Reiner - Everyone's Worried

“I’m hanging up,” Reiner stated passively.

“Don’t you want to know how she’s doing?” Edward asked.

“I’m sure she’s doing well and if she isn’t, you’ll take care of her, won’t you?” Reiner replied.

“I don’t know…she’s like a shadow of herself right now and she’s lost quite a bit of weight. Obviously, not healthy considering she was quite slim before…” Edward said, not hiding the concern in his voice.

“You should take her to see a doctor…” Reiner stated matter-of-factly.

“You’re leaving her to me now, are you?” Edward asked, not truly believing what he was hearing.

“Yeah…” Reiner said before disconnecting the call. He didn’t want to hear anymore, and he didn’t have anything more to say either.

Edward stared at the screen of his phone after the line got disconnected suddenly. He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time at how ridiculous this whole situation was. If he thought that he could help Natalia, he already would have. Why else would he bother making that call?

Let’s see if Reiner even gets the message…

“Why does he have to act so cold all the time?” Edward said before he started laughing a little.

…

It was early in the evening, and I was staring at the television blankly as I pretended to watch something to kill the time. Lucien was too busy with work to come home in time for dinner and that worked in my favor. Trying to fake an appetite when I had dinner with Lucien was a very difficult thing to do.

The last time that I had dinner with Lucien, I felt very pressured. I knew that Lucien meant well and wanted what he thought was best for me but in the end, I just couldn’t go ahead with his suggestions.

“You’re not eating enough. Is the food bad? Should I change the chef?” Lucien asked, his eyes narrowing at me.

I gulped as I felt his green eyes observing me intently. Living with Lucien meant that I couldn’t avoid having meals with him and that made hiding my lack of appetite from him impossible to do.

“The food tastes great. It’s not the chef’s fault,” I replied softly.

It goes without saying that if I’m unable to convince Lucien otherwise he would really go ahead and fire the poor chef. I can’t have the poor man and his entire team lose their jobs just because I didn’t have an appetite.

“Are you sure? I’ve been watching you for a while now and I’m sure that you’re eating a lot less than before. You’ve lost weight…” Lucien said sternly.

“Maybe I’m just trying to slim up a little…” I replied before smiling weakly at him.

“Is that so. What about the fact that you don’t seem so cheerful? I think you’ve been looking very down lately…” Lucien said as he laced the fingers of his hands together. His green eyes continued to watch me as if they wouldn’t let me hide away any secrets from him.

“I feel a little lost sometimes…you know, quarter-life crisis stuff, I guess,” I said with a shrug as I tried to keep the mood light. Not that I was anywhere near being successful.

“Well, let me know if there’s anything that I can help out with,” Lucien replied smoothly.

Yes, you can start off by asking fewer questions and perhaps taking your discerning eyes off me.

“Ok…” I mumbled.

“I was meaning to ask you this, but it has slipped my mind. Now that Reiner is no longer here, do you want a replacement?” Lucien asked, sounding very serious.

It’s not like anyone can replace Reiner, though. However, I realized that Lucien wasn’t talking about that kind of replacement…

“A…replacement?” I asked.

“Yup. A new butler and bodyguard. If you dislike someone from the main branch, I can always look for someone from some trustable private companies,” Lucien said.

He’s going to so much trouble for me and I do appreciate that. The issue wasn’t where the new guy came from though. I just didn’t want a new guy, that’s all.

“I honestly don’t think that that’s necessary,” I said, meaning it.

Lucien was thoughtful for a moment before he let out a resigned sigh.

“Let me know if you change your mind. There’s not a lot going on right now and you don’t need to go to public events but if that changes, I might require you to have at least one personal bodyguard once again,” Lucien said firmly, bringing the topic of discussion to a close.

I just nodded at Lucien’s words. Compromise it is. That was just that.

My phone started ringing and vibrating next to where I was seated on the sofa, and I snapped out of my thoughts. Glancing down at the phone screen, I saw that the call was from Zak. I wondered why he’s calling and prayed that it wasn’t bad news. With the way that I had been feeling for the past month, I wouldn’t be able to deal with any more bad news.

“Hi Zak…” I said once I answered the call.

“Natalia…” Zak said my name and I couldn’t really place his tone.

Mixed news?

“Hey…is everything ok?” I asked hesitantly.

“Yea…I’m just calling to let you know so that you won’t be shocked if and when you see the news,” Zak said, trying to keep his tone light.

“What news?” I asked, confused.

“I just turned down the offer from the elders for my promotion to do more marketing and PR work for the company. I’m sure it’s a promotion that came from my mother’s request too. Unfortunately, even internal stuffs like these are going to leak and make headlines…” Zak explained.

“I see…” I mumbled.

“Well, it’s nothing for you to be concerned about. I just thought that I’ll let you know so that you know the truth and so that you don’t over think things when you start seeing the news,” Zak said, reassuringly.

“Ok…thank you, Zak,” I replied. Zak was needlessly worried about me again.

“Oh, and one more thing, there’s a party coming up that I’ll like to take you along with me. You’ve just been hiding away in your house, right? Let’s get a new dress tailored for you and let’s go out to the party. I’ve already arranged for a designer to take care of the dress,” Zak said excitedly.

“Umm…I don’t know…” I replied hesitantly. I wouldn’t say that I shared Zak’s excitement.

“You can’t spend your whole life holed up inside and neither will I let you do so. I’ll text you the address.

Don’t worry, I’ll come along too,” Zak said with determination.

“Umm…ok…thanks…” I said as I was forced to go along with him.

“Take care, Natalia…” Zak said in a sweet voice.

I haven’t been out to a party in forever. Truthfully, I didn’t feel like going but I knew that Zak was right. I can’t stay holed up inside like this forever. Maybe this would serve as a good first step for me to reclaim my life back…or so I had thought…

--To be continued…