Private But Not A Secret [on A hiatus]

Chapter Fourteen:Dinner Party

Nunew pov

Zee had taken me to the dinner party, initially hesitated but eventually convinced him.......

His attire was impeccable, a sharp black suit paired with a red tie and cufflinks, which made him stand out in any crowd. I wore a plain dark gray suit so I don't stand out but also to not be underdressed.

When we got there, as expected crowds of people came over to greet him. Some ignored me and the ones that did acknowledge me, gave a brief greeting and tried to start a conversation with zee. He was then whisked away by a group of men, leaving me alone. I attempted to follow, yet it seemed as though he was deliberately avoiding me, so I left him. I walked around the house instead. After a while he finally remembered that I existed.

"Nunew? What are you doing here? Let's go back to the main hall, dinner is about to be served," he says, leading the way. We get to the hall, and it is filled with round tables. I thought it was going to be one long dining table, but I was wrong. On each table, only about five to six people could sit. Across from us was a beautiful woman who couldn't keep her eyes off Zee. Throughout the entire dinner, she would make comments about how great Zee is. I'm not speaking out of jealousy. She would compliment Zee for breathing if given the chance. I even lost my appetite. "So, uh," "Nunew," I say to someone looking at me. "Yes, Nunew, what business do you run?" he asks. "Nunew is my plus one," Zee says. "Oh, so it's probably something in fashion or modeling," he says. "No, I don't do any of that," I say. He looks confused; maybe if he minded his own business, he wouldn't be confused about others. "What did you study in school?" one of the women asks. "Music and arts," I say. The woman across from me and the woman who asked the question give each other looks and snicker. I know these hags aren't laughing at me. I didn't even do music or arts in school, I just said that because why are they in my business? Do they want my social security number or my mom's ID details next?

"What's funny about that?" I ask. "Oh, we weren't laughing at you," she says. "Well, you two laughed once I answered you, so I assumed you are," I say. "They probably weren't, Nunew," Zee says. He is, of course, defending his friends. I push my plate away. "Excuse me," I say, and Zee tries to stand up with me, but I push him down. "No, stay. I just need some air," I say and leave.

I just want to cry in frustration. The only other person I knew in this gathering was Miss Lan, so I took a seat beside her by the bar.

Her greeting was less than warm, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. "I'm not here to cause you trouble," I assured her, my hands raised in a gesture of peace. Her response was a smile, but it lacked any hint of friendliness. "So, you're here because Mr. Pruk is with fancy Nancy ?" she asked, nodding subtly with her wine glass towards Zee, who was now standing with a woman. The same woman that laughed at me with her friend. Traitor. Now I could see what she was wearing better. Her attire matched his, a sleek black dress adorned with blood-red accessories that complemented Zee's tie and cufflinks. They made a cute couple.

I couldn't help but grimace at the sight, feeling a mix of annoyance, abandonment and jealousy . It was clear that this evening was not going to unfold as I had hoped, with each passing moment becoming more of a test of patience than a social enjoyment.

"No, he were having dinner when I left him," I tell Miss Lan honestly. "Who is fancy Nancy ?" I ask her that's obviously not her name, I think. "Well, she works-" "No, I don't care about what she does, but who is she to Zee?" I cut her off, paraphrasing my question for better understanding. "Oh, who knows, really," she says, very disinterested in me. "Why do you call her fancy Nancy.?" I ask. "Well, she's fancy and looks like a Nancy" Miss Lan says. I look back at the woman. "she's chinese." "Chinese people can look like Nancys too." she says, I guess she doesn't know her name. I look back at them.

I see the woman start ignoring personal space and lean towards Zee, caressing his arm and such. I roll my eyes and go towards them with Miss Lan's wine glass. She didn't even protest. She just ordered another one.

"Evening," I politely greet Vivian with a short bow of respect. She looks at me annoyed; I was definitely disturbing her flirting time with Zee. "Miss yaqi would like to apologize for any offense misunderstanding she caused." Zee says. Misunderstanding? "Zee you can call me Vivian, you can drop the formalities" she says. She doesn't look or sound apologetic.

"Hia, I'm tired; let's go home," I tell Zee in the sweetest voice I can muster. Using his nickname and calling his place ours to show this woman that we are close and we live together, to rub it in her face. "Maybe later, he and I were still talking, kid ," Vivian says. "Oh, that's nice, but I was talking to Hia, so I expect hia to answer," I say, smiling widely at her. She flinches back in shock. I turn to Zee again. He nods. "Sure, I'm tired too," he says, tired of what? Ignoring me the whole night? "Wait," Vivian says, holding Zee's arm and hugging it, in between her breasts. "Can I at least get a dance before you leave?" she asks Zee. I guess Miss Lan's wine is going to be used.

I pretended to trip on Zee's shoe and 'accidentally' poured wine on Vivian. We gasped together, she from the cold liquid and I from my 'accident.' "I'm so sorry," I apologized, sounding sympathetic. "Let me help you get dry," I said, pulling her before she could say anything. I walked with her to the stairs, and when we got a bit high up, where everyone on the ground had the perfect view of us, I put her hand on my chest. She, of course, moved her hand away, and I dramatically flung my body back. She tried catching me with both hands, but I was already on the ground - making it seem like she pushed me down the stairs with both hands. Everyone gasped, Zee quickly climbed the stairs and held me in his arms. "Nunew?" he said, caressing my head. I was just silently crying. That hurt, a lot. "I didn't push him! I didn't do anything!" I heard Vivian scream as other people came to check on me, but Zee wouldn't let them even touch me. "He threw himself off the stairs," she went on. "But we saw you, Viv," a man said. "Uncle, believe me," Vivian pleaded. I started feeling bad for her. "That brat is setting me up," she said, seething with anger. Okay, never mind. I don't feel bad anymore. "I'm sorry, miss. I only wanted to help you dry your dress," I said, crying. "Nhu, don't explain yourself to her," Zee said, glaring at her. He gently helped me up and wiped my tears with his handkerchief. "I'll send you a bill for your dress," I said, rubbing salt into the wound. "Stop it, Nhu. You don't owe her anything, such a ruthless person," Zee said, hugging me tightly. "You really believe him over me?" Vivian asked. "I was there, wasn't I?" Zee answered harshly. She scoffed and left.

"She's so ruthless," "She didn't even apologize," "She's not sorry at all," "She's been spoiled; are we really shocked?" people kept talking about what bad character Vivian has, making this incident more believable that it's her doing.

"Nunew, let Miss Lan check on you, okay?" Zee says, beckoning Miss Lan over to us. They help me up the stairs and into a room, while Miss Lan starts flashing her phone light into my eyes to check for a concussion. As she does, a man comes in to talk to Zee; it's the man that Vivian called 'uncle.' From the look on his face, he's here to apologize. "I'm very sorry about Viv; she had a tough childhood..." he starts. So, I was right, he is even adding a sob story for her. Zee looks at me. "Let's talk outside. Nunew doesn't need this much overstimulation in one night," Zee says as they walk outside.

"You are the most insane person I have ever met," Miss Lan says. "What?" I act confused. "Damn, you are good at pretending to be the victim. Are you going to always hurt yourself and blame every person that seems like a love rival to you? Zee is widely lusted after; you'll have brain damage from all the fake falling you're doing by the time you have defeated half of them. Be smarter," she says, hitting my head and leaving.