Some Changed Things

Sia was silent all the way. She was in a state of shock. Daniel wanted to confront her so, he held her shoulder. Their eyes met. She was teary-eyed. She involuntarily put her head on his shoulder and his hand slowly began to caress her half-wet hair. He addressed Rudolf:

"Where are we going?"

"You have a meeting with Mr. Roy at Starlight Entertainment. "

"Cancel all the meetings. Let's go straight home."

At this, Sia interrupted:

"No need to quit work for me."

" But, Sia...."

"Please take me to my friend, Lisa's house. I will stay there for the time being."

She said while ignoring Daniel. The driver replied:

"As you say, madam."

At that moment Daniel interrupted:

"Why don't you want to stay at my house?"

"I don't want to increase your burden. Also, it would be bad for your image."

Daniel remained silent.

Soon, they reached Lisa's apartment building. As soon as she got out of the car, she turned around and thanked him. The driver was unloading her luggage. He held her hand and said:

"Feel free to call me when you have time."

"Okay. Bye"

"Bye."

Soon, the black BMW disappeared in front of her. She reached Lisa's apartment door and sighed. Then, she rang the bell.

"Who is it?", asked Lisa.

"Sia!", replied her.

She opened the door.

"Sia? How come you're here? And why do you have your bag with you?"

"I'll tell you everything. Please let me come inside."

"Yeah, come, dear."

Lisa took her luggage inside. Looking at her devastating condition, she gave her something to drink. After a while, she felt relieved. Lisa sat beside her.

"Now, tell me, Sia. What happened?"

Sia told her everything about what happened. Lisa was shocked.

"You married him in JAPAN!!!!!???"

Sia looked down, pressing her palms together, and said in a dull voice.

"Yes."

"You would have at least told me!?"

"Sorry."

"I just don't understand your parents! They didn't even bother to know the reason."

"They have let me out of the house. Li, can I stay here?"

"Is it something to ask? Of course, dear, you can stay."

"Thanks."

"I'll bring something to eat."

"Okay."

As soon as Lisa went inside the kitchen, she picked up her phone and called her parents, in hopes of clearing up the misunderstanding. Her mother's phone was switched off and her father did not pick up. She was about to keep the phone back when it started ringing. It was Daniel.

"Hello, How are you?"

"I'm fine."

"I was worried about you."

"No need to be. I'm with my friend."

"Tell me if you need something."

"Okay."

"Now that your parents know, I want to make our relationship public."

Sia was offended and replied:

"Do what you want!"

She hung up the phone.

Lisa tried hard to cheer her up. She bought her favorite takeaway and downloaded her favorite movie for them to see. But, she seemed uninterested in everything. After a lot of hard work by Lisa, she was successful in bringing her back to normal. Lisa even invited Nat to her house so that they could enjoy the sleepover they had dreamt of all their life.

At night, while laying on their beds, the girls were chatting leisurely about their childhood incidents when Sia said:

"Thanks, guys, for reducing my pain."

"Oh...Sia, no need to be so formal.", replied Nat.

"Yeah, dear. That's what friends are for, right?", added Lisa.

A week passed. Sia would call her parents every day to apologize but, most of the time, no one picked up or if her father picked up unknowingly, he would be angry at her. He refused to forgive her. He would not even let her talk to her mom. Daniel and her friends helped her a lot. They would always cheer her up when she felt low. Crying after listening to her father's harsh words became routine for her. She could not understand why her parents were not listening to her explanations. Every night she would sleep in hopes of getting back to them tomorrow but all in vain.