Hello, Mr Li: The Christmas Trip

Joreen's brows were furrowed in concentration as she penned down everything she would be doing in this trip. They had five days until the trip which was December 21st. They were going to be sailing from 21st to 24th, the Christmas celebration is going to be on the Island where they were going to be staying from 24th until the new year, which was her birthday. Then they would sail back on the 2nd of January and return home on the 5th.

She was really excited and at the same time, nervous because she felt that somehow, it wasn't going to be much fun for her. But after seeing the pictures of the really large ship on the internet and heard it had a hundred rooms for guests with close to a hundred and fifty people sailing since they were a lot of couples who were going to be sharing rooms, she thought maybe this was finally her chance to have all the fun she was always denied.

First night— meet and greet.

Second night— Clubbing, games and partying.

Third night— Talent show, exchange of gifts.

Plus there's going to be different activities during the day. She couldn't wait to experience all of this. 

Now, for her list..

"My priority is making sure I do not bump into uncle Li at all." She nodded and wrote it down on her travel journal for the year. 

"Number two, join the party and make sure to not bump into uncle Li." Li Hoy was an introvert and he rarely partied so she was confident they weren't going to bump into each other.

"Number three, meet a cute guy and make sure to not bump into uncle Li."

"Five, get drunk for the first time and make sure to not bump into Uncle Li!" 

"What a tyrant!" She hissed. She wished he was a bit unlikable so she could hate him, but she couldn't.

She remembered when she newly became a part of G-GLOBAL, it had been difficult and there were a lot of times when she cried, but he always appeared like an angel to cheer her up. He bought her ice cream, took her to the movies, bought her toys etc. There had been times she slept in his office and he looked after her. Also, when she was sick, he took her to the hospital. So whenever she remembered all this, it was hard to get angry at him. She could only throw tantrums and complain, but that was the highest she could do, she was never comfortable staying for long without hearing from him.

"That doesn't mean he should still keep controlling my life until now! My parents aren't even doing that!"

"What aren't we doing?" Jaime asked, startling Joreen who looked at the door and saw her stepfather there with a glass of smoothie. 

"W-hat are you doing in here? When did you get in?" 

She asked in surprise before taking the glass from him. 

"I was making this in the kitchen and wanted you to try some. I waited for you to open the door after I knocked. You didn't open but I kept hearing your voice so..." He shrugged. "Do you like it?" He asked when Joreen tasted the smoothie.

"Hmm.. it's delicious as always." She gave him a big thumbs up before gulping down half of the contents in the glass. 

"You think Reen's friend is going to like it?" He asked skeptically. 

Joreen rolled her eyes, "You are trying so hard for someone who doesn't want his daughters to have boys around them."

"Nothing I can do now. The oldies already arranged a room for him. The least I can do is get to know this 'boy' she never told me about."

"Who are you referring to as oldies?" Cixi Wang appeared behind Jaime making him flinch visibly. It was his luck for leaving the door open.

Joreen chuckled. "He was talking about the Madam Lis. You aren't included, believe me."

She eyed her husband who was looking at her with a sheepish smile before she picked up the note from Joreen's bed. 

"Hey! Give that back. You don't read people's diaries!"

"You are my daughter so I can read yours." Cixi said and continued to dodge from Joreen while reading what she had written down aloud. 

"Stop it, you are embarrassing me." Joreen glared at her mother who was chuckling now.

Even Jaime looked amused. 

"You really think you can get away from Hoy?" Cixi asked. 

"You should be doing something about it. Aren't you my mother?" She snapped.

"I'm glad I have him to monitor you. I can't believe you are already planning to get a boyfriend and get drunk. Do you want people to take advantage of you?" 

"Come on, they are all rich people."

"And rich people do not take advantage of people?" Jaime cocked a questioning brow. 

