Chapter 4 #2
Kain returned my stare, ultimately succumbing to the apparent discomfort he felt at the weight of my words.
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, breaking eye contact momentarily as he thought about what he should say next.
It appeared as though he was having trouble coming to a decision for some time when he finally let out a low exhale.
“I’ll tell you what,” he murmured, voice just loud enough for me to hear, but not a fraction of a level higher. “If I hear anythin’ useful. A time, a day, something like that...” He hesitated. “I’ll let you know. You can warn your father if it should come to that.”
For a moment I just stared at him, mouth agape and eyes wide. Did he really just say what I think he said?
“You’d do that?” I asked. Kain nodded slowly. “I’m not complaining or anything, but wouldn’t you get into serious trouble for doing something like that?”
He breathed out a silent, incredulous laugh. “What do you think?”
I understood, but this confused me. “Why would you do that for him?”
Kain observed my face for a moment, his eyes burning holes into me.
I watched him scan every detail of my face and even though the intensity of his gaze would have made me uncomfortable in any other scenario, the stripping effect his eyes had on me was surprisingly tolerable.
It was just over a minute of silence before I realized Kain wasn’t even going to bother responding to my last question.
My better sense got the best of me eventually, and it dawned on me why Kain might’ve felt like my question wasn’t worth answering. Kain wasn’t doing any of this for my father, I determined.
He was doing it for me.
***
Waking up in a place you don’t recognize is always disorienting – terrifying, even. Streams of sunlight pulled apart my eyelids, and the sounds of the afternoon high tide waves crashing against rocks in the private beach behind Kain’s house kept them open.
My hangover was something serious as I groaned at the way the bright sunlight exacerbated the throbbing of my headache. Trying to adjust the light, I rubbed my eyes before I took in my surroundings.
I was still in the middle of Kain’s bed, a thick blue blanket pulled up to my neck. Under the covers, I was still in my red party dress from the night before. I sat up from where I laid, looking around the room now that I could see it under the light of day.
On the ground beside the bed, my black panties were still spread across the hardwood. I pushed the memories of how they’d gotten there to the dark corners of my mind. I wouldn’t think about Victor ever again if I could help it.
To my left, at the desk where I’d left him, Kain slept peacefully, using his bent arm as a pillow. I stifled a smile at the sight of him sleeping at his keyboard. I’d already decided that Kain was a handsome man, but not like this… Like this he was simply adorable.
Downstairs I heard the shuffling of feet, the clanging of pots, and afternoon conversation.
I wondered if Silas Montgomery was home.
Was he the type of father who’d just barge into his son’s room?
I wondered if Kain was the kind of son who’d often have random girls sleep over.
Would anyone even care if they saw me creeping down the stairs.
Did I really want to walk to my car in last night’s clothes in front of this random family?
At the thought of last night’s clothes, I saw Kain’s sleeping form as an opportunity to privately slip my underwear back on. Trying to make as little noise as possible, I stepped out of Kain’s bed and snatched my panties up off the ground.
I looked over my shoulder to make sure Kain was still sleeping when I started to slip them back on. I had gotten my panties to my knees when the door to Kain’s bedroom swung open.
“Kain, get the fuck out of bed, it’s four in the afternoon and Cici’s birthday dinner starts in—Oh.”
In the worst possible position ever, I froze up. Underwear wrapped around my knees, in last night’s clothes, I knew what it looked like as my eyes put a face to the voice of the woman trying to wake Kain up.
At the threshold of Kain’s bedroom door was a young woman, eyes wide with surprise at first as she looked from my face to Kain’s sleeping form.
Slowly, a judgmental smile formed on her face.
This woman was like Kain’s twin, but glamorous and feminine, dressed in a white frilly blouse and black slacks.
On her feet were these absolutely gorgeous black heels. She could have been about twenty-five.
“By all means,” she said to me, her voice chipper, “finish getting dressed.”
I cringed, robotically pulling my underwear up the rest of the way. Even though I wanted to explain to her in explicit detail that whatever she thought she was seeing wasn’t what happened, I just kept my mouth shut. Like I said, if I didn’t have to, I wasn’t going to talk about Victor ever again.
