"I was thinking." Lena paused before continuing. "That I should get a place for myself."
Shen Mao and Shen Milli"s smile dropped. "Why?" They both responded.
"Don"t you think I am a bit too old to still be living with my parents?"
"Ridiculous. You can stay here until you get married. And even after marriage, you can still stay here!" Shen Mao spoke.
"How am I supposed to get married if he has to come to see me every time here?"
"Andy visited you fine!"
"That was because he had always done that before. Any other outsider would feel uncomfortable with mom and you always eavesdropping."
"No future son-in-law of mine would feel uncomfortable." Shen Mao replied sternly, ignoring the eavesdropping comment. He and his wife were curious folks. They had not been much cautious of the men Lena hung out with when she was with Andy, but the situation has changed now.
Shen Milli could tell that Shen Mao was being stubborn to let his daughter move out. "So you are really seeing someone?" Shen Milli interrupted the conversation.
"Mom! I already told you I am not."
"Mhm… Just make sure you use protection."
"AHHH!!" Lena covered her face with her hands. "When did this conversation turned to this! Henry is right there too! This is so embarra.s.sing."
"Whyyy? Henry is family too. No need to be shy."
Lena got up from her seat to leave.
"Are you done eating already?" Shen Milli felt sad that she was teasing her daughter too much.
"I am not hungry." Lena left the table. She was too embarra.s.sed from the conversation to keep eating.
"You--" Shen Milli stopped her husband from saying anything as Lena left.
"Let her go." She spoke. "You should have let her get her own place in the first place."
"Me? You are the one that made her leave…" Both of them sweetly argued, not observing that Henry also silently left the table.
Henry head up to Lena"s room to make sure she was alright. He knocked on the door twice before Lena opened it.
"It"s you again." Lena responded.
"Are you not going to invite me in?"
Lena rolled her eyes. Henry forced his way in anyways. "What is it?" Lena asked.
"You know your parents are just really worried about you. Any parents would want their kids to get married and settle down."
Lena sat on her bed. "I know."
"Your father had been hinting a lot of it to me too." Henry solemnly spoke.
"About me?"
Henry nodded his head. He grabbed the chair from her desk and sat in front of Lena.
"But, you always only thought of me as your sister." Lena spoke, to which Henry looked up to her face and smiled sweetly. He had always thought of Lena as his sweet spoiled little sister.
"And besides, you are dating someone already." Lena continued.
Henry coughed and blushed slightly. "Is it that obvious?" He was surprised that Lena knew. He had kept it on the down low for a few months now.
"Hmmm." Lena studied Henry. "You style your hair more often and you changed your cologne. Your cuff links are also too fancy for you to buy them yourself."
Henry was proud that Lena had such an observant skill. "We had only been dating for a few months."
"Am I going to meet her soon?"
"When the occasion presents itself." Henry smiled. "We both want our privacy yet before going public about it."
"Is she someone I would know?"
Henry pondered a bit about the question. "Know of, yes. But someone you would have interacted with, no."
"I will just wait then. Make sure to use protection." Lena sarcastically imitated her mother"s voice.
Henry chuckled. "You silly little girl."
Henry patted her head. He got up, put the chair back where he got it from and started to leave.
"Don"t rebel too much, Lena." He called back to her.
"I won"t." Lena replied.
Henry shut the door and left to go home. He had still to prepare for his trip tomorrow morning.
Lena fell back to her bed. She grabbed her phone to check her messages. There were a few from Gary but she finally got her response from James.
James had agreed to come back to be her personal bodyguard. Lena replied back to him that she will meet him tomorrow at the office with their new work contract. Lena had a long day and she much needed a shower.
When she got out of the shower, she saw a plate of snacks on her desk. It must have been her mother, knowing that she would go hungry late at night since she only ate very small at dinner.
Lena dried her hair and sat on her desk. She had a few more hours before sleeping. She needed all the time she can to be productive.