Chapter 13 Nia
I wipe my palms over my jean-clad thighs and glance to my left. Cass is still busy browsing the menu booklet, whereas I – well, I’m close to choking on the suffocating air around us.
Mama Pena’s Diner has been around for a while.
It’s a place every family in Adenbrooke frequents for wholesome meals and cozy vibes.
With achievement awards framed to its stone walls, wooden furniture and leather couches that are simply the best, a vast kitchen area to the left that is viewable to the patrons, rock music blasting through the speakers, and large glass windows on the right that give a clear view of the town beyond, the diner is as perfect a place as it can get.
As if on cue, Mama Pena walks through the kitchen doors wearing her usual black trousers and a floral-print shirt, with her golden skin gleaming with sweat, and her long, black hair held behind her head in a ponytail. She briefly glances at Amanda, then raises her brows at me when our eyes meet.
I give her a vague shrug, to which she shakes her head, chuckles, and gets back to her customers.
I pull my hair into a low bun and frown at Cass, who is still looking at the damn menu.
Him and I have spent dozens of evenings at the diner in the past, and even though Mama Pena has added a few new recipes to her list, they aren’t that intriguing for him to be so lost in them that he can’t even look up once.
Someone clears their throat – loud enough that I have no other choice but to look at them.
Amanda, dressed in a crisp black three-piece, with her short hair pin-straight, gives me a distasteful once-over, then turns her attention to Cass. “So, how was the wedding?” she asks him.
He finally places the menu on the table.
“It was great.” He clicks his tongue. “A little too colorful and flowery for my taste, but great nonetheless. It’s actually the love between those guys that overpowered everything else, I’ll say.
They were so into each other that I’m sure they didn’t give two shits about the people attending their wedding, or the decorations, for that matter.
” He looks at me. “It was beautiful witnessing them tie the knot, huh?”
It takes me a moment to find my voice.
“Yeah,” I agree with a smile. “They are perfect for each other. It was wonderful seeing them make it official.”
Cass grins. “Yeah, and–” He stops when his phone rings.
“Sorry,” he says around a chuckle, then glances at the name on the screen before quickly receiving the call.
“Hey, Mom.” The joy on his face was undeniable.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” He frowns. “Wait, what was that? Mom, I can’t hear you.
” He’s quiet as he tries to listen to what she’s saying, then shakes his head.
“No, you’re breaking up; hold on a sec.” He gets to his feet, gives me a quick kiss on the lips, then gives Amanda a 5-minutes gesture before making his way to the exit.
I watch as he pushes the diner’s door open and steps into the street. Walking to the side, he says something into the phone, then laughs before talking in a way so animated, that it makes me smile.
“Stay away from him.”
I whip my head at Amanda. “Excuse me?” I’m caught off guard by her sudden warning, but I try not to let it show on my face.
She crosses her arms across her chest. “You heard me perfectly fine the first time around, Nia. I don’t think I’m inclined to repeat myself.”
I lift a brow. “Oh, I did, but I would love it if you could tell me why you thought it was necessary for you to say that to me at all.”
She sneers. “Don’t try to act sassy with me.
You and I both know this bubble of yours is going to burst the moment Cass leaves this God-awful town.
If you think I’m going to let him stay here and ruin his career – one I’ve spent years helping him build – then you’re too fucking na?ve for your own loss.
He’s a star; he commands the social media with his presence.
Do you even know how popular he is? Do you even know the number of fans he has? ”
I have zero retorts for her questions. I don’t know what to tell her, simply because I don’t have the answer to anything she just asked me.
Cass hasn’t discussed his fame with me in detail, not really.
He’s only told me about the documentary, and that he trains Hollywood celebrities in fitness.
I have no idea how famous he is, or the kind of power he has on social media.
And due to the lack of this knowledge, I feel stupid sitting here looking at Amanda as she smirks victoriously at me, knowing she’s gotten the upper hand on me.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” she states coolly. “You’re just what I assumed you would be: a stupid village girl with dreams beyond her budget.”
“What Cass and I have has nothing to do with fame and money,” I say. “Him and I, we’re–”
“Oh, do spare me your theatrics,” she cuts me off.
“Cass is an idiot. I’ve indulged his…itch for days now, let him play around as much as he wanted, but I’ve reached my limit.
Now that our time here is coming to an end, I’m going to fix this mess so that there’s nothing left for me to clean up after. ”
“It’s not your place to manage his personal life, Amanda. You have no right to decide what he does and doesn’t want. That’s entirely his choice to make, not yours.”
She laughs, and the sound pierces right through my ears.
“Oh my God.” She laughs some more. “Are you even listening to yourself right now?” She shakes her head.
“I feel nothing but pity towards women like you, you know? Always hopeful and self-righteous. You think you deserve the best of everything just because you’re poor and pray to God every night. ”
I grit my teeth as my anger rises, and glance at Cass, who is still busy on the phone.
“Is this why you agreed to have dinner with me – so that you could point out all the reasons why I don’t deserve Cass?” I ask Amanda.
She places her elbows on the table and leans in. “You’re a roadblock,” she hisses. “You are a diversion he can’t afford to have at this point in his career. Because all you will do is drag him down, and–”
“I would never do that to him,” I tell her hotly. “I would never do anything to jeopardize his hard work. I respect his passion and appreciate everything he does.”
“He deserves better, dammit!” she says loud enough that a few patrons turn to look at us.
“Cass deserves so much better than you.” She points a finger at me.
