Chapter 11: Queen's Empire
2114 Words
The doorbell went on ringing and whoever was at the door must be very eager to see him tonight.
Is it Anna? Ryan wondered.
He placed his laptop on the table, not bothering to take off his glasses as he headed towards the door.
He had just returned from the company not long ago and decided to go through the list of people they were to interview in a few days. He needed the best he could find on his team.
Ryan clicked on the receive button to view the video intercom only to see Mia at the door, her head leaning on the wall of the gate.
Why would she come to see him so late at night? Or is she drunk?
Mia slams hard at the gate, making an uninterested Ryan stare at the telecom with arms folded.
"Open the door! I know you're in there! How hard could it be to just open the door?!" She looked up at the camera, her eyes swollen in tears and he was wrong. She didn't look drunk. Maybe a little though.
"Just open the door will you?" Mia said again
What exactly does she want? She could have yelled outside her apartment if she so wanted to get his attention.
"I got fired today you know" she sniffs. "And Elena...she...she was behind everything. She..she got Edward to fire me" she sat on the pavement where the lamp-post stood.
"I. I worked so hard for that cafe you know? I… I did my best, you know? I...I even stopped...all my part-time jobs.,..so..so I can work there full time." Mia sneezed into the tissue and tossed it in the trash.
She laughed as though mocking herself.
"And guess how much it took for Elena to get me fired? A little something"
Mia laughed so hard; Ryan wanted to make her stop; she was mocking herself.
Mia is a different person when she was hurt but still laughed through the pain.
"It must feel good to get a kiss from a pretty girl like her. Girls like me...we get walked all over for being way too nice" Mia said. She stood up and waved both hands at the camera.
"Can you see me? " she asked and of course, Ryan said nothing.
He felt his heart clench when she bent on her knees crying. It wasn't a sight pleasing to his eyes; he could almost feel her frustrations and pain.
"I don't have anyone to talk to. Grannie is in bed and I can't even bring myself to tell her what happened. How am I going to pay my rent now?" Mia wailed
"I'm so close to finding my parents. How am I going to pay Rex now?" She cried again
Ryan knew he had had enough of this, so he turned off his telecom and headed out the door.
Ryan stopped as soon as he was about to pull open the gate; what is he doing?
What is he going to tell her? That he could hire her? Or she should go cry somewhere else?
Ryan pulled open the gate only to see Mia lying down on the floor; was she asleep? Ryan moved closer and noticed how delightful she looked with her eyes closed and mouth slightly apart as she muttered insensible words.
He couldn't leave her by the gate. He had to do something.
Ryan faced her, his body weight on his knees as he squats in front of her. He tried to wake her up.
"Hey," he nudged her again.
"Don't go" Mia muttered as tears rolled down her lovely face. Ryan didn't realize when he dried her tears with his finger almost out of reflex.
What was he doing?
The only person he cared much about when she cries was Anna but here he was, doing something like this to someone else.
Ryan sighed and carried Mia off the ground as though she weighed nothing. He needed to get her to her apartment.
Mia leaned her head on Ryan's chest and her hands leaned beside her head; she was so small compared to him.
Ryan stared down at her, lost in the sight before him; she looked really beautiful that he swallowed hard at the thought of…..
Ryan walked into his house, hoping to get to the patio upstairs and bolt over to her apartment like he did a few nights before. He made it up the stairs and bolted over to her house almost in pure silence.
Luckily for him, her neighbour was fast asleep so no one saw him walking over to Mia's apartment; he didn't want anyone to get the wrong ideas about her….
Or him.
Ryan had often climbed up to the patio, hoping to see Mia shouting or doing something out of the ordinary but to his disappointment, she was either in her room already asleep or she wasn't back home yet.
Ryan wanted to punch that so-called Edward in the gut and he had no idea why he was so interested in doing that.
"Why didn't you come out?" She muttered again.
"Because I can't stand you yelling so loud " Ryan replied.
He knew she was sleep-talking but felt the need to reply to her either way. She would probably forget this even happened first thing tomorrow morning...
Ryan noticed her door was locked; so much for trying to help. He couldn't just leave her out here and taking her to his apartment might look a bit….
He didn't want her to get the wrong ideas. He prided himself in his integrity; he would never take advantage of a woman.
Never.
He noticed she had a cross bag on; probably her keys are in there. Ryan looked around for where he could place her and saw a long table right in front of her apartment.
Ryan laid her down gently on the table while trying to remember why he was going through so much trouble for this lady as he checked out her purse for her keys. He sighed in relief as he reached for the keys and headed towards the door to open it. He returned to Mia, carried her, and walked into her apartment.
Her apartment was a lot tinier than he expected and pretty neat too except for the dishes in the sink that seems to have been used earlier in the day.
Ryan found her room and laid her quietly on the bed, coming face to face with her. His eyes strayed to her pink lips and found himself swallowing hard again.
What was he thinking?
