“Okay?” Bruce asked, raising an eyebrow at her. It was the first time I’ve seen him do anything besides smile. That’s when I remembered that Bruce was a control freak, and his temper was most likely a lot shorter than Roberto’s.
“Yes,” Lorena said so low that I could barely hear it.
Bruce smiled again and then left the room.
Lorena let out a deep breath that she’d been holding, and Alex rolled over on my lap to look up at me. “I don’t like that man,” he said.
“Me neither,” I said.
The three of us got dressed and made our way down to the table for lunch. Bruce was already waiting at the end of the table.
“You three finally made it!” Bruce laughed. “I was beginning to think you got lost on the way here.”
Neither of us responded, and the best I could do was give him an awkward smile. We each looked over at him wondering who was going to sit where, because neither of us wanted to be the person sitting next to him.
“Love, come sit over here.” Bruce rested his hand on the chair next to the end seat... next to him. “Let’s catch up.”
Lorena stiffened. She stared into his eyes, and I couldn’t tell if it was a look of hate, or fear. It could have been both. She sighed and went to go sit down next to him, and then Alex sat on the chair opposite of her. I just went ahead and sat down next to Alex.
“It’s been so long Lorena,” Bruce said. He rested his hand on hers and she flinched as if he had burned her. He laughed, “and you’re still the same I see.”
Marie came in with dishes full of food, but I wasn’t worried about what she had made for us, because I was more worried about Lorena. Alex didn’t even look like he was hungry anymore.
Bruce moved his hand from Lorena’s and made himself a plate. When he noticed that none of us were eating, he frowned, “Well, eat.”
“I’m not very hungry,” Lorena said.
“It’s alright darling,” Marie said.
“No, it isn’t alright,” Bruce sighed. He looked as if his feelings were hurt. “This woman was kind enough to make us all a meal. Eat something Lorena.”
Lorena didn’t argue with him and made herself a small plate of food. Now I really wondered what the hell happened between them. I mean, even with Roberto she was a little rebellious, but with this man, she just did as she was told. Bruce had to be a lot worse than Roberto to make her act this way.
“So,” Bruce had finished chewing his food and sipping on red wine, “what have you been up to Lorena? Really? I haven’t seen or heard from you since I brought you back here.”
Lorena didn’t look up from her plate, “Nothing.”
“Oh, come on. You had to have been doing something. I mean, every time I have asked Roberto if I could see you, he said that you didn’t want to see me. I assumed that it was just because you were busy doing something,” Bruce was smiling again, but I was starting to believe that he smiled even when he was mad. His voice and his face were giving off two different emotions right now.
When Lorena didn’t respond, Bruce turned to me, “So, where did Roberto find you? He doesn’t usually hire women.”
“I used to work for Andrew,” I held eye contact with him. “I was shot at one of his dogfights and he came and hired me in the hospital room.”
Bruce laughed while shaking his head, “That man. And what about you little Alex?”
“Mr. Bellerose picked me to fight for him out of the other kids,” Alex shrugged.
“Oh, so you must be pretty good, right?” Bruce slapped his hand down on Alex’s shoulder, but Alex didn’t even flinch.“How about a little sparring match with me?”
“No, I don’t think Sarah, or Roberto would like that. They need me to be in great shape for the fights,” Alex said in a matter of fact tone.
“Ah,” Bruce’s hand slid off of Alex’s shoulder and went back to his fork. “I didn’t think of that. I’m glad Roberto found a responsible child. It’s good that you know what you should and should not do. If not, I’m sure that you would suffer many punishments.” Bruce continued to eat as if he didn’t just make the tension at the table even worse.
For the next fifteen minutes or so it was quiet, and all that I could hear was the clinking of forks and spoons on the plates. I looked up at Lorena a few times, but she never returned my glance. She just played with the food on her plate like an upset child. If the situation were different I probably would have flicked food over at her to get her attention and make her smile, but right now I couldn’t. I didn’t know what set Bruce off, and I didn’t think that I was ready to go up against him yet.
