Make Me Yours

“Oh, you must meet Yuri: my beautiful granddaughter and the one who has Xen’s heart putty in her hands. Yuri, greet the kind elderly lady, will you?”

Wow. This woman just didn’t take a break with the jabs, did she? Ignoring her, Zoey turned to the very beautiful teenage girl in a pastel yellow sundress and black pumps.

“You are even more beautiful in person. Those pictures were fire, but they didn’t do you justice,” she complimented.

The girl giggled, obviously thrilled by the compliment. “Thank you. You are so beautiful too. Now I know why you make my uncle red in the face when he speaks of you.”

“Yuri!” Xen warned, but the girl only giggled again.

“You might be older than me, Miss Martins, but pay no heed to Grandmother. We all know she’s the elderly lady here.”

This time, it was Mrs Li who warned her voice just as playful as her son’s. “Yuri…”

They all ended up chuckling and as they settled down to eat; Zoey hoped that the worst was over. Sadly, as lunch continued, she quickly came to see that Mrs Li had no intention to call truce.

She was pleasant enough, yes. Her smile never left her face, indeed. However, behind every compliment, there was a hint of sarcasm. Behind every question, there was a derogatory insinuation.

As lunch ended, it was very clear to Zoey. Mrs Li did not like her and never intended to. Zoey wasn’t good enough for her son; that was very much the obvious thought in Mrs Li’s head.

Everything about Zoey was wrong. She was black. She was American. She wasn’t a billionaire, or a billionaire’s daughter. For all of these “deficiencies”, she could never gain Mrs Li’s admiration or respect. It made the food sour in her mouth and she left Pearl’s with her plate barely touched.

“It was a lovely time, was it not? I had so much fun getting to know you for myself, Zoey,” Mrs Li began as they got to her car. “I wish we could do this some other time. I’m set to leave for Singapore by the weekend, but do believe me when I say that I shall be very glad if we can both take the time out of our busy schedules to meet again. I can only imagine how hard you work, trying to buy properties and sell them. After all, you need the commissions. I have always admired a woman who worked hard. Well done, Miss Martins.”

There it was again: the subtle yet clear jab.

“Thank you, Mrs Li. You honor me with your words. I am simply trying to make ends meet, is all. As for meeting again, my schedule is quite flexible. After all, I made it here today on such short notice, did I not? If you ever find the time before you have to leave, you only need to ask for me and I’ll be there. However, in the case that you do not, then I shall use this opportunity to wish you a safe flight back to Singapore.” Her smile was still in place, but Zoey was on her last patient nerve.

“Oh, such a sweet child. You have done well with this one, Xen. Alright then, it is settled. I shall be on my way now so that I can let you get back to work. Thank you, Zoey.”

They hugged then, and blew air kisses. Afterwards, Yuri came forward and gave her a full hug.

As Zoey returned the hug just as fiercely, the girl whispered in her ears, “Don’t let her get to you. She’s a mean old woman, but she’s all steam and no fire – mostly.”

Whispering in return, she said, “Aye aye, m’lady. Roger that.”

When they pulled away, they both had genuine smiles on their faces.

“Xen, you shall come with us, no? There is a matter concerning the company that I wish to discuss with you. I am certain Zoey can find her way back on her own. It is her city after all, and it isn’t a terribly big one, to mention. Is that fine by you, dear?”

Zoey nodded. What else would she have done? “Of course.”

“Very well then, we shall be waiting for you, Xen. Bye, Zoey.”

“Bye, Mrs Li.”

“Oh please, call me Kim.”

Pretense shock, a calculated wider smile and, “Of course.”

Satisfied, Kim gave a sly wink and slipped into the Rolls Royce. Yuri followed suit.

Aware that Kim would be listening to their conversation, Zoey kept all that she felt inside and spoke them with her eyes instead. She had never seen Xen look more defeated.

“I shall come to you in the evening. We will talk then. I love you.” He mouthed “I’m sorry.” right after that, and she nodded as she responded.

“I’ll be waiting. I love you too.”

He got into the car then, and she stood watching as they drove far away from her. When she could no longer see them, she walked back to the limo, where Carlos was waiting with the door open for her.

“Thank you, Mr Casteo. Please, take me home.”

She was too trodden to attempt the boss bi*ch moves for the rest of today.

*****

She was binge-watching a season of the The Big Bang Theory when he arrived later that evening. As the bell rung, she quickly cleared empty buckets of ice cream and wrappers of chocolates that she had binged on since her return.

She could not remember when last she was this sad; the fact that Xen had just sat there and done nothing but cough and said “Mother.” whenever Kim went too far did not help issues either.

Every time she played the entire lunch in her head, she saw one more thing she could have done differently or said differently, or instances where Xen would have firmly supported her.

Anyway, she should never have gone. It was as simple as that. No one had made her feel so… worthless in a very long while. And she knew that the only reason why it had hurt so much, why Kim Li had had no difficulty getting under her skin, was because she had cared. Cared too much about what the mother of the man she loved would think of her, wanted too desperately to please her, to be accepted.

Shame. She had not done all that hard work on herself, only to crumble so easily. And Xen? Oh, she was going to break up with him. There was no sense in continuing. It was simply best to call it off, now that it was still early.

This was the thought on her mind as she opened the door.

Yet, as she saw him standing there, freshly bathed and changed into his casual jeans and top, her heart told her that she had simply been fooling herself. There was no way she was letting this man go.

“Hi!”