Is this destiny?

Few minutes ago…

At the main floor, in the men's restroom, Michael finished rinsing his eyes under the watchful gazes of Dezy and Wally. Dezy is holding onto Eve-lenses which Michael removed as soon as they entered the restroom. 

Michael's eyes are bloodshot, but the stinging is almost gone, and it's replaced with a dull ache.

Michael washed his face and his exposed arms (he is wearing a dark blue short sleeved silk shirt) before checking himself carefully in the mirror.

He confirmed that the smoke and small debris ended up in his eyes, but there is no permanent damage how much he can see. And he can see well and that is all that counts. He believes that the ache is only due to the irritation because he had foreign objects in his eyes, and it will go away on its own in time. 

Michael cursed internally about this timing. What if Oni got bored of waiting for him? What if she accepted someone else's offer to dance? What if she ends up liking that other guy? He panicked. He needs to hurry up and get back out there!

Michael's eyes are teary, but it's bearable.

He swiftly rinsed both lenses and placed them back on his eyes.

Michael froze when he saw huge 'ALERT' flashing in front of his eyes. He immediately checked for an additional information and saw that it's the alert for Marija approaching Oni and the details showed their current location.

Without a moment of delay, Michael dashed toward the docks as fast as his legs carried him.

Michel ran through the party, almost bumping into few people, but he had no time to apologize. He avoided them by a narrow margin and the only thing on his mind was that he needs to reach that dock as soon as possible with hope that it's not too late. Who knows why Marija approached Oni, but it can't be anything good. And that alert is more than seven minutes overdue!

Based on the timing, Michael concluded that Marija was observing them, and as soon as she confirmed that Michael is out of sight, she approached Oni. His heart tightened. He is late by seven minutes… that can't be good.

Michael is not sure how he reached his desired destination without crashing into anyone or anything, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw Oni standing stiffly on the dock and staring blankly at Marija who is down in the water, holding onto the dock and screaming profanities at Oni.

It's obvious that Marija wanted to get out of the water, but she does not have the strength to pull herself up. Her hair is wet and messy, and her makeup is running all over her face. She is in a sorry state, but Michael has no seconds to spare on her.

Michael approached Oni carefully while his eyes didn't leave her face. 

He does not know what happened, but it's obvious that there was a conflict and based on the fact that it's Marija and Oni, he can assume that it's related to him.

Michael cursed internally for letting Marija leave easily when they spoke in the garden earlier that day. He was supposed to threaten her firmly, to knock her out. Yes. Knocking her out was the right solution but he didn't do it. And now is too late. Or is it? 

Marija spotted Michael first. She directed her cries at him right away: "Jesse! Look what your little bitch did! Do you still think that she is cute and innocent?!"

Oni turned robotically toward Michael. She saw him looking at her, and she didn't know how she feels about it. Marija's words were spinning inside her head and confusing her on so many levels, and it showed on her face.

"Oni? Are you alright?", Michael asked softly while walking toward her.

Marija was stupefied. "What do you mean if she is alright!? It's obvious that I am the one who got hurt! Help me out! Get me out of this water and I will scratch her face off!"

Without looking at Marija, Michael touched his ear stud and said: "We have a guest who fell into the lake. Send two people with a towel to the docks."

Michael's gaze never left Oni's face. He keenly observed her expression which was blank. This got him nervous more than if she cried or yelled or anything, because he didn't know what to expect.

"Oni?", he called and reached with his hand toward her.

Oni took a step back, avoiding him. Why is he reaching out to her? Shouldn't he help Marija? Marija is the perfect damsel in distress. Is it possible that Michael cares about Oni's feelings more than about Marija, who is obviously in a predicament? This thought confused Oni even more.

Marija sneered. "Why are you so nice to her if she does not want you to touch her?"

Michael glared at Marija. 

"What did you do?", he squeezed through his teeth.

"I was just talking to this little girl of yours. Why are you acting like I bullied her?"

"If you have something to say, say it to me. I told you to leave her out of this.", Michael said icily. 

"I was talking to you, but you left me with no choice. Help me out!", Marija demanded.

Michael shook his head in disapproval, ignoring Marija's request for help. "I didn't give you what you expected, and your choice is to come here and attack Oni? What did you think that you will achieve with this? Why can't you understand that I don't want to have anything to do with you!?" 

"Attack!?", Marija was outraged. "I didn't touch her!"

At that moment two staff members rushed to the dock and swiftly pulled Marija out of the water. 

No one noticed that Michael's fingers moved in the air. Oni noticed, but she didn't have any intention to call it out.

Oni felt like she is a spectator in some drama, and that all this commotion is totally unrelated to her. And she wanted to leave.

Marija's urge was to leap toward Oni and scratch her face, but she was soaked, and those two people wrapped her in a large towel, restricting her arms in the process.

Marija struggled out of the towel and a two seconds later, her movements stopped and she looked obediently at Michael. 

"Go to your room, change into dry clothes and stay there.", Michael told Marija.

She nodded submissively.

Marija didn't notice a sting at the back of her shoulder when the drone injected her with the 'obedience potion' (how JoAnna calls it). As the name suggests, the potion makes the recipient extremely obedient.

Michael told the two staff members to help Marija to her room, and he instructed the drones (aka Eve) to knock Marija out as soon as she is by herself in her room and she gets out of those wet clothes. He wants her out of the way, but not to get sick. 

Like this, they will have few hours of peace. 

Michael does not know how to handle Marija. He can keep on knocking her out until they leave this place tomorrow, but that is not a good solution. Should he leave Marija alone, or punish her in some way? What punishment is appropriate for an unstable jealous woman? Ah, he feels like a headache is coming.

Michael got an idea! He will write a report and give it to Felix before Marija wakes up. As a person who is in charge of security, Felix should decide Marija's fate. Fantastic! Michael felt like a huge burden fell off his chest. Normally, he would request an input from Sarah and Aiden, but they just got married and he does not want to disturb them.

Now that the commotion is over, it is only him and Oni on the dock, standing in silence.

"Oni…", Michael called.

Oni didn't feel like talking. She didn't feel like anything. Her mind was a mess and she just wanted to go to her room.

Oni stepped to the side, with an intention to go around Michael, but as soon as she was within arm's reach, he held onto her wrist.

"Don't listen to her.", he said softly.

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