Tell Me Again, My Love

Go away. Just go away. Leave me alone.

I need time. I need more time!

She sniffed and wiped the tears away angrily. She felt so helpless. What happened yesterday really made her felt like she was a useless person.

Yes, she was calm during that time. Yes, she managed to escape from that evil man safely. But... everyone was treating her like she made a huge mistake by being safe. She was locked in this place, with no connection to the outside world.

She felt like a goldfish in a gla.s.s bowl.

She hugged herself even tighter. More tears running down her eyes as she tried to relieve the frustration and anger in her.

*~*~*~*

Jeremy hit the accelerator hard. The car moved faster and finally, it entered the residence, much to Jeremy"s chagrin who wanted to arrive faster. There were so many red lights when he wanted to reach the house as quickly as possible.

Mei Li had to hold onto the dashboard dearly. Her eyes widened in horror.

The car was moving so fast, everything turn into a blur. They only stopped at the red light and she used those precious moments to gasp and calm herself, ignoring the curse coming from him.

Then the cycle repeated again and again, she grabbed onto the dashboards with her eyes widened in horror, and then taking deep breaths to calm down when they reached the red lights.

When the car finally stopped in front of the mansion, where Mika, the butler and some maids were waiting nervously, Mei Li opened the door and reached for a tree to vomit.

She threw out a lot today, she felt like fainting already.

When she was done, a maid handed her a gla.s.s of water and a face towel. She murmured her thank, staggering toward the house after she gaggled the water and wiped her face with the towel.

The maid helped to bring her to the room Ryn locked herself in. She had to grab hold of the wall once she arrived, watching as both Jeremy and Mika coaxing Ryn to open the door.

"Catherine," she crooked. Her voice was losing out due to the vomiting session she had since in the office.

No answer. Jeremy helped bringing Mei Li closer to the door. Maybe Ryn did not hear her just now.

"Catherine," Mei Li called again, this time managed to raise her voice but it hurt her throat so much, she ended up coughing.

A maid quickly rushed downstairs to the kitchen. She asked the maids there to make a gla.s.s of honeyed water for Mei Li. Then, she returned back upstairs, bringing the honeyed water.

"Ryn, please open the door. This is Mei Li, your manager," Mei Li knocked on the door weakly.

Mei Li paused when she noticed the maid"s presence. She stopped calling for Ryn and turned to look at the maid questioningly. 

"I saw you"re having problem with your throat," the maid explained, holding onto the gla.s.s of honeyed water.

Mei Li gave a thankful smile and took the gla.s.s. She murmured another thanks before sipped the drink slowly. She let out a relieved sigh when the water glide down her throat, making her feel better.

She handed back the empty gla.s.s to the maid and turned back her attention to the door. It seemed like the minutes she used to drink the honeyed water, Ryn still refused to come out.

"Ryn, everything can be discussed face to face. You can"t just lock yourself in the room forever," she tried again, replacing Jeremy and Mika who had been begging Ryn to open the door to no avail.

It seemed like Ryn was seriously angry at them.

"Ryn, I know you feel hurt but we can talk this through. Please come out. Everyone is worried about you," Mei Li coaxed.

"Go away. Just leave me alone," finally there was a reply coming from Ryn.

They all shared a look. Finally, Ryn was willing to speak with them again.

"Do you have Ryn"s mom"s number in your phone?" Mei Li suddenly asked Mika. She had doubt Jeremy keeps Ryn"s mom"s number in his phone. That was why she asked Ryn"s best friend, instead.

"I do," Jeremy quickly took out his phone and punched the screen with his finger quickly. He handed the phone to Mei Li when the call was connecting.

Mei Li took the phone and walked to another side of the hallway. She waited until the call was connected and greeted Ryn"s mother"s politely.

"Jeremy?" It seemed like Ryn"s mother also kept his number in her phone. She sounded worried. Had something happened to her precious daughter?

"Aunty, this is Mei Li, Ryn"s manager," Mei Li introduced herself politely.

"Mei Li? Well, is something wrong with Ryn?"

"Actually..." Mei Li paused and looked at the still-closed door and the people in front of it, still trying to coax Ryn to open the door.

"Mei Li?"

Mei Li took a deep breath. "Aunty, I"m very sorry to interrupt you but..."

"But what?" Why couldn"t this child just speak in a complete sentence? Why was she keep pausing and stopping, making Ryn"s mother felt more nervous and worried? "Mei Li, can you speak properly? Has something happened to my daughter? Jeremy told me she"s alright and even eat and sleep right."

Mei Li was still lost for words. How could she tell Ryn"s mother without making the elder woman worried?

"Give it to me," Jeremy held out his hand as Mei Li was still lost, unable to speak.

Mei Li handed it in relieved. She was glad when Jeremy stepped up to take control.

"Aunty, this is Jeremy," Jeremy introduced himself.

"Jeremy, thank G.o.d. Can you explain what happened to Ryn? I can"t understand what Mei Li is talking about."

"It"s like this. You know how bad the news today and we decided to keep it from Ryn," he explained.

"Yes, I know. Even our neighbours come to ask us about this."

"My team and Mei Li"s are working on it while Mika accompany Ryn here, away from paparazzi eyes."

"Then? What"s wrong now?"

"You do know Ryn is the kind who did not care what others think about her but today, she suddenly wanted to read the gossips."

"That girl. So, you let her read?" Ryn"s mother groaned loudly. Sometimes she could not understand what was inside Ryn"s mind. Ryn did not inherit her or her husband"s personality. She did not have any hippy spirit in her bone. Ryn loved eating meat so much, so-so much until they wondered whether they had brought back the wrong baby from the hospital.

But she had a natural childbirth at home!

So it was impossible to say Ryn was mistaken for her daughter. 

Ryn is her biological daughter.

"Actually... until now she still unable to read," Jeremy spoke slowly, bringing her back to the present.

"Then?" she asked impatiently. This Jeremy has turned into that useless Mei Li. Cannot even speak properly. So frustrating!

"I"m not sure what happened exactly but right now Ryn is locking herself in the room," Jeremy was confused too. He tried to understand Mika"s explanation but Mika was too agitated to speak clearly. All the tears and hiccups did not help much too. In fact, it made him even more confused.

Ryn, the Ryn he knew and loved, never behaved like this. 

"You"re not sure why she"s behaving like that?"

"No, aunty. But I am sure she hasn"t read anything since this morning." He was sure of that. Mika promised him not to hold onto her mobile phone today and kept it safely in the drawer of her nightstands. The maids and even the butler would not dare to use a mobile phone when working. Even if Ryn requested to borrow their phone, they would not give in. He already reminded them a few times before he left this morning.

"Then why suddenly she..."

"That is why we are calling you, aunty. We would like you to help us persuading Ryn to open the door."

"What?" she frowned. What did he mean by that? How could she help persuading her daughter if she was so far away from there? "How do you want me to do it? Are you... Do you want me to go there? But..." it would take hours for her to reach her daughter.

"No... No. No. No. No. You... We don"t want to disturb you so much. And it will take some time for you to come here," Jeremy said hurriedly. It seemed like Ryn"s mother misunderstood them.

"Then?" truthfully she was getting more confused as the conversation go on. What did these kids have in mind?

"Actually... like this. We are hoping for you to talk with Ryn, try to coax her to open the door," Jeremy requested slowly.

"You mean talking through phone?"

Now she finally understood. These kids... Why couldn"t they just speak it properly? Make it clear so she would not get confused and might misunderstand with their stutter.