Chapter 635: Pulled
Mina scanned the items in the truck that had been parked outside of the Lee mansion. Since she had not gone out, she had not seen the vehicle, but she found herself feeling overwhelmed by President Lee's kindness. The man had not followed her to inspect her things, so she was able to just stare at them, and pull forward the memories she associated with the items.
In truth, nothing in the truck was worth salvaging, but she wanted to hold onto it for the same reason her mother refused to let go of any of Sadie's things, despite the fact that they held true value.
Unlike Mina's items, Troy had bought Sadie's furniture. It was not second hand or refurbished but brand new, and the girl had not gotten to enjoy it long because she died less than a year after receiving it. Mina remembered her parents being extremely receptive of Troy's actions, telling him that he was going to make a great husband to their daughter, and she remembered wondering if she too would find a man to take care of her the way Troy had taken care of Sadie. The only person who had come the closest was President Lee and his actions were not done out of affection, but out of guilt.
"What are you still doing in here?" Ian whispered directly into Mina's ear, and the woman shivered as a chill went down her spine. He drew back his head, shocked by her reaction, and the tiniest smirk played across his face. He had seen the way she looked at him when she came into his room, and he recognized it as the same way he had often looked at her. In short, she was becoming receptive toward him.
"Sorry, I didn't hear your footsteps. I'm just trying to decide what to donate and what to keep."
"Keep it all," Ian said. I'm going to refurbish everything. You needed a desk in your room, we can use this one." Ian stepped around Mina and tapped on the desk she had been staring at. It was old and worn, but it was made of solid oak, and could easily be salvaged, maybe even beautified.
"Why did you buy these things?" Mina asked, and Ian turned to face her, closing the distance between them in a way that made it impossible for her to back away. The truck space was small, and when he felt he was close enough to the woman to make her heart race he stopped, reached over her head, and gently stroked the bookshelf that was behind her.
"It's a long-forgotten hobby of mine," Ian replied. "I used to enjoy woodworking, and seeing that you have an emotional attachment to these things has made me want to get back into it."
"So, you bought it because you were bored?" Ian chuckled, taking another step forward that produced an almost inaudible gasp from the woman.
"I bought it because it was important to you," he said. Mina studied the man's face, trying to find the lie in his words, and when she could not, she pulled her eyes away, only to hear a voice she had grown to dislike ring throughout the truck.
"What are you two doing in here?" Mina scooted around President Lee, and climbed out of the vehicle, walking past Miss Luna with a simple nod as a greeting. She thoroughly disliked the woman, and not because of Miss Lisa, but because her actions were done with the intent to cause long lasting damage. Miss Luna had gone out of her way to make sure that she reminded Mina who she was; the woman who sold herself for 50k and lost her life because of it.
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When Luna left, Ian found himself downing more drinks than he knew he should. His father had decided to stop seeking out medical treatment for the pain he was experiencing, and he wanted to enjoy whatever time he had left with his wife. Luna had come because their father wanted to tell them both over the phone at the same time. It would seem odd to others, but Ian knew that his father was trying to remain as distant as possible in order to avoid becoming emotional.
Still, that did not stop Ian from feeling the weight of his father's words, and when Luna left, she had done so with a face full of tears, saddened that her father had given up, and probably even more upset that she had called off her engagement. She told their nan that she was not 'ready,' but Ian knew it had something to do with what he had told her. The problem was that he now regretted that word choice, because he feared that his sister had lost the chance to walk the aisle with her father by her side; something he knew she wanted.
"Are you okay?" Mina asked, peeking her head inside of the study, which was ajar, but not open as she was accustomed to seeing it. She had not been meaning to spy, but she had gone back to the truck outside to look through some of the personal items her parents sold when she saw Luna run out of the mansion in tears.
"Fine," the man replied, but his speech was so slurred that Mina knew he was Drunk. She walked into the study, removing the alcohol from his desk, but unlike the time where she had done it in the past, he grabbed her wrist to stop her.
"President Lee, I don't like when you drink," Mina said, choosing to tell the truth. The man had terrified her by kissing her navel the last time he had gotten drunk, and she did not want a repeat. To her surprise, although it should not have, he let go of her wrist and allowed her to remove the bottle that was nearing empty. "You should try sleeping it off," Mina suggested. She had heard that phrase from Jay and Willow, who enjoyed drinking in the comfort of the apartment they once shared.
