Alexia’s POV

I put on some dry clothes as soon as my feet touched my carpet in my room. 

Then I fell face first onto my bed, and went into what could be classified as hysterics. 

I can’t believe he played me like that, and I was too stupid to question it. Too stupid to question any of it.

“I’m so glad I’m done with him,” I sniffled, wiping at my eyes. “I just need to push that entire part of my life away and work on building a relationship with my parents and Lee again. That’s it, family and school.”

Even as I stood on shaky legs, determined to make it through this and not be one of those girls who got hung up on someone, I still felt like curling up in a ball and crying my eyes out. 

But instead I forced myself into my bathroom, cleaning up the tear stains and coming up with any distractions possible. 

It was close to a miracle I got myself to stop crying as soon as I did. I just kept thinking of how Colin screwed up my entire life, and I just needed to remain strong in order to get it back on track. The will to prosper in this situation is what drove me to walk downstairs in a confident manner, disguising my sadness as nervousness. 

“Mother?” I called out as I entered the kitchen, fidgeting with my thumbs slightly.

My mom looked up from where she hovered over the stove, cooking dinner. She still had that icy look in her eyes, eyes that were now guarded and cautious. 

“Yes Alexia?” Even her voice was careful, suspicious of me. It hurt to hear her sounds so distrustful of me. 

Pushing that feeling away, I let a tentative smile slip onto my face before I gestured to where ingredients were lain out on the counter. 

“Do you need any help preparing dinner?” I offered, knowing fully well I was a terrible cook. I could cook a plate of scrambled eggs, but even those came out burnt. I just figured that since my mother loved to cook, I might as well start with this if I’m to reconstruct our relationship. Maybe even improve it from what it was before. 

“Sure,” my mother replied, slowly. 

My smile widened, and I took the spot next to her, looking at everything in confusion. “What do you want me to do?”

“For now you can finish chopping those vegetables as I make this soup,” she instructed, going back to putting in spices and herbs into a large pot. Just by the scent I could tell that she was boiling chicken and chicken bones in order to give the soup some flavor. 

I nodded, grabbing the knife and carefully slicing up the vegetables. Looking around the kitchen, I saw all the ingredients needed for my favorite dish. 

“Mother? Are you making fried rice?”

She gave a brisk nod. “Yes.” There was silence for a bit as I continued to chop the carrots into tiny neat cubes, before moving onto the onions and a few other ingredients. “Don’t think you’ll be receiving your driving privileges back any sooner since you’re helping me,” my mother told me. 

“I wasn’t even thinking of that,” I answered in all honesty. “I broke it off with him,” I said afterwards, much quieter. 

“The idiot?” my mother questioned, and I nodded, flinching at the word idiot. It only served to remind me of my mistake. 

“Yes.”

“Good. You’ll be much happier with Lee.”

“I know that now, Mother. Thank you for opening my eyes,” I said with as much sincerity I could muster. I knew fully well that she had done nothing that would make me want to break it off with Colin aside from simply telling me to do so, but it was nice to see her eyes show a glimmer of appreciation at my words. 

“Of course, Alexia. I’m your mother and have your best interest in mind.” 

I remained silent as I finished cutting the vegetables, a sliver of bitterness coursing through me. No Mother, you have your best interest in mind. 

The kitchen was void of all sounds aside from the sizzling from the frying pan, and the occasional noise of the blade hitting the cutting board. 

It wasn’t too much longer until the table was set up, a large bowl of fried rice in the center with little bowls of soup accompanying each placement. 

That’s when I noticed four plates set up, instead of three. 

“Uhm, Mother? Why are there four table settings?” I asked, eying the extra setup. 

“Did he not tell you? Lee is joining us for one last meal before he leaves to go back to university.” My mother was wiping her hands on a dish towel, and I shook my head. 

“No, he didn’t tell me that. I didn’t even know he got back from Japan,” I muttered softly so she couldn’t hear. Then I looked at my mother with a smile plastered onto my face. “Oh, that’s great news! I better go get changed into something nicer then,” I quickly said, giving a small wave before rushing upstairs. 

I started pacing as soon as the door was shut and locked behind me. 

“No no no no no,” I chanted, walking back and forth, my hands wringing together. “I can’t see him yet, I can’t deal with Lee right now. I-I feel so emotionally unstable, I can’t even believe I made it through cooking dinner with my mother without bursting into tears. If I have to see Lee and think of how caring and compassionate he’s always been with me, then I’ll definitely have a break down,” I muttered, running my hands up and down my face. My fingers combed through my hair, my teeth gnawing on my bottom lip, my eyebrows creased as I frantically tried to figure out what I was going to do. 

“What can I do?” I groaned. “There really isn’t anything except just do my best to act normal. Now I can’t stop thinking about how I cheated on him, even though we didn’t really do much, we technically went out a date and shared a kiss. Why did I do that? Why couldn’t I have just said no? I knew something like this would happen, something like this always happens. I guess clichés are there for a reason.” I frowned, thinking deeper about this. 

“Alexia? Dinner’s ready and Lee’s here!” My mother knocked on my door, and I jumped.

“Be down in a second!” I called to her, and I faintly heard her footsteps as she walked away. 

