Fire On Fire

Chapter 10 - Something Just Like This

The drive back home, is incredibly quiet for the first part of our ride, as Dad drives, and Carmen offers him directions from the back seat.

Knowing him, i bet he has alot of questions for me right now about this ...situation, and quite frankly, i have a few questions of my own for him too, but the extended silence is only making me nervous.

Eventually, I clear my throat, wondering if I should just start talking now, or wait until Carmen is gone, who right now looks pretty engrossed in her phone.

"So....." I mumble.

Dad looks at me briefly, before turning his eyes back on the road again.

"So...." He repeats after me.

"How was your stay at the Bishops" i ask teasingly.

"Want to tell me what's going on instead?" he asks in response.

"What do you mean?" i ask innocently, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Don't play dumb with me young lady....What's going on with you and that guy" he asks.

I frown. 'That guy?'

They were addressing each other by first name just a few minutes ago.

"You mean Marco?" I say.

"Yes that guy..." He repeats.

"What do you mean?" I ask perplexed, and a small chuckle escapes Carmen, reminding me that she is still here.

"I should be asking you that, you are the one that went and stayed at their house? I thought you were going to stay at a hotel" I say in rebuttal, trying to shift the conversation on him.

He smiles at me briefly, knowing exactly what i'm trying to do.

"I was, but he and his brothers were very....hospitable" he murmurs.

"Really?" I mumble, disbelieving his reason for staying.

"Really...want to tell me why they were being so kind to a stranger?" he asks.

Dad is very skeptical about people, and because of his job, or due to his job, he tends to be very cautious with strangers, which is why i was super surprised he agreed to stay there.

"Beats me...I am very surprised too" i murmur, raising my feet to rest on my seat the way i usually do when i'm sitting on a sofa.

"Let's see, i come here and discover you have a job, and there is a guy, one that you were blushing all kinds of red for at the airport yesterday...and it turns out, you are working together, so naturally, I am curious to find out more about the said man, that has got my daughter keeping secrets from me...especially since the said man wants to warm his way to you through me" he says.

"Makes sense" Carmen utters from behind us, and I turn to look at her.

"Sorry, go on" she mumbles.

"Look, the job is new, i only started today, and I only did it as a favor for Sofia." I explain.

"Uhhmm...you like him?" he asks rhetorically, as if he did not just hear me say anything else just now.

"How do you know that?" i ask.

"Because you are my daughter and i know you...you tend to keep people at arms length, which is not the case now." he murmurs.

"Sounds about right" Carmen mumbles again, interrupting him.

I turn back and glare at her again....she of all people, knows how hard i tried to stay away from Marco initially.

"Well, Marco is not exactly someone you can keep at arms length...he is...he is..." i try to find a word for it, as i settle back in my seat.