Chapter 2- Intensity
Micah Delgado came with a level of intensity, that even after four years, Alita had yet to get accustomed to, no matter how much she tried.
She served as his personal guard, confidante, and at times, his only friend.
The level of respect she had for him had only tripled on his last patent application where he took the time to show where he'd added her name to the patent.
When the money came through from sales, she would be set for life. A life where, she didn't know.
Earlier in the day, Micah had a meeting with his father, The Czar of Colombia about his future.
She knew this meant it was time for him to be matched for a potential bride, which also meant uncertainty for her.
A conversation was required with her boss, and it needed to be in the open and in front of his father.
Eduardo Delgado treated her like his daughter, although she worked for his son.
She took meals at the family table and had her own quarters and bathroom close to Micah, and she traveled with the family for vacations; if not, she was given time off to have her own downtime to visit her family.
When she and Micah were in school in Argentina, she was free to go home at night; however, the past year between Alita and her family had become strained.
There was nothing she could put her finger on until her mother made a reference to intimacy with Micah.
No matter how much she tried to explain her job with the Delgados, her father refused to believe that such men would honor a single, unprotected young woman living under their roof.
Her father believed she was paid so well to be more than a bodyguard to Micah Delgado, again, not understanding why such a powerful family could want such a simple girl as herself as a protector for a male child, who by all accounts had adult male working parts.
The sadness in her eyes spoke to Micah as he looked up from the stack of papers in front of him. He and Eduardo were seated at the table, going over invoices for the farm. This part of running the farm he didn’t care for, but it was necessary.
“What is troubling you, Alita?” he asked, not stopping what he was working on to listen to her response. “Are you homesick and wish to travel to Argentina to spend the summer with your family before we decide on universities?”
A week had passed since returning from the wedding of The Cranberry in Kentucky which she would recount often in the upcoming weeks.
She admitted to having a great deal of fun, hanging out with the other teens at the party.
It was the first time in four years that her boss had actually behaved like a teenager.
They played in the pool with the other kids, danced, stayed up late at night, ate pizza, and watched movies.
The two girls, who lived with The Technician called The Lemon, were still a bit too feral for her liking and were pushing the envelope trying to get close to her boss for a feel.
She imagined it would be more of the same once they began Uni, but it was her job, protecting him.
“You have said nothing yet, Alita,” he spoke, putting down Number 3, his third favorite pen, which he had aptly named Number 3.
“My family...things have gotten...tense,” she said, noticing Eduardo's head pop up at her words.
“Why is there tension?” Micah asked.
“I haven’t been sending any money for the past year,” she confessed.
Micah pushed the papers away, giving her his undivided attention. “How much are you sending per month?”
“I have basically been sending half of what I make,” Alita said softly.
Micah blinked several times, wanting to put the horse in front of the cart and attach the beast before taking a seat on the buckboard.
“You're paid 30 grand a year, American, plus room and board, and received a private education.
In four years, you've sent 60 thousand American to your family in Argentina, and suddenly you have stopped. Please explain your reasoning in one, sending money when your father is very capable of working to support your family, and two, why you have stopped.”
She blinked, trying to maintain a straight face. The words were getting trapped in her throat, but it needed to be put out there. Eduardo Delgado and his son needed to know the shame she bore to have this position as Micah's guard.
“My parents believe I am your paid companion,” Alita said softly.
“Paid. Companion,” Micah repeated.
“Paid. Companion,” she repeated. “My father does not understand why one of the most powerful men on two continents would hire a girl like me to serve as a protector for a son who is a man with working male parts.”
Micah's body language changed as Eduardo held firm, his head down, listening but not reacting to her words.
He wanted to know what his son was thinking, what he would say, and how he planned to handle the situation.
Hands, rough with calluses from working the fields with his father, scratched at his temple.
“One, my father does not pay you, I do,” Micah said. “Yes, my father paid for your training, and your hands are registered as lethal weapons in Colombia, Argentina, and the States. The private education you have received I also paid for out of my pocket. Why, may I ask, have you cut them off?”
“If they see me as dirty, then they don't need my dirty money,” Alita said. “I can save it for what comes next for me, whether I attend Uni with you or you marry and your bride objects to my presence. I have to look out for my future.”
Micah watched her face. No emotions were evident as he stared at her. He had a great deal of respect for his guard and valued her opinion as well as the companionship.
“Alita, call your father so I may speak with him,” Micah said, to Eduardo's surprise.
“You wish to speak with my father?”
“Yes, get the man on the line,” Micah said, waiting her for to remove the device from her pocket.
Alita dialed the number, listening to the rings. Her father answered, ensuring first she was doing well, next asking about the money, and then wondering if Delgado had tired of her and was shipping her home. Micah took the phone from her hand.
“Senor Mendoza, this is Micah Delgado,” he said into the phone. “Please, first accept my apology for not speaking with you sooner. Time has not been kind this past year as we have been on the move.”
He listened to the man stammer. He listened to the man making excuses. He had no need to listen to the man any further.
“Senor, the reason for my call is this summer, I am not in Argentina, but home in Colombia,” he said.
“I am preparing for Uni and am uncertain whether I shall attend here in my country or abroad. Alita has applied as well, but I wanted to give you the respect needed in checking to see if you were planning a match or a pairing for her matrimony.”
“Matrimony?” Ricardo Mendoza replied.
“Sí, as she has served as my guard for four years, she has the option to return home and pursue her education in Argentina, or if you have made a match for her, marry and begin her family,” Micah continued.
“If you have not, and it is your desire for her to assume a more traditional, familial role, mi Abuelo, as the Czar of Argentina, based on her four years of service as my personal guard, can make her a match as well as my father, The Czar of Colombia.”
“I wasn't sure if she planned or desired marriage,” Ricardo said.