Ryan bolts out of the house into the patio in his house. He glanced back at her apartment with a wry look on his face.
That girl must be avoided. At all costs.After a few weeks of being around her and he was losing control of himself.
******************
Mia woke up with a bit of a migraine.
"Ouch" she winced as she opened her eyes and tried to sit up; she shouldn't have taken that glass.
She had only taken one shot and she was already drunk. She should have expected this to happen for a first-timer like her.
She'd remember crying at the soju store till the owner came to her to inform her that they were able to close.
She couldn't remember how she got into her apartment. Mia rushed to the toilet and threw up what was left of food in her system.
She was never doing this again. Never.
"You scared me," Sarah; her neighbour Sarah would ask her about work….well, former place of work.
"Good morning Sarah," Mia said, not glancing at the entrance as she wiped her mouth clean.
"Why did you leave your front door open like that?" Sarah asked as Mia faced her in shock. It was only then she saw the huge stick in Sarah's hand.
"My front door was open?" She asked
"Yes. I even thought a burglar had broken into your house while you were at work. Why aren't you at work yet?" Sarah asked?
"I got fired," Mia said.
"Oh my goodness. I'm sorry about that " Sarah said. To other people, Sarah was overly dramatic but Mia knew that she was sincerely sympathetic toward her.
"Aiyo, you drank"
Mia replied with a cheesy smile.
"First-timers like yourself are trouble. At least you didn't wake up in a stranger's bed" Sarah said.
Mia stared at Sarah with shock in her eyes.
"That's my point. Don't drink. Clear?"
Mia nodded
"Good. Let's go have to breakfast, Grannie decided to feed her tenants today" Sarah said leaving.
"I'll be down in five minutes," Mia said as she heard her front door swing shut.
Mia needs to recall what she did last night. How did she get home? After leaving the soju store…..why can't she remember anything?
Mia exhaled and went on to clean up her sink, brush her teeth and have her bath.
She wasn't going anywhere for as long as….who knows?
Mia decided to give herself a break and gather up her already shattered confidence. She puts on a pair of dungarees shorts and a white and black striped round neck top.
She headed down the stairs and noticed everyone already at the table, eating.
It was like they were having a feast as the whole table had twice its normal side dishes.
"Is it someone's birthday?" Mia had to ask as she settled on a spot beside Sarah but adjacent to Grannie's seat.
"You didn't return home early last night," Grannie said, walking towards her kitchen. She returns with a hangover soup and places it in front of Mia.
"How did you know…"
"I told her you got fired, Mia"
"Your mouth is one problem you have," Mark said as he took a spoonful of the seaweed Grannie had made for him.
"Doctor Mark, I think letting Grannie know what's wrong with Mia is not a bad thing. And besides, telling Grannie a lie is like lying to your reflection" Sarah defended.
"It's for the best. I was hoping you would quit working at that cafe anyways" Kimpab said.
"Kimpab is right…."
Mia glanced at Kimpab and realized how wide his grin was when Sarah complimented him.
"They make you work both morning and night shifts and pay you less," Sarah said.
"So you had to drink?!" Grannie scolded.
"I'm sorry"
"Nothing is worth wasting yourself over you hear me?" Grannie said
Mia nodded.
"Eat up. I'll give you two days to rest and you go and get a job. Am I clear?"
Mia nodded again with her head bowed.
"Here, I found this on my way back from work yesterday" Mark hands her his tablet.
Mia checks it out and starts at the vacancy advert with excitement in her eyes.
"Queen's Empire? I thought they went bankrupt?" Sarah asked
"It seems like it has a new owner. You can go and apply for the post of a personal assistant. You will do just great" Mark said, patting her head fondly.
He was a single man in his thirties and seems to find solace in his job as a doctor. He rented an apartment on the side of town to avoid the nagging ears of his parents.
"Thank you so much," Mia said with excitement as she hugs Mark briefly.
"Happy birthday"
"Thank you," Mark said.
Mia stared at the advert again; she had known this brand all her life and had a dream of working there someday.
When the news announced their bankruptcy, she felt terrible as her dream got crushed.
"I should be on my way to work" Mark stood up and soon headed out.
"Thank you!" Mia said again, handing over his tablet after memorizing the site where she could get that advert.
"Make sure you prepare well," Mark said and took his leave.
"Now that you have a potential job, would you take out the trash now?" Grannie said.
Sarah almost flicked her tongue at this old geezer before a glare from her made Sarah return to her meal quietly.
"I will," Mia said with a smile on her face.
Mia gathered the trash bag and was soon on her way out to the refuse bin outside the house. She dumped the trash and soon turned to walk into the house when the sight of Ryan leaving his apartment in his car caught her eye. She recalled the night before all of a sudden and covered her mouth in shock.
Ryan was engrossed in his discussion with the person he was on the phone with as he drove away.
Mia was so embarrassed; what had she done now?!
- Writer