President Lee stood up and plopped himself in the bed that was inside of his study. Mina had often wondered why he needed to have two sleeping areas in the same home, but she now saw that sometimes, proximity was key. She left the study and returned a short while later to make sure the man had not gone back to drinking, but to also make sure that he was breathing. She did not think he drank enough to have alcohol poisoning, but with what happened to Doctor Bell, she could not be too sure.
Mina reached forward and put a finger under President Lee's nose, and the man reached out and pulled her back down onto the bed, holding her tightly to his chest as he resumed his slumber. Mina froze; she was afraid to pull away and afraid to make any noise because she was scared that the man would panic and hurt her. She was too close to him, and although panic was threatening to course through her, the rational part of her mind kept telling her that she needed to remain calm; eventually he would wake up and he would let her go.
Closing her own eyes, Mina thought about the things she could control, but fear of a person is not easy to overcome. Every time she felt President Lee's breath on her face, she resisted the urge to shake, consumed by the thought that he was going to wake up and strangle her or worse. She started to wonder if she should just take the risk and push the man away. When she moved, the man's grip tightened, so she gave up on that idea.
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Ian felt horrible, he knew that Mina was afraid of being hurt by him as he slept, but when he jumped up and grabbed her the only thing on his mind was that he wanted to be close to her. He expected the woman to pull away, but she laid against his body like a statue, not daring to move more than an inch at a time. Every time she shifted a little, he held her tighter, and she stopped moving. He believed that she had to know he was awake, but when her breathing slowed and steadied, he became confused.
"Mina?" Ian questioned, but the woman did not respond. Her entire body had gone limp, and guilt overtook the man, who had teasingly pulled her in, wanting to distract himself from the pain he was feeling. "Mina," he called out again. This time tapping her face roughly. The woman's eyes twitched, but she remained still.
For hours, Ian held onto her. He wanted to let go, but he also wanted to enjoy their proximity for a bit longer, though he knew it was wrong. From the beginning, everything he had done to Mina was wrong, and in a half drunken prank, he may have washed all progress he made with the woman down the drain.
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When Mina awoke, she was alone in President Lee's bed, and had it not been for the fact that she was still in his study, she would have believed that what happened was a dream. Her thoughts had gotten away from her, and the fear had gotten to a point where she allowed herself to succumb to the darkness that had been calling to her. She did not feel safe with President Lee, but he had plenty of opportunity in the past to violate her, and he had not, at least not since the time they were drugged, and it was why she did not will herself to stay awake.
"Sorry." Mina shifted in the bed and saw President Lee sitting in a chair beside where she had been laying. He had gone back to drinking, and she sat up to remove the drink from his hand. "Why don't you like me drinking?"
"Because the last time you drank, you did something that made me feel uncomfortable, and earlier, I came to check on you and you pulled me down onto the bed with you. I don't like the feeling it gave me, and I don't want it to happen again." Ian nodded, and rubbed his face in irritation. He knew he should not have pushed so far, and he knew Mina would hold it against him, but he was glad she did not react too harshly, at least not yet. "What is wrong?" The woman asked.
"This stays between us," Ian replied, not seeing a reason to hide from Mina a truth that needed to be spoken in order for him to vent his emotions. "My father is sick. His body is shutting down in a way that doctors do not understand. We have tested for everything." Mina frowned. She could not imagine knowing she was going to lose her father. Having it occur suddenly was bad but waiting for it to happen seemed worse.
Mina listened as President Lee described his father's symptoms, and she could swear she had read a case study that was almost exactly what the man was describing. The patient in the study had died two years after the first onset of symptoms and had given up on treatment because every time the infection in his body was cured, it would come back, and he would have to go through more aggressive antibiotic therapy.
It was during his autopsy that they discovered the cause, a tiny piece of chicken bone that had perforated the colon and was slowly making its way through the man's body, tearing up his organs as it did. Mina considered relaying the information to President Lee, but with all the money the Lee group had, there was absolutely no way that the man's doctors were unaware of what she had read, and she decided not to get the man's hopes up with her educated guess.