"I'm not joking. How could you go without me?" Peter asked her, calling. His voice was too serious for Lucy's taste. Especially when he was the cause of this mess.
"Because you told me you are busy and I shouldn't bother you with something like that again…" she answered, looking at the brochure she was holding in her hands.
They were ready with Lili for their ladies' party in a foreign country. It was a long time since Lucy was in Hong Kong, so her Cantonese was a bit rusty and her knowledge of the town was limited to maps. But together they would manage. As always.
And they did, up until the point when Lucy came to find twenty missed calls and a hoard of angry messages from her current boyfriend. Who, by the way, wasn't her choice at all.
"But I never said you can go without me!" he shouted into the phone. Lucy even had to pull it away so her ear won't hurt. Even Lili raised her brows how loud it was.
"Well, sorry, but you didn't say that before. But if you expect me to sit on my ass and only work, then you are totally delusional. I haven't studied so many languages just to look at papers and a computer all day long." Lili was nodding in agreement. Lucy chuckled. Even though Lili had no idea what was going on, she always supported Lucy when needed.
"You shouldn't be going around traveling alone!" Well, Lucy had to give him a point that made sense.
"I'm not alone, I'm with Lili…" she refuted back, shrugging, even though Peter couldn't see her.
"She is not a good friend! I can't even say her name. She totally changed you, you were more docile before! It's her fault that you want to travel! Immediately come back!" His reasoning was as faulty as his brain. Lucy had to laugh. Mother's favorite or not, she couldn't take it anymore.
"I was never docile, just... you weren't trying to play domineering CEO. Did you fall from a cherry tree on your head? I paid for this trip, a huge sum and you are telling me to go back after two days? Are you mental?" Lili clicked her tongue at Lucy and rolled her eyes. With their friendship, Lucy understood and grinned at her, mouthing sorry.
As a child of her family, she was used to getting what she wanted, at least from her father, yet at the bitter price of people using her. So she was used to many types of manipulation, which she usually ignored, not wanting to mess up the careers of her father, a consul. And her lawyer mother, who was as soft and harmless as a porcupine.
But once she staggered out of the reach of their sights, she was rebelling, straightforwardly telling people what she thought about them as she would usually say, not giving a fuck what others thought about her.
"I give you an ultimatum! Either this trip or me! Choose wisely. Come back and you will be staying home for a week as a punishment for you left without me, or you will continue befriending those sorts of people and lose me!" Lucy actually had to bite her lips to not laugh out loud. This was unbelievable.
"That's an easy choice…" he chuckled into the phone. Peter actually thought she would choose him because a satisfied grunting sounded from his side.
"Of course, I chose Lili and Hong Kong. I'm not a doll you can take out only when you need to attend social events and otherwise be confined at home. I guess we are breaking up," Lucy said calmly and just hung up.
"You know you will have problems because of this…" Lili noted, but Lucy shook her head.
"Have you ever seen my mom being really angry at me because of my boyfriends? She is angrier about my weight than her chosen guys. I think she got used to it. But be honest… would you be able to take something like this? He has been calling me every hour and asking me where I'm, with whom, and what I'm doing there. Even when I was at work." Lili hissed at the realization.
"I actually never agreed to you dating him. Don't you remember?" she said once more, and Lucy raised her hands in surrender.
"Yes… pardon me, my Goddess. I wasn't listening to you and I have sinned. Please punish me," Lucy giggled and caught the pillow that was thrown at her.
"Idiot," Lili mumbled and went back to her phone.
"Your Hong Kong man again?" Lucy laughed, asking, thinking that now she had to evade an even more fiercely thrown pillow. But Lili actually stopped and blushed.
"I don't know what's going on. But the way he smiled… It just stuck with me." Lucy whistled. Lili was different from her. Her dating experiences were almost non-existent. Thanks to some jerks she met in the past.
On the other hand, Lucy knew she was pretty. She knew that her family was rich. And in all honesty, most of the guys she dated were just trying to climb the social ladder, using her as the steppingstone.
"What if we take it easy today and just go to the Hong Kong park? Maybe you will get inspiration there. You can take the bag with ya," Lucy suggested, and Lili's complexion immediately lit up. She nodded and grabbed her bag with all the things she needed. It was set then.
It was quite a way from their hotel to the park. But Lucy noticed there were waterfalls and flamingos there. Something that might have helped Lili with her art block.
They found a really nice place to sit and observe nature around. Lili immediately took out her sketchbook and stared at the blank paper.
Lucy knew that it was better than before. Usually, Lili wouldn't even take out her pencils. But because she knew now, it was the time to let her be. Lucy got up.
"I'm going to get us some coffee. What do you want? As usual?" Lili nodded absent-mindedly and placed the pencil on the paper.
Without a word, Lucy took off, leaving Lili to her drawing. Maybe if she had some sugar in her bloodstream, she would resolve her ex more graciously. Well, too late...