Grand Possesion

Dana felt today was particularly long, she's drained emotionally. She just wanted to go to bed but she knew her brain would refuse. She needs time to process everything that happened before she could sleep peacefully.

Looking at the envelope in her hands, she decided it's a good start. She opened it to check the amount and she was surprised that the money inside the thick envelope is in pounds! She couldn't help but grin. She searched for her phone to send a thank you message to her aunt.

She found her phone buried under her pencil case, and she just realized she hadn't turned it on. When she did, it only had a five percent battery, so she decided to charge it first. While she's taking a shower.

She checked her phone while she's doing her beauty ritual. She first sent a message to her aunt, then she saw that there was a message from Grand, and she missed a call from Bobby. It's already late to return the call, so she just checked Grand's message and her eyebrows twitched with what she read.

She couldn't decide how she would reply with it, she's staring at her phone re-reading the message, - Where, and with whom?... She doesn't know what she would feel with the blunt inquisition.

She was still brooding over the message when her phone suddenly rang.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Princess."

"Why are you calling late?"

"Yeah, it's late but I know you're still awake because we came back home at the same time. Saw you at the lobby." she could hear the laughter on his voice.

"Why didn't you call me? I got your boards, do you have any particular design that you want with them?"

She and Bobby spent a long time discussing possible designs for his boards that she forgot the message she got from Grand. And just went to bed without replying to it.

She just remembered it the next day while having her usual matcha latte in the morning and she saw another message from Grand in Weibo asking about her drawing.

She didn't put any thought on why she didn't tell Grand that she is the artist Arbiter in Weibo. She just gave him permission to use the art and promised to make a sketch of his team for the next game. She's extremely happy that he followed her and tagged her in the picture. She thought that's all there is, but she got a surprise when he sent her a private message.

She screamed like she won the lottery. She only stopped squealing when he called her, - bro. Does he think she is a boy? Dana's excitement was extinguished just like that.

She's sulking with the misunderstanding when a knock was heard from her door. Her foul mood disappeared instantly when she opened the door and saw the bags and bags of clothes she bought yesterday.

Replying to Grand was once again forgotten.

---

His fingers hitting the keys in a dance like movement, running after bugs, cracking codes. A stoic determination is reflected in the black computer screen running strings of codes, his headphones are permanently in place blasting rock music.

He's been on training for half a day and his foul mood hasn't gotten better. Dana never replied to his message, and he is not going to send another text until he gets a reply to the first one!

Despite the blaring song playing on his ears he's well aware of the movement of his team, and their reaction to his sour mood. But no one dares to comment on it. The other team and the rest of the players are all gone for lunch in the mess hall. Except for his seven member team. No one is moving away from their computer station until he moves.

He couldn't understand why Dana hasn't replied to his message. It was just one message for god's sake! His right hand hasn't left the keyboard as well as his left from the mouse. The corners of his lips tighten and his thick eyebrows about to merge into one line, when Miss E spoke from her seat.

"Can we have lunch now? I'm hungry." annoyance can be heard from her tone.

The other members sigh in relief. They are hungry as well, but they know that under the goofy, happy go lucky demeanor of their team captain is a terrible temper. Miss E is the only one who isn't scared of his temper, probably because hers is much worse.

"Okay, lunch break!" he said, dropping his headphone beside his keyboard, and leaned back against the ergonomic chair to release the tension from his shoulder.

His team members scurry onto the cafeteria, except for Miss E. She didn't move from her seat.

"You're not hungry?" he asked.

"Do we have a problem?" she answered him a question he didn't expect.

"Problem?... With the team? he asked back, confused.

"No, you! We were waiting for you to break your keyboard into two."

He exhales as he stands up from his chair, "It's a problem not related to the team."

"Everything is related to the team if it affects the team," she said in a serious tone.

She is indeed correct, and he can't refute it. Still, he was speechless not because of it but because she wonders how she can put words straight to the point that would make anyone lost for words. They were staring at each other, no sign of giving up to the other person when DT walked in the game floor.

"Aren't you two going to eat your lunch? Aunt Lan Cheng is asking for you two."

E stood up without words glaring at him, which he answered with a grin trying to lessen her anger. Unsuccessfully it seems, for she walked out still displeased.

When he saw Miss E enter the canteen he pulled his phone from his pocket and called Dana.

---

Dana slumped in a mountain of chaos that is her clothes. She's taking a break from trying on her new wardrobe, mixing and matching all the items to see what works and what doesn't for future outfits reference, when her phone rang and the caller was asking for a video call.

She panicked. She looks around her untidy room and remembers she probably looks as messy as her bedroom, but then the caller's unanswered text message from last night came to mind, that she hurried in answering the call throwing all her care about how she looks in the air.

But the moment she saw Grand's face on her phone screen she changed her mind. She wants to kick herself for not making herself presentable. She quickly folded her knees, placed her arms over, then lay her face on them in an attempt to hide her face.

Dana sitting like a fetus hugging her knees on the floor covered with clothes is what Grand saw when the video call connected.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Fixing my room." she quickly replied.

"Muffins, it looks like your room was hit by a hurricane and I don't see a sign of it being fix," he said grinning. As soon as he saw Dana's face, he forgot why he dialed her number in anger.

"Shut up. I'm really cleaning up," she said, blushing in discomfort.

"Whatever you say Muffins," he said, roaring in laughter.

Dana picked her phone up and stood up from the floor pouting. She walked to her vanity table, put down her phone in an angle that Grand can only see her face, turned on her makeup light, and put down her hair from a bun.

All the while Grand was watching her without saying anything. He doesn't want to break the moment of Dana being in her natural element. He feels like he is given a glimpse of what she's like inside her comfort zone.

His enjoyment was cut short when Dana said, "Sorry I didn't answer your message on WeChat because I felt uncomfortable answering it."

He was caught off guard with what Dana said. He never expected her to be frank in saying she's uncomfortable answering his question.

He found himself apologizing and giving an explanation that the only reason his question came out strong and quite probing was that he didn't think it's possible not to answer a call even in the middle of a conversation.

"It is possible when you don't want to be rude." she said firmly.

Grand was left dumbstruck. He found another girl that doesn't mince her words, he thought.

"I'm sorry Muffins, it won't happen again, I promise!" as he was saying the apology, he was thinking that he was angry when he called, why and how did it happen that he was now the one apologizing.

"Apology accepted," she said smiling widely. "I was having dinner and discussing about my plan for school with my aunt last night," she explained.

Grand left with no words, just ended up blinking his eyes, and said, "Uhm."