"You know my darling, you are too naive and innocent. You do not know how harsh life can be because you have always been covered by your uncle Hoy. Maybe this is really an opportunity for you to learn some lessons about life. So if you really want to be free from him during this trip, I can give you some tips." 

"You shouldn't do that. What if she gets in trouble?" Jaime chided his wife. 

"Tell me! How should I get him off my back during this trip?" She asked excitedly. She could always count on her family to have her back. 

Cixi smirked before answering, "Find him a girlfriend." 

*********

Joreen continued to think about what her mother had said as she washed the dishes while her mother set up the table before Reen arrived with her friend.

That was a great suggestion. Playing matchmaker and finding him a girlfriend would temporarily and on the long run, permanently move his interest away from her. And if she became friends with Hoy's girlfriend, she would ask her to speak to Hoy on her behalf so he would stop monitoring her. Since it was already too late now, she was just going to find him one in the ship. She really hoped there were single ladies there also. 

She smiled happily. Why hadn't she thought of that at all?

"What are you smiling for? Reen's friend is already here." Her father called for her. 

"Oh! I'm almost done. Give me a minute." Cixi left while Joreen washed her hands and took off the apron she was wearing. 

She hurried to the living room to check out Reen's friend. It was the first time Reen was bringing someone over so everyone was really curious to meet this 20 years old boy who 'seduced' Reen.

She saw her parents talking to a tall guy who was standing beside Reen and stopped walking when he looked at her direction. 

Joreen's eyes widened when she got a clear view of his face. 

If HOT was a person!!!!!

He looked foreign and was probably around 6ft 3 tall, had a shoulder length wavy blond hair and a light skin tone. His facial features were all proportionally defined. She would have thought he was a model but Reen mentioned he was just a senior and the ace of the basketball team.

When he smiled at her, his aquamarine eyes glittered and his beautiful cheek dimples was revealed.

'He has dimples just like Uncle Hoy!' She noted in her head. 

Kyle looked formal in a white shirt and black pants. He was probably dressed like that to impress her family. 'He didn't have to try too hard.' Joreen thought. 

"Hello!" Kyle greeted in a deep voice and offered his hand for a handshake. Joreen came back to her senses and was about to shake him when she remembered she hadn't cleaned her hands with a towel before leaving the kitchen so she put her hands behind her and cleaned it on the back of her dress before shaking him nervously. 

'His hand is so manly!' She swooned as his big, rough hands enveloped hers. 

"I'm Kim Kyle. I'm glad to finally meet you in person, Miss Joreen." He said courteously. 

'He even knows me!' She did a happy dance in her head.

Her family watched as she looked at him with lovestruck eyes. If not for Reen who elbowed her lightly, she probably wouldn't have returned to her senses. 

"Why didn't you tell me he was this handsome?!" She 'whispered' to Reen as she kept shaking Kyle's hand up and down without letting go. She unconsciously held unto him while she looked at Reen.

"You do realise he can hear you right?" Reen asked with amusement. Maybe Joreen thought she was being discreet, but everyone actually did hear her. 

She looked at Kyle who was giving her an embarrassed smile, and let go of his hand abruptly when she realised what she had been doing. 

She cleared her throat and pushed some stubborn strands of hair which refused to stay in a bun, away from her face. "I'm... sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I mean... you are handsome.... but I'm a woman! Because I'm... a woman... I shouldn't say it aloud even if I think you are handsomeeee... you... know?" She rambled in embarrassment. This was another reason she loved her skin color. Her face would have been really red from embarrassment right now.

Kyle laughed lightly, making her embarrassed even more. 

"Thank you for the lovely compliment. You are also really pretty up close. I am a fan." 

She couldn't suppress her happiness and blurted out, "Me too!"

"I think they are finally going to have their first 'boy fight'." Jaime whispered to his wife who nodded in agreement. 

Reen on the other hand was trying so hard not to laugh. It was her first time seeing her younger sister so flustered. She wished she had turned on her camera to video the scene.