AFTER MY HONEYMOON

chapter 34

Soon, the bus started moving once everyone was seated.

 They were on their way to the zoo and although Mia had always seen outings like this more important for kids, she was quite glad because this outing would help clear her mind a bit.

They had eventually arrived and everyone started coming down one by one...she waited patiently until it was her turn to come down and she finally came down as well. She was about to walk in along with everybody else when she felt someone touch her arm holding her back from moving any further. Turning around, she looked and saw it was Vivian the woman that been following Richard all day.

"Miss Stewart? I thought it was you I saw earlier on...but I just wanted to be sure I didn't know you came.. how are you?". She asked smiling and that too very enthusiastically. 

"I'm doing alright". Was all Mia said smiling as best as she could at that moment. Their conversation wasn't much longer than that since almost everyone had gone inside so they followed suit.

When they entered inside, she didn't see either Vivian or Richard anymore so she was visibly relaxed and coupled with the fact that Dominic wasn't anywhere around, she decided to walk around by herself...since there was no one she knew here...and she didn't think she wanted to get to know anyone either so she decided to do her tour alone.

Vivian had left Richard's side since she was bored she tried walking with him and talking as well but, it seemed he wasn't In the mood to talk so she decided to leave him alone. Richard was busy walking on his own his two hands were in his pockets and someone, looking at him from afar, one would think he was observing the animals there but it seemed his eyes was trained  somewhere else or rather, on someone.

Mia was just a few walks ahead of him. She looked visibly relaxed...which was quite nice to watch since she always seemed like she was on the edge.. she always seemed tensed for some reason or the other. He saw that she occasionally smiled as well and he saw that she took pictures as well.. she had a beautiful smile he thought.....he turned to the giraffes who were walking around comfortably in their confined space looking at how long their necks were, he was quite intrigued. He had never been to the zoo since he was a young boy and when he saw that it was an activity on the pamphlet they gave him when he arrived at the hotel, he smiled and saw it as an avenue to wind down a bit since he was always buried in work according to Nelson.

Mia didn't notice, that Richard was not standing too far away from her right now she was looking at the gigantic ostrich.....she had never been a fan of animals although she knew there were TV stations which centered mostly on animals, their habitat and behaviors as well but she was rather always too busy with work or, if she ever held a TV remote she preferred watching series or movies rather than knowing more about animals. Although she found dogs quite cute as well, but she never had the chance to own one.

She decided to take a few pictures as well as selfies as well since she would have to send a few to Emily. She moved further ahead and saw pigeons as well as ducks....they also looked quite nice so she took a picture as well.

He was advancing.... he had seen the ostrich now and he constantly told himself that he wasn't following her but rather seeing and observing the animals. A little farther from where she was standing, he noticed a group of kids...it seemed they were also here on an excursion and he noticed an excited kid running towards her direction probably he was more excited than his peers....and seeing that the child would most likely bump into her he moved quickly to her direction, and pulled her out of the way.

Mia was startled, since she was more invested in the picture she was taking so when she was  moved against her will, she looked to see who would have done that and saw that it was Richard. Her eyes instinctively moved to where his hand was on her elbow and he too looking down, quickly removed his hand and apologizing, telling her the reason why he pulled her.

While he was still, explaining, Vivian interrupted them and said to Mia.

"Miss Stewart please can you take a picture of the both of us I....

Richard cut her off and said looking confused
"Umm.. Vivian what is the picture for".

"Please sir I've always wanted to take a picture with you and besides it will also help to create awareness on our company platform and...."

"Alright..but let's make it quick". He said.

Vivian quickly handed the phone to Mia and before she took the phone from Vivian, she involuntarily balled her fists and by the time she took the phone from Vivian, the camera was already turned on so all she needed to do was to take the snap but then it seemed at that moment that anger was coursing through Mia veins by how close to Richard, Vivian seemed to be and she did something that no one thought she would and the next thing she said was "Ooh I think your phone has turned off".

Vivian's face was a clear expression of shock since she was sure her phone was turned on just now so she rushed to retrieve her phone from Mia.

" I heard there is an aquarium here.. if you don't mind I will take your leave now". Was all she said and left them there but not without scolding herself. what's wrong with you

They [LA TERRA] had decided on a dinner to formally welcome everyone and companies to the ARCHITECT CON and it was just going to be a small dinner since they figured that everyone would be tired from the trip to the zoo they had earlier. The dinner was going to be held in the hotel's dinning room. It was a seven star hotel so they had a very big dinning room.

Richard had arrived a little later and after the incident with Vivian he didn't see Mia again..by the time he arrived, a few people were already seated some which he knew he greeted and Vivian seemed to be there as well so when she waved him over, he decided to oblige her and proceeded to seat close to her.

Roaming his eyes around he saw Mia seated on the opposite side, but a bit further from his right hand... he saw a young man seated close to her who seemed to be asking her some questions.. observing him he seemed easy to the eyes as well with his brown hair he couldn't really tell the color of his eyes from where he was sitting so he didn't bother prying any further.

Soon the food was served and after the welcoming speech from the representing host, the dinner commenced and the foods were being served... Mia was once again feeling a bit uneasy because Dominic was seating close to her and suggesting all kinds of food for her to try...the table was indeed decorated with different kinds of cuisine and dishes for everyone to eat to their fill. But it seemed she wasn't having much appetite this night and just a little further from where she was, she spotted Richard and his secretary once again whom she observed was trying to  serve Richard a dish. she mentally rolled her eyes

They finished the first and second course meal and they soon started serving the desert there was also an expensive red wine which was served but since she didn't like taking alcohol she just asked for juice instead she had taken just three bites from the pie they served, when she decided she couldn't stay there any longer and she was once again, coming down with headache coupled with the uncomfortable presence of Dominic and not too forget Vivian was clearly out doing herself over there with the- sir why don't you try this... sir this is really nice you should try it-  even though Richard respectfully declined most her unsolicited advice.

 The woman's voice was beginning to grate on her nerves and she just couldn't listen or watch her any longer.

Richard noticed that Mia got up from her seat.. probably because he had been watching her as well but trying his best not to make it obvious... Vivian had suggested he try the steak and since it looked good, he decided to try it. He had a little bit of the red wine which was great but he didn't drink much of it.

By the time desert came he wasn't really interested and he noticed while she was walking out, that she pressed her hand to her hand perhaps it was instinct but he was suddenly worried, and decided to follow her.

Mia realized she wasn't feeling good at all she was also feeling a bit dizzy it started to feel like she was suffocating.. she thought perhaps she just needed to lie down and decided to go up to her room.. she pressed the elevator, and was on her way up to her room. When she got to the door, she realized that she had left her purse down stairs and her card was inside.. scolding herself she decided to go back down and get it  but as she turned around she felt the wave of dizziness wash over her again. She heard her name but after that, everything else became a blur, and soon everything became blank.

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❤️ Immamiten
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