Saving My Heroine

Chapter 8

18th July 2020

Michael was tired of is parent’s obsession with his life. He felt that he had been a good son, never got into trouble, never asked for more than what he was given and never disobeyed them. Yes, he was willing to admit that his parents were more loving than most of the people he grew up with but sometimes he felt that their love for him was conditional and that if he had been as chaotic as the children of powerful families usually were, it would have been a different story.

Michael was not ashamed of his relationship with Celine, he had met her family and friends and they were amazing people who welcomed him and treated him like one of their own. Instead, he was afraid that his parents would scare Celine off and had been avoiding introducing her to them but even though he tried to explain this to Celine, she seemed to be convinced that he was ashamed of her.

He had been trying to understand where that idea came from when Tim – his best friend told him that word of his parents confronting some unknown woman was going around. Michael had been disappointed to realize that his parents visited his girlfriend without him knowing and word was already moving around and he was still unaware. He was even more disappointed at the fact that Celine did not tell him, instead she locked up and assumed the worst of him.

Michael couldn’t understand why Celine was able to believe what every other person but him said to her about their relationship. Her inability to trust and listen to him made talking much harder. He knew that his avoidance of introducing Celine to his parents was easy to misunderstand, but he felt that Celine knew his feelings for her and the relationship between him and his parents.

Michael was tired. He had no idea who he should be angry with most. His parents for confronting his girlfriend behind his back or his girlfriend who seemed to have no faith in him. Then there was Coral, honestly, he didn’t even want to think about her at all. He didn’t even understand why she was even in the equation in the first place.

He groaned, turning on his side as he lay on his bed. He had come to his parent’s home to confront them but fortunately or unfortunately they were both out. Instead, he had moved to his room to sort out his thoughts. He had come here in anger after speaking to Tim but now, he had calmed down a little.

“Mr. Masen?” A professional detached voice called out, “Your parents are back.”

Michael leaped off the bed and strode out the room. He was going to establish some ground rules about his relationship with his parents. This was something long overdue and since he was serious about Celine, he had to make sure that situations like this never arose again.

(Unfortunately for him, that wish did not come true.)

6th April 2020

Tim had recognized Anna when he saw her but it seemed like she had not recognized him. He was actually quite happy about that as his rudeness made him cringe whenever he remembered it. While Michael had mentioned to him that it was Celine’s best friend he was going to be working with, he had not really met her before and was surprised to see her. Her excitement about working on the project showed on her face and it made him look forward to working with her even more. People who enjoy what they do are always fun to work with.

“So, that’s Anna.” He said to Michael after she left with her superior.

Michael smiled, “Yes. Please take very good care of her.”

Tim raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Oh? I was going to but now I’m interested in knowing why I have to.” He smirked.

He let out a low Chuckle when Michael only shot him an annoyed glare.

“She’s Celine’s best friend and soon she will be a friend of mine as well. Please don’t do anything to piss her off.” Michael warned.

Tim frowned, “What’s that supposed to mean?” Annoyance seeped into his tone.

Michael flinched, “That was wrong of me to say, I’m sorry.” He apologized immediately. Tim was one of the nicest people he had ever met and unlike him Tim had a really tough life growing up but he still never changed nor blamed anyone for it. It was one of the things Michael admired about him the most.

Tim’s countenance immediately brightened and he let out a warm chuckle, satisfied with Michael immediately acknowledging his mistake. “That’s fine but never again.” He understood Michael’s paranoia, it was going to be hard to introduce Celine to his circle, so having Celine’s family and friends accept him was very important and according to Celine Anna was a sister. As Michael’s best friend he had no intention of making things harder for him.

“What are you two discussing so seriously?” Masen asked as he entered the door.

Michael and Tim both looked up and greeted him.

“Uncle!” Michael called in surprise, “What are you doing here?” He shared a tense look with Tim, he had yet to introduce Celine to any member of his family. Only mentioning that he had a girlfriend, he didn’t want anyone to meet Celine before he was ready and worried that if they knew her name, they could try to meet her behind his back.

Masen shot him a confused look. “I told you I was coming to run some things over with you today, didn’t I?”

Michael remembered he had forgotten about it earlier. He gave Masen a sheepish smile as he sat down. “It escaped my mind.” He admitted.

“I should take my leave now.” Tim said as he headed for the door. “I have a lot to do.” Michael and Masen nodded goodbye to him and started their meeting.

5th May 2020

Celine didn’t understand Anna’s new hourly check up at her work place recently. It had gotten so bad that her colleagues were commenting on it. She had asked her once and Anna had replied that her face gave her the strength to continue with her work. It had flustered her, allowing Anna to buy herself some time but she had not bought it at all. She was even curious about how Anna found the time to step away from work.

She wanted to confront her but when Anna made up her mind it was hard to get anything out of her, especially when she felt Celine would not approve. Celine frowned at this thought, she had to pry the information out of her now. She had been procrastinating because of Michael’s trip but now that he was gone, she could focus her full attention on Anna.

She thought back to Anna’s questioning about Michael’s trip, she had found it strange but Anna’s answer then had been satisfying. Now though, it seemed like Anna had been preparing for something and Michael's trip had something to do with it. She tried to connect the dots but couldn’t, as she gave up a strange thought popped into her head. Anna had mentioned Masen but she had not paid any attention to it at the time. Could he be the reason Anna was acting strange? But that didn’t make sense either. Nothing was adding up and she was beginning to have a headache.

“Celine, could you please check this for me?” A coworker called, taking her from her thoughts. She stood up to attend to her.

Pushing Anna out of her mind, she made a mental note to drag Anna out for lunch today, determined to get to the bottom of her weird behavior. “What do you need?” She asked.