Alex finished his food before the rest of us and jumped out of his seat. He reached out to grab his plate so that he could go wash it as usual, but was stopped by Bruce who grabbed his wrist.
“What are you doing?” Bruce drew his eyebrows together as he looked Alex up and down.
Alex turned to Bruce, unaffected by his sudden mood change, “I’m going to take my plate and Mrs. Bellerose’s plate into the kitchen. I’ve finished my food.”
Bruce looked surprised, like one washing their own dish was something new, “But, Lorena hasn’t finished her food.”
Lorena slowly stood from her seat, “Thank you Alex. I’ll go wash them with you.”
A slight smile tugged at Bruce’s lips and he let Alex go, “Well, I hope you enjoyed what you have eaten Lorena.”
Lorena gave a slight nod and picked up her plate, then she walked around the table and motioned for Alex to follow her out. In those last few seconds I scarfed down a biscuit so that I wouldn’t have to sit with Bruce alone and stood from my chair.
“Thanks,” I said before grabbing my plate and rushing to the kitchen.
“You’re welcome,” I heard Bruce say behind me in a more French accent. It almost made me look back, but I decided not to. It reminded me of when Roberto got mad and how his accent sounded as if he was fresh out of France. All that did was tell me that Bruce wasn’t happy about something, and I wasn’t about to stick around to find out what.
When I walked into the kitchen I spotted Lorena washing a plate while smiling down at Alex. It looked like all she needed to do was get away from Bruce for her mood to go back up again. I was thankful Alex was such a sweet boy. There was no telling what he could have said to make her smile like that, but I bet it was very nice.
“So,” I walked over to them and gently placed my dish in the sink, “I hope you guys don’t plan on staying in this house all day.”
Alex craned his neck to look up at me, and Lorena just turned with worried eyes.
“But what about…” Lorena’s eyes averted from me and over to Bruce who was walking into the kitchen with his plate.
When I turned to look, Bruce was smiling directly at Lorena.
“Here hun,” Bruce said, handing Lorena his plate, “I’m going back into the office. If you guys leave,” he turned to me, “make sure that you stick with Sarah and don’t leave her sight. And Sarah, if you feel the need to, use that gun you have, and don’t hesitate. Roberto has a lot of enemies so be safe.” He left the kitchen and went back to the office.
I shrugged and was happy that he was going back to locking himself away. Today was a day of needless worrying. We were going to have fun, and if I have to, then yes. I will shoot someone, and possibly kill them. No one was going to harm these two.
“What about what?” Alex asked me, interrupting my thoughts.
I just shook my head at Alex and he nodded in understanding, then I smiled at Lorena, who gave a faint smile back. I guess that lunch with Bruce took a lot out of her.
“So, where should we go?” I asked. I didn’t care where we went, as long as we were far away from the house.
Marie quickly walked in and took the plate that was still in Lorena’s hand. “There’s a fair today. Rides and everything for the little one, and delicious food for the hungry one,” She winked at Lorena, who stepped out of her way so that she could clean off Bruce’s
dish. “I suggest that you guys go there. You’ll be surrounded by people, and it’ll be fun,” Marie said as she quickly washed off the dish.
“That sounds fun! I haven’t been to a fair since…” Alex’s voice trailed off and he looked down at his shoes.
Lorena gave the best smile that she could muster and rested her hand on his shoulder, “Let’s go have fun at that fair.”
Alex shot his head up and smiled back at her. They were really getting close.
Chapter 28
When we pulled up to the fair Alex stretched his neck out the best that he could so that he could see more of the rides. Lorena just laughed next to him, “We’ll be in there soon enough.”
Alex shrunk, embarrassed, and continued to look out of the window. We were in a busy parking lot where people just walked in front of the truck as if it wouldn’t hurt if it were to hit them.
Mark sighed in frustration, “If these damn people don’t let me by, I swear to god!”
