Mastering Wren

Ch.32 Mrs. Bankrupt

Mrs. Bankrupt

I've found the courage to come back down stairs, aiming to find out what Cynthia's motives were. It couldn't simply be drama, it had to be something else. In the corridor, I bump into Chloe, strutting her stuff, hands on hips as her little cousin takes pictures and the others follow behind her.

Theo is watching from the sidelines, leaning against the wall with hands in his pockets, thankfully by himself. When I appear at the end of the corridor from the stairs, he instantly glues his eyes on me.

I smile, but he does not. His eye brows furrow and he walks past a stunned Chloe, who pulls on his leg to stop him.

"You have to judge," she complains, "Were you even watching?"

"Not now," Theo growls and she lets him go, looking devastated for a moment but quickly focusing back on posing for the camera instead.

I stay where I am, not expecting him to approach so moody, especially when he saw me.

Was Cynthia going to ruin yet another day for him and I?

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.

Theo unexpectedly puts a hand behind my back and ushers me off towards the alcove before the stair case so we're out of sight.

"Why did you go up there without me?" he asks, "Cynthia came down the hall, did she talk to you?"

"Did she talk to you?" I retort.

I expect Theo to tell me off, but he does something far worse.

He says nothing.

His face is expressionless as he looks me over. It was a look he obtained when he was thoroughly pushed towards the edge, at the limit of his tolerance for disrespect.

I gulp nervously as he simply stares and my eyes dart to his hand, which wanders up and brushes a slither of hair behind my ear. A firm caress as he warns me with his eyes.

"Do you remember the reason I spanked you the first time?" he asks, low.

"Avoiding you," I murmur, instantly. I wouldn't forget.

"Now you seem to be avoiding me and ignoring me," he states, "Answer my questions, Wren, or what I have planned tonight won't be as fun as you'd hoped."

"I –" my mind goes blank as my cheeks go red.

Tonight? What about Mr. Fox?

"You better call that friend of yours to feed Fox tonight," he cups my cheek now, reading my mind, his thumb running along my cheek bone as I glance up at him nervously, "I was going to drive you home eventually but I doubt you'll be leaving tonight, doll."

I go quiet, for once not blubbering my guts out. But it was unlike me and Theo instantly notices.

"What aren't you telling me?" he commands me to answer and although I'd want to normally take a step back to process, this time I take a step forward.

Instinctively I put my hands up on his chest and slowly slide them around him, giving him a tight hug. I didn't want him to feel alone or not supported by me. Now that Cynthia was clearly going to start shitting on everyone and everything until she got whatever the hell she wanted.

I pull back after a short while.

"What was that for?" he asks in a growl as I smile. I know he is still trying to be angry but it's as if my hug is making it hard for him to remain so; which is why I'm smiling.