“As she has protected me, I have also protected her,” Micah said. “She is a chaste and virtuous young woman, although possibly one of the deadliest I know, so if you do make her a match, the young man must be about his wits, or she will snap his neck like the chicken.”
He emitted a practiced laugh which sounded more like a villain watching Mr. Bond nearly be dropped into a vat filled with hungry piranhas.
“Chaste?” Ricardo mumbled.
“Surely, Senor, you did not believe me to be the sort of man to take advantage of your daughter? I need her to watch my back and be sharp against potential threats to my life, so why would I muddle that with emotional interference?” Micah asked.
“Besides, I would not want to take what is not promised to me and be unable to offer her a life at my side as my wife. Her virtue is intact. Were your plans for her to be matched, Senor?”
“Uhm, no, I had not planned for that,” Ricardo said. “You said you were looking at attending Uni abroad. Would Alita attend with you and also receive an education?”
“About that,” Micah said, making eye contact with Alita.
“Based on the salary I pay her, if she does attend Uni, I will not cover the tuition as I did with schooling in Argentina. The money she is paid as my guard will have to go towards her education, books, and lab fees, as I will have to provide room and board, plus food since I cannot see living on campus in a dorm room. My father is financially secure, but I work daily for every peso in my pocket. Are you understanding my words, Senor?”
“Sí, I am,” Ricardo said.
“To conclude our conversation, I want to go over what I have said to you to ensure there are no misunderstandings between us,” Micah said.
“She is my guard. I value her skillsets to protect my life. She served as a companion when I had no other, and my confidante and research assistant. As she has protected me, I have done the same for her. She is not a bedmate for me, and I have never been inappropriate with her. If she chooses to attend Uni, she is welcome to continue her employment at my side. However, funds sent home to you had to cease to prepare Alita for her next steps in life. Are we clear?”
“We are clear, Senor Delgado.”
“I shall be returning in the next month to Argentina for the Annual Regalia at Perona de la Mar,” Micah said. “Will she be welcomed into your home with loving arms at her return?”
“Sí, Sí, she will,” Ricardo said.
“Good chat; be well,” Micah said, handing Alita the phone and returning to his paperwork. He didn't look up as she spoke to her father.
Eduardo watched the young lady, and as soon as the call ended, she excused herself.
He could see she was wiping away tears. He saw a larger issue that was hovering in the air like a ball of gas that no one wanted to speak of, and he wouldn't either, at least not today. Alita Mendoza was in love with his son.
The cancellation of Micah's paramour and his lack of activity outside of the chosen circle for his safety net were also red flags.
His son had chosen his life partner, and it was Alita.
Now, they simply had to go through the rest of the motions for him to meet the selected women Eduardo had chosen, and hopefully, his brutal honesty would not scar the girls for life.
“Well done, mijo,” Eduardo commented.
“The man is an ass,” Micah replied. “If that was truly his concern for his daughter's well-being, seems like he would have objected when she was 14, coming to live with me, versus 4 years later when she is full grown.”
“Some men see opportunity versus reality,” Eduardo said, “Did your grandfather Eleon give Mendoza a position to work for him?”
“No, Abuelo did not,” Micah said. “I asked him not to.”
“May I inquire as to why?”
“She has decisions to make about her future,” Micah said.
“Daughters can't see their fathers for who they are until they are shown to be who they shall be.
He is an opportunist and a lazy man, hence why I have never spoken to him until now.
Alita will either make the decision to embrace a new future versus returning home to a family who took money thinking she'd been pimped out to us. I cannot respect that man.”
“And her future with you?”
“Again, in your own words Papa, time is not kind,” Micah said. “She is at an impasse. Those unfortunate women are going to be paraded like cattle in front of me to choose the lesser of the evils, and she will become jealous.”
“Is that your goal?”
“No, she loves me,” Micah said. “The line between me being her boss and her wanting to be my woman is getting thin. Without my paramours’ visits, the line is getting very thin for me as well.
I am either going to have to find something to fuck or kill pretty soon because that poor girl does not need me to unleash my pent-up frustrations on that untouched body.
I would ruin her, and you will be planning our wedding. ”
“Good grief,” Eduardo said, not sure if he should be impressed or horrified.
“What? I am your son. I am all man, with manly appetites, and Papa, I am getting hungry as hell,” Micah said, throwing out the nefarious laugh.
Eduardo laughed himself and said, “Oh shit, the kittens are going to die.”
He referenced the term used by his eldest, Yunior, who had been told that when he laughed, he sounded as if he was going to ride through the village to kill all the kittens to make himself a fur coat.
Micah, he was afraid, would ride through the village, collect all the kittens, and boil their bodies down to make a youth serum from their bones.
He took a pause, feeling the quietness of the home without the presence of his older sons.
“Do not make a decision that you can't come back from that will impact your life, son,” Eduardo cautioned.
“The move will be hers,” Micah said. “If she wants to claim me as her own and makes the move, I am not a firstborn, but the third son of a third son. As per cartel rules, I am not obligated to make a match with a highborn family. I can marry as I please, as long as you are in agreement.”
“True,” Eduardo said, getting a better understanding by the second. His son was also a planner, like his older brothers. It was obvious Micah's plans were for a long-term relationship with his guard.
“She will need to learn to cook before we head to Uni,” Micah said. “I am not eating meals out of an air fryer for dinner every night. A man needs some vegetables.”
“Or you can learn to cook as well,” Eduardo corrected.
“I can cook, grill, sauté, and flambe, but what do I look like cooking dinner every night for someone I am paying? Not this cowboy,” Micah said, suddenly looking up as if a bright light was shining through the window.
He yelled out for her, knowing she was close by, “Ooh, I wish to ride my horse. Alita! Come, we ride.”