"What's wrong?" Ethan asked, his eyes trained on Ruthlyn. If it was Raymond who had said that, he could conclude that Raymond was overreacting but this was Ruthlyn and if anything, she could only underreact.
"Miss Anderson might be sick for a few days." Ruthlyn announced. The people at the table were all the more confused.
She handed her tablet over to Ethan and everyone watched as he read through it, waiting for him to tell them what the matter was.
"No greasy food... Less salt and cholesterol...Fried and spicy food with the same routine as the Ice Cream..." He stopped reading and stood up angrily, walking towards the restroom.
He found them coming out of the toilet, Shikera's face wet with water.
"Why didn't you tell us you cannot eat greasy and spicy food?" He questioned, his gaze fierce.
"What... Oh that?! Your mom was feeding me like she was seeing another person in me so I couldn't bear to say no." She explained, trying to bypass him and return to the table but Ethan was having none of it.
He turned to Esther who was staring at the both of them with some kind of weird interest in her eyes, and smiled thinly.
"Wait for daddy at the table, Esther."
She smiled brightly and walked away. She didn't care what her father was going to do to his second child who seemed to have disobeyed him, as long as he stayed a bit longer with her.
Shikera waited until Esther had gone far before turning to Ethan who had blocked her path.
"Did you want to say something?" She asked. Eating food which she wasn't supposed to eat might have made her happy for a while but now, it seemed like the effects was settling in.
She was feeling slightly dizzy and nauseous as she stood there. To her, it was a miracle she wasn't staggering yet so she wanted to get back to the table as soon as possible and rest her feet.
Ethan didn't notice all this as he was still annoyed.
"My mom was feeding you like she saw someone in you? And that's an excuse for you to eat things that are very dangerous for you?"
"That's not an excuse. I just wanted to eat that since it's been a long while since I ate..." She was feeling even more dizzy as she spoke and she wandered why her alimentary system was quick to respond to the irregularities in her meal plan.
"You just wanted to eat it? Not caring the effect that might have on others? It turns out your profession really affects your personality, just like the others..."
Shikera sighed loudly. She had been hearing a lot of this recently and she was getting annoyed already. "What people exactly?! Stop f**cking comparing me to people I don't know if you know nothing about me! Just because you can eat anything you want and stay healthy doesn't mean everyone else can too!"
She pushed him aside with little to no strength and walked away, stopping at the end of the hallway to look back at him.
"Also... I know I won't live long anyway so why not let me enjoy the few years I have to live."
"What..." Ethan whispered. He thought he had heard wrongly but the pained and tired look he was seeing in her eyes, confirmed that he did hear her correctly. Did she just say she was not going to live long? Was her health issues as bad as she was saying?
He picked out his personal phone and texted Raymond.
"Schedule a meeting with Shikera's doctor." He texted, expecting a reply in the affirmative but what he got made him rethink his decision of having Raymond as his assistant.
"Shikera? I only know Miss Anderson." Was the reply text he got.
Was this the time to joke or what?
"Death!" He texted back, walking towards the dining area.
Before he could take 3 steps, his phone pinged again.
"Done, Sir! She can see you on Saturday."
After reading the reply, he pocketed the phone and continued on his way to the dining, only to find a heap of... Shikera? She was squatting on the floor with her back resting against the wall.
Ethan's steps quickened as he walked towards her. He bent to her level and tried to raise her head but she fell sideways instead. Suspecting that the food she ate was already acting up, he hurriedly examined her body.
She didn't have a fever or any other external symptoms but he could tell she was in pain because of the way she was writhing against him, and the manner with which she was clutching her belly.
"Shikera!" He called, his tone frantic.
"It's painful... " She moaned.
His hands hurriedly went to his phone and texted his assistant, Ruthlyn this time as he wasn't ready to play with Raymond.
"Ask Shikera's doctor which first aid should be administered to her if she eats any of the foods that go against her meal plan."
When he was done texting, he bent down and lifted her up, inwardly marvelling at how light she was. He carried her princess style to his own room in the mansion, his eyes not leaving her face as he walked.
On the other hand, Shikera did not know if she was being carried or if she was floating. All she knew was that she was no longer sitting on the hard floor, instead, her back was now resting against a soft surface. The pain was still there though, the pain she experienced throughout her teenage years.
***
Shikera woke up to the loud ringing of her phone, in the middle of the night. Rising up slowly, she winced at the dull ache in her belly.
Her eyes wandered around the room, taking in the plain decor and black bedsheets that were covering her legs. Without having to think, she knew the owner of the room was Ethan and that they were still in his parent's house.
If they were at his villa, she would be in her room instead.
She looked at her ringing phone to check the caller ID and it was her Team Leader. Her hand swiped the pick icon and she placed the phone on speaker.
It was only someone who wanted to have ear problem, that would place the call directly on his or her ear.
"Anderson! What are you doing now?!" As usual, it was a yell that greeted her from the other side of the line.
"I was sleeping..."
"But now you're awake, right? Come over to LK Bar immediately. Alicia Brown is there currently with Enoch DeLoach and we have to get this on the headlines tomorrow."
"Ma'am..."
"Anderson, if you don't get your a** over here, I will find your house and..."
The phone was snatched from Shikera's hand and the call, cut off.
Shikera looked up to see Ethan staring down at her.
"Why?" She muttered. She wasn't strong enough to speak with too many words.
"Did you want to go?" He dropped the phone on the bed and walked towards the couch.
Shikera noticed that there was a quilt on it already. Had he been there since she woke up?
"I wouldn't. I didn't become a reporter to bring the public news on who an actress is dating. I am not a paparazzi."
Then she laid down and covered herself up, turning her back in Ethan's direction.
Ethan looked at her as if he was assessing her. Was she trying to prove to him that she was different from the other reporters who only cared about gossip?
"What's your Team Leader's name?" He asked.
"I don't know."
"What?!"
"I only know her as the 'Crazy Team Leader'." Came the muffled reply.
Ethan was flabbergasted.