Cupboard Love

C H A P T E R 31

"You can do that yourself tonight. Mom and Dad want you and Ruen to have dinner here."

"I'll tell her later. We'll be there."

Speaking of Ruen.

"What happened at the meeting yesterday? Everything ok?"

"Yeah! Ruen saved Dad from those arrogant fools." He laughed. "You should have seen her. When she first walked into the room, every member thought she was easy prey to pick on. But boy oh boy, they were wrong."

"Really?"

"They dismissed her as if she was nothing. They even went as far as insulting her educational attainment or lack thereof."

"Did you help her?"

"Uhmm, no..." He flushed in embarrassment.

They just looked on as Ruen was being bullied and insulted?

"Don't be mad, Lia. She handled everything just fine. She dealt with them with finesse." He tried to appease me.

Fuck it! She was injured!

"How could it be fine when she's sporting a bloody injured hand!" I shouted at him. "Who did it?"

"Did what?" He asked confused.

"Who injured her?"

"Nobody laid a hand on her, Lia." He explained. "Rogers shot a verbal tirade on Dad about marrying you off to Ruen. It was an implied insult to you too. That's when Ruen lost it."

She defended me against those closed-minded geezers...

"I really thought she'd throw the damn glass at Roger's head but she must have thought against it so she slammed the glass hard down onto the table instead. It shattered on impact and embedded shards into her hand."

"Good thing she had it looked after during the meeting."

"Well, not exactly."

"What do you mean?"

"She had it cleaned half an hour after the meeting."

"After?"

"She refused to leave until everything was resolved. Not even Simon could get her out to tend to her wounds."

"Well, fuck Mike! She's your sister-in-law damn it! You just watched as she bled?"

"Lia! It's not—"

I ended the call before I could berate him.

Shit!

She was bleeding for the entire thirty minutes in that board room!

My poor excuse for a family didn't even come to help her, not even when she allowed herself to be subjected to all that just to save their necks.

I rushed out of my room and knocked on her door. There was no answer. I opened the door and went inside to find out that she wasn't there. I ran down the stairs hoping to see her sitting in the kitchen with Tessa but she wasn't there too.

"She finished her cups and excused herself," Tessa told me.

"Where did she go?"

"She said something about running some errands."

Is she avoiding me?

That day, I went to the set with a heavy heart. I was expecting to find angry peers for the scene I've caused but to my surprise, they greeted me just like always; Jeric as well. They were gracious enough to overlook my misgivings.

"All is well, Lia." Jeric comforted me with a hug. "No harm is done."

Lisa offered me a reassuring smile too. "Have you seen the video of their performance online?"

"Why?" I asked.

"It has gone viral!" Jeric proudly told me. "The online universe was ablaze and wanted to hear Ruen sing more."

That's my girl!

Before I could congratulate him, Doug came, gathered everyone, and announced that we were to shoot outside of the country for a whole month for crossover episodes. Everyone erupted in cheers.

The clincher was we all leave tomorrow.

How do I tell Ruen without sounding like I was running as fast as I could away from her?

Will she see it like that—like I was running from it—from her?

On the other hand, it may not be such a bad idea to get away for a while. I needed to regroup and anchor myself again. Maybe time apart would help me clear my head and look at our situation in a whole new light. I could tell her after dinner later.

It's just a brief timeout—a breather, Ruen.