Sorry, I Love You.

2.03

Day Five - Continued.

Zoe tried to greet all the Pomper girls as quickly as she could so, she could escape for even a moment. Of course, they gave her a tiny tiara to place atop her hair and a sash to wear over her shoulder that said (Zoe Yang. VIP Pomper Member.) before she actually got to escape. She excused herself from the crowd of Pomper Girls, claiming she had to use the restroom, and skipped away, through the venue, to find said restroom. When Zoe was alone in the little passage way between the stalls and the entrance, she pulled out her phone to listen to Teddy's voicemail.

"Hey, Zo.. Uhh... Howl said he talked to you a few days ago and uhh... Just know that I'm alright, okay?"

A small smile itched at the corner of Zoe's lips, which she tried to hide the best she could.

"You don't have to worry about me, Zo. You've got enough stuff to focus on so, I hope you're not too worried and distracted.. Maybe, you're not distracted either, which would be good..."

Zoe snorted a laugh at Teddy's very awkward and nervous tone.

"Point is: I'm fine. Don't worry. Just focus on whatever work you have to do so, you can come home again. And then, we can talk when you get back."

Zoe frowned, her eyes falling to the floor as she kicked her heel mindlessly into the ground. There was a strange chance she wasn't going home. Her mother was convinced that nothing good had come from Zoe going to Ohio in the first place. Teddy was good, though. Even if her mother wouldn't believe it. Or, anyone else for that matter. She wanted to go home just for him.

"Uhh.. Good luck, Zo. See ya soon. Uhm.. Bye. Oh, right! And, Merry Christmas.. Okay, bye."

Zoe pulled her phone from her ear and played the voicemail again, smiling to herself at the sound of Teddy's awkward but endearing greeting. She listened to the message once more, her smile fading to a frown halfway through, just like the first time. She really missed Teddy and would be devastated if her mother wouldn't let her go back. She just got her first kiss from the boy she really liked. It wasn't fair to think she'd never get another.

After listening to Teddy's message twice, she had suddenly realized that he hadn't mentioned anything but the fact that he was okay. It made sense that he would keep his message short. Teddy was a man of few words. But, he didn't mention anything about the house or the cars. Zoe would've imagined he'd at least thank her since he liked the cars but, then again, she had yet to get notifications from her security system that anyone had entered or left the house.

Why wasn't Teddy using the house or cars? After he had gotten beaten by Rin's henchmen, he especially deserved them. Maybe he was saying he was alright but, he was actually scared. Zoe could only hope that wasn't true.

"Zoe?" A high pitched voice interrupted Zoe's thoughts. Zoe turned to see a tall, skinny, brunette standing in the doorway of the girls restroom with her tiara and sash proudly stapled on to her figure. It was Elyse. "We're waiting for you, Zoe! The nail techs can't start until all the girls are ready!"

Zoe excitedly lit up and put her phone away, grabbing Elyse's hand after she offered it and following her back out to the other girls. All of the girls were already sat side by side in the plaza's event room with nail technicians on the other side of the long table, getting ready to get to work. Elyse sat Zoe beside her at the end and called over the last nail tech to help her choose the designs she wanted.

"Which color?" The nails tech showed off a palette of the colors they offered.

"Can you do something with a red base and white designs for Christmas? Like snowflakes and candy canes and stuff like that?" Zoe asked the woman, who happily nodded and began preparing her rings.