The weekend came earlier than expected. Mia arrived in her Louis Vuitton jumpsuit. She came with everything but her study pack. I had given her the address of the house beforehand.
The night before, Mia and I had discussed it till late in the night. She had pleaded with me to introduce her to Ryan. And I don't know if luckily or unluckily he was home today.
I don't make breakfast. That's Ryan's self-proclaimed responsibility. He made all the meals we ate and to be honest, they were so delicious.
"So, where's Ryan?" she asked as soon as she entered the house. I froze in unbelief. Was she being serious right now? Where did her self-dignity go?
At the worst possible time, Ryan came in in casual wear. He had an apron tied at his waist and he was holding a pan full of stir fry. He looked so hot I could have drooled at that moment but thank Jehovah for my ability to restrain me. I didn't but oh my gosh, the expression on Mia.
She was on cloud nine.
I had to tap her back into reality. "Seems like you girls are going to be busy," he said with an iota of care "I'll be making lunch but I have classes in the evening so I'll leave immediately after. Yuki can serve the meals" and he left.
I pushed her into my room and shut the door behind us. "What do you think you're doing?" I asked. She gave me the bombastic side eye "So you've been living with a hottie all through the weekend and didn't tell me" she taunted.
Inner peace. I took out my Maths textbook and placed it on the reading table. "Let's start with algebra," I said.
Her face turned into a scowl. It was obvious she didn't want to study. Then I think she remembered what was at stake and reluctantly sat down opposite me.
I gave her some simple sums to solve to gauge her mental ability and it still surprises me how she managed to fail every single one of them. How was that even possible? Her foundation in math was scary. Even though every term I taught and re-taught her all the sums.
"You put this here while squaring the denominator," I said as I placed my finger on the sum "For a shortcut you divide the atop by the squared number then compare".
She stared at me in confusion like she didn't comprehend what I was saying. "Let's do History," I suggested.
That was even worse. She had forgotten all the notable names I had taught her from the entrance exams to the second term exams. It was simply pathetic. I was getting frustrated. I didn't want to snap at her.
I got up and had a good stretch. I glanced at the time. 12:24 pm. Lunch would be ready by now. I might as well let her taste the divinely cooked food by Ryan. Maybe that would set her brain cells in action.
He had prepared spaghetti and stir fry vegetables. We sat at the dining table "Thank you for the food" we said in unison.
He also sat down at the table. It seemed he was fresh out of the bath. He smelled like aloes and cinnamon. This man was going to drive me crazy.
Mia slurped a fork of spaghetti and began to sob "Your meal is so good" she complimented him, her eyes tearing up. We both burst into laughter.
Mia sure was hilarious.
After lunch, we went back to doing sums and memorizations. Mia was so irksome. It was plain as day that she didn't give a damn about anything I said.
So I thought of a brilliant idea. "Why don't we go shopping with Ryan?". Life returned to her spirit. "Only if you promise to study hard today," I said adding my conditions. She didn't support it but she did.
She covered almost all the topics and to be honest, I was proud of her. She managed to exceed my expectations.
6 pm on the dot I saw her off at the door "Don't forget your promise about going shopping with Ryan" she reminded me. I nodded as I walked back to my room.
I needed to get changed for work. I knew Ryan would agree to go out with us but I've been asking him for too many favors recently. I felt I was using him for selfish reasons and I didn't like the way I was feeling about it.
The convenience store was in full bloom. There were a lot of customers. Of course, what would I expect? This was a weekend. I took over from Cathy at the cashier's desk and she went ahead to replace the commodities that had sold out without uttering a single word to me.
I felt she hated me. Ever since the first day we met, she's been so cold and distanced herself away from me. And to an extent. It hurt. It did hurt.
Mrs. Entley and Ryan arrived later in the evening. They greeted me with warm gazes, I turned to Cathy to catch a glimpse of her eyes to see if they had warmed down, and oh the stare that awaited me. It was so cold I felt like I was in Greenland.
After closing up the shop Mrs. Entley said her good bye-bye to us. And we left. Ryan was driving as usual.
"You look out of sorts," he said as he placed his left hand on my head.
I nodded "It's nothing worth bothering you about" I replied "Are you free tomorrow?" I asked.
"Why?" He answered my question with another question. I stared at the windshield "I promised Mia that we will go shopping tomorrow… with you, that is" I said.
"That's fine. Cathy and I made plans to go shopping tomorrow. I'm sure you two can perch in". He said.
Cathy? Cathy that hated me? Cathy that wanted nothing to do with me? Could life get any worse? Well, it couldn't be helped. I would swallow up anything she would do to me for the sake of Mia. "Fine, we'll be there," I replied. I silently said a prayer that everything would go well.
When we got home. I updated Mia and how she screamed. I was happy she was happy because as long as she's happy. I'm happy.
We got to Infinito Mall the next day. I wore a simple knee-length gown over boots and a hat. Ryan wore a polo tee shirt over a pair of knickers and kicks. Mia arrived in a knee-length gown too but she wore sandals and a cap. Cathy was the last to reach. She was clad in tight leather jeans and a skimpy sleeveless shirt. I guessed she was either a gyaru or one of the popular girls in college.
As soon as she saw me, her face showed signs of disgust. She turned her back and began to walk away. Frankly, I wondered what I had done to deserve this treatment. Ryan went after her.
The tears came pouring from my eyes "It's not fair. Life's not fair" I cried.
Mia wrapped her arms around me in a bear hug. We did our shopping alone. We also had some good food at a nearby eatery. Then we went sightseeing. I was so happy I had Mia with me. If not, I'd probably have crossed the road absentmindedly and who knows? Maybe a racing car would have sent me to the Isekai world. Maybe I would have been reincarnated as somebody Cathy didn't hate.
After our duo fun, Mia had to go so I sat on the bonnet of the car. Waiting for Ryan to come around so we go home.
I waited a long time.