I said a little prayer, hoping that Kain had slept through the noise before I turned to check. Relief washed over me as I watched him stir out of his sleep reluctantly, eyes still closed as he rubbed the sleepiness away. There was no urgency in his movements at the sound of this woman’s voice.
“Who’s this?” she asked Kain, gesturing to me and stepping into the room. Her heels clicked against the wood floors and her whole aura screamed wealth and privilege.
Kain looked at me first with tired eyes. “Lauren, this is Sanaa, my sister. Sanaa... leave.”
Ignoring Kain’s request, she shut the door behind her.
“Ahh, Miss Lauren,” Sanaa said like she’d heard of me, stepping forward to get a better look at my face. She stood at least two inches over me in her red-soled, black heels, dangerously close to my face. “Well aren’t you cute, Miss Lauren.”
I pressed my lips together, unsure if I was supposed to engage.
Do I say thank you? Do I smile? Did she even mean what she’d said as a compliment?
Instead, I unconsciously held my breath and looked at her with wide, nervous eyes.
Sanaa finally turned away from me, and I let out a not-so-discrete exhale.
Over Sanaa’s shoulder, Kain almost seemed to find that amusing.
“How cute is she!” Sanaa exclaimed at her brother after looking me over. He shot me an apologetic look and I quietly tried to fade into the background now that her attention was averted.
“Tell Cici I’mma be right down. Go.”
“Is Little Miss Lauren joining us for the festivities?”
Kain looked at me then back at his sister. “Little Miss Lauren is goin’ home.”
His sister made a face at him. “Don’t just shoo her away after getting in her underwear,” she argued. Kain opened his mouth to say something, but he shut it just as quickly.
Somewhere in his mind he’d decided I would prefer his sister think we had sex than have to rehash the gory details of the events that transpired the night before. And he was absolutely right. As embarrassing as this misunderstanding was, at least it wasn’t traumatizing.
“Let her come to dinner,” Sanaa persuaded. “I guess it would be more like breakfast for you two, huh?” she asked, turning to face me. “Late night?”
There was a bit of teasing in her tone, and I bit my lip uncomfortably, looking down at my shoes.
I fought the urge to defend my character.
I wasn’t that type of girl, but she clearly seemed to believe I was.
I suppose a fast girl would have met Sanaa’s banter head-on, which is probably what she expected as she teased me.
My reaction to her words must’ve caught her off guard.
I was too embarrassed to even look at Kain. However, I heard the anger in his voice when he urged his sister out of his room.
“Sanaa, please.” His tone was impatient.
Again, Sanaa ignored him, taking a seat at the foot of the bed. She motioned for me to take a seat close to her, tugging at my arm.
“I’m sorry, Lauren,” she apologized after I’d taken a seat beside her.
“I was just messin’ around. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad about it.
” She was making it worse. “I actually think it’s pretty badass that you took the bed all to yourself afterwards.
Y’all fuck… and then you make him sleep at his desk.
I’ve never seen anything like that,” she giggled.
I didn’t laugh with her. Over her shoulder, I could see Kain pinching the skin between his eyes stressfully. It was clear that he felt guilty about his sister unknowingly rubbing salt and lime juice into my fresh wounds.
“Ignore her,” Kain said to me. “Sanaa get out of my room!”
She waved a dismissive hand in his direction, treating him exactly like how you’d expect an older sister to treat her little brother.
Even as she tested his last shred of patience, there was still a vague semblance of respect for Sanaa in Kain’s actions.
Even as he was getting angrier by the second, there was still a clear line that Kain would not cross with her.
“Do you wanna come to dinner with us, Miss Lauren?” Sanaa asked. “Don’t let my baby brother treat you like you’re cheap. I’ll introduce you to everyone. We’ve never met any of Kain’s little friends.”
“I...” I shook my head. “I have to go home.”
Sanaa pushed out her lower lip, pouting.
“Aw, that’s too bad. Maybe some other time?
” She rose to her feet, waiting for my response.
I simply nodded, thinking that might get her to leave faster.
Her smile in response was genuine and bright.
She made her way to the door, turning over her shoulder for one last word. “Kain, you have an hour.”
He barely waited for the door to shut behind her before he apologized. “Sanaa can be… nosy. And forward. And… bougie. My sisters – they don’t respect boundaries…”