The next day…Ryn packed her bag carefully and then put it on. Then, she opened the door and nodded at the maid, silently allowing her to bring her to the dining room for breakfast.
When she reached the room, instead of only Jeremy, the couple was there as well. Ryn gave them an awkward smile, especially when she noticed none of them even eating yet. Were they waiting for her?
"Good morning, everyone. Sorry, I am late," she bobbed her head apologetically.
"Morning, dear. Come, have breakfast together. Jeremy, tell them to bring in the food," Mrs Long said with a smile. She gestured for Ryn to sit next to her, ignoring the look coming from her son.
Silently Ryn took her seat. If she knew everyone was waiting for her, she should just tell them to eat first last night and she would go eat breakfast outside. This was so awkward.
Hence, she did not eat much for her breakfast, just enough to line her stomach. Then, she excused herself and rushed back into her room to hide. Better to hide in a safe cave rather than in the living room. She did not even stop sending messages to Mei Li, urging her to come quickly.
Please, hurry up. She needed to leave now… now…
Mrs Long threw an accusing look at her son. This must be Jeremy"s fault, her heart muttered without a doubt. See how fl.u.s.tered and nervous Ryn was during the breakfast. She did not even finish her porridge!
"It was not me," Jeremy denied, shaking his head.
"Then?" she narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"She is always nervous lately. I don"t know why. I wonder why too," Jeremy said.
"That"s enough, Love. We don"t need to point finger to others. Call them," Mr Long said firmly.
Mrs Long signalled the maid to call her president and vice president to get the report. If they did not know anything, the household would know. Hence, it would better to ask them rather than making a.s.sumptions.
The butler and the cook took the stand in front of the couple with their hands on their sides. They stood still like soldiers.
"Do you have anything to say about Ryn?" Mr Long asked.
The butler looked at the cook. When the cook nodded at him, he took a deep breath and opened his mouth, "What we know might shock all of you."
Jeremy frowned. He adjusted his seat to hear clearly.
The butler looked again at his vice president. How to do this without hurting their feeling?
"What do you mean?"
"I am not sure whether you know about this but… Miss Catherine just bought a house," the butler spoke carefully.
"What? Why didn"t I know about this?" Jeremy cried, standing up in shock.
"She wants to move out?" Mr Long asked quietly.
"From what we"ve learned, yes. She even looked for a house to rent while waiting for the renovation of her new house is done," the Cook replied.
The butler nodded with her.
"When did she start with this house hunting?" Mrs Long asked.
"Erm... last week if I am not mistaken," the butler looked at the cook for the confirmation and she nodded. He nodded and looked at his employers, "Last week."
Mr Long sighed heavily. It seemed like Ryn was not even "fall in love" with their family"s mansion until she felt like she needed to find another house for her home. He turned his attention to his useless son. Was it Jeremy"s fault for his inability to woo Ryn"s heart?
"You"ve got to do something to stop her... unless..." Mr Long paused.
"Unless?" Jeremy asked nervously.
"Unless you want her to put a distance between you two," Mr Long continued.
"Well... what if..." Mrs Long looked at her husband, "What if this distance helps bringing them together without the pressure?"
Both the Long men looked at her in puzzled. She was the most excited one when she heard the news but now she was the most calm.
"Maybe she was nervous because she is overwhelmed with the size of this house," Mrs Long suggested. While the men were asking questions, she took the chance to think about this carefully. She did know that Ryn did not care about the wealth of the family and with her upbringing under her hippy parents, she might be a lot uncomfortable in this kind of surrounding.
"What do you mean, mother? She is not nervous in this house. She is used with everyone. She looks happy here," Jeremy denied.
"Your mother might be right," Mr Long said thoughtfully. When his wife said that, he remembered about Ryn"s family background. "What kind of a house she bought and rented?"
"Both are apartments," the butler reported.
"Apartments?"
"The rented house is closer to her campus while the house she bought quite close to the countryside, just at the edge of the city but has quite a good security," the cook reported.
"At least the place is secured," Mr Long sighed heavily.
"How far is it from here?" ignoring his father"s words, Jeremy asked the most important question.
"An hour and a half minimum," the butler answered. The house Miss Catherine chose was quite far from here, which was why the servants were so frustrated with her decision. Why would she do that? They all did not understand it at all.
Jeremy groaned under his breath. Ryn seriously was trying her best to get away from him. She did not care whether it would hurt him or bring trouble to her.
Unaware of what was happening in the dining room between the Longs, Ryn quickly headed out and entered Mei Li"s car. She quickly pulled the safety belt and urged Mei Li to drive quickly.
Mei Li obeyed even though she planned to ask about Ryn"s condition today first. She switched the gear and let the car driven away. Her brows lifted up seeing how exaggerated Ryn was when Ryn blew out a sigh of relieve.
"That"s too much, don"t you think? Were you running from someone? From a dragon?" Mei Li teased.
"More like a whole clan of dragons," Ryn murmured but Mei Li did not catch that. Ryn turned her head to look out of the window, letting Mei Li making her own a.s.sumption. It did not matter what others think. She just wanted to live her own life in her own way.
It took them almost two hours to reach her rented house, all thanks to the traffic jam. It was heavy and there was raining. Today was not a good day in Ryn"s opinion, but life has to move on and whether she prefered to return back to sleep under the rain, she needed to go to her new rented house to check on it.
She wanted to see what happened to the house. Being unable to observe the moving process, she was a bit worried. Of course, she believed in Mei Li but she was just being childish.
Mei Li parked the cute car at the s.p.a.ce specifically for Ryn"s house. The landlord provided a parking s.p.a.ce for one tenant with a fee. Then, both women walked together to the elevator and headed to her new house.
"Sorry, I haven"t arranged much," Mei Li apologized when she unlocked and opened the door.
"How much can you do with so many things to do?" Ryn replied back as she entered the house.
Mei Li turned and locked the door back, blocking the inside from other people who wanted to see who just moved into the house.
"I"ve cleaned as best as I could," Mei Li added when Ryn walked into the kitchen and looked at the boxes labelled "kitchen" on the counter, then at the refrigerator and the oven. They did not move the stove because this house already has its own stove. The stove at the old house would be donated as the new house she bought, she would install a new stove; four stoves instead of two.
Mei Li followed behind Ryn as she checked the other rooms. Boxes labelled with so many words scattered around the place. But at least the huge furniture like the cupboard, the nightstand and even the bed was placed at its place. Only the television was not set yet because Mei Li was not sure where Ryn wanted to put the television.
"Let"s start," Ryn took out the sweater she was wearing, revealing the spaghetti top. She sat on her knees and opened a box randomly. It was a box full of books.
Mei Li opened another box labelled books and helped Ryn arranged them in the bookshelves. With two working together, it took them no time to finish arranging the books. Then, they moved to the living room. Ryn looked around to see where she wanted the television would be and once she decided the location, both she and Mei Li worked together to move the cabinet and then placed the television on top. Ryn decided not to hang it on the wall, too lazy to drill even though she was quite a pro with an electric drill. Besides, this was a temporary place for her so she would not put a lot of emphasize on decorating for this house, just enough to live comfortably.
It took them until 3.00 p.m. to be done with the arranging. Mei Li and Ryn slumped themselves against the couch, panting. Moving really took a lot of time and energy.