Melting Ice

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Jacinta was not coping well. Being out here reminded her way too much of her family. It was breaking her heart. For the life of her she did not know why she would ever have agreed to going with her uncle.

She had never met him before, he offered her the world and despite her parent's advice against going, she wanted to live a more social life.

That died quickly, she regretted it as soon as she settled in. The manor, the people, the events, nothing mattered. All that mattered to her was getting back to her parents. Oh how she missed them.

Seeing Zen all protective over his mother made her feel like the world's worst daughter. How selfish, how very self-absorbed was she to have chosen anybody over her own parents?

Back at the house, Jacinta needed to be alone. She excused herself and headed into the room where she swam in her own stupid self-pity. She prayed that Zen kept away, which shouldn't be a problem, he was never in her space anyway.

Jacinta did not want him to witness her weakness. She washed her face and moved over to the bed. Laying down she tried to shut the world out.

Easier said than done. It was not working, she was really upset, really hating herself for what she had become. To the world she was an over indulged, spoilt brat who looked at the world as beneath her.

She looked down at her uncle's people as beneath her. They were scum, anything that walked through the doors to the manor was scum in her eyes.

She was amongst people that disgusted her. Yes the fault was purely her own. But she was young, not even sixteen yet. Still she should have known better.

She wiped away her tears. Jacinta lay there for over an hour. It was not until Zen walked in looking all out of his comfort zone that she even considered getting out of bed.

"Ma wants me to check up on you." Oh wow, his mother, not him.

"I'm fine."

"She thinks you're going through something, wants me to talk to you." Yeah this was not his domain. He did not look like he wanted to waste a single moment on her.

"Talk to me? Please." She shook her head sitting up. Zen looked at her confused.

"What do you want? You go around the manor thinking you are way too good to even look at me, then you get upset because I don't want to interact? I'm sorry Jacinta, you can't treat people in the way you do then expect them to treat you with respect. Not me anyway."

Wow, he really did hate her.

"Oh my bad, next time I'll treat Rodrigues with respect while he's checking out my ass. Or better still I'll treat all those assholes with respect who are offering to take me to the back and have some fun. How stupid of me. I should have more consideration."

Zen drew in a deep exasperated breath. "I don't know what to tell you. I don't. I never once attempted anything with you, never once disrespected you in that way, why do you treat me like you do others then?"

"You bring sluts in." She bit out hating him.

"By your uncle's orders. I'm not the bad guy Jacinta..."

"No, you just work for him."

"You had no issues with Mark feeling you up the other night?" Oh she felt physically sick at the memory. She had assumed that Zen did not see it, or more to the point that he did not care enough to address it. "You talk to him nicely enough."

"This discussion is over." She got out of the bed and before sitting down on it again.

"Just because you say it's over does not mean it is. I don't work that way Cinta. You cannot dismiss me. I don't like it."