Chapter 615: Chipped
Ian could tell that Mina was angry and while he had no idea why, he felt like he should. He had seen the interaction between her and the vendor, but he did not think much of her words; Mina could afford it, and as much as she liked to refer to herself as poor, she definitely was not. Ian saw to it that she had almost no expenses, and with the amount of money she made from her investments alone, he was almost positive the woman's account was healthy. Still, he chose not to ask, if Mina wanted to explain it to him, he would listen, but if not, he was okay with not knowing. He just hoped that her foul mood would not completely ruin their evening.
What Ian did not know was that for as much money as Mina had coming in, she was still living above her means. She was spread thin helping this person or that person, and while she was no longer struggling, her savings were not growing at the rate she would have liked, but still that was not why she was angry. She knew it was rude to ignore President Lee, who she had pulled into her stunt, but she was upset, and she was not going to spend her money.
Mina was not even paying attention to the items in the vendor stalls she passed, and she only slowed when President Lee walked by another seller who was frying prawn chips. The man ordered himself another extra-large bag that Mina cautioned him against, but he told her that it was okay to treat himself to junk every now and then. She shook her head at the man and seasoned the chips for him before handing him back the bag with another word of caution that he ignored.
With a shrug Mina started to walk again, but her attention was soon pulled to a small boy who did not look like he was enjoying himself. He looked frightened, and while he was not crying, his eyes kept darting around the people walking by as if he were looking for someone. Mina slowly approached the boy, kneeling to his level before asking him if he were lost. The child did not respond, so she tried asking him in different languages, and his eyes lit up when he heard her speak in his tongue. Mina extended her hand to the boy, who took it before allowing himself to cry. She scooped him into her arms, carrying him away, much to the confusion of President Lee.
"Mina, you can't just pick children off the streets," Mina glared at the man, who went back to silently eating his chips. She walked to a food stall and ordered the child a water and bread, which he snatched and swallowed at a rate that told Mina he had been away from his parents for a long time.
"How long have you been here?" She asked the child in the language of Gespa, one that Ian understood and spoke. The child told her that he had gotten onto a tourist bus without his parents, and it stopped at the bizarre. He said that he was supposed to return to the bus after an hour, but he did not have a way to track the time, so he missed it and had been waiting for his parents to find him.
The child said that he had approached several people, but most of them were rude to him, and none of the vendors wanted to help him. He said that one woman gave him money, but it was not enough to buy him anything. Mina felt her chest constrict with the knowledge, and President Lee, who could follow the conversation called the local police station, who, after half an hour of checking with other nearby departments, confirmed that the boy's parents had reported him missing, and a unit carrying the couple was on its way to them.
Mina was relieved that the young boy was not intentionally left behind, and Ian could tell that she had a soft spot for children that he should have recognized while in Bal. He wanted to ask her about it, but he chose a safer route instead.
"How did you know that he needed help?" Ian asked, not expecting the woman's answer to make his heart sink.
"The expression he was wearing reminded me of myself when I was younger. I was always confused because I didn't know who was going to be nice to me, and who was going to hurt me."
The trio sat in silence as Mina watched the child eat the additional bread she had given him. The Bizarre did not sell heavy foods, and being a native of Gespa, she was fairly sure he would not like, and may even be sickened by some of the snacks that were being sold, especially the prawn chips. Even for someone like herself, who had eaten the chips at various times throughout her life, the heavy oil could make her stomach run, which was why she warned president Lee, but the man was insatiable, and after a very emotional reunion between the boy and his parents, that was a mixture of spankings, hugs and tears, the man ordered himself a third extra-large bag that he claimed he wanted to save for later.
Before leaving, Ian and Mina made their way back to the vendor she had made a deal with. Ian was beginning to ready his wallet, but the vendor was already packing up his stall when they arrived. He told Mina that after he sold out of his old merchandise, he slightly lowered the price of his newer items, figuring that selling them was better than storing them. He was left with nothing, not even a single necklace, which he mimicked Mina's price listing idea on. Mina cast a glance at the woman who had angered her in the first place, and she saw that she too had listed her prices in writing.
"What did you do?" Ian asked, not really understanding how or why Mina's plan worked. None of the people around them were struggling to afford anything, so theoretically her idea should not have worked.
