Baking With Boys |✔

46. Brigadeiro

He sidestepped, easily avoiding the breadth of my arms and walked forward. Competition? He was worried about the competition? He wouldn't care less about a measly competition compared to the years of work he had spent on on building his public image or his company. It was a blatant lie. A lie to please the ears of the eavesdroppers. And a lie to save himself from disgrace. I couldn't believe there could be someone more manipulative than Francis at this moment! But I was proven wrong. The example was right in front of my eyes.

I heard the sounds of tussle going on in the background. Giulia was trying to pry the hands off of the men from her arms, who were keeping her apart from Bella. Alard saw this, his eyes not missing a speck of commotion.

Pointing to his men, he said, "Take both of them."

Bella shrugged off the hands holding her in place, and demanded Alard's attention. "Papa!"

Another fear struck me. Alard couldn't know that Bella dated Giulia. I couldn't fathom what would happen then.

Her cry was left unanswered. Silence stretched between all of us. No one dared to speak a word. A look of horror dawned on her face, the emotional turmoil inside her laid bare for all of us to see.

He knew, Alard knew. At least now. And the unimaginable possibilities left me chilled.

Alard didn't turn back. And neither did he hear any of their protests. I thought of myself as a useless bystander. It was happening right in front of me. Pure injustice and abuse of authority. It made my blood boil. But no one spoke up. No one stepped forward.

How could we?

We were powerless after all.

***

I was in a daze. The whole bumpy ride on the backseat of the bus, all I could think about was the image of Bella, with her unshed tears and hauntingly determined face, being dragged out of the hotel after her father. She had looked at me before the car door had closed behind her. I couldn't forget her eyes. They had begged out to me to help her, to take her out of that situation. She trusted me. Trusted me to help her. Why? I wasn't someone who had power. I wasn't someone who could fight against someone like Alard. Neither I had the courage. But I had another power. Power of the truth. Power of the media.

And power of Kiki.

Or at least I hoped.

That was enough courage I needed, and enough time that I had wasted.

"Stop the bus!" I shouted, standing on my toes. Brandon who had been brooding in silence as well, stood up, startled.

"What?" he hissed, as heads turned towards us and one of the crew members stood up to settle the commotion.

"We can't just go to the competition and bake, Brandon! Not when Bella's life depends on us!"

"I think you're exaggerating--" He stopped himself.

"You were saying?" My chest heaved up and down, result of my heated up thoughts and new found excitement to set things right. We stared at each other. I couldn't see what he was thinking. But he looked into my eyes, hard and long for a minute. The he blinked, nodding.

"I think you're right." He flashed me a smile, and with a deep breath, shouted, "Stop the bus please!"

The bus reeled to a stop. The sudden break sent a violent jolt and we both staggered, Brandon's arm linking around my waist to keep me up in case my knees buckled. Murmurs, and whispers filled the space around us as they tried to understand what was happening. People sleeping woke up, unaware contestants took earphones out of their ears. The lack of Bella, Francis and their partners left a hollow space in my chest. Sarah patted me on the back, probably thinking the same, and gave me a small smile.