CHAPTER 13 - ANXIETY

LARA’S POV

“You have to relax, Scarlet, nothing like that is going to happen,” I said to Scarlet.

We got the news that Sam was calling us and since, she has not been herself. Gina is with Sam and Scarlet thinks that she has reported us to him.

I have been trying to assure her that Gina knows better than to ever try such but she was finding it hard to believe me.

“We are in trouble, Lara. Can’t you see? I knew this was not going to end well. Now what punishment would he give us?” she panicked.

“I give you my words, Scarlet. Have I ever lied to you? Please you have to stop panicking” I replied.

“But then why would he ask for the both of us?” she asked.

“We have to wait to find out” I replied.

She was still trembling so I placed my hand on her shoulder to make her relax a bit. This helped because the sound of her breathing became less obvious.

We got to Sam’s door and I knocked on the door.

The door opened and we saw Gina staring right into our eyes. I could see both fears and hate written all over her.

I intentionally smiled at her and said. “Hey Gina”

“H…hey… what are you girls doing here?” she stammered.

“Sam sent for us” I replied with a smile.

“Hey, dear, who is at the door?” Sam asked from inside.

“Scarlet and Lara. They said you sent for them” she replied to him.

“Oh, let them in” he instructed.

She stepped out of the way and we entered. She closed the door and went to lie on the bed.

“And why did it take the two of you so long to answer?” Sam asked.

“We came as soon as we heard your call” I replied.

“I didn’t just call you, dullards, I have asked for your presents for like eternity and you are just showing up now?” he spat.

“We are sorry, Sam” Scarlet was trembling in fear.

“That is more like it, Scarlet. But the next time any of you take this long to reply, I am going to make sure to show no mercy” he said.

“Thank you, Sam” Scarlet and I said.

“Who cleaned my room this morning between the both of you?” he asked.

“We both did it together” I replied.

“The two of you and you cannot even get it right?” he said.

“I made sure that everything was done right, Sam, I personally supervised the cleaning,” I said.

I have not finished speaking when I felt a very painful slap on my face. I held my face as tears dropped from my eyes.

Sam had slapped me and he was ready to do it again if I dared to annoy him any further.

I did not say any more words again. I waited for him to say what we have done wrong in the cleaning.

“You always act like you know everything, idiot. If there is no problem with what you did will I waste my time with you? Or do you by chance think that I fancy your presence?” he asked with his eyes looking over me.

“I am sorry” I apologized.

“Too late,” he said.

He walked back to the bed, sat on it, and then said. “Knee down, the both of you”

We both did as was instructed.

“Now why did you clean up this room without taking care of Gina’s stuff?” he asked.

“Gina’s stuff” I murmured.

“Her shoes were not cleaned. And then you did not bother to take out her clothes for washing. And what happened with making sure all her stuff in this room is in order?” he asked.

“But it was never our duty to do any of those” Scarlet replied.

SCARLET’S POV

I listened as my brother listed out all the things that he claimed we have done wrong. From not cleaning Gina’s shoes, to not washing her clothes, and then to not taking care of her stuff.

But she is not a part of this family yet and we are not obliged to clean up after her.

Yes, she is Sam’s mate but they are not married yet. They should be married by now, but for some reasons best known to my father, he had decided to put a hold on the marriage till whenever he might fix it next year.

My father doesn’t like Gina. But who would want such an arrogant fellow for a daughter-in-law? So I understand when he tried to postpone the wedding since he could not out-rightly stop it from happening.

“But it was never our duty to do any of those” I replied and waited for his reaction.

He chuckled and walked up to where I was. “And what difference does it make? She will be next year and then you would take care of it all. And I insist that you do those now” he said.

“But father…”

Before the words were out of my mouth, he slapped me very hard which caused me to stumble a little.

“Which father, you fool?” he cursed.

I forgot I should not have referred to my father as father. I should say Sir Tim instead.

“Sir Tim would be against that if he ever finds out” I stuttered.

“Do what I ask of you. It is not your duty to worry about what I do with my father” he spat.

“Now what do I do with these brats?” he asked.

He turned to Gina and asked her. “What do you suggest I do to them, Gina?”

We both turned to Gina. Now is her time to get back to us. We resigned our fate to her and sadly, we waited to hear what punishment she would prefer. She hated us and asking her to punish us was like asking what one would do to a spoilt egg.

I bowed my head low. My heart was already racing and my whole body was filled with sweat even when the room was extremely cold. Deep inside of me, I hoped that she would be a little human and not say something extreme.

“Just let them go” I heard Gina say.

“What?” we all exclaimed.

Gina got up from the bed and came to stand before Lara and me. “You know what, Sam? I saw them when they were doing the cleaning and I was the one that asked them not to touch any of my stuff” she said.

Lara and I looked at her in disbelief. Why would she want to save us from Sam’s anger? We stared at her but she smiled instead and stretched her hands to us and dragged us up.

“Are you sure, Gina?” Sam inquired.

“Yes of course. So they can leave now. And I don’t want either of them touching any of my stuff. I want my stuff taken care of by only those that I can vouch for” she replied.

We felt insulted but getting an insult from her was better than getting punished.

“You heard her get out of here this moment” Sam ordered and we both ran out.