Chapter 292: Unifier
Mina sat comfortably amidst the group of women she had somehow pulled together. She was oddly aware that she was the center point of the trio. It felt strange to Mina; being the single unifying factor between people, but since she had packed up and left home, she had managed to fill that role several times.
Over breakfast, the women spoke openly and freely, as they were all within the loop. Mina was also sure that Olivia had guessed Jessica was not just a driver or a friend, but she remained quiet about it, like Jay.
Mina did not have to worry about work because, according to Jay, Director Porter canceled filming to give everyone who witnessed Peter's outburst and beating time to process. Jay repeated the information to Mina, as asked, but both she and Olivia believed that 'someone' may have shut the production down.
While Olivia was unfazed by that possibility, and while Mina was employed by the director and not the production, Jay's future was directly tied to the success of the web series. Mina felt the need to reach out to Cylus and ask him to release his thumb, but Olivia was his cousin, and she was barely a friend. Still, she managed to get the man to go easy on his actress, who would also be at a loss.
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As soon as Jessica was dressed and ready to leave, Dom knocked at the apartment door and Mina intuitively knew that the pair had been in communication. Dom looked out of place among the group of women, but Olivia forced him into conversation. When Dom walked into the sitting room, she stood in front of him with her mouth agape.
"You're so tall," Olivia said in awe. She, like Mina, was on the shorter side of people in Pan country, and with her small frame, she looked tiny compared to Dom.
"I'm not that far from average," Dom said. He was clearly uninterested in Olivia, who had none of the curves Mina knew he favored. He spoke to her as if she were an over enthused child.
"How tall are you?" Olivia asked, still amused.
"Mina… who is this?" Dom asked in annoyance. Mina was certain that he knew who the girl was, but he was trying to offend the woman on purpose. The problem was that Olivia was not easily offended. Jay however…
"How rude. You think that just because your tits are bigger than mine you can act like a bigger bit-" Mina cut Jay off. She had been pulling a still wide-eyed looking Olivia away as she ranted. "I like Jessica and James better," Jay said. She was still annoyed by Dom.
Mina tried to introduce the two women to Dom, who did not even bother to give them a hello in greeting. She found herself flustered over his behavior. Dom was not usually so standoffish, or maybe he was only nice to her.
"Dom can I talk to you for a second?" Mina asked. She did not wait for a response and did her best to pull the man to a further part of the apartment. "What is all that about?"
"You fed them my breakfast!" Dom near shouted and Mina covered her mouth, trying hard not to laugh.
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When Mina started to prepare Dom his own breakfast, Jay and Olivia were left speechless. Neither woman could understand what was happening or why. All they knew was that as soon as the man's food hit the table, his whole demeanor changed like a spoiled child, and Mina did not help by affectionately smiling at the ogre as if he were her baby.
"Is he your boyfriend?" Jay asked, not caring that she was staring or that she would bring it to Mina's attention.
"What? No," Mina said.
"We are just friends," Dom said, but his tone was suggestive, and Mina knew it would cause a misunderstanding. She pushed Dom's shoulder in annoyance.
"How come?!" Olivia said loudly. "How come it's different for us? How come you can be friendly with men and people still want you, but I crack a smile and suddenly I'm the town whore?"
"That mouth might have something to do with it," Dom said sardonically. Mina gave an honest answer.
"There is nothing to gain from a rumor with me," she replied. The answer was simple, but it held much more weight than Mina could have known.
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It did not take long for Mina to realize that Olivia was the female version of Dom, except she did not have the same real-life experiences. Mina could tell that Dom was enjoying teasing the girl, who was older than Mina, but less mature. Watching the two interact, she started to think that Olivia was into Dom. The way she laughed and smiled at the man, made Mina retreat into the kitchen to give the pair some space.
From where Mina was, she could hear that Olivia had brought up Peter and what had happened the day before. To Mina's surprise, Dom was not sarcastic or harsh in his response.
"Sometimes it's the quiet ones you have to look out for," Dom said. "With men like me, there is no hidden intention. I am honest from the beginning; no guesswork involved."
"In other words, you're easy," Olivia added.
"Yup!"
"Since you admit it, maybe you can answer my question then. What is wrong with me?"
"Nothing," Dom stated. "The problem is the men you are into. They are afraid."
"Of what?"
"Being shamed," Dom replied.
"But men cheat all the time."
"That's different; men cheat and women are strong enough to move on and even forgive. Men are weaker than that. We keep thinking about it, even dreaming about it. We literally create scenarios in our minds." Dom pointed to his head as he spoke, and Olivia could tell he was speaking from experience.
Before now, Olivia had never heard it put into those terms, and she could not help but to feel bad for Peter.
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Since Mina had come clean to not just Mr. Zane, but also President Lee, she was allowed to continue working, but whoever her guard detail was for the day would have to accompany her on set, and right now that person was James. He had been briefed on the situation and was extremely upset that no one tried to stop Mina's boss from manhandling her.
When Mina returned to work, she could feel the eyes of curiosity on her. She knew that the events that took place were nothing less than distracting. First a co-director was slapped by a relatively unknown woman, and then another unknown woman was handled roughly by the same man. Embarrassment began to engulf Mina as she thought about what had been said to her. Her boss had accused her of being loose, even though she had done nothing to trigger the man.
Even worse was that Director Porter had been keeping his distance from Mina; sending messages through Jay when necessary and only speaking to her when he had to. Mina found the behavior odd, but she assumed nothing. She wondered if she should just quit to avoid the awkwardness of work. She had grown quite comfortable in an environment where everyone was so focused on their own role that no one paid attention to her, but now she was being watched.