The Vampire Queen and the Mortal Pauper

Chapter Twenty-seven

Heat over at the Grill

"Sorry. The mobile subscriber cannot be reached at the moment." That was the zillionth time Mia heard that recorded voice when trying to call Sharael.

"Where is he? Is he okay? Why is his phone off?" The girl mumbled as she tried to call once more, only to groan when she heard that same annoying recorded voice.

"Stop stressing too much or you'll age fast and turn ugly. Then we shall see if he'll want you then." Mia's mother, who was preparing to put some raw African sausages on the grill, glanced at her troubled daughter and jokingly warned.

"Ha-ha, very funny." Mia rolled her eyes and snorted, but her gaze never left the phone screen.

"I'm sure he's fine. Probably preoccupied elsewhere," the mother comforted.

"But I was just chatting with him this morning then he went off all of a sudden..." Mia complained, only to trailed off when her mother lifted an eyebrow.

"Chatting with him this morning?" she questioned and Mia stumbled on words. Her frustration caused her tongue to slip. The mother placed one hand on the hip and the other holding the toasting fork pointed at her daughter. "Miama Ratelle, did you go with your phone to school?"

"Of course not, mother! I mean... I texted him before heading to school this morning," the girl denied and lied straightaway, except her averting gaze and stuttering voice easily gave her away.

The mother narrowed her glaring eyes and scolded, "What did I tell you about sneaking your phone to school? Do you want to get punished with suspension? If that were to happen, Mia, so help me God..."

The underlying threat had Mia gulp down and raise her hands in defense. "Mother, please believe me. I didn't bring my phone to school, I swear."

It was better to stick with the lie than tell the truth, or else nothing would stop Mia from being smacked there and then. Although her mother looked generally graceful, her bad side wasn't something Mia wanted to be caught in. Only a fool would dare underestimate the wrath of an African mother.

The mother tut-tutted at her daughter's obvious lie. "Keep that phone away and come help me prepare the pickle. Such an unruly child... tsk..." she grumbled and returned back to her meat roasting.

"Oh mother..." Mia wanted to appease her upset mother, but a sudden voice interrupted her.

"Ayaya, mother, don't be too strict to my Mia. Nowadays kids do worse things than just carry phones to school," crooned the voice.

The mother and daughter pair were caught by surprise. The voice was too familiar from their shocked faces. They both turned to the newcomer and Mia gasped, "Yuanhe!"

*******

Sharael made a direct beeline back to his apartment to collect his ATM card. He never carried it in order to avoid the temptation of using the savings. But now things were different with the fat cheque in his pocket.

The heavy traffic had lessened a bit as the darkness started to creep in. After taking a few detours and shortcuts here and there, he successfully arrived in next to no time.

The appearance of the entire building from outside was a little worrying though. Only one or two apartments seemed occupied from the lights inside. Had the tenants finally abandoned the premises? It was more likely the case because for the past few days some have been moving out. Guess the threat of a demolition scared them away.

The corridors were oddly silent as Sharael made his way up. On reaching his floor, he didn't proceed to his apartment directly but stopped to glance at the stairs leading to the top floor. Laila must be holed up in her apartment right now. How was she taking all this shit? Was she aware this was her father's doing? Perhaps he was just a mere puppet.