43 Family matters (2/2)
The young man was trying to read the situation and understand what was going on. He has been around Mia for a very long time to know she had zero interest in making friends with anyone besides him.
”Huh... Hello... Nice to meet you.”
He tried to speak while hiding his confusion. Ria decided to approach him first.
”You! What exactly are your intentions with my sister??”
”Eh...?? Sister!? What?? Intentions?”
Mia started to blush as if she was in the middle of a romantic drama.
”My love, what shall we do?? It seems like my family is opposed to us being together!! Should we run away??”
She was talking as if she was a victim but it was clear from her smiling red face that she was enjoying every second of it.
Ria grabbed the young man by the collar and started to shake him violently with anger covering her eyes.
”You better explain to me right now what did you fo to my sister you little player!!”
”I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I have no idea what's going on!!”
Ashley separated Ria from the young man by grabbing her arms and tried to stop her from harassing the lad.
”Ria calm down!! You're making a scene!!”
”I couldn't care less!! This guy is clearly taking advantage of my moronic sister, I just know it!! I need to beat him up to save her!!”
Ashley was trying to access the situation. The young man seemed to be around fourteen years old. Technically he was still a minor while Mia was over two-hundred years. Doesn't that mean Mia was the one taking advantage of him? That said, Mia still acted like she was just a twelve-year-old girl. Does that mean it's ok for her to be dating someone that young as well? If she doesn't have an older body nor an older mindset, is she still really an old lady after all? Or maybe the whole thing was just an act and she was simply tricking everyone pretending to be innocent? Ashley was simply not prepared to think about this kind of thing. What were the rules here?
”Who's a moronic sister!! And what exactly are you planning to do with my boyfriend?”
The young lad heard Mia speaking and reacted in shock.
”Eh...? Boyfriend? Mia, you have a boyfriend??”
”Eh...?” x 3
The three girls stared at him in shock when they realized how lost the kid was looking. Ria started to question him, a little more relaxed this time.
”Hey kid, aren't you dating my sister?”
”What? No! We are just coworkers...”
”But... She said you introduced her to your mother... And that she even received her approval, saying she was perfect!”
”Yes... Perfect for the job... She heard about my job and asked if I could hire her to work with me. My mother is the one who handle our business so I needed to get her approval first...”
Ria realized the misunderstanding that was caused and glared at Mia who was turning her face trying to avoid eye contact and pretending to be whistling. Ria grabbed Mia by the neck and started to strangle her after realizing she was just being played with this whole time.
”I give! I give!! Stop, I can't breathe!!”
”Aaaagghh!! I should have know that taking you seriously was a mistake! I'm such an idiot!!!”
”Big sis, please stop!!”
Ashley was watching in shock as she was meeting a side of Ria that she never imagined that she would ever see. The young man who cleared the confusion tried to approach Ashley.
”Huh... Excuse me...”
”Ah! Hello! Sorry for the confusion.”
”It's ok... Mia plays pranks on people all the time after all... It was only a matter of time before she would cause a misunderstanding like this...”
”I see... Just to be clear you two are really not...”
”No, not at all... We really are just coworkers... She likes to pretend that we are a couple sometimes but I have no intention of looking at her like that...”
”Darling!! How could you say that!!! I even picked the names of our children already!!!”
Ria started to strangle Mia even more.
”Stop talking about making children while you look like that!! Just start acting like an adult already for heaven's sake!!”
”Never!!!!”
The young man continued his conversation with Ashley.
”Err... Is it true that this lady is Mia's sister...?”
”That's right...”
”They really do look alike... But... How is that possible...? I mean... Mia is...”
”Oh, so you do know about that... That's a relief... Turns out Ria was sleeping all this time by some kind of power and she was finally awakened not too long ago...”
”Oh! I see...”
The young man looked at the two sisters fighting and couldn't help but smile a little.
”I'm glad... So Mia wasn't all alone after all...”
”... Yeah...”
”She's not showing it, but she has been enduring a lot for these past years...”
”Looks like you two are good friends...”
”Well... There was a time where I felt like I was alone as well... So I guess we kinda sympathize...”
”You were lonely too... But... What about your mother...?”
”...”
The lass made a sour face the moment his mother was mentioned.
”My mother... She only talks to me when we need to discuss my job... Aside from that I barely ever see her... If it wasn't for Mia, I would probably be a mess right now...”
”Funny... You remind me of someone... ”
Ria and Mia finally stopped arguing and the young girl dressed in black leaped into her coworker's arms and started to hug him.
”Marcus!! Big sis is being mean to me!!! Please help!!”
”Yes, yes... It's all right Mia, it's all right...”
Ashley approached the exhausted Ria who was breathing heavily due to the amount of stress and frustration she was mixing together right now.
”Looks like your sister is doing fine...”
”Arf... Arf... Of course, she is... She's a master of making people work for her for free... I was so stupid for being concerned...”
”Come on... Don't be like that... She was probably missing playing with her big sis for all this time...”
”Whatever... We know she's fine now... Let's go...”
”You're just going to leave them like this??”
”If I let her get too close she will never leave me alone... She survived all these years without me, so there is nothing to worry about...”
”If you say so... Bye Mia, bye Marcus...”
”Oh, bye... Ah... You never said your name!”
”It's Ashley, it was nice meeting you!”
”It was nice meeting you too! Bye miss Ria!”
”Bye big sis!! Bye, big sis's friend!!”
As the two girls kept walking away and heading back towards the headquarters, Ashley tried to talk with Ria.
”Hey, Ria... That boy's name was Marcus... Do you think...?”
”No way... If Marcus was really this close, Daren and Lilith would have sensed him already... Probably just a coincidence...”
”Yeah true...”
Marcus and Mia started to chat while sitting on the bench observing the falling water of the fountain.
”Hey, Mia... Is it ok to just let your sister go like this...? She is your only family right now, right...?”
”What are you saying? Marcus, you're my family too!”
”Is that so...? Thanks...”
”There is no need to worry... Big sis has always been good at running away, but I have always been good at finding her... Whenever I want to meet her again from now on, I can do it in two seconds...”
”I see...”
”Ah... I'm looking forward to messing around with her again!!”
Part 3
Ria and Ashley rejoined with the rest of the group and were greeted by Evlin.
”Ria, are you ok...? Why do you look so exhausted...?”
”Don't mind me... I just ended up meeting someone I rather not have met...”
Ashley looked at her surprised by that statement.
”Ria, isn't that a bit too cold? She's still your family right...? And you two haven't met for a long time.”
”Not really... We may look like that but I was never really that close to my family...”
Evlin seemed interested in the topic.
”Eh... Family...? What happened in the town?”
”I'll explain later, let's give Ria some time to catch her breath... Any news on Daren's side?”
”Yeah, Gustav contacted us a few minutes ago saying they found a large source of blessed energy inside a mansion located in the suburbs of the town.”
”I see... When are we striking?”
”Tonight. Let's discuss our plan.”