“He deserves someone of his caliber, someone who can walk through society with him and he wouldn’t feel embarrassed being seen with.
” She swallows and looks squarely at me. “He deserves someone like me.”
I stare at her in complete disbelief. “Y…you?” I suck in a breath, and then, unable to hold it in, I chuckle. “Are you being serious right now?” I place a hand over my throat. “Cass sees you as a support system, Amanda, and nothing else.” I chuckle again. “And you think I’m stupid.”
“How dare you?” She slaps the table. “I know what I deserve, and what I deserve is him. I’ve given almost a decade of my life to him. I know him; I know what he should have. I know his tastes and preferences. I am everything he needs.”
“And I know his heart,” I say easily. “I’m pretty sure you don’t know shit about that. You may know him on the surface, but I’ve known him for far longer than you have, and I’m positive that he’d want nothing to do with you if he knew the kind of person you really are.”
“Are you threatening me, you worthless bitch?” She leans closer. “Are you sure you wanna do that? Because I can end you in a minute; I can destroy you and your family with a blink of an eye.”
I’m taken aback by the pure malice on her face, and my head feels heavy at the seriousness in her voice.
She means it. She really fucking means it.
“I’m glad you’ve understood that I’m not bullshitting you, Nia. I will ruin you and your loved ones if you don’t back off.” She sits back in her chair and assesses me with narrowed eyes.
“Who is threatening who, now?” I sneer.
“You think you’re smart, don’t you? Let’s see how well that tongue of yours will help you once I’m done teaching your family a lesson for your arrogance.”
I fist my hands when they start shaking. “You wouldn’t.”
“I will if you continue to act like a rebel and disagree to get out of Cass’s life.”
“You have no right to–”
“Do you wanna know what would happen if Café Connell were to suddenly go out of business?” she asks calmly. “Isn’t that…quaint little thing the only source of income for your family, Nia?”
Bile rises in the back of my throat.
Amanda latches onto my inability to speak, and smirks.
“Have you imagined what would happen if customers stopped showing up to your café, and your financial numbers plummeted as a result of that? What would that do to your business-oriented brother and retired parents? Have you thought about any of it?”
“How do you…” I clear my throat. “How do you know all this?”
She snickers. “You think I haven’t been doing my research?
When Cass introduced you to me yesterday, I knew you were the Nia he’s had a tattoo of on his wrist for all these years.
I just had to know all about you, and so, I did.
Didn’t take long, to be honest, given there’s hardly anything to you and your…
life. Your ex-husband was more than willing to spill the details to me after a few rounds of beer.
Good-looking guy, by the way. A pity you let him go.
You two must’ve looked quite adorable during your time together, I’m sure. ”
I glare at her. “Well, why don’t you have him, then? You two would fit right in – you know, with being venomous snakes and all.”
“Careful, girl.” She pulls her phone out of her fancy clutch. “One call, and you’ll be done for. I don’t make idle threats, so you better watch your mouth.”
I glance at her phone, then at Cass. He scratches the back of his head and chuckles at something his mom must’ve said to him. The happiness on his face, the spark in his eyes – they make me want to choke on my damn fate. He makes me want to fall to my knees and beg the Lord to help me find a way.
A way for me to not be in the situation I currently am.
A way for me to come up with something – anything – to keep my normalcy, and him, by my side. A way for me to rise above Amanda’s crude promises.
But…as I keep looking at the man who is the very foundation of my newfound, rocky little empire with hot, helpless tears running down my eyes, I can’t, for the life of me, think of anything that will help us get what we really want.
“You don’t come for those I care about, and I’ll do as you asked,” I tell Amanda, feeling an ache building in my chest.
“You have my word,” she answers with a slight tilt of her head.
I avert my gaze from her as I push back my chair and get to my feet. Holding onto the edge of the table when a wave of dizziness hits me, I manage not to rock on my feet, and then, once I’m sure I won’t fall, I sidestep a server and walk away from Amanda.
I’ve only just stepped out of the diner when Cass turns, still on the phone. He looks at me, and the smile vanishes almost immediately from his face. He makes as if to come to me, but I move back, turn around, and run away from him.
“Nia!” he calls out, panic clear in his voice. “Nia, wait!”
I don’t. I can’t. I keep running, and running, and run–
“Ouch!” I exclaim when I bump into something.
“The hell, Nia?” Bran says.
I look up at him, and try to simmer down my rage when a sudden urge to punch a hole in his chest takes over me. This dickwad is the reason Amanda humiliated me so easily, tried to break me with words and threats I had no counter for.
But…
“Do you have your motorcycle with you?” I ask him. He’s the last person I want to ask for help, especially when all I want to do is cause him physical pain, but right now, I have no other choice but to turn a donkey into a horse.
“What?” He furrows his brows in confusion.
“Your motorcycle, you dumbass – do you have it with you?”
He scowls. “Don’t talk to me like that.”
I huff. “Get over yourself, will you? I’m not in the mood for your superiority complex bullshit.”
He scans my face – my tearstained, crestfallen face – and his expression softens slightly, which does surprise me a little, if not much.
“Yeah, I do,” he tells me.
“Drop me at my house,” I say to him. “And if you ask any stupid questions along the way, I swear to God I’ll choke you with your own dick. Trust me, that’s all my brain is thinking of right now, so don’t even try to test me.”
He looks at me for a long moment, then puts his tongue to his cheek before nodding at me. “Fine, then; no questions.” He jerks his head to the side. “Come on, let’s get you home.”