Rey watched with wide eyes as Mia fell face flat to the hard floor, everything happened so fast and yet so slow that it took him a bit to wake up from his stunned state till the full thud from Mia's fall zapped him like an electric shock.
"Mia!" He called and hurried forward but it was too late, Mia's soft groan made his heart twist itself, he felt a little suffocated.
"Oops!" Celine had exclaimed with pity in her voice but when he had looked up at her face, she had something close to hidden glee splayed boldly on her face and he glared, his nose flaring in anger but he had to get Mia to her feet first.
"Hey Baby?" He called, bending low to pick her up.
"I can walk." Mia murmured in shame.
He assisted her in standing to her feet nevertheless and helped in straightening her dress while she looked at her feet with feigned interest, too ashamed to look at the four pairs of eyes studying her at the moment.
"You don't have to be ashamed, huh?" He whispered into her ear and felt her tremble a bit before peeking her on the cheek to hear Celine's annoying gasp of shock.
"Follow my lead." He whispered close to her ear again and she barely gave a nod.
"Stop it Rey. Have some respect for us." It was his mother, her nose crinkling in disgust.
"Honestly, get a room." This time his sister gave a dramatic sigh and an extraordinary wave of her hands.
Rey looked at his father and the old man had his eyes on the flustered Mia.
"Good day Ma, Sir…" Mia greeted in an audible shaky whisper.
"Hey?" She nodded at Sabrina who nodded back and when Mia turned towards Celine, the almost visible spikes she could see on Celine's face shut her up.
Shamelessly, Celine walked closer to Rey and made to touch his chest, earning an eyebrow raise from Mia who felt like throwing up at the shamelessness of the unfamiliar girl with blond hair.
"Keep your hands to yourself Celine." Rey's voice contained a bit of venom and Celine made sure to stick her hands to her side at once.
"You told me to go to the G.G Reserve." She whined but Rey only looked down at her with impatience.
All Mia could see was a spoiled brat who didn't know what else to do with herself or her time.
"Why did you tell me to go there when you had a girl with you?" She whined again and this time she looked Mia up and down as if sizing her up.
Mia instinctively became self conscious, folding her hands into fists and rubbing her toes against each other.
As if sensing her discomfort, Rey also tightened his hand around her waist, pulling him closer to himself and just then, someone popped a gum loudly before giving a provocative giggle, it was his sister. Sabrina was always ready for any kind of tea.
"So what if I had a girl with me?" He raised a brow, towering over Celine who had to look up at him.
"I said you should get your ass …"
"Language Reynaldo Davies!" His mother thundered, he knew she was against him rejecting her choice of partner for him.
"When I said get down to the store by 12, I didn't say I would come meet you alone. I didn't say I would be down there with you." He smiled a smile that felt haunted even to Mia by his side.
Rey was tired, he was done dealing with Celine and her shit.
"By the way, meet my fiancée…" Rey had started but trailed off when Celine only gave a low hiss, clearly rolled her eyes at Mia before breaking down into non-consolable tears and turning to stomp back to the chair which held her bag.
With a shaky and sympathetic goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Davies, she walked back to the door, almost bumping into Mia if Reynaldo hadn't taken her out of the way.
Looking back at Celine gently closing the door, Reynaldo had almost bursted out laughing. He knew she would have banged the door to a close to the extent of the walls rattling in her wake if his parents were not seated there. Good thing she still had a bit of respect for his parents.
"Be my lady." Rey whispered to Mia who now gingerly placed her hand on his opened palms.
Mia felt sweaty, she had always imagined meeting the parents of her prince charming ever since she realized that she was permitted to have such imagination but she had never imagined meeting them in this situation if she was even permitted to address them as that.
Rey studied his father's face and saw that he still had his gaze on Mia like she was a new business proposal he had picked interest in. Sabrina had her mouth moving wildly as she chewed on her gum, her eyes dancing in planned mischievousness and delight, he wondered for a fraction of a second what silly thoughts were in her head.
He had saved her for the last because he knew she would never be happy with him yet after outrightly flaunting her orders. When he looked at her, she had her face twisted like she had just gotten a taste of something sour and bitter but he chose to ignore her.
"Mum, Dad, Sabrina, this is my financée, Mia Lucas." He smiled, holding Mia's sweaty palm more tightly before looking at her.
"Mia." He called and she gave him a nervous glance, then a smile.
"Meet my parents. Mr. and Mrs. Davies."
"My only sister, Sabrina Davies." He introduced and before Mia could offer her greeting properly Mrs. Davies cleared her throat.
"Isn't she the cook I recommended to you?" Mrs. Davies spat out her question with venom in her voice and Rey felt Mia tense beside him.
Mia felt her heart skip. It didn't skip a beat, it skipped three beats, it felt so dangerous that she felt she would fall down and go unconscious at any moment but she didn't, she only heard her heart beat loudly in her chest. Her heartbeat was so loud, she felt like everyone in the room could hear it.
When she finally met Mrs. Davies' eyes, the tension in the room made her want to bolt out.