Diamonds and Gold {Paul Lahote}

12

"Sooooo, two you. huh. Who would have known?" Jacob said as Li Na and Paul walked up to the lunch table.  Since the weekend adventure, the two have been even more connected than ever. Li Na felt safe and at home when she was with Paul like she has known him forever. Of course, Li Na hadn't told her brothers about her new relationship. "Shut up" Paul smacked the side of Jacob's head as they sat down in their seats. 

"Oh don't be so bitter because you're still single," Li Na said as she sat down in her seat, "it'll come for you one day". As she pulled her packed lunch out of her bag, a chorus of "it'll come for you one day" came across the table. She rolled her eyes at the group's antics and mimicry. "you guys are ridiculous" she hissed out as she took a bite of her noodles, she swats Pauls's hand away from her food. Another chorus of "ridiculous" rang out from their mouths, it was getting old of them making fun of the accent. 

"Was it not your people who had a mass genocide by the people with this accent" Li Na snapped out, she didn't even think before speaking. The whole table went quiet, motionless, all staring at her. As soon as she had let that out of her mouth, she instantly regretted it. Paul's hand that was wrapped around her thigh retracted, the feeling of dread filling her up. Li Na instinctevely began to rub her thumbnail against her pointer finger, it was a habit of her when she had the urge. 

Li Na's heartbeat was pounding too loud and too fast for her in her ears, the whole table could hear the racing of her heart. A slight shake on her leg made her snakeskin heels thump against the floor. Her mood change had caught the attention of the table, she was in a state of withdrawing, even after a year of being clean. Paul noticed the way she acted, placing a hand over the restless fingers. The first layers of her finger broke, leaving a small welt. 

As soon as Paul's hand covered hers, a breath of relief came from lips. It was like he made the ugre disappear, all she could focus on was his warm hand. "I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me. I have been irritated lately from the company" Li Na quietly said as she stood from the table. Grabbing her things quickly and exiting the cafeteria in a swift motion. Once she made it to the empty halls she laid her head agaisnt the cold lockers, taking in deep breaths to calm herself. 

A warm hand rested on her shoulder, Paul stood behind her, worried. "Come here" Paul whispered as he pulled her into his arms. At that moment everything was going to be okay, as long as she had him. He placed a kiss at the top of her head, running his fingers through her hair. "Thank you" Li Na mumbled in his shirt as she squeezed him tighter. 

At the end of the school day, Li Na kissed her new boyfriend goodbye as she made it to her car. Before getting into the driver's seat, she pulled Paul into her arms, hugging him tightly. His arms wrapped around her as he placed a kiss on the top of her head, "I'll see you later alright" Li Na said as she looked up at him. Paul smiled as he placed a quick kiss to her lips, "See you later baby girl", he lightly smacked her bum as he loosened his hold on her body. Li Na smiled as she shook her head at Paul's tease. 

Li Na pulled up to the town building, the place was the council meetings are held. Li Na saw her brother's cars parked in front of the building as well. She guessed that they all had the same thought today. Li Na entered the building, her heels clicked on the laminate floors of the building. Chairs sat in a circle, a few people were talking in small groups with each other. every so often they would turn their heads and look at the Chu family. Li Na put her hands in her Tom Ford jacket, her white monochrome outfit stood out in the small group of people. 

"So we have some new faces here, don't you introduce yourselves," the women in charge of the small group said as she looked at the Chu family. "Hello, I am Lei Wei Chu. I have been clean for seven years", " I'm Wang Yong and I've been clean for 5 years", "Hi all, I am Ju Long, I've been clean for 4 years", " Ming Hua, and 2 years clean", and "Hi, I am Li Na and I've been clean for 1 year". The group went quiet as they finished introduced themselves. The soft tapping of Li Na's snakeskin heels on the laminate was the only sound. The lady in charge cleared her throat, "Um, well welcome to OA, I'm glad you guys decided to join us today" she smiled at siblings" Li Na gave her a tight lip smile.  

"Hi, I'm Sue Clearwater. I run the AO meeting. I'm really glad you guys came today" Sue said as the meeting ended, "we can set each of you with sponsors ". Most of the people who attended talked with their sponsors, "Li Na, your sponsor is John Lahote," Sue said as she pointed to a man who stood by the water table. "Shit" Li Na hissed under her breath as Sue told her who her sponsor is. 

"Hi, John?" Li Na introduced herself to her new sponsor, who is also her boyfriend's father. "Yup, that's me," His gruff voice said as he turned to her, "nice to meet you kid". He stuck his hand out for her, "it's a pleasure to meet you too" Li Na shook his hand. "You drink coffee, kid?" John asked her as she stood awkwardly in front of him. "um, yes" Li Na said unsure, this just felt odd since this was Paul's father. "Meet me at the cafe down the street," he said before walking away, Li Na just stood there before processing what he said. 

The two of them sat at the cafe, each with a cup of hot coffee in front of them. "So I'll tell my story, and you tell me yours," John said before he took a sip of coffee. "I've been an addict ever since I was a teen, tried to get clean cold turkey, that never works. When I first started, a group of my friends did it, so I just joined along, that was the worst mistake of my life. I thought I could quit when I got married to my ex-wife, that didn't work. I tried to quit when my son was born, didn't work. I was on and off with drugs, for a while, I messed up a lot of things because I was an addict. My ex-wife and I got a divorce because of my addiction, I spent so much money on it, she was tired. It put the nail in the coffin, when I almost OD at my house, spent some time in the hospital. My son was around 14-5 years old, she took off and left him, I affected our life at home. My son acted out, I watched him sleep around with girls from school, he was craving for some kind of affection. The affection and love I didn't give him throughout his life, it is partially my fault for the way he is. I got clean, got a job at the lumber yard, now I'm just doing my best to be a father. That's about it". John took a long sip of coffee. Li Na just stared at her boyfriend's father, not sure what to say. 

"Spill it, kid," John said, referring to her story of addiction. "Um well, it all started when I was at boarding school in London. I met this guy, I thought I was in love, but that was a joke. I didn't start with any hardcore stuff, mainly weed. Then all of a sudden I would get massive migraines like I was paralyzed from them. Then to help me, my ex-boyfriend, gave me opioid pain killers. You know, oxycodone, hydrocodone, oxycontin, basically anything with heroin in it. It stopped my migraines, I mentally thought I was getting better, but physically I was dying. I just followed along with my boyfriend, I would take whatever he would give me. I had so much in my system, I couldn't function without opioids, I was out of control. My father was the one to notice what was going on, I was down the same path as my brothers. Especially since I spent over a fifty-thousand dollar in one day, my father had enough since it was his money being thrown away. He pulled me out of the boarding school and sent me to a monastery full of monks, and he paid my ex, who fleed to another country. I haven't used it since" Li Na sighed as her finger circled the rim of the mug. 

"So from what I heard is, a rich girl bought and was addicted to designer drugs. And daddy solved the problem, mad boyfriend goes bye-bye, did I get it right?" John as with a smirk. Li Na rolled her eyes at the man, she saw parts of Paul's personality coming through. "If that is how you interpret it" Li Na sighed as she placed a few cash on the table for the two drinks. "Here's my number, if you have the urge to use call me" John passed the napkin over with his number, Li Na placed the napkin in her purse. "It is nice meeting you John," Li Na said as she stood up from her seat, "It was nice to meet you too kid" John tipped the front of his ballcap to her and left. 

Li Na made it home after her meeting with her new sponsor. She was hoping John does not mention her to Paul, she wouldn't be able to face him. Not many people knew about the Chu family's addictive nation, it is a bad reputation on the name.