"Who does he think he is?"
Reyona hated anyone giving her an ultimatum.
Especially when that person was a nosy asshole she wanted nothing to do with, she was even more livid at the ridiculous situation she found herself in.
How dare he tell her what to do?
Though fuming, she had no choice but to lower herself to the covered seat of the toilet bowl.
Though she had not acknowledged it in her shock and anger, getting off her feet for that short time had come with such tremendous relief that she could almost weep at remembering it.
Just as it had been like pure hell when he set her back on her feet,
Though she preferred anything to be manhandled by that idiot, Reyona was beginning to think that she must have overexerted herself after all.
What was the point of all her recovery if she undid it with silly, impulsive actions?
As she massaged her splint-free legs, she thought, "I have to get the doctor to come check..."
"I assume you are done?"
His intrusive, cold tone interrupted her thought and she barely stopped herself from swearing out loudly.
She said in a tightly controlled tone, "I told you to go away."
"And I remember telling you I would come in to get you in five minutes. You have one more minute, ma'am."
Something in the way he was calling her ma'am grated on Reyona's nerves.
The bastard seemed dead serious.
For a moment, Reyona thought of calling her entire family on the idiot, then she wondered how that would make her look.
Right before she remembered, she was not even with her phone anyway.
She heard the sound of his footsteps and bristled in anger.
"I swear, I will make you regret it if you come in here," she threatened as a last resort.
Then she looked from the side sink to the lock and wondered why she was wasting her breath.
She winced as she rose and stepped towards the door to lock it.
The door jerked open immediately, and she yelped in shock at his audacity as she suddenly reached for the tap.
She turned it on urgently with her cupped hand underneath it.
She had barely raised her hand to splash him when he got to her.
As it was, the water poured more on her dress than on him.
"Very clever, ma'am," he said with a heavy dose of sarcasm that only enraged her further.
Even so, she was already in his arms, and he was striding out of the stall before she could say anything.
"Let go…"
The main door of the restroom opened and two ladies gaped at the scene before them.
Reyona automatically smoothed down her dress that had ridden up to her shin in her attempt to get away from him.
Maxwell barely paused in his strides as he said politely, "Excuse me, ladies."
The two ladies stepped aside, and the one who held the door handle even held the door open for her.
The grateful smile he sent the woman's way, and how she blushed in response only angered Reyona more.
The ladies tittered and whispered as they watched him take her out of the restroom hallway, making Reyona wish that the ground would simply open up and swallow her right there.
She soon realised she had more to worry about.
He was not going to let her off before they entered the restaurant!
"Put me..." the doorman on the other side noticed their approach, and he quickly opened the door for the determined man to stride towards it like he would knock it down if it were not opened on time.
"You will not carry me back there like this. Put me down!" Reyona spoke through gritted teeth as the doorman held the door open while barely glancing at them.
"What is wrong with everyone?! Does this seem normal to any of them?" Reyona wondered in anger.
"I said put me..."
"In a minute," he said as he strode through the door, unconcerned.
If she did not hate him so much at that moment, Reyona would have buried her head against his firm chest in shame as eyes turned their way.
Her family was in the middle of laughter when they noticed the man coming towards their table.
"Rey? Is she fine?" Toria was the first to talk as the three stood up abruptly.
"She is fine," Maxwell said tersely as Carlisle pulled out Reyona's chair.
Embarrassment didn't allow Reyona to say a word, as she wished she could kill that bastard right there and then.
She was never going to live this down.
"Why, then, did you carry her?" Carlisle's annoyed yet worried tone resounded loudly in the restaurant, and Reyona wished she could just slam her head against the table and get this all done with.
Calm and unruffled, Maxwell simply turned to her family and said, "She shouldn't be on her feet yet. Keep her off it. Good day to you."
With that, he turned away and left.
"Look here, young man..."
"Let him go, Carl," Gladys said as she quickly came to where Reyona was staring hard at the tablecloth like she wanted to unravel every single thread used for the exquisite cloth.
"Sweetheart, what happ...?"
"Don't ask," Reyona said tersely. "Can we leave, please?"
"But we just got..." A look from Carlisle had Gladys nodding immediately in agreement. "Okay then. We will…"
Reyona was no longer listening because, at that moment, she looked in the direction Maxwell had gone and saw him leaving the restaurant with a young lady waiting for him at their table.
Toria noticed her gaze and mused aloud, "Hmm, would you look at that? I thought he didn't date. I swear I saw it in that gossip column that day, not that I was interested. He seems to have found himself a.."
"We came to celebrate, and that is what we will do," Reyona said suddenly.
"Uhn?" Her mother, who was already calling out to the hostess, turned back to her with the same confused expression on the faces of her dad and sister.
"You just said..."
"We are here to celebrate, and nothing will stop that," Reyona said decisively, and her family looked at each other as they nodded and sat down again.
Then, Toria excitedly scooted forward in her chair and lowered her voice conspiratorially with a beseeching smile "So, Rey, what…?"
"Don't ask," Reyona said tersely as she reached for her drink.
Her eyes involuntarily went to the table where she had last seen him leaving with his date.
That nosy idiot!
He was going to pay for embarrassing her like this!