Inconveniences

Chapter 11

I was done with the seasickness. I probably lost a bunch of weight on that voyage because I couldn't stop throwing up. Connor, being the gentleman he is, helped me every time. Mr Lancaster gave me judgmental looks, but I didn't care. I suppose I was used to it by then.
"Miss Hemmings, do not keep us waiting. We are undocking right now."
"Of course, how could I ever keep you waiting-"
I decided to stop talking prematurely since living was nice enough.
The packing was already done, I finished that last night. Armed with my two cases, I hurried up to the deck. Mr Lancaster was already waiting, but Connor wasn't in sight. I waited near Mr Lancaster, but I made sure I wasn't too close. What if he tried talking to me? There's only so much Mr Lancaster I can handle before I lose my mind.
"Are you just going to stand over there like a child, Miss Hemmings?"
Damn! Even though I was far enough away, he's still talking to me?
"I don't understand you, Mr Lancaster."
"What is there to not understand? I asked 'why are you all the way over there?'"
"I don't see how that coincides with your inaccurate estimate of my age."
Mr Lancaster didn't seem flustered yet, but I had a feeling he actually was.
"Inaccurate?"
"I don't like repeating myself, Mr Lancaster," I mocked.
"I was not inaccurate. You are a child."
"If I'm a child, then you are too."
The corner of his mouth twitched.
"Miss Hemmings, you are only 19."
"You're not much older. What, you're 25, right? That's only 6 years!"
"I never told you my age," he grumbled angrily. Mr Lancaster really did look like a pouty child for a moment.
"I know, Connor did."
Mr Lancaster's face went dark a little.
"Of course he did..."
Speak of the devil and he will come.
"Aye Boss! Sorry I took so long. Amy, it's lovely to see ye." Connor was booking it across the deck, shouting like a lunatic. He stopped before he could knock me out. As he tried catching his breath, he greeted me with a kiss on the back of my hand. I felt Mr Lancaster's eyes bore straight through me.
"If you two are done, we can get going now," he impatiently stated.
"Connor! He said 'if we're done!'-"
"No, Miss Hemmings. You do not even need to continue. Let us leave now."
Mr Lancaster spun around on his heels and easily strode off the boat.
I began to whisper to Connor when Mr Lancaster was a good enough distance away. "Look at him, just strutting around like he owns the place-"
"I do own the place. You ought to know that by now. I own just about anything you can imagine."
"You don't own Mr Conway's little list-"
"Silence. Connor, you keep her quiet while we go to our place for the night."
"Aye Boss," Connor said, frowning at me.
I didn't talk though. I didn't want Connor to get in trouble because of my dumb, stubborn ass.
The walk took a good 4 hours. It started out in a sea port town called Cumaná, but then Mr Lancaster lead us into a forest. To me, it felt more like a jungle, but it was just a dense forest. We followed along a river. It was peaceful... And everything looked beautiful. There weren't things like this in England. In addition, England also didn't have this Venezuelan heat and humidity.
My face dripped sweat, my hair curled up more than I've ever seen it before. The dress was bothersome, and I had no clue how much I could handle it. I started taking off layers, and Connor helped me hold the discarded clothes.
It was well after dark when we came to a large, run down, cabin looking thing. However, it was bustling with life. There were at least 40 men running around, doing this thing or that. I was willing to bet money that they were employed by Mr Lancaster.
"We will sleep here tonight. We will leave at exactly 8 in the morning. It is currently 10:46 and 27 seconds at night. Go get sleep."
"Aye Boss."
"Yes Sir."
Mr Lancaster looked at me disdainfully. He hadn't noticed that I was down to my final two layers of clothes until now. Mr Lancaster eyed the clothes in mine and Connor's arms disapprovingly.
Inside, about half the men looked at me like they've never seen a woman. The other half looked at me like... It's been too long since they've last seen a woman...
This latter group concerned me the most.
There was one particularly cheeky bastard that approached me. Compared to the other (attractive) men I had met while with Mr Lancaster, this man looked exceptionally mediocre, but still handsome enough, I suppose.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me to him.
"Hey there sweetheart, why is a lady in a place like this?" He unashamedly checked me out. It was more than obvious that his eyes lingered at my breasts.
I tried pulling away, but he slipped an arm around me, holding me even tighter against him.
"Why are you trying to leave? I just wanna say hi. What's your name, sweetheart?"
"There's no way in hell I'm telling you anything!" I shouted, trying to pull away again.