be angry. She and Mina wanted to go out in the morning, and they had come up with a plan to guilt the man into driving them into the city.

"Babe, she isn't hurt," Drax said in a whisper, and Mina sniffled loudly for the couple to hear.

"Not physically, but you overstepped. She is just a little girl, only twenty-three today." Mina played up on Mills words with another sob, and Drax narrowed his eyes toward the woman's back.

"She is playing us," he said, and Mina shot off the couch and ran toward her restroom. It took everything for Mills not to laugh at her boyfriend's shocked expression. Mills had been led to believe that Mina was a protected employee of the Lee group, and that President Lee was being overzealous in his method of keeping her safe. She felt for the woman, and she wanted to help.

"Mina told me that she has been home for days. She is just a bit emotional that her first night out was ruined, and it's her birthday."

"What does that have to do with me?" Mills pretended to be hurt. "Okay, okay. How do I fix it?" Mills pulled Drax into a hug, grinning because Mina's plan had worked.

"We want to go have a ladies only breakfast."

----

First thing in the morning, Drax drove Mills and Mina off at a local eatery. He gave Mills his card to buy whatever she wanted and left the women to explore their surroundings. Drax had no reason to be worried about Mills because she could handle herself. In truth, he was worried about what she may do to other people, but he was confident she would not get into too much trouble because she had Mina around.

With Drax gone, Mills ordered a huge breakfast from the menu. Mina was at first planning to run right away, but she suddenly felt compelled to stay by Mills' excitement. The woman claimed to have never had a girl's outing, and while Mina had not experienced much, she had at least experienced breakfast with female friends.

As the women chatted, Mina found herself curious as to what Mills did for the Lee group. When the woman told her she was a weapons expert, Mina nodded in approval. The career suited Mills; from her body type to her personality. Mills flipped the question on Mina, who claimed to be a financial advisor, which in turn, did not surprise Mina when it surprised Mills.

"Don't you have to be really smart to do that?" she asked, and Mina, knowing that the education rate among women in Sani was less than poor, did not fault the woman in her views.

Mina did not want to sound like a snob by explaining to Mills that she graduated from a top tier university, so she tried to stay humble in her explanation. She told Mills that she had three degrees, one in business, one in finance, and the other in mathematics. Mills seemed to take the hint, and produced a photo on her phone, asking Mina if she found the man in the image attractive.

Mina looked at the photo for a long time, she could at once tell that the man was Mills brother, but their features were so similar that she had to ask if they were twins. When Mills answered in the affirmative, Mina handed back the phone, asking what the man did for a living.

"He has two degrees," Mills said with pride. "One in mechanical engineering and the other in political science." Mina nodded in approval.

"He is handsome," she replied. "But he doesn't look as fun as you." Mills pouted because she could not dispute Mina's words. Her brother, although having grown up the same way she had, was more suited for formality, while she was considered wayward.

"He can be stiff, but he is respectful." Mina smirked at the woman, loving the way she spoke about her brother. She could tell that Mills was proud of him, and it had been a long time since she saw that kind of family relationship.

"Did you take care of him?" The question had slipped from Mina's lips without her meaning to ask.

"Is it obvious?" Mills replied, slightly smiling.

"I just know that look. I had an older sister too." Mills did not have to ask Mina what she meant by 'had' because the sorrow in her tone was obvious, and she could not imagine losing Milo,

The women dropped the conversation and the food arrived to cheer them up. Mina could see that Mills was struggling to figure out which utensil to pick up, and knowing that they were in a higher end restaurant, Mina helped the woman out. She was afraid that Mills would be offended, but the woman was not. She complained about how silly eating rules were in Pan, and Mina could only agree.

Etiquette was a made up practice that only served in separating people by class. To Mina, a fork was a fork, and whether she chose to use a short one or the long one should be relative to the size of her mouth. Mina did not like that Mills was too focused on trying to figure out which spoon was the roundest, so she tossed her utensils to the side, and picked up her sausage with her fingers. She heard Mills sigh in relief as the woman repeated the action.

Both women could see how their server had begun to look at them, but he had been staring at them from the moment they walked in and had even placed them at a rear table. Mina knew it was because he feared they would run out on the bill, but she also knew it was because of the way they were dressed. Mills was wearing black leather pants and combat boots with a black sweater she had borrowed, and Mina was wearing an oversized gray sweater with leggings and thigh high flats. Neither woman screamed 'affluent' in their attire.