Then I went to my closet, pulling on a simple black skirt and a nice white shirt. Can’t go wrong with black and white.

Making my way downstairs, I took this time to think of Lee, and Lee only. No regrets, no guilt, no shame, that thing with Colin never happened.  

Nearing the kitchen, I heard my parents and Lee deeply engaged in a conversation. 

“Ah yes, that’s fully understandable Lee. It’s a shame that you aren’t able to stay any longer,” my mother said, using the tone she reserved only for guests. It was much kinder and softer than the tone she typically used around me.

“It really is a shame, I wish I could’ve stayed longer. I’ll definitely have to visit again once another break comes around.” 

I rounded the corner into the kitchen to see Lee giving my parents a regretful smile. 

“Hey,” I greeted softly, eyes trained onto Lee. 

He turned, smiling widely. “Alexia, I missed you.” He gave me a hug, and I wrapped my arms limply around him back. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen you,” he mumbled into the top of my head. 

I chuckled. “It’s only been a day and a half,” I told him as we broke apart.

“A day and a half too long,” he pouted, still holding me close.

“You’re a cheeseball,” I muttered affectionately, rolling me eyes.

“But I’m your cheeseball, and that’s all that matters.” He grinned, and I blushed, smiling softly back. 

“True. And I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I told him, complete honesty in my tone. 

I really was better off with Lee, no use crying over Colin anymore. He wasn’t worth it. Right?

***

“So what do you want to do?” I asked Lee as I stretched out on my bed, my arms tucked underneath my head. Dinner had finished ten minutes ago, a grueling half hour of my parents sucking up to Lee.

I found it kind of obnoxious, but they’re my parents. What could I really do?

Lee shrugged. “I don’t really want to do anything, just sitting here relaxing might be nice for a change.”

I shifted to my side so I can face him. “Yeah, with your hectic schedule I’d imagine that you’d feel overwhelmed most of the time.”

“Overwhelmed would be an understatement,” he groaned. “My dad is really cracking down on me with all this business prep. And I know that it’s really important for me to know the ins and outs of his company, but I just don’t have time to relax and do what I want to do. I have to enjoy my youth while I still can, you know?” 

His voice was interlaced with sadness, and I felt really bad for him. 

I know that my life seems too much for me to handle, but Lee took it to a whole new level, balancing college and training. 

“Yeah,” I muttered, trying to use my voice to convey how badly I felt that he worked so hard all the time. “If there’s anything I could do to help, just let me know.”

“Well…” he trailed, propping his head up on his elbow as he lay on his side. “There might be one thing you could do.” 

I cocked my head at him. “Okay, what is it?” 

There was silence, and Lee looked as if he was scrutinizing me. Then he flopped back onto his back, hands resting on his stomach. 

“Never mind, it was a stupid idea, and your parents would kill me.” 

At the mention of doing something rebellious towards my parents, my interest sparked. It was the same feeling I got whenever I hung out with Colin, the feeling that I knew I was doing something bad, but wanted to do it anyways. 

“Lee, tell me. What can I do?” I stared at him intently, but he only continued to gaze up at the ceiling, eyes never once flickering towards me. 

He shook his head. “No, never mind. Forget I ever said anything.”

“Lee,” I protested. “You can’t just say something like that and ask me to forget about it! You’re killing me here.” I pouted, knowing fully well the affect it would have on him. 

However Lee was smart, he never once looked my way. There’s a reason he’s becoming a CEO so early in life. Well, that and the fact that the position is being passed down the family line. 

In fact, he turned so that his back was facing me. 

“I know what you’re doing Lexi and it’s not going to work. I’m not going to tell you,” he called from over his shoulder. 

“Lee,” I whined, stretching his name out as I crawled over to him. “Pleeasee?” I rested my head on the side of his arm, looking down at his face as he stubbornly kept his eyes away from me. “Come on Lee, why won’t you tell me?” 

At this point he had completely stopped answering me, but a smile quirked onto his lips at my childish behavior. 

I harrumphed, laying back down on my side of the bed. 

“Fine then. I’m going to sleep, night.” With that, I turned on my side, so that my back was facing him. I closed my eyes tightly, annoyance keeping me awake. I couldn’t help but think we’ll be sharing our life together for what seemed like a very long time, yet he still feels as if he can’t tell me anything. 

I gulped. 

If anyone is keeping secrets in this relationship it’s me. 

That thought helped me let go of my frustration towards Lee. Fine, he doesn’t have to tell me. It probably wasn’t important anyways. 

I felt myself relax, and just as I was about to doze, I felt Lee wrap his arms around me from behind.

Yeah, this is how it’s meant to be, I thought contentedly as I snuggled into his embrace. 

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these chapters are getting longer, yay or nay? many of them are about 2k words each, so c: 

and just... alexia, poor, poor alexia. she seems so confused and it's just going to get worse from here on out ._. i can't believe she hasn't told colin yet omf. and what do you think Lee was going to say? :3

and this is about the point where i start to lose faith in my stories XD where i firmly believe that the plot is useless mumbo jumbo but can't change anything about it due to it being NaNo ._. i might edit after NaNo is over, and maybe i can make this less... jumbled? but that would involve an entire plot makeover.. so yeah, i'm rambling and i'll stop. i hope you enjoyed this chapter?