Forty-eight

Forty-eight
Eve

“You did well tonight.” The conniving devil, Charles said smoothly, handing me a fat envelope. “Here, take this.”

A frown creased my face as I stared down at the envelope, then back at Charles.

Thankfully, the dinner had already ended not long ago, and boy, was I glad that I was going home!

“What is that?” I questioned, my voice cold and raspy.

“It's a bonus.” He replied. “For your cooperation after…”

“How much is in there?” I asked, folding my arms as I rested my weight on one foot.

“About twenty.”

“So, you're saying that my life is worth twenty thousand dollars?” I demanded, my eyes hardening, “Is that it?”

“Eve, nobody said anything about your life.” He stated.

“Yeah, but I am in danger.”

“You aren't.” He responded, “As long as you're with me, you're safe, Eve. I still need you, but don't worry, this will all be over before you even know it.”

“How long is it gonna take?” I asked, a little too eagerly.

“We'll know when we know.” He said, “Now take this.” He grabbed my purse and shoved the envelope inside.

“Hey!” I tried to snatch my purse away, but he had already put the money in there.

“Good night, Eve. Lopez will give you a safe ride home.” He turned on his heels and walked back into the house, hands in his pockets like he had just won the goddamn lottery.

He was clearly over the moon.

Apparently, his plans for the night went pretty well. He's gotten what he wants from his uncle, which is to join the company.

The motive for why he's doing all this was still unclear to me.

“Miss Dawson?” Lopez called, and I turned around. “We should hit the road.”

I entered the car, and he started the engine and got onto the road.

My mind was a pool of thoughts as we rode down the road.

“Are you okay, Miss Dawson?” Lopez's voice jolted me out of my thoughts.

I stared at him through the rearview mirror and glanced out of the car, not replying.

He probably knows why Charles is doing the things he's doing, and I know he won't tell me if I ask him.

“I know it's a lot to take in.” He went on, “The Hermans are… you know, different, you get what I mean?”

“By different, if you mean they hate each other so much that they want to stick a knife down each other's throat, then yeah, I get what you mean,” I replied sharply, reclining back on the seat.

“I told Charles to let you know what he's getting you into, but he just wouldn't listen. He…”

“I'm sorry, why are you telling me this again?” I leaned forward, cutting off his words.

He pressed his lips into a thin line.

“I'm just trying to reassure you that you'll be fine.” He stated, swerving the car to the right. “Charles will never let anything happen to you. He might seem like he doesn't care at times…”

“At times?”

“Alright, all the time.” He corrected himself, “But deep down, he cares.”

“You know what? If he really cares, he shouldn't have dragged me into the drama of his messed-up family,” I said in exasperation, leaning back on my seat. “If he really cares, he shouldn't have put me in a situation where he won't let anything happen to me. Ugh! Why is he even doing this? Why does everyone in that family except his uncle hate him so much? What is even going on in that family?”

Lopez shifted nervously in his seat, “I really can't tell you that.”

“Ugh! So much for reassuring me.” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm, “You know what, thanks, Lopez, that was pretty reassuring.”

The car plunged into silence.

I rolled down the window and stuck my head outside. The air was fresh, calm and refreshing. I let it calm down the huge storm that was building up inside of me.

About thirty minutes later or so, Lopez pulled the car to a halt in front of my house.

Finally! Home!

Without hesitation, I stepped down from the car and slammed the door so hard that I wished it had broken. Then, without saying a word of goodbye to Lopez, I strode up the stairs.

“Goodnight, Miss Dawson.”

I swung around, “I'm afraid I can't say the same. I hope you and Charles have the worst night ever! Hmph!”

He started the car and drove off.

“What was that all about?” A voice said, startling me to the core.

I spun around and found Mom sitting on the bench on the porch.

Did she hear that?

“Hi, Mom.” I greeted, chuckling nervously, “Um… what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be… um… at the shop?”

“It's after ten, Eve.” She reminded me.

“Yeah, right.”

“What was that all about, huh?” She asked eagerly, regarding me with those suspicious eyes of hers, “Are you and Charles fighting?”

“Um… yeah?”

“Why?”

“It's private, Mom.” I reminded her, “You don't need to know.”

“Now, you listen. I really like that boy, if you need things up with him like you did with Cameron…”

“Well, if you like him so much, why don't you make him your boyfriend then, huh? How's that sound?” I queried, my voice dripping with venom and sarcasm. “A good idea, right?”

She gasped in surprise, “You just didn't!”

“Newsflash! Yeah, I just did!” I shot at her, “Thus is my dating life, not yours! And for the record, I didn't mess things up with your precious Cameron; Cameron was the one who messed things up with me. Dad and everyone else know the whole story but you don't, not that I expect you to. Maybe if you'd stop being so damn narrow-minded and seeing us as a failure, certain things wouldn't need to be explained to you. That's exactly why Steve left!”

Silence.

I don't know why I just said that. Guess I'm just so mad at Charles that I took out my frustration on her.

She looked shocked… and hurt.

If I tried to apologize, it would only make things a way lot worse.

“Goodnight, Mom,” I muttered, stepping into the house, but then halted on my tracks. Dad was standing just there with a tray and two cups of coffee. The look on his face told me he heard everything. “Hey, Dad,” I mumbled, feeling embarrassed.

“Had a rough night, huh?” He asked calmly.

“I guess.”

“Happens to the best of us.” He told me, his tone warm and understanding, “Go get some sleep, Pumpkin, I'll handle her.”

“Thanks, Dad.” I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, “Good night.”

“Good night.” He responded.

I sidestepped him and went up the stairs.

I really needed a cold shower, so I took off my clothes and stepped into the bathroom. The cold water helped me a lot.

When I stepped out, I changed into my pajamas and sat cuddled up on my window reading nook, staring up at the full moon.

I really needed someone to talk to, and that person was Katy. We haven't met up after she met with Finn; she's still terrified.

I let out a sigh.

I really hope nothing happens to me, as Charles said. That family of his is really something.

My phone dinged, jolting me out of my thoughts. It was a text from an unknown number.

I clicked on it, then read it with shaky hand, my heart pounding against my chest, my breath ragged, eyes wide open.

“I didn't really welcomed you tonight during your introduction. Now, please allow me to welcome you officially. Welcome to hell, Eve Dawson. I'm sure you're gonna love it.”