23 Not today

Ray let go of Timo to answer his phone, "Shew?" He was surprised and relieved at the same time.

But Timo didn't let him continue to speak. Instead, he snatched the phone from his hand and almost shouted into it, "Honey whatever you saw isn't true." Backtracking, "I never proposed to anybody. It's all a lie. I don't even like her-"

His frantic rambling was cut short, "Calm down Timo, it's fine. It doesn't matter." She sounded too calm and it further frightened him.

"How does it not matter?" He scrambled to find the right words, "It has become such huge scandal?!!" He would've shaken her violently if he could touch her.

"It just doesn't matter to me," Shew said softly in an attempt to calm the frantic man, "I don't care about what the news and media say."

"How can you be so calm in this time of distress?"

He couldn't for the life of him wrap his head around her thought process.

She chuckled, "Anyways why the hell did you call me thirty times? I was busy with some work." Shew tried to chide him but failed at it as her voice came out softer than she intended it to be.

"I was going nuts here thinking you were upset with me or something and I just wanted to talk with you."

Timo was a little relieved but there was a nagging feeling in the back of his head that everything wasn't right.

"You are talking to me now."

"But Lisa told that you were pretty upset." He remembered the previous call which had made him go berserk.

"At first yes I was a little sad," Shew tried to explain, "But after I thought about it I wasn't anymore."

"How?"

"Even though I don't know much about your world I know how a business works so it only came down to a rumour or a publicity stunt."

"And here I was this close to pulling my hairs out in frustration."

"Hey don't go bald now." Shew tried to joke, "After all your eyes and hairs are what make you look hot."

"You think I am hot? " Timo smirked, his ego inflating.

Shew blushed but didn't deny it, "I don't think it, I know it." She wasn't going to lose anything just cuz she acknowledged the truth.

"I really want to be with you right now." Timo ignored the nauseous looks of his brothers.

Ray and Kai now understood how others felt when they were sickeningly sweet to their respective women.

"Aren't you currently attacked by reporters and your girlfriend?" Shew teased but there was a hidden jibe in her words.

"Ex-girlfriend." Timo almost growled, "I broke up with her the next moment she pulled this stunt."

"So you weren't going to break up with her before?"

Timo caught the anger in her voice. He had to tread carefully from that point.

"I am extremely sorry that I kept it from you and didn't act on it before." He wisely apologised before adding, "I was too caught up in us and forgot all about her."

"I am not happy about it in the least." He could hear her sigh, "She might be heartbroken. Poor girl her fiancé dumped her."

"Hey!"

"Just kidding." Shew chuckled, "However, I am flying out of the country tomorrow."

"Why?" Timo almost sobbed. It was clear that she was still upset. He wanted to make things right between them.

"I can't tell you that right now but after I return I promise we are going to have a long chat," Shew promised.

"When will I see you again?" Timo asked eagerly.

"I'll come to you."

It wasn't an answer Timo was expecting but he grudgingly accepted.

"Also I won't be in touch with anyone-"

"Why?" Now he felt like throwing a tantrum.

"How many questions will you ask now?" Shew was running out of patience, her anxiety winning over her rationality, "Just know that I will be out of town and out of reach. When I come back and we talk, I just hope everything settles down." Her voice became barely audible near the end.

"Why do you sound so doubtful about it?"

"It's just... nothing leave it… I have to-"

"Wait-"

"Yes?"

"I- I-"

"No, don't say it. Not today."

"Come on guys this sweetness over a phone call is too much," Vic complained, looking almost green.

"Go there and handle your pile of crap while I do the same with mine."

Saying so she ended the call.