"You'll have to pay me if you want to know," Mina said smugly, and the man laughed before making a face that Mina could tell was not an act. "What's wrong she questioned," but the man did not respond. He pulled her in the direction of the car and doubled over in pain when they stood beside it. Mina covered her nose, knowing that she should not laugh at the man who was probably about to explode from all the prawn chips he had eaten. "President Lee, I told you-"
"Mina shut up and get in the car," the man gritted out in pain. She had still been giggling, but when President Lee handed her his keys her smile faltered.
"I can't drive," she said in a panicked tone, and the man glared at her. He knew she did not like to drive, but he was aware that Connor Boyd had given her a few driving lessons and while she did not have her license, he knew she would be fine.
"Mina you know the way, and I can't…" The man groaned as he clutched at his abdomen, making Mina jump into action. She opened the car, got in, and President Lee used his finger to start it. "Please drive," he begged.
Ian could feel his stomach bubbling in a way that he knew meant he needed to get home quickly. He rolled down the windows of the car and Mina carefully accelerated, making her way out of the parking lot at an agonizingly slow pace. He pleaded with the woman to drive faster, but when she was not worrying about the other cars around her, she was laughing at him, so his words went mostly unheard.
A tearing sound rang throughout the vehicle and Mina laughed in a way that Ian knew was from deep within her. He did not understand how she could find the situation funny, and when she chastised him for not heeding her warnings, he felt as though she had been waiting for the opportunity to repeat his words to him for a long time.
"Mina please drive faster. I don't know if-" Ian cut his sentence short, because the woman was still giggling, and it was starting to make him chuckle which was not helping him. He bent forward in silence, realizing that talking was making him feel worse. Ian's phone started to vibrate in his pocket, but he made no move to answer, so Mina used the call button on the steering wheel to take the call.
"Hello," Mina said playfully. She knew it was Drax calling, which was why she answered, but she was met with silence before the man hung up and called back. President Lee tried to stop her by ending the call from the middle consul, but she was faster. Once again, Mina called out her greeting.
"Where is Ian? Why are you answering his phone?"
"President Lee is a little…" Mina looked over to the man, whose face was sweaty, he shook his head, indicating to her that he could not speak, but before Mina could respond Drax asked another question.
"Mina, did you kill Ian?" He whispered.
"What? No," she shouted, half offended by Drax's accusation. "Do you think I would answer his phone if I did?"
"Yes," Drax added, making Mina snort. She probably would have in order to throw off suspicion and buy herself time to escape. "Ian if you need help, make a noise." President Lee groaned as he suppressed a chuckle, making Drax panic. "Mina where are you? Stop now and I'll make sure you won't get hurt."
"No Mina don't tell him," Mills shouted from the background, making Mina and President Lee laugh. They could hear Drax reminding her that she worked for the Lee group, and Mina could picture her friend pouting with the rebuke.
"Mina, where are you?" Drax repeated.
"I'm about twenty minutes away from the Lee mansion." With that the man hung up and President Lee shook his head, which was resting against his knees. Mina knew he could not speak, and realizing how much pain he was in, she started to drive faster.
Eventually, Mina felt as though the man was torturing himself, so she suggested for them to stop at a gas station, but he lifted his head to look at her as if she had mentioned something unfathomable. He told her that he could not go in a public place and Mina found herself laughing at the man once again. The way he had spoken when he made the comment made her think of the man as prissy, and she did not know why that was funny to her. She had never thought of President Lee in that light, especially because she knew he was trained not to be fussy.
Mina was still giggling at her own mental images of the man wearing feather boas and pearls when they pulled onto the Lee mansion property. President Lee did not even wait for the car to stop before he jumped out of the vehicle, pushing past Drax and Mills, who looked confused to see her driving the man's car. She exited the vehicle, laughing in a way she could tell made Drax worry that something was seriously wrong with his friend.
"Mina, should I call a doctor?" Drax asked, but Mina could not speak. She was enjoying President Lee's discomfort so much that she was not even concerned about how it may appear.
"He will be fine," she finally said, sighing deeply at the situation. "He just needs to learn to listen." Drax's brow furrowed, and while he agreed with Mina, he was positive they were not talking about the same thing.