Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 182: His message

Chapter 182: His message

"Um, no..." She trailed off feeling even more uneasy at the fact that they were treating her like the guest instead of the other way round.

Mia sipped the coffee to keep herself from asking them why they’d decided to come to her, she knew it had something to do with Neil but she didn’t want to ask them first. However, the longer they sat in silent, the more anxious and uneasy she was. Few minutes passed and none of them spoke as they were slowly sipping their coffees as well as if to prolong their visit. The room was so silent if a feather were to fall it would make a noise.

She searched for a conversation to fill the awkwardness in the room, and then she remembered the last news she’d heard of the Thompson’s family weeks ago and decided to say, "I heard you left the military, Mr. Thompson because of your father’s passing, my condolences by the way."

A friendly smile graced his lips as he said, "Thanks. You can call me Liam, and it’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person." He changed the topic of his loss to a more comfortable one for him, "You look even prettier in person, if you don’t mind me saying."

"No, not at all. Thanks," she smiled with a hint of red creeping up her cheeks and Liam silently decided that she looked even more innocent and childlike than she was on television when she’d had makeup on. Years ago before Neil was sent to prison, it was Liam who had dug into her background, and back then he’d thought she wasn’t worthy of his friend’s attention because of the kind of place she came from, and he’d even believed her pictures that were sent to him were heavily edited because it was impossible for girl from a place like Whispering Way to look as pretty as she was, but now he realized he’d misjudged her in the past.

Even Davina, who he’d wanted his friend to marry had gone against Neil to follow Jason around like a puppet, but Mia had stood by him and even spoke on his behalf in a press conference, if she hadn’t won his approval in the past, she had when she spoke for Neil. However, he knew it was impossible for his friend to love her, Neil had probably even sent him here because he wanted to take responsibility if she were carrying his child. And now he had no idea how to go about asking her about her pregnancy when she seemed like the type to get uneasy and shy quickly.

Liam decided to start some small talks that would lead them to the topic of her health, but it turned out terrible. They spoke about unnecessary things that made Mia force herself to engage in for almost twenty minutes before she excused herself to go to the restroom leaving the two alone. And James glared at Liam,

"The hell man, " James said, "if I were Miss Harrison I’d have sent you out twenty minutes ago. We didn’t come here to talk about her body shape and how she looked fatter than she was a month ago, are you kidding me? No gentleman would say such a thing to a woman!"

"Damn you, James," Liam fired back with his own glare, "What do you expect me to do, ask her straight on if she’d missed her period or if she’s pregnant? I didn’t come here to be straight forward, I was trying to make her say the word by pointing out how she’d changed."

"Well, nice one then. Because to me it seems you are making her silently despise you with how uneasy you are making her feel, leave it to me I will do the questioning." James said confidently as he smoothed his shirt preparing to ask Mia the only question that had brought them here and get it over with.

Liam shrugged, "Fine, go ahead and ask her."

When Mia returned from the restroom, James took over the conversation by saying, "Miss Harrison, we came here on Neil’s request. I know my question might sound a bit off but we would like to know if you are pregnant, I mean_"

"What?" She interjected, her expression shifting to one of hurt. "Neil sent you here solely for that?" It dawned on her that Neil’s true intention for sending his friends here was not because he cared about her, but rather the possibility of him fathering a child and assuming the responsibility. It became clear why they had been asking her probing questions – they were seeking confirmation of a potential pregnancy. The tears she had been suppressing for weeks threatened to spill over, causing her to blink back the emotion.

"I see..." She murmured, stepping back cautiously to sit down, fearing she might collapse from the overwhelming dizziness. Her head throbbed, and she struggled to contain her anger and revulsion. The coffee she had just consumed churned in her stomach, and she pressed her hand against her mouth to prevent herself from retching or succumbing to despair.

Liam noticed her condition and quickly got up while shooting an accusing glare at James for making the matter worst. He’d been trying to avoid this but James had successfully done the exact thing Neil had warned them against, to stress and worry her.

"Miss Harrison," he began to say, but she raised her hand to stop him from speaking. Without looking up at them, she said, "If that’s all you came here for, you can leave. I can no longer entertain you. I’d like to go back to my work." She started to rise from the chair, but Liam reached her in two strides and grabbed her arm to stop her. She glared down at his hand, then at his face, and he quickly released her, shoving his hand inside his pocket to retrieve his phone.

"I know we started off in a very awkward state, but I think it’s best you read Neil’s message and let him tell you the reason he sent us here. Perhaps his message would do a better job than we’ve done," he said, handing her his phone.

She took the phone with a slightly trembling hand and used her other hand to wipe her face. She didn’t know what she’d find in his message, but the thought that it was from him made her excited and nervous at the same time.

"It’s a very long message from what I’ve noticed, so James and I will leave you alone in here to take your time reading it. We will be in your office," Liam said, pulling James along with him to give the young woman her alone time. He knew that if she were to cry in heartbreak from whatever his friend had written in that long message he’d sent to him yesterday, he wouldn’t know what to do but to make it worse. He could bet his life on it that whatever was in that message could never be pleasant as long as it was from his unromantic friend, and he knew the innocent lady was in for a bigger heartbreak. Thus, he’d stay out of the room for as long as he could until she was done crying.

After the two men left her alone in the resting room, Mia slowly sank into the soft sofa while staring at the phone in her hand with Neil’s contact on it’s display, all she had to do was tap into the message but she feared she’d find something that would break her into pieces in the message, and the thought of that made her hesitate. Whatever she’d find in this message would determine her decision to stay or leave the country, and so she took a deep breath and tapped into the message.