“Twenty points if you hit the woman with the booty shorts,” I said laughing next to him.
“Nah, if I do that, I wouldn’t be able to take her home and bend her over,” Mark chuckled.
“Mark, there’s a child in the car,” Lorena said with a laugh.
“It’s OK,” Alex said, “I know what sex is. My mom…told…me.” This was the second time that he’s spoken of his past, and it made me even more curious about him.
We were all silent for a moment, then I spoke, “Come on Mark, just hit the gas and they’ll all move out the way.”
“You’re the boss,” Mark gave a mischievous grin.
“Wait, I wasn’t ser-“
Mark pushed down on the horn and put more gas to the car. We picked up in speed and like I said, people moved the hell out of the way. When we finally turned down the aisle to park in a parking spot I let out my breath and turned to Mark who was red and laughing.
Alex started to laugh as well, “Did you see that lady’s face?”
“I know!” Mark continued to laugh as he pulled into a spot.
I just looked back at Lorena and shrugged. Boys have a weird sense of humor.
***
“So, we have plenty of money, and we are going to stay out here as long as we possibly can,” Lorena said. “That means all the games, all the rides, and most of the food.”
“I take it you’re going to stuff your face and blow up as big as a balloon,” I said with a chuckle.
“Exactly,” Lorena nodded.
“Let’s get on that one!” Alex pointed to a large boat ride that swung back and forth.
“You two get on. I don’t really do rides,” I said.
“You sure?” Lorena asked.
“Very.”
“Suit yourself,” Alex said before running off to the line. Lorena jogged behind him.
I stood there and watched as they boarded the ride, and then as they rode it together swinging from left to right. It was hard not to laugh at the two. Alex’s eyes grew wide every time the ride swung downwards, and Lorena’s face turned blood red from laughing so hard at Alex. If she was pale before, she definitely isn’t now.
This was exactly how things went for the majority of the day. Alex and Lorena gets on a ride, Alex cringes every time a ride drops, and Lorena laughs like there’s no tomorrow. Then there was me, who just stood back and watched them, and everyone else around us. Truth was, I could handle rides, but I didn’t want to get on one and not pay attention to everything that was going on around me, so today was just going to be a fun day for them. I mean I was having fun, but who wouldn’t rather be on the rides?
Alex and Lorena got off of another ride and walked up to me with bright smiles on their faces.
“That was the best one,” Alex said.
“Yes, I agree,” Lorena nodded. “So, is anyone hungry?”
“I most definitely am,” I said, rubbing my belly. “I just didn’t want to say anything.”
“Let’s get some food, and Rose, you’re going to play a few games with us,” Lorena said.
“I don’t want to show off, it’s okay,” I shrugged.
“You won’t be. Losers can’t show off,” Lorena chuckled.
“Oooh,” Alex instigated. “I feel a challenge coming on.”
“Lorena, you couldn’t possibly believe that you, miss girly girl, could beat me, winner of everything, in a game of…anything,” I laughed.
Lorena’s face went blank, which killed my joy for a second. “Oh, yeah. I definitely can,” she said.
Lorena looked serious now, and it made me feel a bit nervous. It was kind of cute how she was challenging me.
“Okay, once we get done eating, we can go pick some games and I’ll gladly kick your ass in them,” I said.
“Whatever you say,” Lorena grinned.
Alex was wide eyed and looked at me as if I were crazy.
“What?” I asked.
Alex just smiled and shook his head as if he knew something that I didn’t.
We walked over to a corn dog stand and each got two corn-dogs, then we sat down at a metal round table with an umbrella sticking out from it to block the bright sun.
Lorena quickly scarfed down her corn dog, and then got started on her second one. She squinted over at me the entire time, and Alex just looked from her and then back to me. I just continued eating and acted as if she wasn’t getting to me. Because she wasn’t! I was curious as to what was going on in her head though. She was looking at me as if she had some prank up her sleeve.
Lorena finished her corn dog and smiled, “I finished first.”
I laughed. Lorena reminded me of a little kid, and it was so funny that I couldn’t breathe.
“What’s so funny?” Lorena was trying to hold back her laughter.
“You two act my age,” Alex shook his head and leaned back.
“We do not!” I said.
“Do too!”
“Do not!” I responded.
“Do too!”
“Whatever!” I stood up. “Let’s go play a few games so that I can will all of my prizes!”
“Lorena’s going to win!” Alex laughed.
“Thank you Alex,” Lorena said, standing up confidently.
I chuckled as we started walking down the strip full of games. There was basketball, shooting games, some other games, and more that I didn’t recognize. I didn’t know what Lorena might have been good at, and I wasn’t going to risk my pride by playing unfamiliar games and finding out.
“Let’s play some basketball,” I suggested as we continued to walk.
Lorena just squinted at me, “Of course you choose that.”
“Hey,” I shrugged, “you didn’t say anything.”
“Okay, well after basketball we try that over there,” she pointed to a stand where people were trying to toss palm sized hoops onto glass bottles.
“Whatever you want,” I sighed dramatically.
We walked over to the basketball stand where there were small hoops lined up against the wall horizontally. The man behind the stand smiled as he took the money from Lorena. It was me, Alex, and Lorena going up against each other.
“The one who gets the most shots at the end of the three minutes win,” the man said.
I looked down at all the balls that were lined up in front of me, and then over to Lorena who looked determined to win. Her competitive side was actually pretty sexy.
“Ready! Set! Go!”
Lorena was quick to grab her ball and shoot it, but her aim was so bad that she just hit the wall next to the backboard. I contained my laugh as I made the first shot, and then the next. The one after that bounced off of the rim and rolled back down to me.
Lorena crazily grabbed at the balls and threw them at the hoop, and none of them even hit the small backboard. I could have sworn one of them hit Alex’s rim.
Alex was concentrating on his shots, and his scoreboard said three, while mine said four. He was my real competition, but right now I was just having fun wit
h Lorena. She and I never really played games together because that was more of mine and Abigale’s thing back in high school.
I made the last few winning shots and then leaned over on the stand with a grin on my face. “Check out the score,” I said.
Lorena sighed and looked from mine to hers. I had ten, and she had one. I was actually surprised that she made one with how crazy she was throwing the small balls at the hoop.
“So, what would you like?” The man at the stand asked me?
I had a few cool choices of teddy bears to pick from, but what really caught my eye was the little white one holding a red heart. It reminded me of the red that used to be in Lorena’s hair.
“That one,” I said, pointing to the bear.
“Here you go,” the man grabbed the bear and handed it over to me, and then I handed it over to Lorena.
“You keep it, I have no use for a stuffed animal,” I said while trying not to blush.
Alex looked back and forth between us.
“Thank you,” Lorena’s cheeks tinted a bit red and my heart fluttered. I felt like a teen on my first date.
“So, next game?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m going to beat you in that one,” Lorena gave a brighter smile. I loved her smile.
“Let’s go already,” Alex said, grabbing our hands and tugging with his body weight.
Once we got over to the game we immediately got started.
Lorena turned out to be better at this than expected, and I found myself struggling to get a hoop over a bottle. Meanwhile, she was just frisbee tossing the hoops onto the bottles effortlessly.
Alex didn’t seem to care as he just threw his hoops overhead and shrugged after every miss. He was mostly focused on us, who were playing seriously. I didn’t find anything funny this time.
Lorena tossed her last hoop and landed it. When I tossed mine, it went in between the bottles and slipped to the bottom.
Lorena just looked over at me with a grin, “Great Job, winner.”
I gave a slight smile and rubbed the back of my neck, “You too.”
Lorena bit her lip and was looking over the prizes. I guess she was trying to figure out what I might have wanted, but they were all just teddy bears, and I wouldn’t know what to do with one.
Caged 2 (Caged Series) Page 19
